Where Is Elmer Wayne Henley Now? Inside His Life Today, 5 Decades After Helping the 'Candy Man' Serial Killer
NEED TO KNOW
From 1970 to 1973, Dean Corll murdered at least 28 boys and young men in the Houston area
He enlisted two teenage accomplices to help find his victims: David Owen Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley
Henley shot and killed Corll in August 1973, and was later given six life sentences for his role in the murders
Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. could have been one of Dean Corll's many victims. Instead, he became the serial killer's teenage accomplice.
Dubbed the 'Candy Man' by the media, Corll — a seemingly friendly man known for handing out candy to kids in Houston — was responsible for the deaths of at least 28 boys and young men in the early 1970s. Henley — a teenager himself — and neighbor David Owen Brooks helped lure victims to Corll's Pasadena, Texas, home 'under false promises of fun,' per the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
Once inside, Corll would torture, rape and kill them. Henley took part in at least six murders. All of Corll's victims were between the ages of 13 and 20.
The crimes came to light in 1973, when Henley fatally shot Corll during a confrontation. He and Brooks were later sentenced to life in prison for their roles in the murders.
Henley's story is explored in the Investigation Discovery (ID) documentary The Killer's Apprentice with forensic psychologist Dr. Katherine Ramsland, which debuts on Aug. 17. Reflecting on their first meeting, Henley said, 'I believe that I was originally taken over to Dean's as a victim. What scares me is, did Dean recognize a fellow psychopath?'
So, where is Elmer Wayne Henley now? Here's everything to know about the convicted killer and his role in the infamous Houston mass murders.
Who is Elmer Wayne Henley?
Henley is a convicted murderer and former accomplice of Corll.
While growing up, Henley said his father was abusive, once firing a gun at him, he told Texas Monthly in April 1976. Henley assumed the role of a surrogate father, working odd jobs to support his mother.
Henley said he met Corll through his former classmate and neighbor, Brooks, he told Texas Monthly. Twice Henley's age, Corll impressed the teenager because he had 'a steady job ... wasn't a wild drunk, got along with kids and people in general.' Henley's mother told police that Corll was 'like a father" to Henley, according to the publication.
'Dean's front was wholesome and masculine,' Henley said. 'He was a loner in his own right. He could be around people, but still you never knew what Dean Corll was doing. No matter how much you talked to him, you didn't know him.'
At first, Corll involved Henley and Brooks in petty thefts, per Texas Monthly. But soon, he asked them to procure boys he claimed to be selling to a nonexistent slave market in Dallas. Henley and Brooks were paid $200 for each victim.
What was Elmer Wayne Henley accused of?
In addition to luring many of Corll's victims to his home between 1970 and 1973, Henley murdered at least six boys throughout Corll's killing spree. He later told Texas Monthly that he was curious about killing before he began getting involved in Corll's crimes.
'I mean, you see people getting strangled on television and it looks easy,' he said. 'It's not. Sometimes it takes two people half an hour.'
To keep his teenage accomplices from talking, Ramsland told PEOPLE in August 2025 that Corll used an 'idea of a larger sex trafficking network' that would go after them and their families if 'they did anything out of line.'
How many victims were killed in the Houston mass murders?
The three men were responsible for the deaths of 28 people between 1970 and 1973, some of whom were Henley's friends. Only one of Corll's victims hasn't been identified, and the true death toll will likely never be known, according to the NCMEC.
What happened to Dean Corll?
On Aug. 8, 1973, police responded to a 911 call at Corll's home and found him dead from multiple gunshot wounds.
Henley, then 17, told officers he had shot the serial killer six times in self-defense after Corll tried to kill him and two friends, including a 15-year-old girl, per ID. He went on to reveal Corll's crimes and led investigators to several sites where victims' bodies were buried, according to the NCMEC.
At the time of the murders, Corll was working as an electrician. He was 33 when he died, per The New York Times.
What happened to David Owen Brooks?
Brooks turned himself in to the police the day after Henley was arrested, per ABC13.
Though he consistently denied participating in the murders, he was convicted of killing a 15-year-old boy in March 1975, per The New York Times. Brooks was sentenced to life in prison and died of COVID-19 complications in May 2020, according to ABC13.
Where is Elmer Wayne Henley now?
After pleading not guilty, Henley was convicted in 1974 of murdering six boys, per The New York Times, and was given six consecutive life sentences in prison. His multiple parole requests have been denied, with his most recent being in 2015. He'll be eligible for parole again in October 2025, per ABC13.
Ramsland told PEOPLE that Henley has resigned himself to the possibility that he will die in prison, saying, 'He goes back and forth with recognizing the things that he did and that he has a just punishment."
During his incarceration, Henley took up painting and even had his work featured in local galleries in 1997 and 1998, according to the Houston Chronicle. FOX 26 reported in January 2016 that the convicted murderer had a Facebook page that he used, through a third-party, to sell his artwork and handmade jewelry.
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