You might not know the names Elmer Wayne Henley, David Brooks, or Dean Corll but this trio’s body count mimicked Gacy and Bundy. I first learned of them in 1973 when I moved to Houston to begin my Internal Medicine residency. Two months after my arrival, this story broke and consumed the local and national news media. It began when 17 year Henley shot and killed Dean Corll. But this was not just another murder. This was the end game for one of the most dangerous predators ever.
Elmer Wayne Henley
Henley met Corll when he was 15, introduced by another teen, David Brooks. What followed was the stuff of nightmares. Henley and Brooks became procurers for Corll. They would bring other teenage males to Corll’s home where they would be raped, tortured, and murdered. Corll had rigged up a “torture board,” to which his victims would be attached and assaulted, sometimes for several days. And I seem to remember that he had also rigged up some old bedsprings as an electrocution device. Regardless, before Henley killed him, Corll’s body count was around 30 victims, making him one of the most prolific serial killers ever.
Dean Corll
Now Elmer Wayne is up for parole.
Parole? I don’t think so. I mean he did end Dean Corll’s terror reign but I’m not sure all the “procurement” can be overlooked.
