Elmer Wayne Hensley, Jr. Part I

 

Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. (born May 9, 1956) is an American serial killer and accomplice to murder convicted in 1974 of the murder of six of the twenty-nine known victims of the Houston Mass Murders, which occurred in Houston and Pasadena, Texas, between 1970 and 1973.

One of two known accomplices to Dean Corll, Henley initially solely assisted Corll in the abduction of the victims before gradually and increasingly participating in their torture, murder, and burial. He shot Corll to death on August 8, 1973, when he was seventeen years old, before divulging his knowledge of and participation in the crimes to authorities.

Tried in San Antonio, Henley was convicted of six murders and sentenced to six consecutive terms of 99 years' imprisonment. He was not charged with the death of Corll, which prosecutors had previously ruled had been committed in self-defense. Henley did successfully appeal his conviction, although he was again convicted of six murders in June 1979. He is currently incarcerated within the Telford Unit in Bowie County, Texas.

At the time of the discovery of the crimes, the case was considered the worst example of serial murder in United States history.

Early life

Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. was born on May 9, 1956, in Houston, Texas, the eldest of four sons born to Elmer Wayne Henley Sr. (1938–1986) and Mary Pauline Henley (née Weed) (b. 1937). His parents were both in their mid-teens at the time of his birth, and the couple initially lived with Mary's parents in Houston Heights until they could afford their own home following his father's finding employment as a stationary engineer.

As a child, Henley was an avid reader and both an attentive and academically achieving student whose grades saw him typically in the top quarter of his class. He was also markedly religious and briefly held an aspiration to become a preacher. As his mother and grandparents were devout Christians, this religious devotion was encouraged.

Henley's father was an alcoholic and adulterer who physically assaulted his wife and sons, and the children were largely raised by their mother and maternal grandparents. As a child, Henley strove to protect his mother from his father's violence; she, in turn, was markedly protective of her children and often shielded them from her husband's violence. On one occasion, as an adolescent, Henley observed his father striking his mother before pushing her into a corner to continue his assault; he successfully prevented his father from further hitting his mother by pointing a shotgun at his father and shouting, "Drop it, Dad!" Although his memories of his father were conflicted, he would later fondly remark on his early childhood: "I have memories of [my father] walking me to school, and of Cub Scout and Boy Scout activities. I went to work with him, and he'd tell me about boilers and air conditioners."

Although Henley's father mistreated and neglected his family, he was present throughout his sons' childhood and early adolescence, and despite the belittling he endured from his father, Henley strove to meet his approval. Although occasionally bullied at school from the fifth grade onward, he was popular among many of his peers—both male and female—and was attracted to the attitudes of the contemporary hippie movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Adolescence

By his early teens—and particularly following his parents' 1970 divorce—Henley grew disillusioned with school. As the eldest male in the household following his father's departure, he took two simultaneous, menial part-time jobs to assist his mother with household finances, and both his grades and scholastic attendance record dropped sharply. He also developed a habit of drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana in addition to becoming a small-time drug dealer. Henley's mother—who worked as a cashier at a parking lot—retained custody of her four sons following her divorce. Both of Henley's parents later remarried, although Henley's father did arrive, uninvited, at the reception for Henley's mother's second marriage. On this occasion, when Henley attempted to persuade his father to leave, he was shoved to the ground by his father, who then ran to retrieve a gun from his car before attempting to shoot his son, wounding a friend who threw himself atop Henley to shield him from his father in the process. Henley's father was charged with attempted murder for this incident, although Henley refused to testify against him in court.

Within a year of his parents' divorce, Henley dropped out of high school. He would later develop a minor criminal record, being arrested for assault with a deadly weapon in 1971 and for burglary one year later.

In the year Henley dropped out of high school, he became aware of an insidious pattern of disappearances in his neighborhood: since the previous December, a minimum of eight boys aged 13 to 17 had disappeared from Houston Heights. Henley had been a lifelong friend with one of the youths, 13-year-old David William Hilligiest, who had disappeared on the afternoon of May 29, 1971, while walking to the Bohemian Lodge swimming pool with his 16-year-old friend Gregory Malley Winkle. Henley himself had actively participated in the search for the two, including distributing flyers offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the teenagers' whereabouts and attempting to reassure Hilligiest's parents that there may be an innocent explanation for the teenagers' prolonged absence.

 

Encounter with David Brooks

Before dropping out of school, Henley had become acquainted with another student one year his senior, named David Owen Brooks. The two encountered one another in approximately October 1971 as Henley—opting to truant from Hamilton Junior High School—walked away from the entrance in the direction of a local pool hall. Brooks fell into stride alongside him and asked if he was "skipping school too". When Henley replied, he was, Brooks offered to keep him company for the day, adding he also attended Hamilton Junior High and that the pool hall was also his intended destination. The two began to truant together regularly, and through his acquaintance with Brooks, Henley became aware that not only did his friend drive a 1969 Chevrolet Corvette and always seem to have money despite not having a job and hailing from a family of modest means, but that he spent a lot of his free time in the company of an older man with whom he himself gradually became a casual acquaintance: Dean Corll.

Introduction to Dean Corll

Initially, Henley was oblivious to the true extent of Corll's and Brooks's relationship, although Brooks and Corll began making a point of meeting him at the gas station where he worked part-time to exchange in small talk. Henley later stated that though he admired Corll because he worked hard and seemed to have his life in order, he also suspected that Corll was homosexual, and initially concluded that Brooks was "hustling himself a queer." As Henley began to spend more time in their company, he also became aware of stark contrasts in Corll's persona: much of the time, Corll was affable and somewhat childlike, leading both Henley and Brooks to nickname him "Deannie Weannie"; occasionally, he would be agitated, serious, and chain-smoke.

On one occasion in the winter of 1971–72, Brooks informed Henley that if he was able to leave his home "without telling anyone where [he was] going", he and Corll would pick him up behind the Fulbright Methodist Church close to his home at 5 p.m. that afternoon. Henley agreed, and Brooks and Corll picked him up at the agreed time and drove him to Corll's address—likely as an intended victim. In his confession given almost two years later, Henley informed detectives that Brooks lured him to Corll's home on the promise he could participate in "a deal where I could make some money."  However, this initial plan was thwarted when Henley informed Corll that, contrary to Brooks's prior instructions not to do so, he had informed his mother and grandmother that he was leaving the family home in Brooks's company to meet him for the first time.

Despite this initial setback, Corll evidently decided the youth would make a good accomplice, and Henley soon began spending increasing amounts of time in Corll's company and gradually began to view him as something of a "brother-type person" whose work ethic he admired and in whom he could confide. Corll also allowed Henley—who had no driving license—to occasionally drive his Plymouth GTX. Initially, Corll told Henley that he was involved in organized theft, and if he had anything of value—stolen or otherwise—to sell to him, he would be able to resell the wares for his own profit. He, Brooks, and Henley also burglarized several local addresses, for which Henley was paid small sums of money. Shortly thereafter, Corll suggested to Henley that he should advance from burglary to more serious crimes. On one occasion, in an apparent test of character, Corll asked Henley if he would be willing to kill if cornered while burglarizing a property, to which Henley replied, "Yes." Shortly thereafter, as Corll and Henley sat in a vehicle at the corner of Eleventh and Heights Boulevard, Corll stated to the teenager: "You know, it's too bad there's not a market in people, they're everywhere."

Over the course of several subsequent conversations, Corll repeatedly referred to the topic of human trafficking before informing Henley that he was involved in a "white slavery ring" operating from Dallas, in which teenage boys were sold as houseboys to wealthy clients across the country and that he would pay him $200 (the equivalent of approximately $1,620 as of 2025) for any teenage boy he could lure to his apartment. Corll referred to this organization as "the Syndicate".

Initial abduction

Henley has always insisted that he ignored Corll's offer of $200 for every boy he could lure to his apartment for several months, but that in approximately February 1972, he decided he would "help find a boy" for Corll as his family was in dire financial circumstances. According to Henley's subsequent confession, he resolved to participate in a sole abduction as he could use the money "to get better things for my [family], so one day I went over to Dean's place on Schuler Street and told him I would get a boy for him."

At Corll's home, Henley agreed to enact a previous ruse he and Corll had privately rehearsed in which they would lure a youth to Corll's home and Henley would then cuff his hands behind his back, release himself with a key discreetly hidden in his pocket, then con the victim into placing the handcuffs upon himself. The pair then drove around the Heights to search for a victim. At the corner of 11th and Studewood, Henley persuaded a dark-haired youth to enter Corll's Plymouth GTX. The victim agreed to accompany the two to Corll's 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, bind his hands and feet with parachute cord, and then place adhesive tape over his mouth. Brooks then drove Henley home, telling him the Syndicate did not yet know of his participation and thus he should not be present when they arrived to collect the captive. The next day, Corll paid Henley $200, informing him that the teenager had been sold into the slavery ring as a houseboy. Henley gave most of the money to his mother, but also bought himself a Sheridan air rifle.

The identity of this first victim in whose abduction Henley assisted, remains unknown.

Participation in murders

Schuler Street

One month later, on the evening of March 24, 1972, Henley—in the company of Corll and Brooks—encountered an 18-year-old acquaintance of his named Frank Anthony Aguirre leaving a restaurant on Yale Street, where the youth worked. Aguirre was persuaded to accompany Henley to Corll's home on the promise of drinking beer and smoking marijuana with the trio. Aguirre agreed and followed the trio to Corll's home in his Rambler. Inside Corll's house, Aguirre smoked marijuana with the trio before picking up a pair of handcuffs Corll had deliberately left on his table. In response, Corll pounced on Aguirre, pushed him onto the table, and cuffed his hands behind his back.

Henley later claimed that he had not known of Corll's true intentions towards Aguirre when he persuaded his friend to accompany him to Corll's home, and to still at this stage be oblivious to Corll's true intentions toward teenagers he or Brooks brought to him; he later claimed to have been startled upon seeing Corll suddenly "jump" upon Aguirre after the teenager had idly placed one handcuff upon his own wrist and to have attempted to dissuade Corll from raping and killing Aguirre. However, Corll refused, informing Henley that he had raped, tortured, and killed the previous victim he had assisted in abducting, and that Aguirre was to suffer the same fate. Brooks then drove Henley home.

The following evening, Henley assisted Corll and Brooks in burying Aguirre's body at High Island Beach. Corll and Brooks later informed Henley that his childhood friend, David Hilligiest, and Hilligiest's swimming companion, Gregory Malley Winkle, had also died at his hands and that, as such, there was no use in continuing to search for them.

Despite the revelations of the reality of the fate of the boys brought to Corll, Henley continued to assist in the abductions and murders. Less than one month later, Henley lured a 17-year-old youth, whom both he and Brooks well knew, named Mark Steven Scott, to Corll's apartment. Scott was specifically chosen by Corll to be his next victim, as he occasionally sold stolen property to Corll and had "recently cheated [Corll] on a deal", thus causing Corll to hold extreme animosity toward him. According to Henley, shortly before this abduction, either he or Corll had accidentally burned themselves on one of Henley's incense cones, and this incident had inspired Corll to torture Scott via this method.

Mark Scott

On April 20, Henley encountered Scott walking down a Heights alleyway close to 23rd Street and persuaded him to accompany him to Corll's apartment. Scott was grabbed by force and fought furiously against attempts by Corll and Brooks to restrain him, even attempting to stab Corll with a knife the following morning after several hours of abuse and torture; however, according to Brooks, Scott "just gave up" after seeing Henley point a .22 caliber pistol toward him. As had been the case with Frank Aguirre, Scott was strangled and buried at High Island Beach, although on this occasion, Henley strangled Scott into unconsciousness with a length of cord before Corll completed the murder.

Brooks later stated Henley was "especially sadistic" in his participation in the murders committed at Schuler Street and Henley later admitted to gradually becoming "fascinated" with "how much stamina people have" when subjected to the act of murder, with Corll alternately bestowing praise on his accomplices and goading both—but particularly Henley—to prove their loyalty and worth to him. On May 21, Henley entered Corll's apartment to observe two Heights youths, Billy Gene Baulch Jr. (17) and Johnny Ray Delome (16), socializing with Corll and Brooks. He assisted Corll and Brooks in subduing the teenagers, both of whom were bound, then tied to Corll's bed. Corll then suggested Henley sexually assault one boy while he assaulted the other, but Henley refused. Both were then forced to write letters to their parents—dated May 23 and posted from Madisonville—claiming they had found employment with a truck driver "loading and unloading from Houston to Washington" before Corll proceeded to rape them before their torture.

In Brooks's confession, he stated that both youths were tied to Corll's bed and, after their torture and rape, Henley strangled Baulch to death, with the process lasting almost thirty minutes; he then shouted, "Hey, Johnny!" and shot Delome in the forehead with Corll's .22 caliber pistol, with the bullet exiting through the youth's ear. Several minutes later, Delome pleaded with Henley, "Wayne, please don't!" before he was strangled to death by both Corll and Henley. Both youths were later buried at High Island Beach.

In part because Mark Scott had managed to partially free himself while bound and had almost succeeded in stabbing Corll, in approximately June 1972, Corll constructed a further plywood torture board measuring 8 by 2.5 feet (2.44 by 0.76 m) with handcuffs and ropes affixed to both sides of each corner to securely restrain his victim or victims. A further hole was drilled into the top center of the board in order that the device could be hung upon a wall. As such, many future victims were restrained to this device as opposed to Corll's bed or other devices, and on the occasions where Corll restrained two victims to this device, one would be forced to watch the abuse inflicted upon the other to increase the victims' psychological torture.

Summer–winter 1972

Corll moved to an apartment at Westcott Towers in June 1972. Within one month, on July 19, a 17-year-old teenager named Steven Kent Sickman had been murdered by strangulation and buried in a boat shed Corll rented in Southwest Houston; his murder was followed approximately one month later by that of 19-year-old Roy Eugene Bunton, who was bound, gagged with a section of Turkish towel and adhesive tape, then killed by two gunshots to the head before also being buried in the boat shed. Neither victim was named or referenced by either accomplice, and it is unknown whether Henley or Brooks assisted with either abduction or murder.

On October 3, Henley and Brooks abducted two Heights boys named Wally Jay Simoneaux and Richard Edward Hembree as they walked home from Hamilton Junior High School. Both were enticed into Brooks's Chevrolet Corvette and driven to Corll's Westcott Towers address. That evening, Simoneaux is known to have phoned his mother, Mildred, and to have shouted the word "Mama" into the receiver before the connection was terminated. At approximately 7 a.m. the following day, Hembree was accidentally shot in the mouth by Henley, who, according to Brooks's 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 bullet exited Hembree's neck, although both were kept alive for approximately twelve further hours before they were strangled to death that evening. Simoneaux and Hembree were later buried in the boat shed.

One month later, on November 11, a 19-year-old named Richard Alan Kepner was abducted while walking to phone his fiancée from a pay phone. Kepner hailed from Humble, Texas, but had relocated to Spring Branch shortly before his disappearance to train as a carpenter's helper. His strangled body was buried at High Island Beach, and Henley is known to have assisted Corll and Brooks in this particular abduction and murder.

Sometime in November 1972, an 18-year-old Oak Forest youth known to both Corll and Henley named Willard Karmon Branch Jr. disappeared while hitchhiking from Mount Pleasant to Houston. Branch was gagged, emasculated, and shot once above the left ear before his body was buried in the boat shed.

1973

On January 20, 1973, Corll moved to the Princessa Apartments on Wirt Road in the Spring Branch district of Houston. Two weeks later, on February 3, he abducted and killed 17-year-old Joseph Allen Lyles. Lyles had known both Corll and Brooks for several months before his disappearance; he had lived on Antoine Drive—the same street upon which Brooks resided in early 1973. According to Brooks, Corll had wanted him to assist in restraining Lyles, but he refused; in response, Corll overpowered and bound the teen before Brooks hurriedly left Corll's apartment. Lyles's body was later buried on a sandbank on Jefferson County Beach.

One month later, on March 1, Corll vacated the Princessa Apartments; he briefly resided in an apartment on South Post Oak Road before moving into his father's former residence at 2020 Lamar Drive in Pasadena on March 19.

Distancing efforts

Lyles's abduction and murder was committed without the assistance or knowledge of Henley, who had spontaneously chosen to travel from Texas to Florida with a long-haul truck driver uncle of his in January 1973, before then traveling from Florida to visit another uncle in Atlanta, Georgia. Henley did try and divulge Corll's crimes and his involvement in them to his uncle, but this individual simply believed Henley was either morbidly fantasizing or possessed a psychiatric disorder and ordered Henley to return to his mother. Weeks after returning to Houston, Henley traveled to Mount Pleasant in a further effort to distance himself from Corll. Two weeks later, he received a phone call from David Brooks, likely made at Corll's behest, in which Brooks stated he could not guarantee the safety of one of his younger brothers or the younger brother of David Hilligiest if he did not return home. Henley returned to live with his mother in April 1973.

In a further effort to distance himself from Corll, Henley attempted to enlist in the U.S. Navy as a boatswain's mate in the spring of 1973; his application was rejected on June 28 due to the fact that a color perception test revealed he was color-blind and thus ineligible to be recruited. Furthermore, although a later intelligence test would reveal Henley's IQ to be 126, he had dropped out of high school and possessed a limited formal 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."

He was escalating. I think he knew I was reaching saturation. I was drinking worse and worse ... he knew I was trying to get away. His episodes were becoming more vicious and hurried. The feeling I had was that Dean would soon kill me or kill both of us ... I believe Dean not only was losing control of his own self, but [also knew he] was losing control of me.

Elmer Wayne Henley, describing the increasing friction and distrust between himself and Corll during the summer of 1973, to authors Katherine Ramsland and Tracy Ullman (2022).

2020 Lamar Drive

Both Henley and Brooks later testified to the increase in the level of brutality of the murders committed while Corll resided at Lamar Drive; both also sensed Corll was increasingly losing his sense of self-control while becoming suspicious of both accomplices. Henley later likened the dramatic increase in sadism inflicted upon the victims and the frequency in which Corll insisted his accomplices lure victims to his home to being "like a blood lust" in which he insisted Henley, in particular, actively participate.

On Monday, June 4, 1973, Corll ordered Henley to "bring [him] a boy". In response, Henley lured a 15-year-old acquaintance named William Ray Lawrence to Corll's Pasadena residence upon the promise of fishing with himself and Corll at Lake Sam Rayburn in San Augustine County. Lawrence last phoned his father to state he and "some friends" were traveling to Lake Sam Rayburn, but that he would return to Houston in "two, three days ... maybe Thursday." Because Corll "really liked [Lawrence]", the teenager was kept alive for three days, throughout which he was almost continually bound to Corll's bed. After three days of abuse and torture, Lawrence was strangled to death with a ligature. Corll and Brooks buried his body close to a dirt road at Lake Sam Rayburn the following evening as Henley kept a lookout in Corll's Ford Econoline van.

Less than two weeks later, a 20-year-old married man from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, named Raymond Stanley Blackburn was abducted while hitchhiking from the Heights to Louisiana to see his wife and newborn child; he was strangled to death by Corll and buried at Lake Sam Rayburn. Blackburn had arrived in Houston three months before his abduction to work on a construction project. Three weeks later, on July 6, Henley began attending classes at the Coaches Driving School in Bellaire, Texas, where he became acquainted with a 15-year-old named Homer Luis Garcia. The following day, Garcia telephoned his mother to say he was spending the night with a friend from the driving school, whom he refused to name; he was shot and left to bleed to death in Corll's bathtub before his body was buried at Lake Sam Rayburn. Five days later, on July 12, a 17-year-old Orange County youth and U.S. Marine named John Manning Sellars was shot to death with a rifle and buried at High Island Beach.

The day after Sellars' disappearance, Brooks married his pregnant 15-year-old fiancée, Bridget Clark; the two moved into an apartment together, although he continued to maintain contact with Corll and Henley.

On July 19, Corll and Henley encountered 15-year-old Michael Anthony Baulch—the younger brother of previous victim Billy Baulch—walking home from a barber's shop. He was lured to Corll's residence upon an unknown pretext. Baulch was strangled to death with a cord before his body was buried at Lake Sam Rayburn, just 10 feet (3 m) from the body of Homer Garcia. Six days later, on Corll's instructions, Henley lured two Heights youths named Charles Cary Cobble (17) and Marty Ray Jones (18) to Corll's home. The trio was last seen by a friend of Henley's named Johnny Reyna walking in single file along 27th Street.[99] Two days later, Jones was strangled to death as Cobble—observing his friend's murder—went into cardiac arrest; Henley partially resuscitated Cobble before Corll ordered him to stop. He then shot Cobble twice in the head. Henley buried the youths in the center of Corll's boat shed, with Corll briefly locking him inside the shed while he retrieved bags of lime to spread over their bodies.

On Friday, August 3, Corll encountered a 13-year-old boy from South Houston named James Stanton Dreymala riding his bicycle close to his parents' home. Upon learning Dreymala was saving money to take his first girlfriend to see the latest James Bond movie that Sunday, Corll lured the boy to his home on the pretext of collecting empty glass bottles from his shed to collect the deposit for their return. That evening, Brooks observed Dreymala at Corll's home; he ordered a pizza, which he shared with the boy before leaving him alone with Corll. Dreymala later called his parents to request if he could stay overnight at a party across town; his parents informed him to return home, although shortly thereafter, Dreymala was tied to Corll's torture board, raped, tortured, and strangled with a cord before being buried close to the entrance of Corll's boat shed.

August 8, 1973

On the evening of August 7, 1973, Henley invited 20-year-old Timothy Cordell Kerley to attend a party at Corll's Pasadena residence. Kerley—a casual acquaintance of Corll whom Corll intended to be his next victim—accepted the offer. Brooks was not present at the time. The two youths arrived at Corll's house, where they sniffed paint fumes and drank alcohol until midnight before leaving the house, promising to return shortly. Henley and Kerley then drove back to Houston Heights, and Kerley parked his Volkswagen close to Henley's home. The two exited the vehicle, and Henley, hearing commotion across the street emanating from the home of his 15-year-old friend, Rhonda Louise Williams, walked toward her home. Williams had been beaten by her drunken father that evening and—determined to run away from home—had packed several basic belongings into an overnight bag before seeking temporary refuge in a washateria close to her home, where Henley encountered her. Williams accepted Henley's invitation to join him and Kerley at Corll's home. The trio then drove toward Corll's residence, arriving at approximately 3:00 a.m.

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, and Henley, Williams, and Kerley began drinking and smoking marijuana, with Henley and Kerley also sniffing acrylic paint fumes as Corll watched the trio intently before apparently retiring to bed. After approximately two hours, Henley, Kerley, and Williams each passed out.

Henley woke to find himself gagged and pinioned face down, with Corll placing handcuffs upon his wrists. Kerley and Williams had each been bound and gagged and lay alongside Henley on the floor, with Kerley having been stripped naked. Corll informed Henley he was furious he had brought a girl to his home, thus thwarting his plans to assault and torture Kerley, stating, "Man, you blew it bringing that girl" before repeatedly kicking Williams in the chest and shouting, "Wake up, bitch!"

When all three had woken, Corll began shouting as he waved an eighteen-inch hunting knife at the trio: "I'm gonna kill you all! But first I'm gonna have my fun!" He then dragged Henley into his kitchen and placed a .22 caliber pistol against his stomach, threatening to shoot him. Henley pleaded for his life, promising to participate in the torture and murder of the others if Corll released him. After several minutes, Corll agreed and untied Henley, then separately carried Kerley and Williams into his bedroom and tied them to opposite sides of his plywood torture board placed above a layer of thick plastic sheeting: Kerley on his stomach; Williams on her back. He then placed a transistor radio attached to a pair of dry cells between Kerley and Williams before turning the volume to maximum to drown out any shouting and screaming.

Henley was handed a long hunting knife by Corll, who ordered him to cut away Williams's clothes, insisting that he would rape and kill Kerley as Henley would do likewise to Williams and shouting, "What are you waiting for?" Henley then began cutting off Williams's trousers and underwear as Corll placed the pistol upon a bedside table, undressed, and climbed on top of Kerley.

Shooting of Corll

As Corll began to assault and torture Kerley, Henley continued cutting away Williams's clothes with the hunting knife Corll had handed him. As he did so, Williams—whose gag Henley had removed—lifted her head and asked Henley, "Is this for real?" Henley replied in the affirmative, and Williams then asked: "Are you going to do anything about it?" This statement unnerved Henley, but evidently inspired him to act. After standing and pacing the room for several minutes as he huffed from a sack of acrylic paint fumes, he observed the pistol Corll had laid on a bedside table. After asking Corll, "Hey, Dean. Why don't you let me take the chick in the other room? She doesn't want to see this," and receiving no response, Henley grabbed the pistol and ordered Corll to stop what he was doing, shouting, "You've gone far enough, Dean! I can't go on any longer ... I can't have you kill all my friends!"

Even with a weapon pointed at him, Corll was not cowed: he clambered off Kerley, stood, and slowly walked towards Henley, shouting, "Kill me, Wayne! You won't do it!" Henley fired a round at Corll, hitting him in the forehead. As Corll continued to advance upon him, Henley fired a further two rounds into his left shoulder—one of which penetrated his lung and lodged in his spine. Corll began coughing up blood as he ran out of the room, trapping his foot in a rotary telephone wire and staggering toward the wall of the hallway. Henley fired three additional bullets into his lower back and shoulder as Corll slid down the wall, killing him.