The two exited the vehicle and Henley, hearing commotion across the street emanating from the home of his 15-year-old friend Rhonda Louise Williams, walked toward her home. Brooks later stated he had assisted Corll in the abduction and murder of two youths during the time Corll resided at this address, including one youth who was killed "just before Wayne Henley came into the picture." [218] The following day, July 16,[55]:34 formal procedures to sentence Henley for the six guilty verdicts began, and on August 8, Judge Preston Dial ordered that Henley serve each 99-year sentence consecutively (totaling 594 years), and he was transferred to the Huntsville Unit to formally begin his sentence. [8], Corll's parents attempted reconciliation and remarried in 1950, subsequently moving to Pasadena, Texas, a suburb of Houston; however, the reconciliation was short lived and, in 1953, the couple once again divorced, with the mother again retaining custody of her two sons. [58] An electrical cord with alligator clips attached to each end was buried alongside Yates's body. Later, Brooks dropped out of high school, and Corll offered him 200 dollars for each boy he would manage to lure in. Upon discovery, it was considered the worst example of serial murder in U.S. history. [96][n 4] His gagged and emasculated body was buried in the boat shed. Moreover, in one interview, Brooks claimed that Corll's first murder victim was a youth killed at an apartment complex located at 5313 Judiway Street, where Corll had lived prior to September 1970. September 17, 1953-November 15, 1972", "Relative of Long-lost Murder Vvictim: 'We Pretty Much Lost Hope', "Pruitt Medical Laboratories: Autopsy Report 73-7778-A", "Baton Rouge Man Among Victims in Houston Case", "Henley Gives Statement on Manner of Killings", "Remains Draw More Questions on '70s Corll Killings", "A Body Ruled Out as Victim of Ring; Henley Trial Told Search" Found Unrelated Corpse Trial was Shifted", "More Bodies Unearthed: Mass Murder Victims", "Pathological Diagnosis on the Body of John Manning Sellars", "Joseph A. Jachimczyk Forensic Center: Unidentified Decedent Notice", "Amended Autopsy Report on the Body of Joseph Allen Lyles", "Texas Crime News Interview with Elmer Wayne Henley, Jr", "Efforts Continue to Identify Last Known Victim of Houston Mass Murders", "Houston Authorities Working to ID Candy Man's Last Unknown Victim", "The Last Lost Boy: Can You ID the Final Known Victim of the 1970s Heights Mass Murders? Of the sixteen individuals depicted within the films and photos, eleven of the individuals appeared to be among Corll's known victims who had been identified by this date;[309] other individuals in the cache were underage at the time the images and films had been taken, but had reached the legal age of consent by the time of the discoveries and their questioning by authorities, indicating the material had been accrued over many years. Williams then asked Henley: "Are you going to do anything about it? Less than two weeks later, 20-year-old Raymond Stanley Blackburn was abducted, strangled, and buried at Lake Sam Rayburn. The first of these victims, 17-year-old Steven Sickman, was last seen leaving a party held in the Heights shortly before midnight on July 19. [55]:31 Despite the assault, Brooks continued to assist Corll in the abductions of the victims. [61], Between March and May 1971, Corll abducted and killed three victims, all of whom lived in Houston Heights and all of whom were buried toward the rear of the rented boat shed. [5] Mary subsequently sold the family home and relocated to a trailer home in Memphis, Tennessee, where Arnold had been drafted into the United States Air Force after the divorce, to allow her sons to remain in contact with their father. He was responsible for the murders and sexual assaults of 28 boys and young males in the Houston area of Texas between 1970 and 1973. [16], Corll graduated from Vidor High School in the summer of 1958. [22]:3669 Henley was not charged with the death of Corll, which prosecutors ruled on September 18 had been committed in self-defense. On June 27, 1979, the jury deliberated for over two hours before reaching their verdict; Henley was again convicted of six murders and sentenced to six concurrent 99-year terms. Other acquaintances noted subtle changes in Corll's mannerisms when in the company of teenage males after he had completed his service and returned to Houston, which led them to believe he may have been homosexual. However, Scott saw Henley pointing a pistol toward him and according to Brooks, Scott "just gave up." [82] Scottwho was well known to both Henley and Brookswas grabbed by force and fought furiously against attempts by Corll to restrain him, even attempting to stab his attackers with a knife. [21] In response, she fired the teenager. Once manacled, the victims would be sexually assaulted, beaten, tortured and, sometimes after several days, killed by strangulation or shooting with a .22 caliber pistol. This route often involved West traveling to Houston, where much of the product was sold. [214][215], On July 15, 1974, both counsels presented their closing arguments to the jury:[216] the prosecution seeking life imprisonment; the defense a verdict of not guilty. [63] The other two victims, 13-year-old David Hilligiest and 16-year-old Gregory Malley Winkle, were abducted and killed together on the afternoon of May 29, 1971. Corll was also known as the Candy Man and the Pied Piper, because he and his family had previously owned and operated a candy factory in Houston Heights, and he had been known to give free candy to local children. and shot Delome in the forehead, with the bullet exiting through the youth's ear. On September 13, 2010, DNA analysis was able to confirm that the unidentified victim known as ML73-3378 was actually Michael Anthony Baulch, who had incorrectly been identified as case file ML73-3333: the second victim unearthed from the boat shed. That afternoon, Henley accompanied police to Lake Sam Rayburn, where he, Brooks, and Corll had buried four victims killed that year. [87], After vacating the Schuler Street residence, Corll moved to an apartment at Westcott Towers, where, in the summer of 1972, he is known to have killed a further two victims. [99], On January 20, 1973, Corll moved to an address on Wirt Road in the Spring Branch district of Houston. Brooks was implicated with Elmer Wayne Henley and Dean Corll in the murders of at least 28 young men. He later moved into an apartment of his own above the shop. Nickname: Junior. [5] Henley began cutting away Williams's clothes as Corll undressed and began to assault and torture Kerley. Brooks had also stated in his confession that Scott was likely buried at High Island. Scott had been a blond youth who had not had any teeth extracted prior to his disappearance; however, a Dr. Elizabeth Johnson of the Harris County Medical Institute had concluded in 1993 that the fifteenth set of remains unearthed from the boat shedwhich had physical characteristics such as dark brown hair and two extracted. Several victims were friends of one or both of Corll's accomplices; others were individuals with whom Corll had himself become acquainted prior to their abduction and murder,[16][38] and two other victims, Billy Baulch and Gregory Malley Winkle, were former employees of Corll Candy Company. [16][n 8], Police initially were skeptical of Henley's claims, assuming the sole homicide of the case was that of Corll, which they had ascribed as being the result of drug-fueled fisticuffs that had turned deadly. Potential association with a national sex ring, Corll's mother would later state the inspiration for her founding a family candy business was a pecan nut salesman calling at her home and observing her baking several pies. [175] The twelfth body unearthed bore evidence of sexual mutilation (the severed genitals of the victim were found inside a sealed plastic bag placed beside the body);[176][177] another victim unearthed had several fractured ribs. His last known victim of 1971 was Ruben Watson Haney, who disappeared on August 17. [228] Successive parole applications dating from July 1980 have been denied. The jury deliberated for just 90 minutes before they reached a verdict. Brooks persuaded Haney to attend a party at an address Corll had moved to on San Felipe Street the previous month. [307] The color Polaroid image had been found in the personal possessions of Henley, which had been stored by his family since his arrest in 1973. [121], At approximately 3:00a.m. on the morning of August 8, 1973, Henley and Kerley, accompanied by Williams, returned to Corll's residence. Corll died where he fell, his naked body lying face toward the wall. On another occasion during the time Corll resided at Schuler Street, Henley knocked Brooks unconscious as he entered the house. I can't have you kill all my friends! Konen was born November 20, 1951, per death certificate. At Corll's residenceusing a ruse he and Corll had preparedHenley cuffed his own hands behind his back, freed himself with a key hidden in his back pocket, then duped the youth into donning the handcuffs before observing Corll bind and gag him. [30] On June 4, Henley and Corll abducted 15-year-old William Ray Lawrence; the youth was last seen alive by his father on 31st Street. [129] After approximately thirty minutes of discussion,[130] Corll agreed and untied Henley, then carried Kerley and Williams into his bedroom and tied them to opposite sides of his torture board: Kerley on his stomach; Williams on her back. August 10, 2022, 11:21 AM, CDT Elmer Wayne Henley Jr, a gray-haired 66-year-old serving six life sentences for his role in Houstons most notorious serial killings, In this confession, Henley readily admitted to having personally killed approximately nine[170] youths and to have assisted Corll in the strangulation of others. He died of COVID-19-related complications at a Galveston hospital on May 28, 2020, at the age of 65. [16], In February 2012, a picture was released to the news media of a likely unknown victim of Corll. The three teenagers were sitting on the porch outside the house, and the officer noted the .22 caliber pistol on the driveway near the trio. Kepner was strangled and buried at High Island Beach. The body was buried at High Island Beach. He was also observed digging in waste ground that was later converted into a parking lot. As punishment, Manson received a life sentence for first-degree murder since the In light of developments relating to the identifications of victims, the body of Scott still lies undiscovered at High Island, while Lyles's remains were only found by chance in 1983. Following the decision to terminate the search for victims' bodies in August 1973, one lieutenant from the HPD is known to have remarked: "I don't know if [we have] found all the bodies or not", before adding, "What difference does it make?". He was murdered at Corll's Westcott Towers address. before he was strangled. The 1973 misidentification of Michael Baulch was discovered as a result of an independent investigation conducted by freelance writers Barbara Gibson and Debera Phinney, who contacted Dr. Derrick with a tip indicating that the second victim unearthed from the boat shed had been misidentified; upon conducting additional DNA testing, Dr. Derrick discovered their suspicions were correct.