Elmer Wayne Henley Jr., A Teenage Victim Turned Accomplice
Bettmann/Getty ImagesElmer Wayne Henley Jr. was nearly a victim of Dean Corll, but became his accomplice instead.
Between 1970 and 1973, Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. became one of America’s most notorious accomplices to serial murder, helping the infamous “Candy Man” Dean Corll kidnap, rape, and murder at least 28 boys.
And in a twisted turn of fate, Henley himself killed six victims before ultimately turning the gun on his mentor.
When 15-year-old Henley first met Dean Corll in 1971, he had no idea he was being targeted by one of the nation’s most vicious predators. What began as potential victimhood transformed into something far more sinister — a partnership that would terrorize Houston for years.
Like Robinson, Henley had grown up with an abusive, alcoholic father who regularly brutalized the family. After dropping out of high school at 15, he began roaming Houston’s Heights neighborhood with a 16-year-old friend named David Owen Brooks.
They would smoke marijuana, drink, and shoot pool, but Henley’s life would change forever when Brooks introduced him to Dean Corll, a man he had met four years earlier when he was just 12. Corll, who worked at his mother’s candy factory and handed out sweets to children, was known to them as “The Candy Man.”
Unbeknownst to Henley at the time, Corll had been molesting Brooks for years, using gifts, money, and shelter to maintain control over him. He eventually recruited Brooks to bring him other boys, paying him for each victim. When Brooks introduced Henley to Corll in late 1971, it was likely to “sell” him to the serial killer.
Henley, meanwhile, was fascinated by Corll’s apparent stability and quiet demeanor — a far cry from the abusive father he had known. This unfortunately made it easier for him to become wrapped up in Corll’s web of lies. Corll claimed to be part of a Dallas organization that trafficked boys and made Henley the same offer he’d made Brooks: $200 for each victim he could deliver.
At first, Henley ignored the offer. Eventually, though, financial desperation won out, and he agreed to help in early 1972. Their first victim was a random teenager Henley lured with promises of smoking marijuana. He assumed this boy had been sold to traffickers — only to later discover that Corll had sexually assaulted and murdered him.
Despite his horror at this revelation, Henley didn’t contact police. Instead, he continued bringing victims to Corll, including his own friends.
He wasn’t deterred when Corll revealed he had murdered Henley’s close friend David Hilligeist in May 1971. He even brought another friend, Frank Aguirre, to Corll, then helped bury Aguirre’s body at High Island Beach after Corll raped and killed him.
Eventually, Henley became a killer himself, personally murdering six victims by shooting or strangulation. “At first I wondered what it was like to kill someone,” he admitted. “Later, I became fascinated with how much stamina people have.”
The Houston Mass Murders came to an abrupt end on Aug. 8, 1973, when Henley brought friends Tim Kerley and Rhonda Williams to Corll’s home. After the group got high and passed out, Corll tied up all three teenagers. To Henley’s apparent surprise, Corll was furious with Henley for bringing a girl, saying he had “ruined everything.”
Bettmann/Getty ImagesElmer Wayne Henley Jr. leading police to the location he and Corll hid the bodies of their victims.
To appease his mentor, Henley suggested they rape and kill both captives together. Corll agreed and untied Henley, giving him a knife while taking a gun for himself. But as Corll prepared to torture the victims, something in Henley snapped.
Standing in the bedroom doorway with Corll’s own gun, Henley told his mentor that the killing had to stop. When Corll dismissively responded, “You’re not going to do anything to me,” Henley shot him once in the forehead. When that didn’t kill him, Henley fired five more rounds into Corll’s back and shoulder.
“My only regret is that Dean isn’t here now so I could tell him what a good job I did killing him,” Henley would later say. “He’d of been proud of the way I did it.”
After killing Corll, Henley called 911 and led police to the burial sites where 27 bodies were recovered — 17 at Southwest Boat Storage, four at Sam Rayburn Lake, and six at High Island Beach.
