Elmer Wayne Henley

As of early 2016, both Henley and Brooks are still serving life sentences. Henley, who is assigned TDCJ #00241618, is currently incarcerated in the Mark W. Michael Unit in Anderson County.

On August 3, Brooks and Corll – without the assistance of Henley – abducted and killed a 13-year-old boy named James Dreymala. Dreymala was strapped to Corll's torture board, raped, tortured & strangled before being buried in Corll's boat shed.

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.

A pen pal with whom Henley has corresponded has also organized several exhibitions of his artwork. In 1997, the Hyde Park Gallery in Houston's Neartown area hosted Henley's first art show. This exhibition drew outrage from some victims' relatives. In 1999 the city of Houston expressed interest in building a monument to victims of violent crime, which Henley said he would be willing to help pay for with part of the proceeds from a second art show.

In 1994, at the suggestion of a Louisiana art dealer, Henley began to paint as a hobby, in part as a means of generating income for himself and his mother. Henley refuses to paint or draw any images of a violent or exploitative nature: many of his works depict serene imagery such as landscapes, buildings and flowers and the majority being created using acrylics and graphite.

Henley first became eligible for parole on July 8, 1980; on this occasion—and each successive parole hearing to date—he has been denied parole. Henley's next eligible parole date is October 2025 when he will be 69 years old.

Henley's conviction was overturned on appeal on December 20, 1978. He was tried for a second time in June 1979 and was again convicted of 6 murders and again sentenced to six consecutive life terms.

In February 1975, David Brooks was tried for the June, 1973 murder of Billy Ray Lawrence. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment on March 4.

Henley was brought to trial in San Antonio in July 1974, charged with the murders of six teenage boys whom he himself had lured to Corll's apartment between March 1972 and July 1973. Throughout his trial, Henley was represented by Will Gray and Edwin Pegelow.

On July 16, 1974, after hearing closing arguments from both prosecution and defense, the jury retired to consider their verdict. After one hour of deliberation they reached their conclusion: Henley was found guilty and sentenced to six consecutive 99-year terms of imprisonment. On July 25, Henley and his attorneys filed an appeal, contending that Henley had been denied an evidentiary hearing; that the jury had not been sequestered; that a motion to move the initial trial away from San Antonio had also been denied and that the presence of news media in the courtroom had also prejudiced his trial.

By the time Richard Kepner had been killed and buried at High Island, Henley had assisted in the abduction and murder of a minimum of nine teenage boys. On February 1, 1973, Corll abducted and killed a 17-year-old youth named Joseph Lyles, apparently without the assistance of Henley, who had temporarily moved to Mount Pleasant in early 1973.

In the spring of 1973, Henley attempted to enlist in the U.S. Navy, but his application was rejected on June 28 due to the fact he had dropped out of high school and—although a later intelligence test would reveal his IQ to be 126—possessed a limited education. In a 2010 interview, Henley stated: "I couldn't leave anyway. If I did go, I knew Dean would go after one of my little brothers, who he always liked a little too much."

Nonetheless, between June and July 1973: Henley, Brooks and Corll killed a further seven victims between the ages of fifteen and twenty, at least five of whom Henley participated in either the abduction or murder.

On August 8, 1973, Henley brought a further potential victim, 19-year-old Timothy Kerley, to Corll's home upon the promise of a party. Before Corll was able to manacle Kerley to his torture board, the pair left Corll's home to purchase sandwiches. Henley and Kerley later returned to Corll's home – in the company of a 15-year-old girl named Rhonda Williams. Corll was furious that a girl had been brought to his house, telling Henley in private he had "ruined everything." Externally, however, Corll remained calm: he waited until Henley and the other two teenagers fell asleep from a night of drinking and smoking marijuana before binding and gagging them.

Between August 8 and August 13, 1973, 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 28th 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 with 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.

On August 13, 1973, a grand jury convened in Harris County to hear evidence against Henley and Brooks. The jury heard evidence from both Rhonda Williams and Tim Kerley, who each testified to the events of August 7 and 8 leading to the shooting of Dean Corll, plus the testimony from various police officers who recited and discussed the written statements each youth had made and described how both Brooks and Henley had led them to each of the burial sites. The assembled jury also heard the testimony of a youth named Billy Ridinger, who had been abducted by Corll, Henley and Brooks in 1972 and who testified as to his torture and abuse at the hands of the trio.

Initially, Henley was an excellent student at school; but after his parents' divorce he took a series of menial part-time jobs to help his mother with household finances, and his grades dropped sharply. At the age of 15, Henley dropped out of high school. He would later develop a minor criminal record, being arrested for burglary in 1972.

Henley later told police that, for several months, he completely ignored Corll's offer. However, in early 1972, he decided he would "help find a boy" for Corll as he was in dire financial circumstances. At Corll's home, Corll and Henley devised a ruse in which they would lure a youth to Corll's home and Henley would then cuff his hands behind his back, release himself, then con the victim into placing the handcuffs upon himself. The pair then drove around Houston Heights and, at the corner of 11th and Studewood, Henley persuaded a youth to enter Corll's GTX. The victim was lured to Corll's Schuler Street apartment on the promise of smoking some marijuana. At Corll's address, Henley helped con the teenager into donning the handcuffs, then watched Corll pounce on the youth, tie his feet and place tape over his mouth. Henley then left the youth alone with Corll, believing he was to be sold into the sex slavery ring. The next day, Corll paid Henley $200.

The identity of this first victim Henley assisted in the abduction of is not known, although it is possible the youth was 17-year-old Willard Karmon Branch, who disappeared in February 1972 and whose emasculated and strangled body was buried in Corll's boat shed.

Corll moved to an address at Westcott Towers in June 1972 and within one month, a 17-year-old youth named Steven Sickman had been murdered. On October 3, Henley assisted Corll in the abduction and murder of two Heights boys named Wally Simoneaux and Richard Hembree. David Brooks later stated Hembree was accidentally shot in the mouth by Henley who, according to Brooks' confession "just came in (the room where the two boys were bound) waving the .22 and accidentally shot one of the boys in the jaw." The two boys were killed later the same day Hembree was shot and later buried in the boat shed. One month later, a 19-year-old named Richard Kepner was abducted while walking to phone his fiancée from a pay phone.

Nonetheless, in late 1971, Henley also began spending time in Corll's company. Corll told Henley that he was involved in organized theft, and he, Brooks and Henley burglarized several addresses, for which Henley was paid small sums of money. On one occasion, in an apparent test of character, Corll asked Henley if he would be willing to kill if required, to which Henley replied, "Yes."

The same year, Henley became aware of an insidious pattern of disappearances in his neighborhood: Since the previous December, a minimum of eight boys age 13 to 17 had disappeared from Houston Heights. Henley was friends with two of the youths, David Hilligiest and Gregory Malley Winkle, who had disappeared on May 29, 1971, on their way to a local swimming pool. Henley himself had actively participated in the search for them.

In the winter of 1971, when he was 15, Wayne Henley was again taken by David Brooks to meet Corll. In his confession given almost two years later, Henley told detectives Brooks lured him to Corll's home on the promise he could participate in "a deal where I could make some money." At Corll's home (where he was possibly taken as an intended victim), the youth was told by Corll that he belonged to an organization based in Dallas which recruited young boys for a child sex slavery ring. Henley was offered the same fee as Brooks ($200) for any boy whom he could bring to Corll.

Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. (born May 9, 1956) is a convicted American serial killer, incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) system. Henley was convicted in 1974 for his role as a participant in a series of murders known colloquially as the Houston Mass Murders in which a minimum of 28 teenage boys and young men were abducted, tortured, raped and murdered by Dean Corll between 1970 and 1973. Henley and David Owen Brooks (Corll's other teenage accomplice), together and individually, lured many of the victims to Corll's home. Henley, then 17 years old, shot Corll to death on August 8, 1973.

Henley was born May 9, 1956, in Houston, Texas, the eldest of four sons born to Elmer Wayne Henley Sr. (September 21, 1938 – June 18, 1986) and Mary Henley (née Weed) (born May 4, 1937). His father was an alcoholic who physically assaulted his wife and sons. Despite the abuse, Mary Henley tried to ensure that her children received a good education and stayed out of trouble. The couple divorced in 1970 when Henley was 14. Henley's mother—who worked as a cashier at a parking lot—retained custody of her four sons.