This Was One Candy Man You Did Not Want To Call

Today, The Candy Man might be better recognized by his birth name, Dean Arnold Corll. Together with his teenage accomplices Elmer Wayne Henley, Jr. and David Owen Brooks, Corll was responsible for abducting and killing as many as 28 teen boys and young adult males. In between kidnapping his victims and killing them, Corll and his cohorts committed unspeakable acts of rape and torture upon them. The serial murders, known as the Houston Mass Murders in the media, took place in just three years, starting in 1970.

Sweets for the Sweet

Dean Arnold Corll, also known as The Candy Man

The Candy Man was the name given to Corll, simply because his family owned a candy factory and he had a habit of giving free candy away to neighborhood children. The nickname is also fitting, because Dean used temptation to lure his prey into his trap. He would offer boys and men a ride or invite them to a party as a means of getting them alone and within his control.  Once the opportunity presented itself, Corll or one of his accomplices would restrain the victim to keep him from escaping.

Once they had finished torturing and raping a victim, he was often killed with a .22 calibre pistol. Some victims were killed by strangulation. In any case, the bodies were promptly disposed of in various locations throughout Houston, Texas. 17 of them were buried in a rented boat shed; 4 were disposed of near Lake Sam Rayburn; 1 was buried at a Jefferson County beach; and six or more victims were buried in the ground at Bolivar Peninsula.

In the early 70s, when these killings occurred, they were dubbed the worst serial killings in American history.

Be My Victim

Police displaying Dean Corll's torture board.

Once a victim was lured into Corll’s Ford Econoline van, the trio took him back to Corll’s home, where they would indulge themselves. The Candy Man had created a torture board, consisting of an 8x2 piece of plywood with handcuffs and nylon ropes attached for securing the limbs of each victim. The torture board was secured to a wall in Dean’s home. Each victim was stripped naked, before being fastened to the board.

Now that the victim was secured, he could be tortured and raped repeatedly by Corll and his friends over the course of several days. Corll often coerced his victims into writing letters or making phone calls to their loved ones. This would buy him extra time to continue torturing the victim, since the contact stalled the victim’s family from filing a missing person’s report. This often gave Dean, Elmer, and David several days to beat, rape, and torture each victim.

"Once they were on the board, they were as good as dead; it was all over but the shouting and the crying,” David Brooks would eventually confess.

What’s Blood For If Not For Shedding?

Workers help police dig up bodies in the boat shed rented by Dean Corll.

Forensic examination of the bodies suggest that The Candy Man of Houston Heights did indulge his voracious sexual appetites.  The pubic hairs had been plucked out of each victim and there was evidence that the genitals had been chewed. Dildos and other objects had been forcefully shoved into the rectums of many of the victims. Additionally, Corll had inserted glass rods into the urethra of the penis, which is the hole and connecting tube that allows urine to pass from the bladder . Once the glass rod was inserted, it was smashed to allow shattered glass to slice small cuts along the length of the urethra.

The pain produced by these methods of torture was intense, so Corll found it necessary to gag his victims. He did so by stuffing cloth into each victim’s mouth and winding tape around to keep the cloth in place. While this didn’t keep his victims from screaming, it did muffle their sounds. Police concluded that one victim had been in the midst of screaming when he died; his teeth were bared and his mouth was agape around the cloth when they found him.

Eventually, The Candy Man met his demise.

The Demise of Dean Arnold Corll

The body of Dean Arnold Corll.

On August 8, 1973, Elmer Henley, Jr. spent the evening partying with a 19-year-old male friend, Timothy Cordell Kerley , and a 15-year-old girl, Rhonda Williams. Unfortunately, he brought them both to Corll’s home. After hours of drinking and getting high, all three teenagers passed out in Corll’s home. They awakened to find themselves restrained with nylon rope and each had their mouths taped shut. Timothy Kerley had been stripped naked.

“Man, you blew it bringing that girl,” Corll told Henley. “I’m going to kill you all, but first I’m going to have my fun.”

At this point, Corll’s anger got the better of him. He repeatedly kicked Rhonda in the chest before dragging Elmer away and into the kitchen. Once there, he shoved the pistol at his stomach and threatened to kill him. Henley later told police that he managed to calm Dean and convince him he would help kill the other two teenagers. Accepting this offer at face value, Corll untied Henley.

Once they rejoined Kerley and Williams, Corll handed Henley a hunting knife and instructed him to start cutting away Rhonda’s clothes. Dean planned for Henley to rape Rhonda, while he raped Timothy, but Rhonda’s pleas for help seemed to jar him from his complacency.

Elmer managed to get a hold of Dean’s .22 and pointed it at him. Distraught, he yelled at Dean for trying to kill all of his friends, telling him he’d taken things too far.

Even at this moment. The Candy Man doubted the boy would defy him. He reached for the pistol, but, as the two started to struggle, the pistol fired two bullets into his chest. Henley might have been shocked, but he also knew he had to act fast. He fired three more shots, which penetrated Corll’s lower back.

The Candy Man was dead.