Dean Arnold Corll

Dean Arnold Corll (December 24, 1939 – August 8, 1973) was an American serial killer who (with two young accomplices named David Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley) abducted, raped, tortured, and murdered a minimum of 28 boys in a series of killings spanning from 1970 to 1973 in Houston, Texas. The crimes, which became known as the Houston Mass Murders, came to light only after Henley fatally shot Corll.

Corll was also known as the Candy Man and the Pied Piper, because he and his family had owned and operated a candy factory in Houston Heights, and he had been known to give free candy to local children. At the time of their discovery, the Houston Mass Murders were considered the worst example of serial murder in American history.

Childhood

Dean Arnold Corll was born on December 24, 1939 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the first child of Mary Robinson (May 9, 1916 – May 31, 2010) and Arnold Edwin Corll (February 7, 1916 – April 5, 2001). Corll's father was strict with his son, whereas his mother was extremely protective of Dean. The marriage of Corll's parents was marred by frequent quarrelling and the couple divorced in 1946, four years after the birth of their younger son, Stanley. Mary Corll subsequently sold the family home and relocated to a trailer home in Memphis, Tennessee, where Arnold Corll had been drafted into the Air Force after the couple had divorced, in order that her sons could retain contact with their father. Corll's parents subsequently attempted reconciliation.

Corll was a shy, serious child who seldom socialized with other children, but who at the same time displayed concern for the wellbeing of others. At the age of seven, he suffered an undiagnosed case of rheumatic fever, which was only noted in 1950, when doctors found Corll had a heart murmur. As a result of this diagnosis, Corll was ordered to avoid P.E. at school.

In 1950, Corll's parents remarried and moved to Pasadena; however, the reconciliation was short lived and, in 1953, the couple once again divorced, with the mother again retaining custody of her two sons. The divorce of Corll's parents was decreed on amicable grounds and both boys maintained regular contact with their father. Following the second divorce of Corll's parents, his mother married a travelling clock salesman named Jake West and the family moved to the small town of Vidor, where Corll's half-sister, Joyce, was born in 1955. Upon advice from a pecan nut salesman, Corll's mother and stepfather started a small family candy company named 'Pecan Prince', initially operating from the garage of their home. From the earliest days of the family candy business, Corll was working day and night while still attending school. He and his younger brother were delegated the responsibility of running the candy making machines and packing the produce, which his stepfather would sell on his sales route. This route often involved West traveling to Houston, where much of the produce was sold.

From 1954 to 1958, Corll attended Vidor High School, where he was regarded as a well-behaved student who achieved satisfactory grades. As had been the case in his childhood, however, Corll was also considered somewhat of a loner, although he is known to have occasionally dated girls in his teenage years. At Vidor High School, Corll's only major interest was the high school brass band, in which he played trombone.