Elmer Wayne Henley - Confession

Confession

On the evening of August 8, Henley confessed to police that for almost three years, he and David Brooks had helped procure teenage boys - some of whom had been their own friends - for Dean Corll. Henley unequivocally stated that since the winter of 1971, he had actively participated in the abductions and, later, the murders of the victims. He stated that Brooks had also been an active accomplice - albeit for a longer period of time than he.

Henley stated to police that Corll had paid he and Brooks $200 for each victim they were able to lure to his apartment, and informed police that Corll had buried most of his victims in a boatshed in Southwest Houston, and others at Lake Sam Rayburn and High Island Beach. He agreed to accompany police to each of the burial sites to assist in the recovery of the victims.

Between August 8 and August 13, a total of 27 boys between the ages of 13 and 20 were found buried at the three locations Henley (and later, Brooks) had stated they and Corll had buried the victims, with an additional victim being discovered in 1983. Seventeen of the victims were found buried in the boat shed, a further four victims were found at Lake Sam Rayburn, six bodies were found buried at High Island Beach (although the body of a seventh victim buried at High Island, Mark Scott, still lies undiscovered at this location) and the body of a 29th victim was found buried at Jefferson County Beach in August 1983. All the victims found were young males and many had been sexually tortured in addition to being sexually assaulted. Autopsies revealed each victim had been killed by either strangulation, shooting or a combination of both.

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. The youth, who vanished on July 12, 1973, had died of four gunshot wounds fired from a rifle, whereas each other victim of the Houston Mass Murders had either been strangled or killed by the .22 caliber pistol Henley had used to kill Dean Corll. However, Henley and Brooks had led police to Sellars' body on August 13, 1973 and the youth's body was found bound hand and foot and buried in a manner similar to Corll's other known victims.