Nor was he deterred when Dean Corll told him he had abducted, tortured, and murdered a close friend of Henleys, David Hilligeist, in May 1971. The major interview that takes place in this episode of Mindhunter was that of Elmer Wayne Henley, Jr. Henley is defensive about several things during this interview. . However, Henley is not a typical aging and ailing Texas prisoner. He died in prison in 2020 of COVID-19. He said, Theyre never going to let me out, and Im OK with that.'. In July 1974, Elmer Wayne Henleys trial began in San Antonio. Mimi Swartz is a staff writer based in Houston. Throughout his trial, Henley was represented by Will Gray and Edwin Pegelow. As the episode of "Mindhunter" explores, Henley would help lure victims to the 33-year-old serial killer Dean A. Corll. Notorious Houston Serial Killer Requests Compassionate Release How Teenager Elmer Wayne Henley Became The Accomplice Of One Of Americas Most Prolific Serial Killers, Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. gives an interview to. The officers who were dispatched had no inkling that they were about to uncover the most heinous and horrifying killing spree the nation had ever seen up until that point. Henley will shortly be sentenced to 594 years by a San Antonio court, but that is a formality. You won't do it!" Dean was a personal friend, as well as a source of income. When Brooks was 14, Corll began molesting him, all the while showering him with gifts and money to keep him quiet. . The oldest of the couples four sons, Henleys childhood home was an unhappy one. On July 25, Henley lured two friends of his named Charles Cobble and Marty Jones to Corll's apartment where, two days later, Cobble was shot and Jones strangled before the youths were buried in Corll's boat shed. Gregg started the interview, but struggled to get Henley to admit any involvement in anything. However, the abuse the younger Henley endured during his early life at the hands of his father would stay with him. "[8], Nonetheless, in late 1971, Henley also began spending time in Corll's company. They made their billions, but they werent going to be controlled by the government.. There is a coziness here that goes beyond sweating together. Please notify us by email that the article will be republished at, Supreme Court had declared to be cruel and unusual punishment. Henley fatally shot Corll after Corll hog tied, handcuffed and began to torture two of Henleys friends on the morning of August 8, 1973. As reported by ABC13, Elmer Wayne Henley led authorities to the bodies of the majority of the victims. [18] The same month, a 19-year-old named Richard Kepner was abducted while walking to phone his fiance from a pay phone.[19]. They Chose Mine. He is known for his distinctive voice and his ability to convey emotion through his voice. Articles must link back to the original article and contain the following attribution at the top of the story: This article was originally published by the, Articles cannot be rewritten, edited or changed beyond alignments with house style books. They had a little dinner tray they put on the edge of the bed to hold the cups. Williams, who was jailed and hospitalized for a time, was let go and told to forget and never speak of that night again. Which Serial Killers Are in Mindhunter Season 2? - POPSUGAR Fellatio was just another antidote to boredom, no more disagreeable than bagging. When Porras first met with Henley, according to the Houston Chronicle, she said, I thought I was looking at Hannibal Lecter., As the interview went on, she relaxed more, realizing Henley was not as terrifying as she initially thought. One time she wrote about sports. Henley woke to find Corll placing handcuffs upon his wrists,[1]:100,101 Kerley and Williams had each been bound and gagged and lay alongside Henley on the floor. Outlets must also tag the Observer in all social media posts. While Holden and Bill sweated through a thousand work shirts in a humid Georgia, Wendy and a nervous Gregg took on the interview of this week's killer: Elmer Wayne Henley, an . Lise Olsenis a Houston-based senior reporter and editor at the Texas Observer. I shot him once in the forehead; my hand went down, and I shot him twice in the shoulder. Texas did not adopt life without parole sentences until 2005. His father was an alcoholic who physically assaulted his wife and sons. Lise has investigated many twisted Texas tales, including crooked judges, an unjust execution, massive environmental disasters, myriad cases of corporate and public corruption, and unsolved serial killings. [32], The State of Texas presented a total of 82 pieces of evidence throughout Henley's trial, including the written confession Henley had given on August 8, which was read to the court in which he admitted killing or assisting in the abduction and murder of several youths, including the 6 teenagers for whose murder he was on trial. Hunter and prey were products of divided families that owed more allegiance to the hardscrabble farms of the past than to the pavement of the present. All of Corlls 28 known victims had either been shot or strangled, and in at least six instances, Henley himself fired the shots or pulled the cords that killed them. Henley is the compleat American punk, the kid your mother warned you against becoming if you let smoking stunt your growth. The lawyer and his young partners want to sell Henleys life story to recover their fees, and they see this exclusive interview as a kind of literary screen test. Corll was known throughout the community as the Candy Man, as his parents owned a candy company. She later said, I do believe he has remorse for what hes done. Bettmann/Getty Images (l.) / Netflix (r.)Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. (left) is portrayed by Robert Aramayo in the Netflix series Mindhunter. No one seemed impressed by the fact that the unusually large number of runaways in the Heights involved teen-age boys who attended the same schools. Externally, however, Corll remained calm: he waited until Henley and the other two teenagers fell asleep from a night of drinking and smoking marijuana before binding and gagging them. Henley was friends with two of the youths, David Hilligiest and Gregory Malley Winkle, who had disappeared on May 29, 1971, on their way to a local swimming pool. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. Was Texaswas the countryhoneycombed with the decomposing victims of some hidden force so demonic that it eluded ordinary perception and even memory lay buried? On August 8, 1973, Henley brought a further potential victim, 19-year-old Timothy Kerley, to Corll's home upon the promise of a party. Elmer Wayne Henley, Jr. is a killer. Other evidence included the torture board Corll handcuffed his victims to and the body box that he used to transport bodies to burial sites. The Astrodomes Decline From Eighth Wonder to Eighth Blunder of the World, Matthew McConaughey Is Monetizing His Whole Vibe. Although I have conducted hundreds of interviews, I am uneasy in the presence of this high-school dropout from Houston Heights. He does NOT deserve to have any compassion for any illness as my brother was not even treated with basic humanity, she wrote. Elmer Wayne Henley, 17, (R), accused of 6 of 27 Houston mass murders, is escorted to District Court by Chief Bexar County Deputy Rudy Garza, (L). The eyes dominate a face most notable for its nastiness, speckled green and too large, conveying an extraordinary distance that continues to impress long after the gaze wanders, the ready smile fades. For 26 years, Henley refused to talk to anyone in the media about those crimes. The three drove back to Corlls apartment, and Henley left. Texas officials rarely grant compassionate release, though people who are terminally ill, permanently disabled or elderly are potentially eligible for whats called medically recommended intensive supervision. Elmer is one of the most respected voice actors in the business. Henley was convicted for the murder of 27 young men and boys in 1974. That's exactly what I did." The two boys were killed by strangulation later the same day. Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. was born May 9, 1956, to Elmer Wayne Henley Sr. and Mary Henley in Houston, Texas. At Henley's trial in 1974, one of the six bodies found buried at High Island, that of 17-year-old John Manning Sellars, was disputed as being a victim of Corll by a forensic pathologist who examined his remains. Henley then shot Corll once in the forehead. Bail was set at $100,000. Its not.. August 10, 2022, 11:21 AM, CDT. Whether youre shopping Way Day 2023 or Walmart, theres an al fresco set for you. Eventually he calmed down and would give the two teenagers alcohol and drugs. Henley himself had actively participated in the search for them. He lacked a male figure in his life who would treat him with dignity and respect and he would end up finding this in Dean Corll. If I were you, I wouldnt want to know., Houston Heights is a seedy, lower-middle-class enclave with horizons limited to once-fashionable homes divided into low-rent apartments, and guarded by pickups on concrete blocks. But film maker Teana Schiefen Porras managed to break through not only correctional system red tape, but Henley's reluctance, to come away with a filmed interview. Murderers and murdered all drifted in a common miasma of thwarted desires, vague longings, sordid gratificationa quest of sorts. I wanted to find out what his deal was. [27]:161 Henley was not charged with the death of Dean Corll, which was ruled self-defense. At first I wondered what it was like to kill someone. I mean, you see people getting strangled on television and it looks easy. He had a big build, but he was flabby. He should stay where he is until he dies!. Henley is currently housed in Texas' Mark W. Michael Unit. Henley was sent to prison. While he insisted it was only meant to be a night of fun, not a night of torture and murder, this seems nave on Henleys part. The State of Texas presented a total of 82 pieces of evidence . He then turned himself over to police, confessing his involvement in one of the country's largest murder sprees. The Wild History Of Predjama Castle, The Medieval Fortress Built Into The Mouth Of A Cave, The Disturbing Story Of Ward Weaver III, The Oregon Dad Who Brutally Murdered His Daughter's Preteen Friends, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. Read this book and help me make up for the things I was too ignorant to teach you when I was in my twenties. Four days before his death, Dean telephoned his mother in Colorado and told her he was in trouble, feared he was losing his mind, and might commit suicide. My only regret is that Dean isnt here now, Henley would say afterward, so I could tell him what a good job I did killing him., Hed of been proud of the way I did it, he added, if he wasnt proud before he died.. When Elmer woke up he was laying on his stomach and felt Dean Corll trying to handcuff him. As had been the case with Frank Aguirre, Scott was raped, tortured, strangled and buried at High Island Beach before another two Heights youths, Billy Gene Baulch Jr. and Johnny Ray Delome, were also murdered and buried at High Island on May 21. In an interview for a 2002 documentary film, Henley said, I needed Deans approval. The two became friends and often played truant together. You can chip in for as little as 99 cents a month. Sometimes it takes two people half an hour.. He assumed that the boy had been sold to the Dallas organization Corll was a part of but he later found out that Corll had sexually assaulted the boy and then murdered him. Henley was convicted in 1974[1]:219 for his role as a participant in a series of murders known colloquially as the Houston Mass Murders in which a minimum of 28 teenage boys and young men were abducted, tortured, raped and murdered by Dean Corll between 1970 and 1973. Henley and David Owen Brooks (Corll's other teenage accomplice), together and individually, lured many of the victims to Corll's home. Corll was an average, submissive student who played the trombone in the Vidor school band, on the outskirts of Beaumont. Henley, answering in a soft voice, said, "No, ma'am, I'm not a serial killer. Within the wooden box, investigators had found several strands of human hair which examiners had concluded came from Charles Cobble. As a result, the estimated number of victims rose to at least 29. GALVESTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A man connected with the murders of six teenagers in 1973 died Thursday in a Galveston hospital while in the custody of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice,. Brooks became emotionally dependent upon Corll, and played a passive role in later, demented exaltation, for which he would be sentenced to only 99 years. One of Texas most famous death row exonerees died before winning compensation under a law inspired by his own story. Dean Corll was viewed as a friend to many children in Houston. Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. (left) is portrayed by Robert Aramayo in the Netflix series Mindhunter. Corll agreed. Although some of the victims' families were suspicious of the postcards, authorities were reluctant to investigate the disappearance of boys who appeared to be runaways. It focuses on FBI agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench as well as Dr. Wendy Carr as they interview many of America's most famous serial killers in the hopes of gaining some insight into their methodology and having a better shot at catching criminals like them before their body count continues to grow. I hated to lose my father, but since then weve just had a little friction. Generator vs power station: Which one is right for you? Unfortunately, this would lead him down a dark and deadly path. In 1991, 48 Hours produced a segment on the Houston Mass Murders, which included an interview with Henley in prison. He was still talking about organized theft, and wanting to know in case was I cornered, was I willing to off the guy. Seven minutes from true crime documentary, "THE KILLING OF AMERICA," on the infamous Henley/Corll Houston torture - murder case. After listening to the evidence presented, the jury initially indicted Henley on three counts of murder and Brooks on one count. Both Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley Jr., now in their late 50s, are serving life prison terms for their part in luring the boys to Corll's home, where they were sexually assaulted and killed.. Based on the real cases of former special agent John E. Douglas, Netflix's Mindhunter features chilling dramatized interviews with serial killers. At the age of 15, Henley dropped out of high school. He was hoping to get enough money together to take his girlfriend to the latest James Bond movie. He would later develop a minor criminal record, being arrested for assault with a deadly weapon in 1971 and burglary one year later. Performance meets portability with Apple's 2023 MacBook Pro. Over the next three years, Elmer Wayne Henley and David Brooks helped Dean Corll lure more than two dozen teenagers and young men to his home where they were raped, tortured, and eventually killed. It was a promise she kept, until now.. Porras was reluctant to say whether she considered Henley sincere in his thoughts, saying simply, "I think (the documentary) sends a powerful message. Initially, Henley was an excellent student at school;[1]:201 but after his parents' divorce he took a series of menial part-time jobs to help his mother with household finances, and his grades dropped sharply. Henley pleaded for his life, promising to participate in the torture and murder of the other youths if Corll released him. I stayed around because there was no reason for me to leave. Seated with us in the dentists officeit affords the only privacy in the ward, where Henley is considered safest from the two dozen people who have vowed to kill himis one of his defense attorneys, a retired army officer in owlish spectacles. Survivor of Dean Corll's slayings maintains contact with serial killer Sex didnt become a factor until later. Thats something Ive tried to build in me. As Corll began to assault and torture Tim Kerley, Henley began to cut away Williams' clothes with the knife Corll had handed him. Instead, he was held several days and tortured before being murdered and buried in Corlls rented boatshed. Elmer Wayne Henley and David Brooks were both convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. "I thought I was looking at Hannibal Lector," she said of her first meeting with Henley. All of the Texas Observers articles are available for free syndication for news sources under the following conditions: You can chip in for as little as 99 cents a month. Henley was born May 9, 1956, in Houston, Texas, the eldest of four sons born to Elmer Wayne Henley Sr. (September 21, 1938 June 18, 1986) and Mary Pauline Henley (ne Weed) (born May 4, 1937). The four got high and drank beer in the living room, but Corll was apparently livid with Henley for bringing a girl to his house. On July 16th, the jury reached their verdict in less than an hour: guilty on all six counts. Henley dropped out of high school at the age of 15, and it was around the same time that he met 16-year-old David Owen Brooks. On August 8, 1973 Dean Corll was upset with Elmer Henly as the then seventeen year old had brought a girl back to the house. Dean had been training me to react, to react fast and to react, greatly. Corll then dragged Henley by his cuffed hands into his kitchen and placed a .22 caliber pistol against his stomach, threatening to shoot him. Brooks accompanied Henley and the police to High Island Beach on Aug. 10, 1973, where they recovered another six bodies. Corll dragged Aguirre to his bedroom and secured him to his torture board where he was raped, tortured and strangled before being buried at High Island Beach. On June 4, a 15-year-old friend of Henley's named Billy Lawrence was abducted and, after 3 days of abuse and torture at an address Corll had moved to in Pasadena, strangled with a ligature and buried at Lake Sam Rayburn. Forty-five years ago this August, Houston's most notorious serial killer met his end. His mother married a salesman, divorced him, later married a merchant seaman and divorced again. As fate would have it, Corll saw something promising in Henley that he hadnt seen in other boys, and he became a twisted mentor of sorts for the troubled 15-year-old. Henley may represent the bottom of the trash barrel, but there is a disturbing resonance to his words. He and I can get along for a little while, when hes half sober and Im half sober.. If a child in opulent River Oaks had disappeared, the force would have mobilized, but those reported missing in the Heights were considered de facto trash, and expected to drift.
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