The Serial Killer's Apprentice: The True Story of How Houston's Deadliest Murderer Turned a Kid into a Killing Machine - Softcover

Katherine Ramsland; Tracy Ullman

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1613166400 ISBN 13: 9781613166406

Publisher: Crime Ink, 2025

Synopsis

Elmer Wayne Henley, Jr. was only fourteen when he first became entangled with serial rapist and murderer Dean Corll in 1971. Fellow Houston, Texas, teenager David Brooks had already been ensnared by the charming older man, bribed with cash to help lure boys to Corll's home. When Henley unwittingly entered the trap, Corll evidently sensed he'd be of more use as a second accomplice than another victim. He baited Henley with the same deal he'd given Brooks: $200 for each boy they could bring him.

Henley didn't understand the full extent of what he had signed up for at first. But once he started, Corll convinced him that he had crossed the line of no return and had to not only procure boys but help kill them and dispose of the bodies, as well. When Henley first took a life, he lost his moral base. He felt doomed. By the time he was seventeen, he'd helped with multiple murders and believed he'd be killed, too. But on August 8, 1973, he picked up a gun and shot Corll. When he turned himself in, Henley showed police where he and Brooks had buried Corll's victims in mass graves. Twenty-eight bodies were recovered—most of them boys from Henley's neighborhood—making this the worst case of serial murder in America at the time. The case reveals gross failures in the way cops handled parents' pleas to look for their missing sons and how law enforcement possibly protected a larger conspiracy.

The Serial Killer's Apprentice tells the story of Corll and his accomplices in its fullest form to date. It also explores the concept of "mur-dar" (the predator's instinct for exploitable kids), current neuroscience about adolescent brain vulnerabilities, the role of compartmentalization, the dynamic of a murder apprenticeship, and how tales like Henley's can aid with early intervention. Despite his youth and cooperation, Henley went to trial and received six life sentences. He's now sixty-five and has a sense of perspective about how adult predators can turn formerly good kids into criminals. Unexpectedly, he's willing to talk. This book is his warning and the story of the unspeakable evil and sorrow that befell Houston in the early 1970s.

About this title

About the Authors

Dr. Katherine Ramsland teaches forensic psychology and criminology at DeSales University in Pennsylvania. The author of 70 books, she has appeared as an expert on more than 250 crime documentaries, podcasts, and news shows. She was an executive producer of Murder House Flip and Confession of a Serial Killer and consulted for CSI, Bones, and The Alienist.

Tracy Ullman is a documentary producer, director, and writer living in Chicago. She has produced dozens of non-fiction television programs for Discovery Networks, Oxygen, AETN Networks, and PBS. Her most recent production is a six-part limited documentary series about serial murderer John Wayne Gacy and the new discoveries made in his case for NBC's Peacock streaming service.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

lotdoneAnother missing boy, and not one Henley had named.

Edition details

• Publisher: Crime Ink
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1613166400
• ISBN 13: 9781613166406
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320