[30], Former workers at Corll Candy Company recalled Corll doing a lot of digging in the years leading up to 1968, when his mother's third marriage was deteriorating and the firm was failing. To my loved ones, I extend my undying love. [302] It is possible that the initial double murder Brooks had discovered Corll in the process of committing occurred after the murder of Konen and before those of Glass and Yates. Bail for each youth was set at $100,000. O'Bryan's neighbor and his two children accompanied them. Tragically, both of his sons 15-year-old Donald and 13-year-old Jerry were killed by Corll. [211], Throughout the trial, the state introduced 82 pieces of evidence, including Corll's torture board and one of the boxes used to transport the victims. 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? "[132][n 7], Henley then asked Corll whether he might take Williams into another room. 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. In the statement Henley gave to police following his arrest, the youth stated he and Corll picked up "a boy" at the corner of 11th and Studewood,[76] and lured him to Corll's home on the promise of smoking some marijuana with the pair. They believed he gave the other children poisoned candy in an effort to cover up his crime. Bettmann/Getty Images (l.) / Netflix (r.)Elmer Wayne Henley (left) leaving a Texas courthouse in 1973, and Robert Aramayo (right) playing Elmer Wayne Henley in the Netflix crime drama Mindhunter. He and Brooks soon made official confessions stating their involvement in the crimes and offered to show police where the victims were buried. (However, Brooks denied actively participating in the murders.). The rear windows of the van were sealed by opaque blue curtains. He had lived on Antoine Drivethe same street upon which Brooks resided in 1973. Eventually, Corll did untie Henley, and brought Kerley and Williams into the bedroom to be tied up to the torture board.. A+E Networks EMEA is an amalgamation of A+E Networks UK, Germany, Italy, Poland, Nordics, Benelux, Spain and Africa. Inside this crate were several strands of human hair. [5] Kerley and Williams lay beside Henley, securely bound with nylon rope, gagged with adhesive tape, and lying face down on the floor. Brooks had also stated in his confession that Scott was likely buried at High Island. However, no firm evidence exists to link Prater's disappearance to Corll and his accomplices. His parents reportedly never had a happy marriage, and they would often argue. When Elmer Wayne Henley contacted authorities that August day in 1973, he initially stated that he killed only one man Dean Corll. However, the Office of the Medical Examiner of Harris County lists Branch's death as having occurred in November 1972. The police did not initially suspect O'Bryan of any wrongdoing until Timothy's autopsy revealed that the Pixy Stix he had consumed was laced with a fatal dose of potassium cyanide. before he was strangled. [308], During a routine investigation in February 1975, the HPD discovered a large cache of pornographic pictures and films depicting boys as young as eight, most of whom were from the Heights. [107] The following day, Garcia telephoned his mother to say he was spending the night with a friend; he was shot and left to bleed to death in Corll's bathtub before he was buried at Lake Sam Rayburn. Dean Corll, the Candy Man of Houston, was America's most prolific serial killer before the term was officially coined. With our diverse line-up of original, high-quality programming, our distribution partners across EMEA recognise the benefits of offering A+E Networks EMEA's distinctive, high quality brands on their platforms and services. [150] Corll had paid up to $200 for each victim Brooks or he were able to lure to his apartment. That chief would later be voted out of office in the first election that was held after Corlls murders became known to the public. There was an actual Candyman killer. [110], In July 1973, after Brooks married his pregnant fiance,[30] Henley temporarily became Corll's sole procurer of victims, assisting in the abduction and murder of three Heights youths between July 19 and 25. Henley claimed these three abductions were the only three that occurred after his becoming an accomplice to Corll in which Brooks was not a participant. He was aided by two teenaged accomplices, David Owen Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley. No known victims were killed between February 1 and June 4, 1973. He was found guilty of Lawrence's murder on March 4, 1975, and sentenced to life imprisonment. He said. [311] The discovery of the material in Houston in 1975 subsequently led to the arrest of five individuals in Santa Clara, California. You know your boys are runaways.'. After 45 years of his sentence, Brooks died in custody aged 65 last year from Covid-19. Dean Corll quickly built up a rapport with these teens. Several victims' parents had to leave the courtroom to regain their composure as police and medical examiners described how their relatives were tortured and murdered. Join our global team of talent. The bullet failed to fully penetrate Corll's skull,[22]:3641 and he continued to lurch toward Henley, whereupon the youth fired another two rounds, hitting Corll in the left shoulder. [29][30] During the trial, a chemist who was acquainted with O'Bryan testified that in summer 1973, O'Bryan contacted him asking about cyanide and how much would be fatal. Given that Henley became acquainted with Corll in 1972, it is likely this boy would have been killed in 1972 or 1973. The three used Corlls Plymouth GTX muscle car or his white van to lure the boys, often using candy, alcohol, or drugs to get them inside the vehicle. Konen was born November 20, 1951, per death certificate. [273][274] ML73-3378 was buried at Lake Sam Rayburn just 10 feet (3m) from the body of Homer Garcia, who had disappeared on July 7, 1973. His brutal killings - known as the Houston Mass Murders - were only uncovered when he was shot dead by his accomplice Elmer Wayne Henley in 1973. [9], Following the second divorce, Corll's mother married a traveling clock salesman named Jake West. Inside the lakeside log cabin owned by Corll's family, police found a second plywood torture board, rolls of plastic sheeting, shovels, and a sack of lime. Corll's victims were typically lured with an offer of a party or a lift to one of the various addresses at which he resided between 1970 and 1973. The couple identified two of the men as Corll and Henley. [113], On August 3, 1973, Corll killed his last victim, a 13-year-old boy from South Houston named James Stanton Dreymala. The first victim of 1972 was Frank Aguirre, who disappeared on March 24, meaning no known victims were killed for seven months. In addition, neither mentioned having seen any of the victims either filmed, photographed, or released from the devices Corll restrained his victims to until after their rape, torture, and murder. [55]:1[58] His call was answered by an operator named Velma Lines. Dean Arnold Corll (December 24, 1939 - August 8, 1973) was an American serial killer and sex offender who abducted, raped, tortured, and murdered a minimum of 28 teenage boys and young men between 1970 and 1973 in Houston and Pasadena, Texas.He was aided by two teenaged accomplices, David Owen Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley.The crimes, which became known as the Houston Mass Murders, came to . He died of COVID-19-related complications at a Galveston hospital on May 28, 2020, at the age of 65. [12] Timothy O'Bryan died en route to the hospital less than an hour after consuming the candy. [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. 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. Corll's twisted crimes began when he befriended a 12-year-old boy, David Owen Brooks, by giving him free sweets. O'Bryan entered a plea of not guilty to all five counts. After killing Dean Corll, Henley quickly called the police to confess what hed done. In his closing argument to the jury, District Attorney Carol Vance apologized for his not being able to seek the death penalty, adding that the case was the "most extreme example of man's inhumanity to man I have ever seen. But based on whats known about Corlls early life, its tough to pinpoint such an incident. The divorce was granted on amicable grounds and both boys maintained regular contact with their father. 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. Afterward, some victims were strangled to death and others were fatally shot. [287], Forty-two boys had vanished within the Houston area between 1970 and Corll's death in 1973. Several hours later, both youths were strangled to death and subsequently buried in a common grave inside the boat shed directly above the bodies of James Glass and Danny Yates. Wikimedia Commons Lake Sam Rayburn, a location where some of the Candy Man killers victims were buried. A new luxury high-rise near the . [200], On August 13, a grand jury convened in Harris County to hear evidence against Henley and Brooks: the first witnesses to testify were Williams and Kerley, who testified to the events of August 7 and 8 leading to the death of Corll. [19] After walking the neighborhood with police three times, O'Bryan led them to the home where no one had answered the door. Police had been led to Sellars's body on August 13, 1973, by a trucker who recalled conversing with a youth he believed to be Henley after he had seen a car stuck in the sand close to where Sellars's body was subsequently found. 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. She later remarried and her new husband adopted her daughter Elizabeth. The statements given by Kerley and Williams corroborated Henley's account, and the detective questioning Henley believed he had indeed acted in self-defense. On October 17, 2008, ML73-3349 was identified as Randell Lee Harvey, a Heights teenager who had been reported missing on March 11, 1971 two days after he had disappeared. 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