Dean Arnold Corll (December 24, 1939 – August 8, 1973) was an American serial killer and sex offender who abducted, raped, tortured and murdered at least 29 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 light after Henley fatally shot Corll. Upon discovery, the case was considered the worst example of serial murder in United States history.
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. They would then be restrained either by force or deception, and each was killed either by strangulation or shooting with a .22 caliber pistol. Corll and his accomplices buried eighteen of their victims in a rented boat shed; four other victims were buried in woodland near Lake Sam Rayburn, one victim was buried on a beach in Jefferson County, and at least six victims were buried on a beach on the Bolivar Peninsula. Brooks and Henley confessed to assisting Corll in several abductions and murders; both were sentenced to life imprisonment.
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.
Early life
Childhood Dean Arnold Corll was born on December 24, 1939, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the first child of Mary Emma Robison (1916–2010) and Arnold Edwin Corll (1916–2001). Corll's father was strict with his children, whereas his mother was markedly protective of both her sons. Their marriage was marred by frequent quarreling and the couple divorced in 1946, four years after the birth of their younger son, Stanley Wayne. Mary subsequently sold the family home and relocated to a trailer home in Memphis, Tennessee, where Arnold had been drafted into the United States Air Force after their divorce, to allow her sons to remain in contact with their father.
Corll was a shy, serious child who rarely socialized with other children, but at the same time displayed concern for the wellbeing of others. He was also markedly sensitive to any form of criticism or rejection. At the age of seven, he suffered an undiagnosed case of rheumatic fever, which was not recognized until doctors found Corll had a heart murmur in 1950. As a result of this diagnosis, Corll was told to avoid physical education classes in school.
Corll's parents attempted reconciliation and remarried in 1950, subsequently moving to Pasadena, Texas, a suburb of Houston; however, the reconciliation was short lived and, in 1953, the couple once again divorced, with the mother again retaining custody of her two sons and briefly residing in a trailer home upon a rural farm while supporting her children via menial employment. The divorce was granted on amicable grounds and both boys maintained regular contact with their father.
Following the second divorce, Corll's mother married a traveling clock salesman named Jake John West. The family moved to the small town of Vidor, Texas, where Corll's half-sister, Joyce Jeanine (1955–2016), was born. Corll's mother and stepfather started a small family candy company, initially operating from the garage of their home. From the earliest days of the business, Corll worked day and night while still attending school. He and his younger brother were responsible for operating the candy-making machines and packing the product, which his stepfather sold on his sales route. This route often involved West traveling to Houston, where much of the product was sold.
From 1954 to 1958, Corll attended Vidor High School, where he was regarded as a well-behaved student who achieved satisfactory grades. As had been the case in his childhood, Corll was also considered somewhat of a loner, although he is known to have occasionally dated girls in his teenage years. In high school, Corll's only major interest was the brass band, in which he played trombone.
Move to Houston Heights Corll graduated from Vidor High School in the summer of 1958. Shortly thereafter, he and his family moved to the northern outskirts of Houston so that the family candy business could be closer to the city where the majority of their product was sold. Corll's family opened a new shop, which they named Pecan Prince in reference to the brand name of the family product. In 1960, at the request of his mother, Corll moved to Yoder, Indiana, to live with his widowed grandmother. During this time, Corll formed a close relationship with a local girl, although he rejected a subsequent marriage proposal she made to him in 1962. Corll lived in Indiana for almost two years but returned to Houston in 1962 to help with his family's candy business, which by this date had moved to Houston Heights. He later moved into an apartment of his own above the shop.
Corll's mother divorced West in 1963 and opened a new candy business, which she named Corll Candy Company; Dean was appointed vice president of the new family firm, with his younger brother Stanley being appointed secretary-treasurer. The same year, one of the teenaged male employees of Corll Candy Company complained to Corll's mother that her son had made sexual advances towards him. In response, she fired the teenager.
U.S. Army service Corll was drafted into the United States Army on August 10, 1964, and assigned to Fort Polk, Louisiana, for basic training. He was later assigned to Fort Benning, Georgia, to train as a radio repairman before his permanent assignment to Fort Hood, Texas. According to official military records, Corll's period of service in the army was unblemished. Corll, however, reportedly hated military service; he applied for a hardship discharge on the grounds that he was needed in his family's business. The army granted his request and he was given an honorable discharge on June 11, 1965, after ten months of service.
Reportedly, Corll divulged to some of his close acquaintances after his release from the army that it was during his military service that he had first realized that he was homosexual and had experienced his first homosexual encounters. Other acquaintances noted subtle changes in Corll's mannerisms when in the company of teenage males after he had completed his service and returned to Houston, which led them to believe he may have been homosexual.
Corll Candy Company Following his honorable discharge from the army, Corll returned to Houston Heights and resumed the position he had held as vice-president of Corll Candy Company. Corll's former stepfather had retained ownership of the family's former candy business, Pecan Prince, following his divorce from Corll's mother in 1963; competition between the two firms was fierce. As had been the case in his teenage years, Corll increased the number of hours he devoted to the candy business to satisfy an increasing public demand for his family's product.
In 1965, Corll Candy Company relocated to a bungalow on West 22nd Street, directly across the street from Helms Elementary School. Corll was known to give free candy to local children, in particular teenage boys. As a result of this behavior, he earned himself the nicknames of the "Candy Man" and the "Pied Piper." The company employed a small workforce, and he was seen to behave flirtatiously toward several teenage male employees. Corll is also known to have installed a pool table at the rear of the candy factory where employees and local youths would congregate—typically in the evening—to listen to music and play pool or penny ante.
Relationship with David Brooks In 1967, Corll befriended 12-year-old David Owen Brooks, then a sixth grade student and one of the many children to whom he gave free candy. Brooks initially became one of Corll's many youthful companions, regularly socializing with Corll and various teenage boys who congregated at the rear of the candy factory. He also joined Corll on the regular trips he took to South Texas beaches in the company of various youths, and later commented that Corll was the first adult male who did not mock his appearance. Whenever Brooks told Corll he needed cash, Corll gave him money, and the youth began to view Corll as a father figure. Upon Corll's urging, a sexual relationship gradually developed between the two. Beginning in 1969, Corll alternately paid Brooks up to $10 or purchased gifts for the teenager to allow him to perform fellatio on the youth.
Brooks's parents were divorced; his father lived in Houston and his mother had relocated to Beaumont, a city east of Houston. In 1970, when he was 15, Brooks dropped out of Waltrip High School and moved to Beaumont to live with his mother. Whenever he visited his father in Houston, he also visited Corll, who allowed him to stay at his apartment if he wished. Later the same year, Brooks moved back to Houston. By his own later admission, Brooks began regarding Corll's apartment as his second home.
By the time Brooks dropped out of high school, Corll's mother, brother and half-sister had relocated to Manitou Springs, Colorado, after the failure of her third marriage and the closure of Corll Candy Company in June 1968. Corll's mother opened a new candy firm in Colorado, although Corll remained in Houston. Although she often talked to her eldest son on the telephone, his mother never saw him again.
Shortly before the closure of the candy company, Corll took a job as an electrician at the Houston Lighting and Power Company (HL&P) while simultaneously working for the family firm. In this employment, he tested electrical relay systems, and later rose to the rank of supervisor. Corll worked in this employment until the day of his death.
Murders Between 1970 and 1973, Corll is known to have killed a minimum of twenty-nine victims. All of his victims were males aged 13 to 20, the majority of whom were in their mid-teens. Most victims were abducted from Houston Heights, which was then a low-income neighborhood northwest of downtown Houston. In most of these abductions, he was assisted by one or both of his teenage accomplices: David Owen Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley. Several victims were friends of one or both of Corll's accomplices; others were either hitchhikers or individuals with whom Corll had himself become acquainted prior to their abduction and murder, and two other victims, Billy Gene Baulch Jr. and Gregory Malley Winkle, were former employees of Corll Candy Company.
Corll's victims were usually lured into either one of the two vehicles he owned (a Ford Econoline van and a Plymouth GTX) or a 1969 Chevrolet Corvette he is known to have purchased for Brooks in February 1971. The enticement was typically an offer of a party or a lift, and the victim would be driven to Corll's house. At Corll's residence, the youths would be plied with alcohol or other drugs until they passed out, tricked into donning handcuffs, or simply grabbed by force. They were then stripped naked and tied to either Corll's bed or, usually, a marine-grade plywood torture board which was regularly hung on a wall. Once manacled, the victims would be sexually assaulted, beaten, tortured and, sometimes after several days, killed by strangulation or shooting with a .22 caliber pistol. Their bodies were then tied in plastic sheeting and buried in one of four places: a rented boat shed in Southwest Houston, a beach on the Bolivar Peninsula, a woodland near Lake Sam Rayburn (where Corll's family owned a lakeside log cabin), or a beach in Jefferson County.
In several instances, Corll forced his victims to either phone or write to their parents with explanations for their absences in an effort to allay the parents' fears for their sons' safety. He is also known to have retained keepsakes—usually keys—from his victims.