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- [00:02]
A
Hi listeners. Exciting news Crime House plus and Murder True Crime Stories are celebrating America's 250th by dropping a four part limited series on the crimes that built America. These are the crimes and cases that gave us Miranda rights, sparked criminal profiling, and a murder that built America's missing children movement. Follow Murder True Crime Stories for a new episode every Monday leading up to July 4th. Or or you can listen to all of them right now with Crime House Plus. To join, go to crimehouseplus.com or if you're listening on Apple Podcasts, tap try free at the top of this show's page. This is Crime House. Most of us have experienced some form of betrayal in our lives. Maybe a friend lied, or a partner cheated, or maybe we were the ones who betrayed someone else. When that happens, we're usually left to clean up our own mess and deal with our shame. Unless we don't feel guilty about it. In situations where someone doesn't deserve our loyalty, or if they're involved in something we don't agree with, like something criminal, then betraying them might be the right thing to do. In 1970s Houston, this is the exact situation 17 year old Wayne Henley found himself in. For years, Wayne had been acting as an accomplice to Dean Corll, one of the most violent and twisted serial killers ever to live. But one day, Wayne decided he didn't want to be Dean's henchman anymore. So he made a drastic decision. And in doing so, Wayne unearthed unimaginable horrors. The human mind is powerful. It shapes how we think, feel, love and hate. But sometimes it drives people to commit the unthinkable. This is Serial Killers and murderous minds. A Crime House Original. I'm Vanessa Richardson.
- [02:22]
B
And I'm forensic psychologist Dr. Tristan Ingalls. Every Monday and Thursday, we uncover the darkest minds in history, analyzing what makes a killer.
- [02:31]
A
Crime House exists because of listeners like you. Want even more? Join Crime House plus and get both parts of every story dropped on the Same Monday completely ad free. No waiting 3 days for part 2 plus crime house bonus episodes every month. To join, go to crimehouseplus.com or if you listen on Apple Podcasts, tap try free at the top of the Serial Killing and Murderous Minds page. Before we get started, be advised that this episode contains discussion of pedophilia, rape and murder. So please listen with care. Today we conclude our deep dive into Dean Corll, a Houston based business owner who used his status in the community to lure, rape and kill dozens of teenage boys in the 1970s. Dean didn't just ensnare his victims, he also manipulated two young accomplices. And even though he used them to carry out twisted desires, Dean had no idea that one of the people closest to him would usher in his downfall.
- [03:33]
B
As Vanessa goes through the story, I'll be talking about things like why victims of the same abuser may compete for that person's approval, how some violent offenders find new ways to toy with their victim's emotions, and what it may take for an accomplice to turn on the person that they've been committing violent crimes with.
- [03:52]
A
And as always, we'll be asking the question, what makes a killer? Losing weight is one thing, but keeping it off? That can be really, really hard. That's why Weight Loss by Hers now offers access to the FDA approved Wegovy pill and the FDA approved WeGovy pen. Wegovy helps you regulate your appetite, eat less and keep weight off. Plus, it's the first GLP1 available in a pillar, meaning no needles are needed. Everything is handled 100% online through hers, where you'll connect with a licensed provider who will determine if treatment is right for you. If prescribed, your medication is delivered right to your door. With a range of affordable GLP1 options, hers makes it simple to find an approach that fits your needs and your budget, giving you a personalized treatment plan with unlimited dosage changes. Ready to reach your goals? Visit fourhers.com cereal to get personalized, affordable care that gets you that's F O R H E-R-S.com cereal fourhers.com Cereal weight loss by hers is not available in all 50 states. WeGovy is the registered trademark of Novo Nordisk as To get started and learn more, including important safety information, WeGovy clinical study information, and restrictions, visit fourhers.com By April of 1972, 32 year old Dean Corll had murdered teenage boys. Over the last two years, Dean was well known among local boys in Houston, Texas because he and his mother once ran a candy business there. Once he gained enough popularity among those boys, he started inviting them to his apartment. They liked hanging out there because he had a pool table, stereo, and he let them drink and smoke as much as they wanted. But that wasn't all Dean had. In his home, he'd also set up a large wooden board which he used to restrain his victims. After luring them inside, Dean would sexually assault them before killing them. Usually he strangled them to death, but sometimes Dean's victims were killed with a gun and afterward he either buried them at a Beach about 60 miles away, or in a rented boat shed near where he lived. The shed was 12 by 34ft and had a dirt floor which was about 6ft deep. With such a tight space, Dean had been burying bodies on top of each other. He wrapped most of his victims in plastic and covered them in lime to mask the smell. He did this with the help of his two accomplices. Other local teens whom he'd groomed and manipulated into helping him. 16 year old David Brooks and 15 year old Wayne Henley. David and Wayne not only helped clean up, but they helped find and lure victims for Dean. Dean had even convinced Wayne to kill his most recent victim for him. At the same time, tension had been brewing between the three of them because Wayne and David seemed to be competing for Dean's attention and approval.
- [06:53]
B
If Dean is supporting the tension between David and Wayne, which I suspect he is, then that would be giving him more control over them. Because if they're competing with one another, they're competing over his attention, approval, and protection, which is validation for Dean, and it's confirmation of their loyalty. And it's also useful for Dean because it keeps them focused on each other instead of on the person who's controlling them or what he's controlling. And it also isolates them from each other. If David and Wayne had trusted each other or become close, they might have compared experiences or started questioning Dean's control, or even recognized that they were both trapped in the same abusive system. But rivalry prevents that. It makes cooperation less likely and dependence on Dean stronger. But also, once Dean got them involved in violence, shame and fear become another form of his control. Each boy had reason to think that they're already implicated and that they can't go back now. And if Dean could make them compete over who was more loyal, he could pull them in deeper into that shared guilt. So splitting them, triangulating them, all of this reinforced his status and made them more dependent on his approval and reduced the likelihood that they would ever unite against him.
- [08:13]
A
How might these feelings of competitiveness influence Wayne and David and maybe even pose a risk to potential victims?
- [08:21]
B
Competition for Dean's approval could make them cross lines that they might not have been willing to cross before, all to prove themselves to him. Whatever limits or hesitation that they might have had might become blurred by the need to stay useful, favored or protected by him. And that creates an enormous risk to potential victims. Because Wayne and David were no longer passive bystanders, they had become part of his method. They could help Dean lure boys, lower their defenses, keep them calm. And make the situation look safer for the victims than it actually was. So Wayne and David also gave Dean access to peers of theirs. They were the same age as many of the boys that he targeted. So they knew where these boys were. They knew who was vulnerable, they knew who might come along or how to invite them in disarming ways. And Dean used that. He turned their friendships and their credibility into access and into part of his offending strategy. And they may put more effort into that to prove their loyalty to him.
- [09:25]
A
In May of 1972, one month since Dean claimed his last victim, David and Wayne teamed up to find the next ones. They ended up finding two boys Dean already knew. 17 year old Billy Balch, who used to work for Dean's mother's candy business, and his friend, 16 year old Johnny Delome. Dean carried out his usual MO. He sexually assaulted and killed both boys. But before killing them, he did something new and twisted. Dean forced them to write letters to their parents explaining that they ran away. He told them to say they'd found jobs with a trucking company. Then Dean enlisted Wayne's help, strangling and shooting them. And once the boys were dead, Dean mailed the letters.
- [10:12]
B
This is a shift, and I think there are a few possible reasons. On the practical side, making them write these letters creates a false narrative. A lot of boys have gone missing now. So if the families believe that the boys had run away willingly, that could delay searches and it could buy Dean more time. But psychologically, it also suggests there's a deeper level of control. He was forcing them to participate in a lie that would explain their own disappearance to their family. That's an extreme form of domination. He's controlling their bodies, he's controlling their fear and their final moments, but also he's controlling the words that their families or their parents would receive after they were actually dead. And that's particularly cruel. And for their families, the letters could create confusion instead of immediate alarm. Instead of knowing their child was in danger, they are going to be left with a lot of lingering questions like was my child angry? Were they hiding something? Did I miss any signs? Imagine being left those thoughts and never getting an answer. But also, why would they leave and say goodbye in this way, only to never hear from them again? That's a confusing message to leave them and it's devastating. It can also delay grief for the families and it leaves them trapped between hope and dread. And it's just cruel in so many ways.
- [11:36]
A
Dean thought his letter writing plan was foolproof. However, things didn't go as smoothly as he'd imagined, Johnny's parents didn't contact the police because his stepfather thought he'd simply run off for a few days and would be back. However, Billy's parents quickly reported him missing. But just like with all the previous victims, Houston PD shrugged off their concerns. But then when Billy and Johnny's parents received the letters, they realized something was seriously wrong. Billy's father was a trucker, and he knew that teenagers couldn't get jobs like the ones they'd described. Not only that, but Johnny had never been great at spelling. However, everything in his letter was spelled correctly, which told his mother that someone else was behind it. Billy and Johnny's loved ones went back to the police. But rather than listen to their concerns, officers believed the letters were real and removed the boys from their missing persons list. It was exactly what Dean had wanted to happen. But he also knew he couldn't get too comfortable. Rather than stay in the same apartment where neighbors might catch on to what was going on, he started moving around frequently. David and Wayne lived with him wherever he went, and they always helped Dean set up his torture board in the new dwelling. Despite how busy all these moves kept them, the trio struck again in July of 1972. That month, they killed 17 year old Steven Furtig Sickman. One month later, they killed 19 year old Roy Bunton. As always, the police weren't concerned about either victim. Meanwhile, Dean's M.O. was becoming more sinister by the day. On October 2, 1972, Dean kidnapped, assaulted and killed four 14 year old Wally J. Simoneau and his friend, 13 year old Richard Hembury. And before Wally died, something strange happened. Wally's mother received a phone call from him. When she picked up, he called her mama in a weak voice. Then she heard strange shuffling noises before the line went dead. To this day, it's unclear if Wally had briefly managed to escape and call his mother, or if Dean forced him to call her like he'd forced previous victims to write letters to their families. Either way, just like before, Houston PD blew off the family's concerns. So Dean continued his violent crime spree. In the summer of 1973, he moved into a bungalow in Pasadena, Texas, about 15 miles from Houston. It was a standalone house, which meant Dean didn't have to worry about neighbors hearing noises. Despite this, Dean wanted even more privacy the next time he claimed a life, because he planned to act more gruesomely than ever. In June of that year, Dean and Wayne invited 15 year old Billy Lawrence on a fishing trip. Dean had initially met Billy Through Wayne. And they told him they'd be staying at Dean's family cabin at Lake Sam Rayburn, about two and a half hours northeast of Houston. Billy had no idea the fishing trip was a ruse. In reality, Dean held him captive and tortured him for days. Afterward, Dean forced Billy to write his father a letter saying he'd gotten a job in Austin. Billy ended the letter by saying, quote, daddy, I hope you know I love you. Then Dean and Wayne strangled Billy and shot him. They put his body in a box and buried him near the cabin.
- [15:11]
B
This is another escalation in so many ways. And the timing is important because it happens after they move into a bungalow where they have a change of scenery and added privacy. But then, almost immediately, he sought even more isolation by taking Billy to this remote cabin. Everything that he did to bring them here and everything he did while there and in the aftermath of that all point to increasing confidence and increasing sadism. He was creating more time, more isolation, and more control. His pattern of behavior, his methods, including the letter writing and certainly the phone call from Wally, if we know for sure that that's what happened, all indicate that suffering is part of the gratification for him. Now we see more planning around prolonging the victim's terror. The cabin gave him distance from neighbors, distance from interruption, and distance from immediate accountability. That kind of setting allowed Dean to control the entire experience and prolong it. He is becoming more entrenched and confident and invested in domination, likely because he keeps getting away with it. Each time there is no meaningful intervention mentioned, his system is reinforced. Even targeting two boys at once may reflect that. And some of it may have been practical because kids back then often moved through the neighborhood with friends. But when you add up the number of victims at a time and the way missing boys were repeatedly treated as runaways, it's just astounding how no one has connected these yet, even for that time in that era. But that's hindsight bias for you. It's easy for us to say that from this far in the future, but. But that said, that lack of intervention can create overconfidence, which helps explain why these crimes became more elaborate, prolonged, and brazen.
- [17:09]
A
How do you think Dean's evolving MO affects the way he holds control over David and Wayne?
- [17:14]
B
It strengthens it, because the more Dean gets away with it, the more untouchable he appears to them. They're still so young, and they depend on him and they look up to him. So this reinforces their dependence and their compliance even more. The police keep classifying his victims as runaways, they're disregarding concerned parents. So if the police are not believing the parents or they're not believing the community even then, what makes David or Wayne believe that the police will listen to them who are actual children themselves? So in that regard, if they believe that Dean cannot be stopped because the police don't even believe that these missing children are actually missing, then staying useful to him is going to feel safer than challenging him. And every time they help him and nothing happens, they become more implicated, more afraid and more trapped.
- [18:09]
A
After Billy's murder, the dynamics of Dean's group started to change. In July of 1973, 17 year old David Brooks married his girlfriend Bridget, who was expecting their child and moved out of Dean's house to live with her. Even though David still partied with Dean and was present for some of the murders to follow. It seems like Dean took it hard when David moved out because around that same time, Wayne noticed that Dean started smoking cigarettes and became nervous and twitchy. But that was the least of Wayne's concerns because Dean had also taken a liking to someone especially close to Wayne, his little brother Ronnie. Wayne was growing more fearful by the day that Ronnie would be next. Especially when Dean and did something more sadistic than ever. By the summer of 1973, 33 year old Dean Corll had viciously claimed the lives of over 20 teenage boys in Houston, Texas. Many of Dean's attacks wouldn't have been possible without the help of his accomplices David Brooks and Wayne Henley. However, Wayne was reaching his limit. He felt like Dean was mentally unraveling more by the day. Not only that, but Dean had taken a liking to Wayne's younger brother Ronnie. It's possible Wayne wanted to distract Dean from Ronnie because after Billy Lawrence's murder In June of 1973, Dean killed a new victim almost every week, including 20 year old Ray Blackburn and 15 year old Homer Luis Garcia. Some victims were random hitchhikers, while others were people who Dean or his accomplices knew beforehand. But one of Dean's cruelest murders of all occurred on July 19, 1973. That day, 15 year old Michael Anthony Balch told his parents he was going to get a haircut. But that was a lie. In reality, Michael was going to try and find his older brother Billy, who Dean and the others had killed a year earlier. Since the Balch family hadn't received help from the police, Michael was now determined to find answers on his own. Michael's friends later speculated that he might have known Dean had something to do with his brother's disappearance. And it's possible he did learn what had happened to his brother before meeting the same fate. At some point while Michael was out, he crossed paths with Dean, who brought him back to his house and showed shot him twice in the head before driving back to his cabin at Lake Sam Rayburn to bury his body. The Balches had now lost two sons to Dean Corll. More parents in Houston would keep meeting the same horrific tragedy. One week after Michael died, Dean committed the double murder of 18 year old Marty Jones and 17 year old Charles Cobble. The two boys were roommates. And once again Dean found a new way to toy with his victim's emotions before they died. After torturing Marty and Charles, he told them to fight each other. He said the winner would get to live. Terrified, they did as they were told. Soon they were bloody and beaten. When they were too exhausted to keep going, Dean and Wayne shot them both.
- [21:31]
B
Dean's domination has gotten more severe and he was headed that way anyway. But it's interesting that Dean this escalation happens after David moves out and Wayne begins to pull back a little. Dean might feel as if his control is slipping. And when that happens, control oriented offenders like Dean try to tighten their grip when they can. And forcing victims to participate in their own harm was a way to control their choices, their fear, their hope and their relationship with each other. It also allowed Dean to corrupt the bond between them. These were roommates, they knew each other. Forcing them to fight turned their relationship into part of the violence. Which is not unlike what he was doing between David and Wayne. Only on a much more magnified scale, of course. But that seems to be psychologically gratifying for him because it amplified his power. There's also a sadistic element here. The suffering was not incidental. The fear, confusion, humiliation, the torment all appeared to have been part of what he wanted. So the motive for him may have been control and sadism. Dean forced them into a game where he was the only person with the real power. And even their attempt to survive became something he controlled. It's just horrific.
- [22:50]
A
What are the possible psychological effects on friends forced to choose between hurting each other or facing death? Basically dire consequences?
- [23:00]
B
Oh gosh. I mean, it's a no win situation. They are trapped between survival and loyalty. And either option is unbearable. And in that moment, they're responding from terror and their survival system takes over. If someone survives something like that, and we know in this case they're not, but if they did, the aftermath can include intense survivor Guilt, shame, self blame, intrusive memories, and moral injury. Because they'll likely feel responsible for what they did under threat, even though the responsibility belongs to the person who created the impossible situation. We're talking about lifelong injury here, emotionally.
- [23:39]
A
Well, whatever Wayne was feeling, it wasn't enough to stop him from continuing to help Dean. A little over a week after killing Charlie and Marty on August 3rd, Dean and Wayne picked up 13 year old Stanton Dremela while he was out riding his bike. Dean tortured and killed Stanton, then wrapped his body in plastic. Then he and Wayne buried him in the boat shed and left his bike there too. David Brooks wasn't there for this murder. By now, he had one foot out the door. David had gotten married that summer and he had a child now. So he'd been distancing himself from Dean. And Dean didn't like it at all. He resented that David was building his own life, especially the fact that David was married to a woman. The two of them argued about it all the time, despite the fact that Dean was still dating a woman named Betty Hawkins. It's unclear whether David was aware that Dean was only dating Betty as a cover. Regardless, he was too scared of Dean to cut him off completely. He was afraid of what Dean would do to him, let alone his wife and child. David didn't seem to realize that Wayne was equally afraid of Dean. Dean was becoming extremely erratic, and Wayne knew it was only a matter of time before he or his younger brother Ronnie became his next target. Like David, Wayne wanted out of this relationship with Dean, too. He even considered joining the Navy to get away from him. But the Navy rejected Wayne because he didn't have the proper education. Ultimately, Wayne thought it was for the best because if he wasn't around, there'd be no one to protect Rani.
- [25:16]
B
Wayne's situation shows how difficult it can be to leave a coercive relationship that's built on fear, dependency and complicity. Leaving was not a simple matter of deciding that he wanted out. Even more so when Wayne had reason to believe that distancing himself could make him or his little brother a target. If he feared that Dean might go after Rani, then staying close may have felt like the only way he could protect him. And that is a very powerful trap. There's also the issue of complicity. Wayne had already been pulled into Dean's crimes, and that creates shame or fear of exposure and leverage. And psychologically, Dean had positioned himself as the center of Wayne's world. Wayne had wanted his approval, and he'd been made to feel chosen. He was dependent on him. And even when that attachment turns into fear, it does not disappear overnight. Coercive bonds can be disorienting and confusing. Wayne may want out, but every path out looks dangerous. And Dean likely understood that. Fear, guilt and concern, especially for Ronnie, gave him several ways to keep Wayne close.
- [26:29]
A
Since the Navy wasn't an option for Wayne, he took a page out of David's book. He started spending more time with his new girlfriend, 15 year old Rhonda Williams. Wayne and Rhonda had known each other all their lives and they had a lot in common. Rhonda's father was an extremely abusive alcoholic. She often snuck out of her house to get away from her dad and and be with Wayne, who she felt safe with. And that's what Rhonda did in the early morning hours of August 8, 1973. This time when she called Wayne to pick her up, he was out partying at Dean's house with another friend, 20 year old Tim Curley. The three of them had been huffing paint and Tim had no idea that Wayne had brought him there so Dean could torture and kill him. But when Rhonda called, Wayne and Tim went to go get her and they brought her back to Dean's house with them. It seems like Dean didn't know where they'd gone because when they returned around 3am he was furious to see Rhonda. Wayne managed to calm him down. Then all four of them continued huffing paint together. Soon everyone except Dean fell asleep. Later, Wayne was the first to wake up. And when he did, Dean was fastening handcuffs around his wrists. When he noticed that Wayne was awake, Dean leaned in and told him that he'd made a mistake by bringing Rhonda and that he was going to pay.
- [27:54]
B
Rhonda was threatening to Dean, obviously, but why? David had already left for a woman, having married and started a family. And now Wayne is showing an attachment of his own that threatens his attachment to Dean. In the same way, Dean's control over Wayne depended on isolation, fear and secrecy. Rhonda disrupted that. She gave Wayne something that Dean did not want him to have, which was an emotional life outside of Dean, one that was reciprocated. She was someone Wayne cared about, someone who cared about him, and someone who could potentially pull his loyalty away from Dean. And for an abuser, that's a direct threat to control. Rhonda also created exposure risk. She wasn't part of Dean's system. She was not groomed into the same secrecy. She was an outsider, so she could see something she could tell someone or make Wayne less willing to comply. So her presence meant that Dean no longer had the closed, controlled environment that he expected or he relied on.
- [28:57]
A
Wayne seemed to realize he'd passed the point of no return. He looked over and saw Tim and Rhonda both with their mouths taped and wrists and ankles tied. Not only that, but Dean had removed all of Tim's clothes, which meant he didn't have much time to try and put a stop to things. Before Wayne could do anything, Dean yelled that he was going to kill them all. But first he said he was going to have his fun. On August 8, 1973, Dean threatened to kill his longtime accomplice, Wayne Henley, as well as Wayne's girlfriend, Rhonda, and his friend Tim. The group had been partying together at Dean's house in Pasadena, Texas. However, Dean was angry with Wayne for bringing Rhonda over after all three of them fell asleep. Dean bound them and taped their mouths. And as Wayne woke up, Dean handcuffed him and told him he was going to die. Dean then picked up Wayne and dragged him to the kitchen, where he pulled out a gun and held it to Wayne's stomach. Wayne begged for his life. He told Dean he would do anything he wanted, even kill Tim and Rhonda. Dean liked the sound of that, so he undid Wayne's handcuffs and dragged him back into the bedroom where they were. He rested his gun on his dresser, then grabbed a sword. Tim was waking up, but still out of it. Wayne watched as Dean started tying Tim to the torture board, even though Tim barely understood what was happening and Dean threatened to cut his arm off if he moved. Then Dean handed Wayne the sword and told him to cut off Rhonda's clothes. Wayne took the sword, and before removing her clothes, he leaned in close to Rhonda, who was now awake, and told her not to be afraid. However, Wayne knew he was powerless to Dean's will. And when Dean ordered Wayne to sexually assault Rhonda while he did the same to Tim, him, Wayne stood up and began pacing around the room. He had no idea what to do.
- [31:07]
B
Rhonda is one of the only meaningful connections that we know of that Wayne has, aside from his brother, that is not organized around Dean's coercion, control, or abuse. Wayne has already been trying to protect his brother by staying close enough to Dean to monitor the danger, so it's not surprising that he hesitates here for Rhonda as well. The difference is that Wayne cannot reduce Rhonda to just another one of Dean's victims. She is his girlfriend. She trusts him. She came to him because she felt safe with him. And that's something that Wayne can identify with because Wayne was once her and he cares about her. That makes the moral reality much harder for Wayne to rationalize. His behavioral reaction is telling, too, because the pacing suggests conflict and panic. In this moment, he's still afraid of Dean, but he is also confronting a boundary he can't easily cross. Assaulting Rhonda would not just be obeying Dean. It would be betraying someone who trusted him personally and possibly one of the first people in his life who felt genuinely safe to him and may have represented a real out for him of this life with Dean, One that wasn't going to reject him like the military did.
- [32:20]
A
Dean didn't get sexual gratification from women or violence towards women. So what would Wayne raping his own girlfriend do for Dean? Why did Dean ask him to do that in that moment, do you think?
- [32:32]
B
Dean was attempting to do a few things here. First, he was using this as a loyalty test. He was feeling his control slip, and he was threatened by that. He wanted to put Wayne to the test and see if he still passed. This was a test of that loyalty. Second, in doing this, he was sabotaging their relationship, but also any hope that Wayne had for any future relationships. He would be making Wayne associate love, attachment, and safety out outside of Dean with danger, shame, and violence. So Wayne would think twice about having any romantic relationships again after this, especially if he was distraught about the idea of harming that person. And third, Dean's sadism is here. He did not have to be sexually interested in women for this to be gratifying. The gratification is coming from his control, from the humiliation, the psychological torment. This is part of his pattern. He was doing this with most of his victims, forcing them to write letters, forcing them to fight. He was pitting Wayne and David against each other before forcing that bond to be, you know, fractured. He was forcing Wayne to violate someone he cared about, which meant he was harming Rhonda and Wayne at the same time. This is part of his method, and it's playing out right here.
- [33:44]
A
Whatever flipped the switch for Wayne, he knew he had to do something, and fast. So he lunged for Dean's gun on the dresser and then pointed it at him. Dean turned around, and without breaking eye contact with Wayne, he yelled, kill me. It was the last of Dean's orders Wayne would follow. He fired the gun five or six times until Dean was dead on the ground. Wayne gathered himself and quickly untied Tim and Rhonda. He then placed a sleeping bag over Dean's bloodied body before dialing 91 1. It was just after 8am when Wayne told the dispatcher he shot a man and provided Dean's address. When pasadena police arrived 30 minutes later, Patrolman A.B. jameson was utterly stunned by the scene before them. In addition to a dead body and three battered, half naked teenagers, they found a huge stash of porn and sex toys in Dean's bedroom. Jameson then approached Wayne to try and figure out what exactly had occurred. Once again, Wayne immediately confessed to killing Dean. But then he said there was more he needed to get off his chest. He said this crime scene was just the beginning and that if police wanted to know the full truth about Dean, they should search his rented boat shed. Jameson asked why and Wayne told him the shed was, quote, filled with the bodies of murdered boys. End quote. Jamison could could barely believe what he was hearing. The Pasadena police had no idea about all the missing boys in Houston. Jameson knew he needed to involve his superiors right away, so he brought Wayne, Tim and Rhonda to the station. Once there, Wayne was consumed by feelings of guilt for all the things he'd done at Dean's behest. So he kept talking. He told the lead detective, David Mullikan, that he'd met Dean three years earlier through his friend David Brooks, and that Dean offered, offered Wayne money to find boys for him. Then Wayne repeated his claims about Dean's rented boat shed and claimed that if they dug up the shed, they'd find the bodies of at least three boys who'd gone missing from the Houston area over the last few years. Later, he changed his story and said they'd find the bodies of almost 20 victims. Not only that, but Wayne claimed that David Brooks had been a willing participant in many of the murders.
- [36:11]
B
Wayne's confessions seem to be done in stages, which is actually not unusual when someone is experiencing both guilt and self protection. He starts with a smaller disclosure, then gives a little bit more. As the reality of the situation sets in and as he realizes that police may actually believe him. There may be several reasons for that. I mean, first, he may have been testing whether investigators would take him seriously. The story was extreme and that giving a smaller number at first may have felt more believable or simply easier for him to disclose. It's the first time that he's likely even said this out loud himself. But more importantly, these children have been missing or disclosed as runaways for so long that he probably didn't think he'd be believed, so that makes sense, for at least in a practical sense. But second, he may have been overwhelmed. Once Dean was dead, the person he feared was gone, but the full weight of what happened was still there. People do not always disclose trauma, guilt, or involvement in a perfectly organized way. They may start with the most concrete detail and then expand as they feel safer or more believed. And third, he may have been trying to separate himself from Dean while still admitting enough truth to be useful, while also managing his own exposure, Especially as he sees the horrified reactions from law enforcement or the other inmates that are helping to what he realistically helped himself with Dean while he was committing these crimes.
- [37:43]
A
Why do you think Wayne waited to confess rather than going to the police about Dean at any point before the murder? Why did he wait until this moment?
- [37:53]
B
Yeah, I think we kind of, like, outlined a lot of, like, the fear about this. But the power structure changed. Dean was alive. Going to the police could have met himself getting killed or putting his brother, his girlfriend, or his other family in danger. And Wayne knew that Dean was capable of real harm. But once Dean was dead, the immediate threat was gone. Because of him, in fact, and witnessed by people that he liked and trusted. So at that point, silence no longer protected him. Confessing, even partially, became a way to cooperate, explain himself, manage the exposure, and try to survive what came next.
- [38:35]
A
At this point, Wayne was making it sound like he'd killed Dean just to end the madness. It's unclear whether Detective Mullikan believed him, but he knew he needed to confirm Wayne's claims about the shed. To do that, he first called Houston PD and asked about the missing boys. Even though they'd written off the cases as runaways, they told him they simply hadn't noticed the disappearances. That was a blatant lie. But Mullikan didn't know that at the time. So he told them what had happened. And at 5pm that same day, he arranged for officers from Houston PD to meet him and Wayne at the boat storage facility. Once there, the officers cut the lock on the door to Dean's shed. And when they opened it, the unmistakable stench of human remains hit them. Had the smell not been there, the shed might have seemed like a typical storage space filled with random junk. A boy's red bike was propped near the door. There were also storage containers. Shovels, rakes, wires, batteries, empty bags of lime, a roll of heavy plastic, and bags full of clothes. Paired with the odor, authorities knew these items were related to something grotesque. And when they noticed how uneven the dirt floor was. They knew where the smell was coming from. The officers knew they had their work cut out for them. Soon, inmates from a nearby jail were brought in to help dig. And once the team dug about 18 inches down, they found a body. It was a boy wrapped in a clear plastic bag. His face was decomposed and bound in tape. Once they removed the body from the ground, authorities realized the that due to decomposition, they wouldn't be able to obtain viable fingerprints. However, later on, they were able to use dental records to confirm that the remains belonged to 13 year old Stanton Dramala Stanton had been Dean's final victim, but authorities didn't know that yet. They still needed to confirm how many other bodies were in the shed. And as they kept digging, they were horrified. There were 11 total graves, some of them which contained multiple bodies. In the end, investigators found 18 sets of remains. At the time, they were only able to identify 12 of those victims. In addition to Stanton, they included Marty Jones, Charles Cobble, Danny Yates, Jimmy Glass, Donald and Jerry Waldrop, Mali Winkle, David Hillegeist, Wally Simoneau, Richard Hembury and Reuben Watson. Within no time the story hit the news. And when David Brooks saw the coverage, he started to panic. He quickly went down to the Houston police station. However, much like Wayne, David described himself as a helpless bystander to Dean's atrocities. David admitted that Dean had paid him for sex acts. And later on he learned that David and Wayne had been had been murdering boys together. But David insisted he wasn't involved in any of the attacks.
- [41:40]
B
David likely used the same disclosure tactic as Wayne because he was also caught between guilt and self preservation. He needed to tell enough truth to explain his connection to Dean, but not so much that he fully implicated himself, but enough that he didn't look like he was evading, but so he could also psychologically live with himself. So he acknowledged what he couldn't deny, what he was already likely implicated in. And he framed himself as a helpless bystander. But we should also consider here how Dean's grooming of the two of them may have shaped their understanding of what happened too. He essentially trained them to see themselves as trapped, dependent and powerless. And I don't say that to excuse their role in any of this, but I say that because they may have actually genuinely experienced themselves as people who had been controlled by Dean, even if their actual behavior involved more responsibility, responsibility than they were ready to admit. There's also shame. If David admitted the full extent of his involvement all at once, he would have to confront not only legal consequences but the reality of what he had done and failed to stop. Because, remember, he got out. He left safely even, and still did not report anything to police after all of this time. And that certainly speaks to the level of fear and how physical distance doesn't always mean psychological freedom after leaving a situation like this. But much like Wayne, that level of shame could make him want to shape the narrative before someone else does it for him.
- [43:12]
A
David didn't realize that Wayne had been talking to authorities in Pasadena. And once the two departments realized the two were blaming each other, they knew one or both of them were lying. To figure out the truth, investigators decided to use them against each other.
- [43:28]
B
Oh, pitting them against each other is exactly what Dean would do in order to get them to compete for his approval. And it worked.
- [43:36]
A
That's right. And authorities from each department told David and Wayne that the other had blamed them for everything. And their plan quickly worked. David cracked under pressure. Not only did he confess to his full involvement, but he explained that there were more bodies buried on the beach at High island and at Lake Sam Rayburn. When Wayne was informed of this, he cracked 2. Now that both of them had confessed, authorities brought them to the two other locations to help locate the rest of the bodies. At the lake, authorities found four sets of remains which were later identified as Billy Lawrence, Ray Blackburn, Homer Luis Garcia, and Michael Baltimore. And at High island, they found six sets of remains, later identified as Jeffrey Conan, Johnny De Lome, Billy Balch, Frank Aguirre, Johnny Sellers, and Richard Kepner. However, both David and Wayne had claimed that there could have been as many as nine boys buried at the beach. So the authorities and the public knew that in time, even more bodies could be unearthed and identified. Identified. But for now, all anyone could do was focus on getting justice for the victims. With Dean dead, that meant Wayne and David would have to atone for everything. Based on their own confessions, they were each charged with several counts of murder. Both Tim and Rhonda testified at his trial and described the PTSD they'd been living with ever since that night at Dean's house. In the end, Wayne was convicted on six counts and sentenced to a total of 594 years in prison. Later, David was convicted of just one murder and sentenced to life in prison. David Brooks died in prison in 2020 from COVID 19 complications. Wayne Henley is still serving his sentence. Even after they were placed behind bars, the victim victim stories continued. Due to technological restraints in the 1970s, many of the 28 victims weren't identified at the time. However, authorities finally did right by them. Over the next 50 years, they worked hard to give each one a name. They identified several victims they weren't able to before, and even discovered the remains of one more confirmed victim. To date, there is still still one set of unidentified remains and one known victim's remains have never been found. Despite authorities efforts to right past wrongs, nothing can ever make up for the fact that so many parents were brushed aside. If police had taken them seriously, then perhaps Dean Corll's victim count never could have gotten so high. Thanks so much for listening to our series on serial killer Dean Corll. Come back next time for a deep dive into the mind of another murderer.
- [46:45]
B
Serial Killers and Murderous Minds is a Crime House original Powered by Pave Studios Videos Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on Instagram Rimehouse. Don't forget to rate, review and follow Serial Killers and Murderous Minds wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference and
- [47:08]
A
to enhance your listening experience, join Crime House plus and get both parts of every story dropped on the same Monday completely ad free. No waiting 3 days for part 2 plus crime house bonus episodes every month. To join go to crime houseplus.com or if you listen on Apple Podcasts, tap try free at the top of the Serial Killers and Murderous Minds page. Serial Killers and Murderous Minds is hosted by me, Vanessa Richardson and forensic psychologist Dr. Tristan A. Angles and is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. This episode was brought to life by the Serial Killers and Murderous Minds team. Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benedon, Lori Marinelli, Natalie Pertzovsky, Sarah Camp, Alyssa Fox, Dana Rossi, Sarah Batchelor, Kaylee Pine, and Carrie Murphy. Thank you for listening.