Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. and the Houston Mass Murders
- Anna Avis
- 2 hours ago
- 7 min read
On the evening of 8 August 1973, a skinny, jittery teenager in Houston picked up the phone and dialled 911. When the operator answered, the boy’s voice cracked with panic but carried a shocking confession:
"Y'all better come here right now! I just killed a man!"
That boy was Elmer Wayne Henley Jr., only 17 years old at the time. The man he had shot six times was Dean Corll, a 33-year-old electrician known around his neighbourhood as “The Candy Man” because of his family’s confectionery business.
What the police uncovered after that phone call would shake the city of Houston to its core. In the days that followed, detectives and forensic teams unearthed mass graves filled with the bodies of at least 28 boys and young men. They were victims of what became known as the Houston Mass Murders, one of the deadliest serial killing sprees in American history.
But Henley was not just the teenager who finally stopped Corll. For two years, he had been one of his closest accomplices, luring victims into Corll’s home and, in several cases, actively taking part in their deaths.
The story of Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. is both disturbing and complex — the tale of a boy brutalised by an abusive father, desperate for approval, and manipulated into becoming both a participant in murder and the man who ended a killer’s rampage.
A Troubled Beginning
Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. was born on 9 May 1956 in Houston, Texas. He was the eldest of four children, growing up in a home marked by dysfunction. His father was an alcoholic whose temper spilled into violence. The children, and their mother, bore the brunt of his abuse.
When Henley was 14, his mother made a desperate choice: she left her husband, taking her children with her in search of a safer life. But the scars of that violent childhood stayed with Wayne.
He later admitted that he longed for a male figure in his life who would treat him with dignity and respect — a role his father had failed in completely. This need for approval would later bind him to Dean Corll, who filled that void in the most twisted way imaginable.
In a 2002 documentary, Henley explained:
“I wanted Dean’s approval. I also wanted to feel like a guy capable of dealing with my father.”
Enter Dean Corll
By 15, Henley had dropped out of high school. Like many teenagers in the Houston Heights area, he drifted through days of drinking beer, smoking marijuana, and playing pool. It was then that he fell into the orbit of another teenager, David Owen Brooks.
Brooks was only a year older, but he had already been groomed by Dean Corll for years.
Corll seemed generous to young boys, handing out candy from his family’s factory, offering rides, giving money, and acting like a protective older friend. To Brooks, who grew up with a harsh and critical father, Corll seemed like the opposite of home life. But the kindness was a façade.
By 14, Brooks was being sexually abused by Corll. To ensure silence and obedience, Corll showered him with gifts, including a car, and began paying him to lure other boys to his home.
It was Brooks who introduced Henley to Corll in late 1971.
At first, Henley admired Corll. Unlike his own father, Corll seemed steady and respectable. Henley later recalled:
“I admired Dean because he had a steady job. He initially gave off the impression of being quiet which piqued my interest. I was interested in learning his strategy.”
But Corll quickly revealed another side.
The Offer
Corll told Henley he was part of a “Dallas-based organisation” that trafficked young boys. He promised Henley $200 for every teenager he brought him — more if the boy was especially good-looking.
Henley initially refused. But by early 1972, money troubles changed his mind.
One evening, Henley and Corll drove around Houston in Corll’s Plymouth GTX, looking for a victim. Henley convinced a boy to join them for some marijuana. They drove back to Corll’s apartment. Henley left.
The next day, Corll handed him $200. Henley believed the boy had been sold to the trafficking ring. In truth, Corll had raped and murdered him.
Henley didn’t go to the police. He stayed.
Crossing the Line
Over the following months, Henley became more deeply involved. Despite knowing what Corll had done, he continued luring boys to the house. Some of them were even his friends.
In May 1971, Corll kidnapped, tortured, and murdered David Hilligeist, who had been close to Henley. That didn’t stop him.
Soon after, Henley brought another friend, Frank Aguirre, to Corll’s house. Aguirre was raped and murdered. Henley helped bury his body at High Island Beach, a sandy stretch of Gulf Coast shoreline that would later become notorious as one of Corll’s burial grounds.
By this stage, Henley had crossed the line. He wasn’t just recruiting — he was actively participating in killings. Investigators later determined that at least six victims died at Henley’s hands.
Henley himself admitted:
“At first I wondered what it was like to kill someone. Later, I became fascinated with how much stamina people have… you see people getting strangled on television and it looks easy. It’s not.”
Brooks would later testify that Henley “seemed to enjoy causing pain.” Henley, chillingly, agreed.
By July 1973, more than 20 boys had been murdered by Corll with the help of Henley and Brooks.
The Final Night
The killing spree came to an end on 8 August 1973.
That evening, Henley invited two friends, 18-year-old Tim Kerley and 15-year-old Rhonda Williams, to Corll’s home in Pasadena, a suburb of Houston. He would later claim it was meant to be a casual night of drinking and smoking marijuana.
Corll, however, was furious. He had tolerated Henley bringing boys before, but a girl was a step too far.
As the teens slept, Corll tied them up. He berated Henley for “ruining everything” and prepared his torture equipment.
But this time, something snapped in Henley.
When Corll attempted to begin his ritual of assault and torture, Henley picked up his pistol. He turned it on Corll and fired.
The first bullet hit Corll in the forehead. When it didn’t kill him, Henley fired five more times into his back and shoulder.
Corll collapsed against the wall, naked and dead.
For the first time in two years, the killing stopped.
Graves Revealed
After shooting Corll, Henley freed Kerley and Williams. Then he did something no one expected: he phoned the police.
When officers arrived, Henley immediately confessed. According to the Houston Chronicle, he broke down and told them everything, that Corll had been killing boys for two and a half years, that there were graves hidden across Houston, and that he could lead them there.
He did.
At Southwest Boat Storage, police unearthed 17 bodies.
At Sam Rayburn Lake, they found four more.
At High Island Beach, Brooks helped them uncover another six.
In total, at least 28 victims were confirmed. All had been strangled or shot. Many showed signs of prolonged torture.
The discovery horrified Houston and captured international headlines. It was one of the largest serial murder cases in American history.
Trial and Conviction
Henley’s trial began in July 1974 in San Antonio. He was charged with six counts of murder. The killing of Dean Corll was deemed self-defence, and he was never prosecuted for it.
Prosecutors painted Henley as more than a manipulated teenager. They argued he had willingly participated in torture and killings, sometimes relishing the cruelty.
The jury agreed. Henley was sentenced to six consecutive life terms of 99 years each.
David Brooks was also convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Behind Bars
Since his conviction, Henley has lived his entire adult life in the Texas prison system. Over the years, he has taken up painting, producing surreal and often grotesque canvases that have been displayed and sold — a fact that has sparked outrage among victims’ families.
He has also attracted correspondents from the outside world, maintaining a degree of notoriety that has kept his name alive in true-crime circles.
In recent years, Henley has petitioned for compassionate release, citing health issues. Families of the murdered boys have fiercely opposed his requests, arguing that the scale and brutality of his crimes rule out mercy.
As of now, he remains behind bars.
Legacy of the Houston Mass Murders
The Houston Mass Murders left scars on an entire community. Dozens of families lost sons and brothers, many of them teenagers who simply vanished from their neighbourhoods. For years, parents lived with the pain of not knowing, until the grim truth was uncovered in shallow graves.
Dean Corll is remembered as the sadistic mastermind — a predator who exploited children’s trust with candy, rides, and a façade of kindness. But the story of Henley complicates the narrative.
Was he a vulnerable boy manipulated by a calculating predator, or was he an eager participant who embraced violence once it began?
The answer, perhaps, is both.
Henley was a victim of abuse who found in Corll the approval he had long craved. But he also became a murderer, crossing lines that can never be erased.
In the end, he was the one who stopped Corll — not out of heroism, but out of desperation. His story remains one of the most unsettling reminders of how cycles of abuse and manipulation can warp young lives into instruments of horror.
Sources
The New York Times – “Youth Sentenced in Houston Mass Slayings”
https://www.nytimes.com/1974/07/17/archives/youth-sentenced-in-houston-mass-slayings.html
Houston Chronicle – “The Houston Mass Murders: A City’s Nightmare”
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston-mass-murders
Murderpedia – “Elmer Wayne Henley Jr.”
Texas Monthly – “The Candy Man”
Associated Press Archive – “Graves of Houston Youths Found After Boy Kills Dean Corll”
