Accomplice to serial killer dies in prison from virus

An imprisoned accomplice of notorious Houston serial killer Dean Corll, who lured at least 28 boys to their death from 1970 to 1973 in what became known as the Houston Mass Murders, has died in custody from COVID-19, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice announced Tuesday.

David Brooks, 65, was assigned to the Polunsky Unit in Livingston when he was hospitalized May 12 with symptoms consistent with COVID-19. He tested positive for the virus at Hospital Galveston before he died May 28. He had multiple pre-existing conditions at the time of his death, according to TDCJ, but preliminary autopsy results indicate COVID-19 was a contributing factor.

Brooks served 45 years of a life sentence. The grisly killings — orchestrated by Corll with the help of Brooks and accomplice Elmer Wayne Henley — were described in a 1973 New York Times article as “the largest multiple murder case in United States history.” The trio would lure unsuspecting young boys to Corll, who tortured and sexually brutalized them.

Andy Kahan, a victim advocate at Crime Stoppers of Houston, has personally followed the case for nearly 30 years. He has accompanied victims’ families since the 1990s to parole hearings for Henley and Brooks.

For the mother and father of Stanton Dreymala — the last surviving parents of all Corll’s known victims — Brooks’ death means they no longer have to go through the agonizing ritual of attending his parole hearings, Kahan said. Each time, the hearings force them to relive their son’s death and disappearance.

“That’s one less we have to deal with in the future, in terms of parole scenarios,” he said.

According to Kahan, convicted killers like Brooks and Henley were a key reason advocates in 2015 lobbied for state legislation that allowed for more time between parole reviews. Under the new law, Brooks would not have been eligible for parole again until 2028.

At the time of the slayings, Brooks and Henley, both teenagers, agreed to help lure the boys to Corll for $10 to $200 per child. In some cases, they helped with the torture, killing and burial.

The murders first came to light in 1973, when Henley called police saying he shot Corll in the Pasadena home where Corll was staying. He said Corll threatened to rape and kill him and two other teens during a party.

After that confession, he led police to a boat storage facility where officers uncovered the bodies of 17

slain and tortured boys buried under the dirt floor. Police found at least 11 additional victims at two other burial sites.

Corll became known as the “Candy Man killer” because his family had owned a candy store in the Heights in Houston. Many of Corll’s victims shared a connection to that neighborhood.

“The crimes that Brooks, Henley and Corll committed are considered to be one of the most insidious and sadistic serial killings not just in Houston but nationally, when you considered that they lured young boys to a horrific death, knowing what was going to happen to them,” Kahan said. “It’s unconscionable what Brooks was responsible for.”