Criminal Justice System in Texas - Essay Example

Criminal Justice System in Texas “Dear Daddy, I am going to Austin because I have received a very good job offer. I am sorry that I decided to leave abruptly but I had to go. But do not worry, I will be back till late August. Daddy, I am sure that you that I love you. Don’t worry about me. Your son, Billy” Mr. Lawrence, Billy’s father received the letter (Olsen, pp. 46) shown above somewhere around June 4, 1973. Although, Billy was forced to write this letter, he had not received any job offer, and he was not going to Austin, he did return to his home by August. Sadly, he was not alive when his parents found him buried at Sam Rayburn Lake along with three other teenage boys who became the victims of Dean Corll and his accomplices, Elmer Wayne Henley and David Brooks. Dean Corll became known for the Houston Mass Murders (since the term serial killer had not been coined yet), which were considered as the worst killings in the US history until that time. Corll, Henley, and Brooks were responsible for the deaths of more than 28 teenage boys during 1970-1973 in Houston, Texas, all of whom were abducted, kidnapped, raped, tortured, and murdered by the trio (Olsen, pp. 46). Dean Corll, the central figure of the Houston Mass Murders, was the son of Mary Robinson and Arnold Edwin Corll. He was born in the year 1939. For much of his childhood, Corll remained a shy child who rarely socialized with others. Observers linked the same with the fact that his parents had divorced twice, and the family had to relocate several times due to the marital problems. For the early 1960s, Corll, along with his mother, ran a small candy shop. He was famous to give away free candy to the children and teenagers, especially boys. He was drafted to the US Army in the year 1964 but was honorably discharged after he expressed the desire to serve the family business. It was by this time that it became apparent that Corll had homosexual tendencies. He had developed a homosexual relationship with a David Brooks, a fifteen-year-old boy in the year 1970. Brooks was much younger during the days when Corll ran the candy business. He not only gave free candy to Brooks but also lend him money whenever he needed it. In return, Corll asked for sexual favors. Later Brooks developed a deal with Corll where he would get a sum of 200 US dollars in exchange for every teenage boy that he could lure into Corll’s house. During the fall of 1971, Brooks was able to con young Henley into joining him for a “party with lots of beer and weed” (Schmid, p. 140). However, he was just another victim of Corll sexual desires who would be raped and tortured and then would die due to strangling or a bullet from the 0.22 caliber gun of Corll. However, something led Corll to believe that Henley would make a perfect accomplice and rather than subjecting him to his sexual desires, he offered him the same deal as Brooks. Henley did not accept the deal immediately, but during the spring of 1972, when he was going through financial problems, he decided to join Brooks in luring teenage boys to Corll’s residence. Brooks and Henley would lure teenage boys into a “ride” with them promising them a lift to their homes or to a party. Most of the Corll’s victims were friends and acquaintances of Brooks and Corll (Olsen, pp. 247). As mentioned earlier, during 1970-1973, more than 28 different boys were reported missing to authorities in the larger Houston area. Although, no dead bodies were found, the criminal justice system of Texas did not come into action until August 8, 1973. On the evening of August 7, 1973, Henley picked up Timothy Cordell Kerley, a 19-year-old boy promising him a night of party and fun at Corll’s place. After drinking too much alcohol and smoking marijuana, they felt hungry, and Henley and Kerley left to buy sandwiches. However, when they came back, they had also brought 15-year-old Rhonda Williams, who was a friend of Henley. She had a serious disagreement with her drunken father. She promised herself that she would not go back until her father decides to get sober. Realizing that Rhonda had no other place to go, Henley gave him a ride and brought her to Corll’s place. However, Corll’s was seriously frustrated seeing that a girl is entering her place. He even whispered in Henley’s ear that you have “destroyed everything”. Nevertheless, he gained his composure later in the night as the four of them drank alcohol and smoked marijuana until they passed out. When they woke up, all of them found themselves securely bound with nylon rope, gagged with adhesive tape and lying face down on the floor. Corll threatened to kill Henley because he brought over a girl to his place, but Henley promised that if Corll would leave him, he would assist in assaulting, raping, and then killing Kerley and William. Corll agreed, but when Henley was able to get hold of the gun owned by Corll, he shot him and called the police (Olsen, pp. 85). Henley confessed the entire story in front of the Pasadena police department, which forced them to initiate the search at the three places where Corll, Henley, and Brooks used to dump the dead bodies; a boat shed in Southwest Houston, Lake Sam Rayburn, and High Island Beach. Furthermore, during the period of 1970-1973, there was over forty reported cases of missing young boys (Schmid, p. 182). It is highly likely that Corll had abducted, kidnapped, and buried other boys without any assistance from Brooks or Henley. However, the police became uninterested in the case after the number of Corll’s victims surpassed 28; thus, breaking the record of Juan Corona’s serial killing (Rosenfeld, p. 76). Later, Brooks surrendered himself to the Pasadena Police confessing that the assisted Corll in abducting, kidnapping and even burying the young men but he denied any direct association with the murders. He also assisted police in uncovering many different dead bodies. It was on August 13, when a jury sat down in Harris County to hear the evidence against David Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley. After hearing the testimony from Williams and Kerley, he jury charged Henley with six counts of murder and Brooks with four counts of murder. Henley was not charged with the murder of Corll since the court decided that this murder took place in self-defense. Brooks had to face the charge of murder of Billy Lawrence, the boy whose case was presented in the beginning of the paper. Henley ended up receiving 596 years in prison (99-year imprisonment sentences for six murders each). Both Brooks and Henley pleaded not guilty and appealed to their sentences, but their original judgments were upheld. The state of Texas and the prosecutors were able to produce more than 25 witnesses and 80 different pieces of evidence to link Brooks and Henley with different murders and assaults thus allowing the courts to pass a strong judgment against Brooks and Henley (Rosenfeld, p. 23). Nevertheless, as mentioned earlier, the biggest failure of the system here was the fact that it was not able to link a series of missing teenage in the larger Houston area to a pattern or a chain of events. Furthermore, the state of Texas also failed in identifying the victims. The last victim was identified, through DNA tests in the mid 2000s and most of them would not be identified until the first half of 1980s (Rosenfeld, p. 18). Quite understandably, a psychopath like Corll who went on a killing spree in the period of 1970-1973 would have had the capacity to kill several more people and must have done the same in the previous years, as well. There are on-record statements of people that worked with Corll that they saw him digging several times. The criminal justice system failed in linking any more assaults and murders committed by Corll before 1970. However, the criminal justice system of Texas did a fair job in terms of indicting Brooks and Henley and denying them parole over these years (Olsen, p. 25). Even today, both of them are serving their sentences, and they would continue to do so until their death. Works Cited Olsen, J. The Man with Candy. Simon and Schuster, 2000. Rosenfeld, H. Depravity: A Narrative of 16 Serial Killers. iUniverse, 2009. Schmid, D. Natural Born Celebrities: Serial Killers in American Culture. University of Chicago Press, 2006. Read More