Dear Simon and David, I know it’s a long shot, but what if we collaborate to make a petition for them to excavate the areas that haven’t been dug up yet? I’m an advocate with my masters in social work, so I know how to talk to US politicians (unfortunately). David is a fantastic writer and knows this case well. Simon, I know these cases have been weighing heavily on you. You can possibly help do something to bring closure to the families of those involved. To the other commenters, please upvote this if you agree, or lmk if you’d like to help. Thank you and take care of yourselves, ZAB
Ground penetrating radar can tell if there's anything under the parking lot before attempting excavation. There are some organizations of forensic professionals, like Vidocq that work together, gathering evidence and solving crime. They have access to GPR, divers, dogs, lab services, etc.
Great idea. There are strong grounds to believe that more people are buried there and families who still don't have closure. A carpark was dug up in the UK, with way less evidence, to find a long dead king (which was successful - hello king Richard). Spending a bit of cash digging a beach and carpark seems peanuts compared to the suffering of those families. This is America - and Texas at that - you can afford it.
I'm somebody who lives in Houston. I know where the site of the factory is, but I don't know about the parking lot. Tried to look up more info but I couldn't find any. I was able to find newspaper clippings that denoted the exact address of the factory. It has since been torn down and a townhouse has been built over the site so I don't think anything could be done there- But I definitely wouldn't mind either trying to get that parking lot dug up or, if needed, get a large group of like-minded people to... uh... illegally start the process ourselves if needed.
@@EWolf-b9o Wait, you guys located King Richard under a carpark in the UK? That's insane, and the kind of thing I would absolutely want to be done. Listen, I am from Texas. Not only that- I AM FROM HOUSTON. I live there now. The area where Corll's candy was located is less than a half an hour's drive from my home. There's not much I can do in that regard as the factory has been torn down and a townhouse has been built on top of it, but I would love to know the location of that parking lot.... for... research. Me and like 200 guys renting jackhammers and other semi-heavy machinery for uh.... research.
I can think of 2 reasons why this case isnt as well known as Gacy et al. Since Corll was killed, there was no trial, no interrogation, no endless studying and psychoanalysis. There was no peek into his mind, just a clean-up of the mess he made. The other reason would be how abysmal the police response was. They wanted this to go away, so why dig up the factory office, the parking lot, or other areas where he hunted. Every body of a missing teen that was discovered became a spotlight on HPD's culpability.
Yeah, those are my thoughts too. I wonder WHY there basically wasn’t ANY police response until this monster was killed…? Surely this can’t have been just incompetence and neglect? Anyway, they are culpable imo. Many of these boys could have escaped, had anyone cared to investigate.
I feel you are right. But also, I'll give the police a pass for not wanting to dig up High Island. The way storms and hurricanes scrub those barrier islands, it seemed a dumb place to bury them to begin with, like an invitation for someone to find your victim floating in the gulf. And I wouldn't expect a body to stay there more than a couple of years. Digging probably just seemed like a waste of resources.
@@ahleenapretty rich of the police to be able to be concerned about not wasting valuable police resources after dicking around for years not doing f*cking anything at all!! The ending just makes me wonder how deep the rabbit whole goes into the democratic party and celebrities as well as judges and prosecutors. This whole case screams coverup
I was just thinking the same thing. I'm surprised there aren't more commented relating to this point. The lack of action to excavate those potential dumping sites was to reduce negative attention on the police at the time. I hope someone decides in the near future to investigate those sites, simply out of respect for the dead and their families.
I was coming to the comments to to state exactly this. Every police agency in the country would want this story squashed because it highlights the gross negligence and incompetence of that police force. Add to the fact that "They probably just ran away" is an excuse we still here police make for not getting off their asses and doing their jobs and, well, this is the result.
Stanton (James Stanton Dreymala) was a childhood friend since kindergarten. We grew up a couple of blocks away from each other and often collected bottles together to turn in for deposit money. I just happened to not be with him on that fateful day. I had loaned him some sheet music (we were in band together, trumpet players), and wondered why he hadn't returned it and why he wasn't in class, and then I found out he had been murdered when he was dug up. I often wondered why this whole crime story remained effectively a secret for the longest. I sure hope that someday someone completes the search for Corll's victims.
corrl had ties to government sex rings and was considered a procurer for possibly larry king, whe he was found out the government squashed the whole case, name another killer like this who went largely unnoticed AFTER they were caught
I'm so sorry our deepest condolences to you and Stanton' family. May that poor child rest in place. The only justice these families can get is indeed, as you said, to recover the bodies that can be recovered. May all these children and victims rest in peace.
Always with the questions lol. I miss when he used to just ask siri or chatgpt. The editor started putting the answers in for a while there, too. Has got to he better for engagement. A number of people might pause the video to do the searching themselves, and it's probably a crap shoot rather or not they will return. I guess that just comes with the territory of cold reads
Still, the craftsmanship on my license plates is awful. Nearly cut my finger on a sharp edge. And don't even get me STARTED on the time it took those Chinese chil-......workers.....to fix my iPad and send it back. Took nearly a week.
Well in the USA at least, the prisoners have to volunteer for the work so it's technically not slave labor. A lot of them choose to work just to have something to do or to get out of prison for a day.
Rhonda Williams despite suffering with severe PTSD later became a social worker. She passed away in her sleep on September 16, 2019 at age 61. The gofundme set up to cover her funeral expenses raised just $1,600 of $5,000. The poor woman deserved so much better.
The reason why dean is brought up so little in the serial killer conversation is because he was murdered before any of his crimes were exposed, without his own testimonies there is still so much information unknown about him
Also he was producing snuff films of young men then selling them to a shadowy cabal of predators like him that’s where all his unexplained cash came from it even ties back to the CIA
They didn’t need to give much attention . The prime murderer was dead and the accomplice pled guilty and showed where the bodies were. What else did they need to do.
It didn't have a trial. The lack of trial is what I think made less media attention. A trial usually last years so it has a lot of opportunities for people to find out information.
@@loditx7706there were 2 accomplices though. Wayne Henley & David Brooks; Wayne was the one to take the more active role in murdering them later on while David mostly lured boys back to Corll & Wayne. Also, Corll had been abusing David Brooks for years prior to David's helping Corll procure young unsuspecting victims, so he seemed a bit brainwashed into being okay with this shit. Or maybe Corll actually saw something evil in them that resembled himself. The whole dynamic was disturbing to say the very least. I still wonder if David Brooks was gay, because he was SA'ed frequently as a teen by Corll but he seemed to show loyalty towards him up to his passing, he stayed with him at his house often & harbored no discernible contempt after Corll's passing iirc. Obviously male SA victims of other males can be straight & being a victim of abuse can alter how you behave, but their dynamic was also clearly *unique*
Simon I'm a truck driver in the US, I love the longer episodes, I don't watch but I listen along as they play and it helps the day pass. Keep up the hard work bud!!
I hate the sentiment that telling your kids to not do things you did as a kid is somehow "hypocritical." The whole point of parenting is to pass on things you've learned, I think, and telling your kids to avoid mistakes you've made is super important.
There's "don't skip school occasionally to hang out with your friends" and then there's "don't go out to play in the woods without telling me and stay in yelling distance"
I can't believe no one has pointed out the fact that the police NEVER caught him...his apprentice did. The police never even realized that anything shady was happening at all; let alone the horrific things that were taking place right under their noses.
I grew up near where this boat shed was located I remember pedaling my bicycle down the road and watch across the field as they carry burlap bags out of the boat shed
@@kayeldee1 Ok, not EVERY case of this is a conspiracy. In fact, most are not. It may appeal to folk’s sense of drama or religious fervor or something, but reality is not so exciting, usually. Not saying these things never happen, but they are rare. The Tim Ballard version is false.
It gives me hope for Simon's heart. If I had the ability as a fan to do one thing for him I'd compile all his little rants about his kids and send it so he can show his kids how important they are to him
After listening to a bunch of true crime podcasts, basically every child/teen that disappeared was always considered just a runaway in the 60s and 70s.
The worst part is there's a bunch of authoritarian sycophants who will claim that those were the golden days of policing when they didn't have their hands tied behind their backs. Disgusting...
@@youtubename7819I suspect that because most of the cops then grew up in the 20's and 30's, they knew alot of 'runaways' in their youth and thought it was something all kids did
Oh yeah... I thought that was because of the father who poisoned his own child using Halloween candy as a cover but Google tells me that happened one year after Corll's killings. (Corll was in 70-73 and the poisoned candy was in Oct 74.)
The Halloween candy thing was a complete hoax. The guy who reported it poisoned his own son with trick or treat candy and created a moral panic.@@bondickle
Holy sh*t my brain hadn't made that connection. I'd never heard of Corll but I definitely grew up with these warnings! Just a further example of how much of an absolutely evil monster he was that his MO is literally Child-Safety-101.
It's interesting how Corll's name has largely been forgotten, but his actions have become synonymous with the concept of stranger danger (offering kids candy, having a white van, inviting kids to come to his house). Those are all verbatim out of his playbook, which makes me wonder if his extrajudicial demise was the main reason his name isn't as famous as other serial killers of the era.
What also deluded his notoriety is because his nickname, “The Candy Man” was taken over by the fictional supernatural monster who ironically was less of a monster then the real thing.
It’s also very much that it just wasn’t pushed as much… you can only speculate why, maybe because of the history of that town or the fact that the police just didn’t care at all… we don’t know. But we truly underestimate the impact the push through the media and the authorities really had on those news traveling and staying in people’s head at that time… As you yourself pointed out, all his "tricks" are well known to all of us and I guess that is what got pushed instead of his name and the case itself, maybe exactly because the case is so grim and shows the incompetence of the authorities involved to such a depressing degree that it was more of a hush hush and a decision to rather push those tricks into the stranger danger phenomenon.
Brooks saying that most of the boys who were RAPED AND TORTURED TO DEATH were no great loss is horrifying! And he's not even the main killer in this story! It's bad enough when people think inmates aren't worthy of life, but little boys? As a mother the only reason I even listen to this show anymore is to know what to look out for with my child and their schoolmates.
@jackhamilton9604 i dont what you meant for this but these kids where still little still worthy of being treated and cheerished as children. Dont take that away from them
@Jack-px8lf dude why were you taking things to the extreme by claiming I don't feel sorry for the victims? I was just correcting the commentor about their actual age, it's similar to when I see people calling Apes Monkeys
Fun fact: the 13th ammendment to the US Constitution prohibited slavery, except for use as punishment for a crime. And they havent changed that loophole to this day. So yes, Simon, in America, slave labor is still legal in a prison setting
It's not slave labor. Slave labor is unpaid. Inmates get a nice shiny quarter. 6 months of work and they can save up for a $10 candy bar in their commissary. Pretty good gig. Later edit: The number of people not realizing I was being sarcastic is shocking. Thought I made it very obvious lol.
Eh, it's mostly voluntary, and paid. Plus it doesn't actually offset the cost of housing an inmate so even if they forced every prisoner to do such work, the prison still wouldn't be making money out of it.
...you can be put in solitary if you refuse to work when they ask you. So not...really voluntary in Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Virginia, Nebraska, and South Carolina. @SynonamessBotchKevin
@SynonamessBotchKevin the prison charges $22/hr for the inmate and pays them $2.74/hr in New York...so..??? No they're making plenty of money off the 2k+ forced employees that work in each prison.
This mother is above and beyond the text book definition of "mothers denial." Adamantly denies her sons homosexuality in spite of all blatant signs and accusations and then years later, denial of gruesome and disgusting sexual assault and murder regardless of the mountains of evidence staring her right in the face. Unbelievable.
Its unfortunate, but thats her kid. Of course she doesnt want to believe that her child is one of the worst monsters in history, and nobody can force her. Really, i dont blame her
She inhaled Copium so badly it must have hurt a muscle, I swear. The levels of denial! Like I get it, she loved her children, but come on now...COME ON! :|
I’m from Houston and was a small child when this occurred. This is the most thorough and informative version that I’ve come across in print or video. Great job by the writer.
The Fitness Gram Pacer Test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult as it continues, The 20 meter pacer test will begin in 30 seconds. Line up at the start. The running speed starts slowly, but gets faster each minute when you hear this signal (beep). A single lap should be completed each time you hear this sound (ding) Remember to run in a straight line and to run as long as possible. The second time you fail to complete a lap your test is over. The test will begin on the word start. Ready. Set. Start.
@@therealasherwolfstein yeah something tells me they wouldnt care. a person who is selfish enough to prioritize their own sexual gratification over the safety and wellbeing of children literally doesnt think about the consequences beyond getting what they want in the moment.
My mom actually lived next door to this guy when she was a little little kid. She doesn't remember a lot about him, but she remembers that there were always boys around his place and her mom wouldn't let her outside when they were there. She only found out years later who he was and what he did.
Don’t worry about telling personal, funny stories while reading these horrific stories. It gives us a break from the horror of it all. And I like the floating head look! Don’t change a thing.
My husband actually encountered Deal Corll who asked him to go somewhere with him and my husband refused and thank god he did otherwise you’d have had him as part of your show that I watched today my husband watched this also you did a great job explaining it all and uncovered some things we ha not heard about and I also think it’s unreal how incompetent the Houston police were in this situation 😢
The worst part of knowing how this case ends is listening to Simon start his reading while he's still thinking that there's going to be a day in court or any kind of real justice. Or hearing how puzzled he is as to why the two teenage boys were sent into the boathouse first. It's like watching the hero being stalked through a horror movie and wanting to warn them, as though they'll be able to hear you.
This guy must be one of the luckiest serial killers in the world as he ,not only murdered in his own backyard, picking victims from his own neighbourhood, killing in a home very very close to neighbours never noticing no one ever leaving his house, never being noticed digging or carrying victims from and to locations, never being ratted on by 2 random teenage boys he happened to be able to recruit into sadism and murder but also a police that never ever loooked for the victims despite having a clear pattern in front of them ....Absolutely the luckiest sadist alive
That police department should have been sued for ignoring the missing children. Especially when David Brooke's name came up more than once and the mention of the white van several times. Ridiculous
I've always thought that the reason this guy isn't remembered much today is because he was already dead when the story broke. It was his two teenage helpers who bore the bulk of public anger, and not without reason, they had helped procure the victims for Corll, and they also helped kill a number of them as well. They (Henley and Brooks) were the ones who were alive to go to court and receive multiply life sentences afterward. Dean, on the other hand, had a regular funeral after being shot and killed by Henley, and so he just isn't remembered today. If you think about it, these three also had help from the police department because their manner of handling reported missing children's cases pretty much assured that there would be nobody in law enforcement looking for the missing boys.
@@markwilson5967 He had a number of family members show up, and because he received an honorable discharge when he was in the Army, he also had a Military funeral I'm sorry to say. His mother never believed that he committed any crimes or was even gay. She stayed in denial till the day she died.
Parents rarely acknowledge when they have raised a psychopath/sociopath/narcissist because they are ground zero for the behaviour and chief enablers. For them to say "yeah I raised a monster" requires accountability which I imagine would be a trait Corll's mother sorely lacked.
@@joeycampbell940 on the contrary, it's a very common thread. Many individuals meet the diagnostic criteria for psychopathy and do not develop murderous tendencies in part because they have learned the rules of appropriate social behaviour and deem it more advantageous to follow said rules in exchange for maintaining the benefits of being part of their community (freedom from prison, access to resources, exchange of knowledge and skills from peers, etc.). However, those who experience instability in their primary care environment / are subject to abuse as children do not develop the same appreciation for the 'rules' of social living, as they aren't exposed to the benefits of following said rules. Similarly, some individuals who are not born psychopaths will go on to develop personality or mood disorders that may contribute to committing acts of violence because of childhood abuse.
@@joeycampbell940 I speak from the experience of having someone with Malignant NPD (who was bullied by her mother) unhealthily fixate on me and then studying reams of literature on Cluster B's and childhood trauma. In all but the rare cases of genetic psychopathy arise from early childhood trauma and environment. John Wayne Gacy - Bullied by his father over sexuality, Manson dressed as a girl and sold as a baby by his mother, Bundy was gaslit into believing his mother was his sister. It's an observable pattern.
While there are so many gut punches throughout this story, the first thing that sticks with me is the beginning. When an inmate runs out due to the sight and smell and no one tries to stop or subdue him. That just says a lot; about the scene and feelings at that time. Rest In Peace boys. Great job as always Simon, David, and Jen!
To be fair, they were probably minimum security inmates. A shop lifter, check forger, drunk driver, or a pot dealer isn't going to be any more accustomed to digging up corpses than any other guy on the street.
I never thought the "free candy" van guy actually existed. I thought it was some exaggerated story during the stranger danger panic. How it took so long for everyone to realize that Dean was a predator terrifies me. Dean was literally the creepy "free candy" van man.
I like how shocked Simon is that this guy isn't more well-known, but I can probably guarantee that he is the origin of the free candy van troupe. It seems like the best way to remember a serial killer, honestly. Don't remember their names or crimes, but spread around their MO for luring in victims to the point where it sounds like obvious bait.
This dude sounds like the origin of all the things we were told to watch out for as kids. Don't take candy from strangers, watch out for strange vans, Don't talk to strangers, etc.
My mom lived in Houston in the 70s, my siblings were little. She used the child leashes when in public and was very protective. She said people made fun of her at the time but coming from a small town to there and hearing about all the crime, she was scared and wanted to protect her babies.
I would love to catch someone criticizing child leashes. I would tell the person "Why does the leash offend you? Does it make it more difficult for you to abduct the child?" I had child leashes with my twins. I only used them a couple times, and I made it "fun" for the kids. I preferred to use the one adult per child approach when we went anywhere in public. The one time I wished we had used leashes was when we went as a family to a fair. We briefly lost sight of the kids, and it terrified me. There is no stronger relief than finding a child after you've lost them - even if only for a few minutes. I genuinely feel tremendous sorrow for any parent who loses their child permanently. It brings tears to my eyes every time I think about it. Child leashes are not bad. Missing children is bad.
Good for her protecting her children. It's clear the police wouldn't have helped if anything had happened to them. I'd like to know what was keeping them so busy that was more important than protecting children.
@Dreasura. in my area, they are criticized because it's usually because they are almost exclusive used by irresponsible and lazy parents. The expectation is that you should teach your kids to behave in public and stay close, and that you should keep your eyes on your kids.
@@yetanotherrandomguy3157 kids tend to get distracted and wander off, even good kids with good parents. Small kids especially tend to pretty much exist in the present moment; if they see something interesting, they may wander over to look at it even if they're otherwise being well-behaved. My mom used child leashes, mainly because it allowed us to walk normally with our hands free while still being safely attached to her. They're great in crowds, especially, where getting separated can happen despite best efforts. Yes, you can hold a kid's hand, but that can literally cause kids to end up with shoulder damage because their arm is constantly being held in an unnatural position and getting pulled on. I'd rather have a kid on a leash, able to move freely while still being safely tethered to their parent, than worry about the sensibilities of opinionated strangers who need to mind their own business.
@yetanotherrandomguy3157 I was an only child for years and apparently very mischievous. We lived in a section of townhouses in an apartment complex and I would run off while my parents would do laundry at the on site spots. They turned around for less than a minute and I was gone. People underestimate kids quite a bit lol
I appreciate the scene-setting in the beginning, the way David describes the investigators’ and prisoners’ reactions makes them seem so united in their task, as grueling and horrifying as it was they just kept going. The first prisoner to run and vomit coming back with another shovel, apologizing, and getting back to work makes sense in light of the fact that child abusers/killers are the lowest of the low, these men probably wanted justice for these boys as badly as the investigators did. For me it really brings home the evil this man perpetrated on these children, I was already disturbed even before the descriptions of the bodies.
@@fumanpoo4725you say that but surely it should depend on what they originally did to be in prison. Also the guy HAD to come back in or he'd have an extra charge for trying to escape (if he hadn't returned).
Oh I've heard of Corll. I was a kid in 1973 and I thought my grandmother had been a little too overprotective that Summer. Then Corll was killed at his home only about a mile away from my grandparent's place in Pasadena TX and I realized how lucky I had been not to be riding my bike to the store, the park, etc...I was a little young for Corll's preferred target range but that didn't ease my anxiety over what could have happened. After school started I was back home in Baytown, also a suburb of Houston, just a few mile from Pasadena. I missed my bus one day so I was having to walk home from school. One stretch of raised road went through a salt water tidal swamp, so there were no houses. I heard a vehicle coming from behind, slow down and, like something out of a nightmare, a dingy white panel van pulled up beside me. The driver leaned his head out and asked me if I needed a ride. I bluffed with a smile and told him no thanks that I lived just bit ahead. I could just make out that there was someone in the passenger seat and I was terrified. The driver asked if I was sure. I kept smiling and told him no thanks. He drove on down the road but my mind was racing to figure out what I was going to do if I saw that van heading back toward me. There was literally nowhere to go but off the road and into the nasty swamp. Luckily the van never came back, I made it home and never hsd to make that long walk again. Of course this was after Corll was dead but over the years I've thought about it in relation to copycat killers. There were many boys missing in the Houston area during those early 70s years who have never been accounted for. I can't help but wonder if someone else was capitalizing on Corll's spree. Or maybe Corll was capitalizing on someone else's spree. Whatever the case, scary memories that weree way to close to home for me.
If i recall correctly, the reason they have not looked for more bodies is because the authorities were embarrassed and they don't want the count to go up and "win" the serial killer count.
20:24 Fact Boy: “Do you guys do the ‘bleep’ test?” Me: “The fitnessgram pacer test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult as it continues”
I'm from the UK and this wasn't a big thing for us. Well it kinda was which was why we only did it once in year 7... Multiple children had asthma attacks or other breathing difficulties, other kids fell over and we were doing it on AstroTurf so you can imagine how that went. Luckily I'm the least sporty person ever so I tapped out pretty early and just watched the carnage unfold. We never did it again after that day 😂 (everyone was fine pretty shortly by the way)
When i was in highschool we lived across from the minimum security prison. Trustees would come over and do our yardwork, mow our lawn etc. I'd sit witn them during their breaks,my mom always made lemonade or sweet tea for them, and they'd talk about their families or plans for when they got out. All of them loved coming over to do the work. They always said it made them feel normal, and they liked talking to people that werent other inmates
I had a similar experience with the minimum security prison near city hall in my home town. Minimum security prisons are for the most good people, those that deserve redemption. I don't doubt you had decent conversations with them, they're almost always decent men. The prison in my home town had a golf green on its campus.
Nonsense. I heard of the case when it happened as a boy of 13. It was big news. The story died because there was no unknown perpetrator to keep the interest going. The show was over.
@@charlesfaure1189Uh, lots of famous serial killers aren't unknown perpetrators. Thus them being famous. Y'know, like Ted Bundy? Something can make big news at the time and then be quickly smothered out of public consciousness once people realize what a bad look it is for the police. People are STILL only just waking up to the fact that Jeffrey Dahmer wasn't a charismatic nor skilled killer, it's just that the police (and many of the general public) were actually thrilled about who he was killing. In recent years the police thing with Jeff is becoming more widely accepted, but the average listener still bristles in denial about the Jeffrey Dahmer support from the general public, praising him for killing gay men. TL;DR: The public is a very fickle matter and can easily be manipulated into forgetting inconvenient truths.
@@charlesfaure1189i think media tends to be shy about SA & torture murders that involve boys. my theory is that men run the media and get squeamish and uncomfortable because you see yourself in the victim on an inherent level. but these male producers and writers can distance themselves when girls and women are victims, so it's easier and preferable, maybe even subconsciously, for them to stomach the content enough to write the episodes & coverage. true crime is also aimed at women so women and girls stories sell better. see audiences aren't deterred from overly relatable victims in the same ways writers are, as audiences are watching this stuff as some sort of self preservation and our deepest personal fears. so you have men writing these stories for women, women who are frightened for themselves and their kids. so you naturally get most content about kidnapped & brutalized women and girls as a little kid i accidentally overheard what happened to junko furuka in grave detail because it was blasted on a daytime tv program. very similar to what these boys went through. it completely scarred me and traumatized me. i barely understood what sex was yet but i was hearing about a girl kidnapped and subjected to 40 days of sexual sadism by a gang of men and boys. a lot of women grow up very suddenly and quickly hearing about these things and internalizing it as something we have to watch out for. fueling our consumption of the media, like the brain is trying to map out the life of a killer to sniff them out. if we know more about these people maybe we can avoid the same fate. never be taken and meet the worst kind of end imaginable. it's nuts but here we are
I'm glad you Coverd "the candyman." I think he is one of the worst / unknown serial killer out there. . The torture, and getting other kids to lure victims to him really just sets his crimes apart and
I had for sure already heard of Dean Corll. I'm from Houston, hung out in the neighborhoods where all this happened, and Skip Hollingsworth from Texas Monthly wrote an amazing article about the case years ago. Lots of other true crime shows have covered him too, but Skip's story really drove home the culture that enabled Corll, where children from this area were seen as degenerate by default and the police weren't really scrutinized for assuming they'd all run away, because there were countless runaways too. To put it bluntly, Corll was basically a kid in a candy store
And lucky, lucky like no serial monster probably ever was before and after...Absolutely being able to follow his lust without nosy neighbours and an incompetent police..
Also, the police system was not as centralized or coordinated as we’re used to. A-hole constantly moving house probably had him moving from one small station’s territory to another.
I was thirteen. It was national news, but not for long, because there was no perpetrator to track down. It's the hunt that makes these monsters interesting over time. Jack the Ripper is still a legendary figure despite his being far less deadly than Coryll--because he was never officialy caught.
I am from Houston too and remember this! I was 12 years old! Just remembering how old and where I was when I heard about it 50 years later shows how much it affected my mind at the time! I still get that empty sick spooky feeling when I think about it. I too don't understand why this hasn't got more attention. I think the term serial killer even started with this incident.
I'm only nine minutes in yet but can I just say how nice it is to hear a true crime story on TH-cam read out just as it is without either censoring absolutely everything or replacing half of it with a downplayed and harmless sounding version to be as kid and advertiser friendly as possible. I have liked to listen to true crimes for a long time but on TH-cam it just became more and more annoying to listen to over time so I mostly switched to other audio platforms.
I’ve seen this story told a few times by podcasts but this was the best version by far. Stated the horror of what the situation truly was but without being a grotesque play by play of the crimes. This continues to be the best true crime podcast out there.
The FitnessGram PACER Test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult as it continues. The test is used to measure a student's aerobic capacity as part of the FitnessGram assessment. Students run back and forth as many times as they can, each lap signaled by a beep sound
EVERYONE knows about the candyman and his windowless van, even if we don’t know why we know about it. In the 90’s in Detroit windowless vans were synonymous with “stranger danger” and you NEVER took candy from strangers.
He is well known in the area and part of the reason my grandparents moved from the Houston area to Nola in the early 1970s. Even if the police did nothing, the citizens knew something was wrong. There were parents that believed someone was helping all these kids runaway from home. My uncle was about 12 at the time, so they were wanting to keep him from running away. Then my grandmother's sister was murdered during a robbery. It prompted my grandparents to get out of the area and start a small dairy farm outside of nola.
This is the most brutal reading I’ve heard from Simon. And I’ve listen to all the heavy hitter episodes on this channel. I don’t know what it was, but gawd. It was so chilling.
No, likely not. If someone runs away, which is fairly common, the highest likelihood terrible thing to happen to them is being kidnapped for human trafficking. People rarely get murdered in comparison to all the other shit that happens. There's also a ton of homeless young people that are on their own.
I've been waiting for this one... I've always been baffled by how little press Corll got and how poorly remembered this case is compared to Gacey, when he was arguably the worse of the two when you lay it all out.
I think it's because Gacy (and others like him) lived though the trial and for years afterwards, while Corll died before anyone got to know what a horrific sicko he was. No trial, no interviews, no opportunity to build fame for Corll.
@Kari.F. That's a fair point, though I also suspect it might've been helped by some deliberate suppression by the local government. They were pretty well burned by the prospect of being the home of the worst serial killer in America (at the time), in terms of raw body count, and I think that they probably worked pretty hard to try and make the whole thing go away in the news.
I first heard about this guy when I lived in Houston 10 years ago. Even down there though it was surprisingly hush hush and most people hadn't heard of him. I have always been appalled that this has been fairly swept under the rug. Thanks for covering it.
Everything about this is absolutely devastating, but the thought of James on his bike, going to sell his bottles so he could take his girlfriend on a date, just stood out for me. An innocent, sweet effort to have a nice time with his sweetheart ending so horrifically is so unfathomable and cruel. I don't know why that just stands out to me, but it does. Maybe it's just because my mind is filling in the blanks, like how excited, and hopeful James might have been, looking forward to his date. All these boys had so much ahead of them. I know that's stating the obvious, but this case is just so heartbreaking and infuriating. Thank you David, fir your amazing, empathetic, in depth reasearch into thia case. Thank you Simon for presenting it for us, eapecially knowing how hard these brutal cases are for you to cover. Thank you Christian for your great editing, placing moments of levity when appropriate while still showing respect to the victims and their familes. These crimes are difficult to listen to, and I imagine it must so much more difficult to spend days or weeks researching, writing and putting these episodes together. Take care of yourselves and be proud of your work telling the stories of people who were robbed of their lives and their voice.
Yes Evil is sick and satans soldiers are scattered everywhere across the earth. May god give these boys souls the peace they deserve, after such a horrific end.
Poor Simon, this one was brutal and he kept wanting to talk about his kids even though the episode was so awful. Give this man a good old fashioned heist video next time! Maybe a really old robbery on the high seas, I bet Simon would love that!
I've suggested on his subreddit doing an episode on the theft of William Wallace's sword. It has a happy ending and it's altogether a very light story. It may not be a very long script, but it would be a very good palette cleanser
The depths of depravity that human beings are capable of never ceases to amaze me. Every time I hear a story like this, I think well that has to be the worst person every and then...nope there's some one worse.
To answer your question as to why the authorities won’t excavate/use sonar detection, the answer is twofold: 1) the high cost has very little reward due to the public mostly not knowing about the case and 2) TX is rapidly growing and a bodies being found would hurt the real estate value because the name of the town would be included in headlines. Just my theory as someone familiar with TX.
And Houston needs its parking lots. If you tear them up you’re going to have a riot on your hands. As for the bodies not found on High Island, we get too many hurricanes that hit there The bodies were likely washed out to sea.
I don't believe I've heard of this case before which is impressive, since I've seen a LOT of true crime. That being said, despite being desensitized over the years, the first 10 minutes in I'm just horrified beyond words. Thank you Simon and the rest of the team for going through these cases, which hopefully lead to improvements which mean absolutely vile shit like this happens less.
American middle schoolers know 2 scary stories: Bloody Mary and Candyman. They don’t know who Corll is but we know the tropes. Never trust a white can with no windows, don’t get close to someone you don’t know, and for god’s sake don’t follow them to their vehicle. Even though his name is forgotten by them, his legacy has changed the critical thinking of many kids throughout the decades since. Candyman is a staple. I think they even made a movie on it recently.
@@revenge0lobsterThat was filmed in Chicago at Cabrini Green. An infamous housing project. The author Clive Barker’s partner grew up there. That’s how he got the inspiration for the story, and knew of Cabrini Green being he’s British. Cabrini Green was known as one of the worst, dangerous projects in the US.
My dad was drafted for Vietnam. He knew someone who literally had brain cancer who was drafted. It took six months for them to actually be allowed out. If you could stand and breathe you were good to go as far as they were concerned.
I have an ex who desperately wanted to join the army like her big brother, and was disqualified for being on exactly one psychiatric medication at the time (she's never been on one since). She was devastated, but given the fact that that would have sent her into Iraq, I think the consensus is she was ultimately spared the unnecessary trauma.
Started listening to this while I was walking my dog, but I had to stop . I kept getting sad and then laughing because my dog is hilarious . He's a bassethound,so it's hard not to lough at his baying and weird little legs. I'm glad I did the two separately, this is a rough one.
Wow, Simon your stance on the death penalty has been a remarkable journey of transformation to behold over the episodes. Personally I agree completely.
Including teens? Why shouldnt minors be punished the same? Whats the point in keeping them in jail for 70+ yrs? Either let them out eventually or treat them like adults. It would be different if there was only one crime and it was something like pushing someone off a building but in some situations its the stuff of nightmares. And you know these types of criminals will have to be kept away from other prisoners.
@@CashelOConnolly Why would you prefer Corll never died? Why is it healthy (opposite of sick) keeping someone alive for the rest of their life, probably being attacked in prison.
@@CashelOConnollyagreed. The mindset that allows the death penalty is the same mindset that allows these narcissist murderers to think they are the arbiters of life and death, and it’s the same mentality that lets war kill millions. Killing is always wrong, and our morality around it should come from the view that all life is precious, and complex, not that the government can tell us to kill and be killed with no remorse.
I was feeling the same way too..I also have a 13yo son, and it just makes my stomach churn thinking about any of that happening to my child...There would be no containing my rage and Fury...That police department would hate my guts LOL
Glad to see a decent Video done on Corll with attention to detail. All the other videos that people have done on Corll were done in 30mins & they just breezed through the names of the victims & seemed very shallow. Thanks for taking the time to do your research & taking the time to do a detailed Video on the Madman &Monster who was Dean Corrl.
I was working w a foster kid once, and we saw a bunch of lady bugs that were clearly mounting each other. She says, "What are they doing? And do NOT tell me they are wrestling. I am not stupid. " 😂 I laughed so hard. I said, "I know you are not stupid. That's how lady bugs make babies." She says, "I Knew It! My sister is such a liar!" Oh my. Her mom and I laughed for a long time over that one. Mostly unrelated story but it made me laugh. We should be honest but age appropriate. I grew up around animals so we just sort of knew how it worked
I was baby sitting an 8 year old and a 5 year old sisters, while drawing on the sidewalk with chalk the younger one just out of the blue asks “how do you make babies?” The 8 year old glanced at me quickly and started shaking her head and I told her to ask her dad. She got upset asking “why would dad know any better than you?” To which her sister started giggling. Eventually I just was like “you’ll find out later” and she exacerbate just said “no, do you draw the head first or the body?”
@settame1 😂🤣😂 oh my goodness, that made me laugh. Kids are too funny. I try to keep a little notebook for each kid I work with. The funny, sweet, or heartwarming stuff they say/do that I think the parents will enjoy remembering.
US, We had the "beep test" (shuttle runs) and also push-up tests! I can still hear the woman's voice on the cassette recording, "Down....up!...down....up!..." A torturously slow pace for push-ups.
Wow, I actually sat here and watched the whole video in one sitting. I've never heard that story before, and I consider myself a Serial Killer encyclopedia. Most brutal story I've ever heard. Sounds like a movie
In a Madmans World (2017) is an account from Henleys viewpoint. Candyman (2021) is partly based on Dean Corll, as well as John Wayne Gacy though they aren't specifically portrayed.
Anthill kids, junko and Albert fish are all equally or worse than this story… it depends on what deeply effects you worse. Slow mental manipulation into physical abuse? Horrific and extended torture? Or absolute mental breaks that lead to self harm and methodical dismantling of others lives? There are many stories as horrific as this unfortunately, but I will say it takes the cake on stranger danger turns into absurd levels of violence on young boys.
I'm with Simon on this one. How is it that we've never heard of this before? I do have to say that I really do love David's scripts on all the channels he writes for. They are always very in-depth and very well researched.
I HAD heard about it before as "The Candyman" which I swear was the original title. Which is why I didn't watch it then. This time I was like "Oh, a new CC! How did I miss that?" and...yah :/ Now I feel like I should finish it, but I HATE the ones involving kids and teens, and especially boys the same age as my son...
I'm equally confused as to how people haven't heard of this before. Not because I haven't, but because everyone I know who's into true crime stories knows about the Candyman Killer.
If I have to guess why this case isn't widely known, besides the possibility of Gacy and/or Corll being connected to a possibly huge and powerful sex trafficking ring, it's the same reason why this case caused Simon to get so mad and frustrated, the lack of police information and a limited amount of witness testimony. There also wasn't any huge public warning and worse so, most serial killers aren't told about to the general public. And these are only ones that were discovered or investigated. Maybe that's a good thing, though. Not all serial killers need to be well-known about, especially if it just gives sick people ideas like Gacy with the handcuffs.
Hopefully one day the whole “Delta Project” thing is exposed, the links between Paske, Corll, and Gacy are so obvious it hurts and nobody talks about it
I was going to comment an give some leeway base on timelines and location as it coud be different police departments, but then I hers omon say how police were told hoe a victim was at david Brooks House and it was ignored ffs
Dear Simon and David, I know it’s a long shot, but what if we collaborate to make a petition for them to excavate the areas that haven’t been dug up yet? I’m an advocate with my masters in social work, so I know how to talk to US politicians (unfortunately). David is a fantastic writer and knows this case well. Simon, I know these cases have been weighing heavily on you. You can possibly help do something to bring closure to the families of those involved.
To the other commenters, please upvote this if you agree, or lmk if you’d like to help.
Thank you and take care of yourselves,
ZAB
Ground penetrating radar can tell if there's anything under the parking lot before attempting excavation. There are some organizations of forensic professionals, like Vidocq that work together, gathering evidence and solving crime. They have access to GPR, divers, dogs, lab services, etc.
The issue with this is money. Given the costs, it would be prohibitively expensive without more solid evidence.
Great idea. There are strong grounds to believe that more people are buried there and families who still don't have closure. A carpark was dug up in the UK, with way less evidence, to find a long dead king (which was successful - hello king Richard). Spending a bit of cash digging a beach and carpark seems peanuts compared to the suffering of those families. This is America - and Texas at that - you can afford it.
I'm somebody who lives in Houston.
I know where the site of the factory is, but I don't know about the parking lot. Tried to look up more info but I couldn't find any. I was able to find newspaper clippings that denoted the exact address of the factory. It has since been torn down and a townhouse has been built over the site so I don't think anything could be done there- But I definitely wouldn't mind either trying to get that parking lot dug up or, if needed, get a large group of like-minded people to... uh... illegally start the process ourselves if needed.
@@EWolf-b9o
Wait, you guys located King Richard under a carpark in the UK? That's insane, and the kind of thing I would absolutely want to be done. Listen, I am from Texas. Not only that- I AM FROM HOUSTON. I live there now. The area where Corll's candy was located is less than a half an hour's drive from my home. There's not much I can do in that regard as the factory has been torn down and a townhouse has been built on top of it, but I would love to know the location of that parking lot.... for... research. Me and like 200 guys renting jackhammers and other semi-heavy machinery for uh.... research.
This isn’t police incompetence, incompetence would imply they tried and fumbled along the way. This was outright negligence. SMH.
Welcome to Texas. Houston Texas. It’s not much better today.
Tomato tomáto
A competent police officer _wouldn't be_ negligent.
I'm outraged that this negligence was never held accountable.
Wait til you hear about Uvalde Texas...
@@Thoralmirwhen people want the police held accountable they will be. This is allowed to happen because we as citizens don’t care
I can think of 2 reasons why this case isnt as well known as Gacy et al. Since Corll was killed, there was no trial, no interrogation, no endless studying and psychoanalysis. There was no peek into his mind, just a clean-up of the mess he made. The other reason would be how abysmal the police response was. They wanted this to go away, so why dig up the factory office, the parking lot, or other areas where he hunted. Every body of a missing teen that was discovered became a spotlight on HPD's culpability.
Yeah, those are my thoughts too. I wonder WHY there basically wasn’t ANY police response until this monster was killed…? Surely this can’t have been just incompetence and neglect? Anyway, they are culpable imo. Many of these boys could have escaped, had anyone cared to investigate.
I feel you are right. But also, I'll give the police a pass for not wanting to dig up High Island. The way storms and hurricanes scrub those barrier islands, it seemed a dumb place to bury them to begin with, like an invitation for someone to find your victim floating in the gulf. And I wouldn't expect a body to stay there more than a couple of years. Digging probably just seemed like a waste of resources.
@@ahleenapretty rich of the police to be able to be concerned about not wasting valuable police resources after dicking around for years not doing f*cking anything at all!! The ending just makes me wonder how deep the rabbit whole goes into the democratic party and celebrities as well as judges and prosecutors. This whole case screams coverup
I was just thinking the same thing. I'm surprised there aren't more commented relating to this point. The lack of action to excavate those potential dumping sites was to reduce negative attention on the police at the time. I hope someone decides in the near future to investigate those sites, simply out of respect for the dead and their families.
I was coming to the comments to to state exactly this. Every police agency in the country would want this story squashed because it highlights the gross negligence and incompetence of that police force. Add to the fact that "They probably just ran away" is an excuse we still here police make for not getting off their asses and doing their jobs and, well, this is the result.
Stanton (James Stanton Dreymala) was a childhood friend since kindergarten. We grew up a couple of blocks away from each other and often collected bottles together to turn in for deposit money. I just happened to not be with him on that fateful day. I had loaned him some sheet music (we were in band together, trumpet players), and wondered why he hadn't returned it and why he wasn't in class, and then I found out he had been murdered when he was dug up.
I often wondered why this whole crime story remained effectively a secret for the longest. I sure hope that someday someone completes the search for Corll's victims.
corrl had ties to government sex rings and was considered a procurer for possibly larry king, whe he was found out the government squashed the whole case, name another killer like this who went largely unnoticed AFTER they were caught
Crazy af what a coward, poor kid
I'm so sorry our deepest condolences to you and Stanton' family. May that poor child rest in place.
The only justice these families can get is indeed, as you said, to recover the bodies that can be recovered. May all these children and victims rest in peace.
🫂
Sorry for your loss.
He's in a better place.
simon in that black shirt just looks like a floating head
This… it’s creepin me out.
🤣🤣🤣
It's a tactical turtleneck 😂
don’t forget the floating hands!
He’s Holly from red dwarf
Wait you mean he’s not?!
"You can't still use prisoners as slaves labour anymore, can you?"
Oh Simon, sweet summer child. Never lose that naive optimism...
Always with the questions lol. I miss when he used to just ask siri or chatgpt. The editor started putting the answers in for a while there, too. Has got to he better for engagement. A number of people might pause the video to do the searching themselves, and it's probably a crap shoot rather or not they will return. I guess that just comes with the territory of cold reads
Still, the craftsmanship on my license plates is awful. Nearly cut my finger on a sharp edge.
And don't even get me STARTED on the time it took those Chinese chil-......workers.....to fix my iPad and send it back. Took nearly a week.
@@joggingscissors632A WEEK SMH
Well in the USA at least, the prisoners have to volunteer for the work so it's technically not slave labor. A lot of them choose to work just to have something to do or to get out of prison for a day.
@@UmatsuObossa In Texas if they don't work they're put in solitary and are often ineligible for parole. I wouldn't call that a choice
Rhonda Williams despite suffering with severe PTSD later became a social worker. She passed away in her sleep on September 16, 2019 at age 61. The gofundme set up to cover her funeral expenses raised just $1,600 of $5,000. The poor woman deserved so much better.
rhonda willaims wuz billy jean on that morning in 1973.
💛🙏🏻💙🪽
F*ing lengend
😂😂😂
The reason why dean is brought up so little in the serial killer conversation is because he was murdered before any of his crimes were exposed, without his own testimonies there is still so much information unknown about him
Also he was producing snuff films of young men then selling them to a shadowy cabal of predators like him that’s where all his unexplained cash came from it even ties back to the CIA
I’d say the reason we’ve not heard of this murderer is because the police did absolutely nothing and they didn’t want that to get out.
They didn’t need to give much attention . The prime murderer was dead and the accomplice pled guilty and showed where the bodies were. What else did they need to do.
It didn't have a trial. The lack of trial is what I think made less media attention. A trial usually last years so it has a lot of opportunities for people to find out information.
@@loditx7706there were 2 accomplices though. Wayne Henley & David Brooks; Wayne was the one to take the more active role in murdering them later on while David mostly lured boys back to Corll & Wayne. Also, Corll had been abusing David Brooks for years prior to David's helping Corll procure young unsuspecting victims, so he seemed a bit brainwashed into being okay with this shit. Or maybe Corll actually saw something evil in them that resembled himself. The whole dynamic was disturbing to say the very least. I still wonder if David Brooks was gay, because he was SA'ed frequently as a teen by Corll but he seemed to show loyalty towards him up to his passing, he stayed with him at his house often & harbored no discernible contempt after Corll's passing iirc. Obviously male SA victims of other males can be straight & being a victim of abuse can alter how you behave, but their dynamic was also clearly *unique*
@ereristark425 There absolutely was a trial..... did you not watch the last 15 minutes??
100000% no other explanation this case is horrific
Simon I'm a truck driver in the US, I love the longer episodes, I don't watch but I listen along as they play and it helps the day pass. Keep up the hard work bud!!
If you like ling listens and enjoy history, give Fall Of Civilizations a try!
Hardcore history is another great podcast. Driving truck is no joke, thanks for what you do and be safe 👍
@@CharlieBam Indeed, IIRC Dan's WW2 Pacific theatre episodes clocked in for a total of 16 hours. Love his work.
Your missing pure gold with his floating face😂
YOU keep up the hard work Mr. Truck driver, the nation depends on you.
“Turd was a shit.”
This is top tier writing and I am not kidding.
Thought exactly the same thing. Finessed!
@@decentpeoplesalldaytoo bad the person who wrote it is making pennies while Simon makes millions showing up and reading it
@@RandallBalls😂😂😂
@@RandallBalls You do know David literally has his own books, and he writes for multiple different publications, right?
@@RandallBallsYour source?
I hate the sentiment that telling your kids to not do things you did as a kid is somehow "hypocritical." The whole point of parenting is to pass on things you've learned, I think, and telling your kids to avoid mistakes you've made is super important.
If they’re not mistakes tho then what’s stopping them?
@tyul it really depends on how the sentiment is used; can't just be saying that about everything
@@mr.crowley9032 yeah true, I’m speaking from my mothers point of view she let me loose as a kid and I made pretty good decisions much like her
There's "don't skip school occasionally to hang out with your friends" and then there's "don't go out to play in the woods without telling me and stay in yelling distance"
@@EmiStar070 Whenever I was taken to the park as a child I was told to look behind me and come back if I didn't see my mom.
I can't believe no one has pointed out the fact that the police NEVER caught him...his apprentice did.
The police never even realized that anything shady was happening at all; let alone the horrific things that were taking place right under their noses.
It's pretty heinous. I can see some minor slip ups due to how mich he moved around, but this incompetence & dismissal in this case seems insane
Welcome to policing in america, or pretty much anywhere
If corll and gacey had sex trafficking connections with powerful people maybe the cops tourney an blind eye
I grew up near where this boat shed was located I remember pedaling my bicycle down the road and watch across the field as they carry burlap bags out of the boat shed
@@kayeldee1 Ok, not EVERY case of this is a conspiracy. In fact, most are not. It may appeal to folk’s sense of drama or religious fervor or something, but reality is not so exciting, usually. Not saying these things never happen, but they are rare. The Tim Ballard version is false.
Dean is the reason for the "don't take candy from strangers" and the "free candy white van" cliches?!! 😨
Oh. Dear. Lord. 😱
You can't get me with candy but puppies, yes, puppies
@@MandyMiller-rs4lkthat’s ruff 🐶
It doesn't say "Free Kandy" .... it says "Freak Andy" ... otherwise it would be false advertising
I was told to stay away from strangers as a kid in the sixties. Please no more urban legending.
@@charlesfaure1189 tell that to Dean and his white panel candy van of doom
Who else likes Simon's tangents about his kids, it helps give some light into these horror shows
It gives me hope for Simon's heart. If I had the ability as a fan to do one thing for him I'd compile all his little rants about his kids and send it so he can show his kids how important they are to him
After listening to a bunch of true crime podcasts, basically every child/teen that disappeared was always considered just a runaway in the 60s and 70s.
It’s so odd to me because…so what? I don’t think kids have a legal right to run away. The cops should go look for them regardless.
The worst part is there's a bunch of authoritarian sycophants who will claim that those were the golden days of policing when they didn't have their hands tied behind their backs. Disgusting...
@@youtubename7819I suspect that because most of the cops then grew up in the 20's and 30's, they knew alot of 'runaways' in their youth and thought it was something all kids did
It just dawned on about 1.7 hours into this that this is the origin story for why kids are told not to take candy from strangers
Oh yeah... I thought that was because of the father who poisoned his own child using Halloween candy as a cover but Google tells me that happened one year after Corll's killings. (Corll was in 70-73 and the poisoned candy was in Oct 74.)
The Halloween candy thing was a complete hoax. The guy who reported it poisoned his own son with trick or treat candy and created a moral panic.@@bondickle
And stay away from white vans with no windows.
Holy sh*t my brain hadn't made that connection. I'd never heard of Corll but I definitely grew up with these warnings! Just a further example of how much of an absolutely evil monster he was that his MO is literally Child-Safety-101.
No its not..like he was the first freak show to ever use that trick..its just the name they gave him. Nonsense
It's interesting how Corll's name has largely been forgotten, but his actions have become synonymous with the concept of stranger danger (offering kids candy, having a white van, inviting kids to come to his house). Those are all verbatim out of his playbook, which makes me wonder if his extrajudicial demise was the main reason his name isn't as famous as other serial killers of the era.
That's what I think too!
nuh uh, the walking dead. CORLL!
What also deluded his notoriety is because his nickname, “The Candy Man” was taken over by the fictional supernatural monster who ironically was less of a monster then the real thing.
I want to say you’re spot on but I don’t actually know so…I’m just going to believe this because it makes so much sense.
These poor kids.
It’s also very much that it just wasn’t pushed as much… you can only speculate why, maybe because of the history of that town or the fact that the police just didn’t care at all… we don’t know. But we truly underestimate the impact the push through the media and the authorities really had on those news traveling and staying in people’s head at that time…
As you yourself pointed out, all his "tricks" are well known to all of us and I guess that is what got pushed instead of his name and the case itself, maybe exactly because the case is so grim and shows the incompetence of the authorities involved to such a depressing degree that it was more of a hush hush and a decision to rather push those tricks into the stranger danger phenomenon.
Simon forgets it lately but we shouldn't. thank you, Jen, for your excellent work!
Yus! All praise to the Jen from whom edited content flows!
Christian edited this one!
Her Zoomer "humor" is so annoying though. I don't need a baby laugh meme in the middle of hearing about someone being stomped to death
love the sentiment! but it looks like this episode was actually edited by Christian Stroud. 😊
YES thank you for the reminder
This was brutal but Simon saying “Turd is a funny name” is quite possibly the funniest thing he’s ever said. Well done David.
Brooks saying that most of the boys who were RAPED AND TORTURED TO DEATH were no great loss is horrifying! And he's not even the main killer in this story! It's bad enough when people think inmates aren't worthy of life, but little boys? As a mother the only reason I even listen to this show anymore is to know what to look out for with my child and their schoolmates.
they wern't little boys, they were teenagers, big boys, the youngest being 13. A little boy is like 0-10
@jackhamilton9604 i dont what you meant for this but these kids where still little still worthy of being treated and cheerished as children. Dont take that away from them
@Jack-px8lf ephebophilia as well but yeah, am I wrong?
@Jack-px8lf dude why were you taking things to the extreme by claiming I don't feel sorry for the victims? I was just correcting the commentor about their actual age, it's similar to when I see people calling Apes Monkeys
@Jack-px8lf whatever you want to call me I’m still gonna correct people when I feel the need to
Fun fact: the 13th ammendment to the US Constitution prohibited slavery, except for use as punishment for a crime. And they havent changed that loophole to this day. So yes, Simon, in America, slave labor is still legal in a prison setting
It's not slave labor. Slave labor is unpaid. Inmates get a nice shiny quarter. 6 months of work and they can save up for a $10 candy bar in their commissary. Pretty good gig.
Later edit: The number of people not realizing I was being sarcastic is shocking. Thought I made it very obvious lol.
Eh, it's mostly voluntary, and paid. Plus it doesn't actually offset the cost of housing an inmate so even if they forced every prisoner to do such work, the prison still wouldn't be making money out of it.
...you can be put in solitary if you refuse to work when they ask you. So not...really voluntary in Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Virginia, Nebraska, and South Carolina. @SynonamessBotchKevin
@SynonamessBotchKevin the prison charges $22/hr for the inmate and pays them $2.74/hr in New York...so..??? No they're making plenty of money off the 2k+ forced employees that work in each prison.
Sorry. I’m not going to lose any sleep over prisoners having to work. Of course, all of them are innocent, so that is troubling…
This mother is above and beyond the text book definition of "mothers denial." Adamantly denies her sons homosexuality in spite of all blatant signs and accusations and then years later, denial of gruesome and disgusting sexual assault and murder regardless of the mountains of evidence staring her right in the face. Unbelievable.
Not really look what going on now lies become truth an the truth becomes lies right there in the usa
Its unfortunate, but thats her kid. Of course she doesnt want to believe that her child is one of the worst monsters in history, and nobody can force her. Really, i dont blame her
She inhaled Copium so badly it must have hurt a muscle, I swear. The levels of denial!
Like I get it, she loved her children, but come on now...COME ON! :|
Because she only cared about herself. It's pretty clear that she wasn't very smart..
I’m from Houston and was a small child when this occurred. This is the most thorough and informative version that I’ve come across in print or video. Great job by the writer.
Last Podcast on the Left did a great series on Corll.
Your "beep test" is called the fitness gram Pacer test in the US. And it is hell.
They just recently stopped doing the Pacer test in schools saying it is child abuse, if only they would have done that when I was in school.
I remember doing the bleep test (that's what it was called when I was a kid) and it was torture. I'm glad I don't have to do it anymore
The Fitness Gram Pacer Test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult as it continues, The 20 meter pacer test will begin in 30 seconds. Line up at the start. The running speed starts slowly, but gets faster each minute when you hear this signal (beep). A single lap should be completed each time you hear this sound (ding) Remember to run in a straight line and to run as long as possible. The second time you fail to complete a lap your test is over. The test will begin on the word start. Ready. Set. Start.
@@paxthehedgehog7760 no they didn't. That hoax has been going around for years.
I went to school in France and they also had this. I have absolutely no idea how it was called and of course absolutely hated it.
They finally bulldozed his old house in Pasadena last year. It blows my mind that people lived in that house after what all happened with Dean
Did they? I haven't been by Lamar in a while. I know they remodeled the outside years ago. I'll have to swing by there.
@@TheWeretard yeah, a friend of mine went to go see it as it was being done, actually
thats a shame
can you imagine how low a price you could get for it?
Gotta be haunted as shit. Fuck that.
Well,it's definitely not haunted lol Ghosts aren't real.
When it was said that his behaviour as a young boy abruptly changed my first thought was “ok, who’s molesting him”.
Same here! It doesn’t excuse anything whatsoever but it would have made sense in this context.
That’s what i thought too!
That's EXACTLY what I though too.
*thought. Imagine being the person that begat, because you were a predator, one of the worst known predators in recent American history.
@@therealasherwolfstein yeah something tells me they wouldnt care. a person who is selfish enough to prioritize their own sexual gratification over the safety and wellbeing of children literally doesnt think about the consequences beyond getting what they want in the moment.
My mom was friends with 2 of his victims. She actually went to one of his “house” parties. Said it was weird and never went back.
My mom actually lived next door to this guy when she was a little little kid. She doesn't remember a lot about him, but she remembers that there were always boys around his place and her mom wouldn't let her outside when they were there. She only found out years later who he was and what he did.
Well, my mom lived next door to him longer than yours did.
@@audioholic850how do you know? And why is it a competition?
😮😮😮😮😮😮😮
Glad your ok.
Don’t worry about telling personal, funny stories while reading these horrific stories. It gives us a break from the horror of it all.
And I like the floating head look! Don’t change a thing.
Hearing Simon repeatedly say "turd" has absolutely made my day. Thank you, David!
My husband actually encountered Deal Corll who asked him to go somewhere with him and my husband refused and thank god he did otherwise you’d have had him as part of your show that I watched today my husband watched this also you did a great job explaining it all and uncovered some things we ha not heard about and I also think it’s unreal how incompetent the Houston police were in this situation 😢
The worst part of knowing how this case ends is listening to Simon start his reading while he's still thinking that there's going to be a day in court or any kind of real justice. Or hearing how puzzled he is as to why the two teenage boys were sent into the boathouse first. It's like watching the hero being stalked through a horror movie and wanting to warn them, as though they'll be able to hear you.
Ikr! I was listening thinking "Oh hun little do you know."
I mean the two others were sent to burn in prison so theres a slight justice but not the main justice
I like to think Chris (the editor) purposefully made the entire episode a bit darker so Simon would appear as a set of floating hands and a head
yep. Not my favorite colorgrading, but once or twice it's quite funny
Oh god
Now that you mention that I can't unsee it
This guy must be one of the luckiest serial killers in the world as he ,not only murdered in his own backyard, picking victims from his own neighbourhood, killing in a home very very close to neighbours never noticing no one ever leaving his house, never being noticed digging or carrying victims from and to locations, never being ratted on by 2 random teenage boys he happened to be able to recruit into sadism and murder but also a police that never ever loooked for the victims despite having a clear pattern in front of them ....Absolutely the luckiest sadist alive
Yeah, the ‘nothing to see here’ attitude needs to stop. Just laziness.
That you know of plenty of luckier ones throught history who never got caught
He tortured people he’s probably the most sadistic person in the us
If this was a movie instead of real life, people would call it unrealistic
Makes me wonder why people have so much respect for police???
Love the content! Always gives me good stuff to listen to while at work.
"It was getting dark" Well isn't that the understatement of the day.
Yep.
1:37:09 I’ve lost count of the number of victims that we know about…
"Sure are a lot of kids running away from home"
"Sure are, reckon it's suspicious?"
"Naw, let's have another donut."
Yea, seriously wtf is up with the apathy. I can even get maybe they were busy, but it seems rather stunning how much was ignored over and over!
It's somewhat terrifying. I assume they can't have been tracking it because surely it would stand out the sheer number?@@aazhie
do you know how much shit the Houston police was dealing with💀
Unless there was a full on war, not enough to decide every missing child was a runaway. That's criminal negligence.@@themaniclevy1456
That police department should have been sued for ignoring the missing children. Especially when David Brooke's name came up more than once and the mention of the white van several times. Ridiculous
Thank you David for the bit of levity with making Simon say 'Turd" over and over again.
I've always thought that the reason this guy isn't remembered much today is because he was already dead when the story broke. It was his two teenage helpers who bore the bulk of public anger, and not without reason, they had helped procure the victims for Corll, and they also helped kill a number of them as well. They (Henley and Brooks) were the ones who were alive to go to court and receive multiply life sentences afterward. Dean, on the other hand, had a regular funeral after being shot and killed by Henley, and so he just isn't remembered today. If you think about it, these three also had help from the police department because their manner of handling reported missing children's cases pretty much assured that there would be nobody in law enforcement looking for the missing boys.
Who on earth would go to his funeral???
@@markwilson5967 He had a number of family members show up, and because he received an honorable discharge when he was in the Army, he also had a Military funeral I'm sorry to say. His mother never believed that he committed any crimes or was even gay. She stayed in denial till the day she died.
Parents rarely acknowledge when they have raised a psychopath/sociopath/narcissist because they are ground zero for the behaviour and chief enablers.
For them to say "yeah I raised a monster" requires accountability which I imagine would be a trait Corll's mother sorely lacked.
That's not remotely true for most, you could raise them however you want and they'd turn out the same.
@@joeycampbell940 on the contrary, it's a very common thread. Many individuals meet the diagnostic criteria for psychopathy and do not develop murderous tendencies in part because they have learned the rules of appropriate social behaviour and deem it more advantageous to follow said rules in exchange for maintaining the benefits of being part of their community (freedom from prison, access to resources, exchange of knowledge and skills from peers, etc.). However, those who experience instability in their primary care environment / are subject to abuse as children do not develop the same appreciation for the 'rules' of social living, as they aren't exposed to the benefits of following said rules. Similarly, some individuals who are not born psychopaths will go on to develop personality or mood disorders that may contribute to committing acts of violence because of childhood abuse.
@@joeycampbell940 I speak from the experience of having someone with Malignant NPD (who was bullied by her mother) unhealthily fixate on me and then studying reams of literature on Cluster B's and childhood trauma.
In all but the rare cases of genetic psychopathy arise from early childhood trauma and environment.
John Wayne Gacy - Bullied by his father over sexuality, Manson dressed as a girl and sold as a baby by his mother, Bundy was gaslit into believing his mother was his sister. It's an observable pattern.
Mother is 💯 suspect to at least hide and cover for after her Disneyian version of Corll's childhood and the salami slices she has on her eyes
While there are so many gut punches throughout this story, the first thing that sticks with me is the beginning. When an inmate runs out due to the sight and smell and no one tries to stop or subdue him. That just says a lot; about the scene and feelings at that time.
Rest In Peace boys.
Great job as always Simon, David, and Jen!
After hearing the whole thing, I wonder if no one tried to stop him because the police were just god awful.
@@Bluesit32 Ah yeah, that’s a good point and probably right
To be fair, they were probably minimum security inmates. A shop lifter, check forger, drunk driver, or a pot dealer isn't going to be any more accustomed to digging up corpses than any other guy on the street.
I never thought the "free candy" van guy actually existed. I thought it was some exaggerated story during the stranger danger panic. How it took so long for everyone to realize that Dean was a predator terrifies me. Dean was literally the creepy "free candy" van man.
Problem with that is that back then it was just a nice gesture.
Edit: seen as a nice gesture.
Problem is, he's the reason we know free candy in a van is creepy. He's why we're told not to take candy from strangers
@@humphrke a hundred percent, I'm astonished its not a more common discussion given it literally became a staple way to teach stranger danger.
I like how shocked Simon is that this guy isn't more well-known, but I can probably guarantee that he is the origin of the free candy van troupe. It seems like the best way to remember a serial killer, honestly. Don't remember their names or crimes, but spread around their MO for luring in victims to the point where it sounds like obvious bait.
@@humphrkemany of the boys knew Dean, David and Wayne from the Heights and his mother’s candy store.
This dude sounds like the origin of all the things we were told to watch out for as kids. Don't take candy from strangers, watch out for strange vans, Don't talk to strangers, etc.
My mom lived in Houston in the 70s, my siblings were little. She used the child leashes when in public and was very protective. She said people made fun of her at the time but coming from a small town to there and hearing about all the crime, she was scared and wanted to protect her babies.
I would love to catch someone criticizing child leashes. I would tell the person "Why does the leash offend you? Does it make it more difficult for you to abduct the child?"
I had child leashes with my twins. I only used them a couple times, and I made it "fun" for the kids.
I preferred to use the one adult per child approach when we went anywhere in public.
The one time I wished we had used leashes was when we went as a family to a fair. We briefly lost sight of the kids, and it terrified me.
There is no stronger relief than finding a child after you've lost them - even if only for a few minutes. I genuinely feel tremendous sorrow for any parent who loses their child permanently. It brings tears to my eyes every time I think about it.
Child leashes are not bad.
Missing children is bad.
Good for her protecting her children. It's clear the police wouldn't have helped if anything had happened to them. I'd like to know what was keeping them so busy that was more important than protecting children.
@Dreasura. in my area, they are criticized because it's usually because they are almost exclusive used by irresponsible and lazy parents. The expectation is that you should teach your kids to behave in public and stay close, and that you should keep your eyes on your kids.
@@yetanotherrandomguy3157 kids tend to get distracted and wander off, even good kids with good parents. Small kids especially tend to pretty much exist in the present moment; if they see something interesting, they may wander over to look at it even if they're otherwise being well-behaved. My mom used child leashes, mainly because it allowed us to walk normally with our hands free while still being safely attached to her. They're great in crowds, especially, where getting separated can happen despite best efforts. Yes, you can hold a kid's hand, but that can literally cause kids to end up with shoulder damage because their arm is constantly being held in an unnatural position and getting pulled on.
I'd rather have a kid on a leash, able to move freely while still being safely tethered to their parent, than worry about the sensibilities of opinionated strangers who need to mind their own business.
@yetanotherrandomguy3157 I was an only child for years and apparently very mischievous. We lived in a section of townhouses in an apartment complex and I would run off while my parents would do laundry at the on site spots. They turned around for less than a minute and I was gone. People underestimate kids quite a bit lol
I appreciate the scene-setting in the beginning, the way David describes the investigators’ and prisoners’ reactions makes them seem so united in their task, as grueling and horrifying as it was they just kept going. The first prisoner to run and vomit coming back with another shovel, apologizing, and getting back to work makes sense in light of the fact that child abusers/killers are the lowest of the low, these men probably wanted justice for these boys as badly as the investigators did. For me it really brings home the evil this man perpetrated on these children, I was already disturbed even before the descriptions of the bodies.
Definitely the way you'd want to set it up in a screenplay.
I would have asked the prisoners who helped be given time off their sentences.
@@fumanpoo4725you say that but surely it should depend on what they originally did to be in prison. Also the guy HAD to come back in or he'd have an extra charge for trying to escape (if he hadn't returned).
Your Bleep Test was called The Fitness Gram Pacer Test over here
the fitness gram pacer test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult as it continues.
this just gave me ptsd
@@cendian My asthma certainly ramped up the difficulty quick
Turned it into Survival Mode
Hated that God forsaken test, I can remember the whole intro too
We just called it the beep test in Canada so very close
Oh I've heard of Corll. I was a kid in 1973 and I thought my grandmother had been a little too overprotective that Summer. Then Corll was killed at his home only about a mile away from my grandparent's place in Pasadena TX and I realized how lucky I had been not to be riding my bike to the store, the park, etc...I was a little young for Corll's preferred target range but that didn't ease my anxiety over what could have happened.
After school started I was back home in Baytown, also a suburb of Houston, just a few mile from Pasadena. I missed my bus one day so I was having to walk home from school. One stretch of raised road went through a salt water tidal swamp, so there were no houses. I heard a vehicle coming from behind, slow down and, like something out of a nightmare, a dingy white panel van pulled up beside me. The driver leaned his head out and asked me if I needed a ride. I bluffed with a smile and told him no thanks that I lived just bit ahead. I could just make out that there was someone in the passenger seat and I was terrified. The driver asked if I was sure. I kept smiling and told him no thanks. He drove on down the road but my mind was racing to figure out what I was going to do if I saw that van heading back toward me. There was literally nowhere to go but off the road and into the nasty swamp. Luckily the van never came back, I made it home and never hsd to make that long walk again.
Of course this was after Corll was dead but over the years I've thought about it in relation to copycat killers. There were many boys missing in the Houston area during those early 70s years who have never been accounted for. I can't help but wonder if someone else was capitalizing on Corll's spree. Or maybe Corll was capitalizing on someone else's spree. Whatever the case, scary memories that weree way to close to home for me.
Man thats insane 😮 glad ur alive 😊
That's crazy!!!!!
If i recall correctly, the reason they have not looked for more bodies is because the authorities were embarrassed and they don't want the count to go up and "win" the serial killer count.
One of the cops confided to a reporter that "we have enough bodies as it is"!
Hensley killed Dean so he didn't know if Dean hid more bodies. He only knew of the ones HE himself had to bury
20:24
Fact Boy: “Do you guys do the ‘bleep’ test?”
Me: “The fitnessgram pacer test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult as it continues”
not even my country and I can HEAR that audio. I'm so sorry LOL
Audio that will live rent-free in my smooth brain until my last breath
hearing the beep test pacer test or the voice or sounds from the audio awaken us like sleeper agents istg 😭
have you seen / heard the songs people have made remixing this audio on youtube?
I'm from the UK and this wasn't a big thing for us. Well it kinda was which was why we only did it once in year 7... Multiple children had asthma attacks or other breathing difficulties, other kids fell over and we were doing it on AstroTurf so you can imagine how that went. Luckily I'm the least sporty person ever so I tapped out pretty early and just watched the carnage unfold. We never did it again after that day 😂 (everyone was fine pretty shortly by the way)
When i was in highschool we lived across from the minimum security prison. Trustees would come over and do our yardwork, mow our lawn etc. I'd sit witn them during their breaks,my mom always made lemonade or sweet tea for them, and they'd talk about their families or plans for when they got out. All of them loved coming over to do the work. They always said it made them feel normal, and they liked talking to people that werent other inmates
I had a similar experience with the minimum security prison near city hall in my home town. Minimum security prisons are for the most good people, those that deserve redemption. I don't doubt you had decent conversations with them, they're almost always decent men. The prison in my home town had a golf green on its campus.
I can’t finish this video. Too rough for me man!
Great job though, great content as usual!
Keep up the good work buddy!
You never heard of this guy because his case would expose the rampant neglect and incompetence of the police.
Nonsense. I heard of the case when it happened as a boy of 13. It was big news. The story died because there was no unknown perpetrator to keep the interest going. The show was over.
@@charlesfaure1189Uh, lots of famous serial killers aren't unknown perpetrators. Thus them being famous. Y'know, like Ted Bundy?
Something can make big news at the time and then be quickly smothered out of public consciousness once people realize what a bad look it is for the police. People are STILL only just waking up to the fact that Jeffrey Dahmer wasn't a charismatic nor skilled killer, it's just that the police (and many of the general public) were actually thrilled about who he was killing.
In recent years the police thing with Jeff is becoming more widely accepted, but the average listener still bristles in denial about the Jeffrey Dahmer support from the general public, praising him for killing gay men.
TL;DR: The public is a very fickle matter and can easily be manipulated into forgetting inconvenient truths.
@@charlesfaure1189i think media tends to be shy about SA & torture murders that involve boys. my theory is that men run the media and get squeamish and uncomfortable because you see yourself in the victim on an inherent level. but these male producers and writers can distance themselves when girls and women are victims, so it's easier and preferable, maybe even subconsciously, for them to stomach the content enough to write the episodes & coverage. true crime is also aimed at women so women and girls stories sell better. see audiences aren't deterred from overly relatable victims in the same ways writers are, as audiences are watching this stuff as some sort of self preservation and our deepest personal fears. so you have men writing these stories for women, women who are frightened for themselves and their kids. so you naturally get most content about kidnapped & brutalized women and girls
as a little kid i accidentally overheard what happened to junko furuka in grave detail because it was blasted on a daytime tv program. very similar to what these boys went through. it completely scarred me and traumatized me. i barely understood what sex was yet but i was hearing about a girl kidnapped and subjected to 40 days of sexual sadism by a gang of men and boys. a lot of women grow up very suddenly and quickly hearing about these things and internalizing it as something we have to watch out for. fueling our consumption of the media, like the brain is trying to map out the life of a killer to sniff them out. if we know more about these people maybe we can avoid the same fate. never be taken and meet the worst kind of end imaginable. it's nuts but here we are
I'm glad you Coverd "the candyman." I think he is one of the worst / unknown serial killer out there. . The torture, and getting other kids to lure victims to him really just sets his crimes apart and
Randy Kraft and Sergei Golovkin are up there in the sadism stakes.
I had for sure already heard of Dean Corll. I'm from Houston, hung out in the neighborhoods where all this happened, and Skip Hollingsworth from Texas Monthly wrote an amazing article about the case years ago. Lots of other true crime shows have covered him too, but Skip's story really drove home the culture that enabled Corll, where children from this area were seen as degenerate by default and the police weren't really scrutinized for assuming they'd all run away, because there were countless runaways too. To put it bluntly, Corll was basically a kid in a candy store
And lucky, lucky like no serial monster probably ever was before and after...Absolutely being able to follow his lust without nosy neighbours and an incompetent police..
Ah, kinda explain this story not as famous as other serial killer at that time
That was a time and place where LGBTQ lives really didn't matter to most people.
They weren’t seen as degenerate. They were normal middle class kids. It was just easier to say they ran away.
Also, the police system was not as centralized or coordinated as we’re used to. A-hole constantly moving house probably had him moving from one small station’s territory to another.
You’re such a great story teller. I am glad you told these tragic happenings in length. How have I never heard if this demon?! So many kids….
I was a teenager in Houston when this went down… it’s amazing to me that so few people have ever even heard of this nightmare.
I was thirteen. It was national news, but not for long, because there was no perpetrator to track down. It's the hunt that makes these monsters interesting over time. Jack the Ripper is still a legendary figure despite his being far less deadly than Coryll--because he was never officialy caught.
My mom actually met Elmer Henley. He dated a girl that she knew briefly. She said he seemed normal.
Elmer knew my uncle and invited him to lots of parties.. my uncle never went ..
I am from Houston too and remember this! I was 12 years old! Just remembering how old and where I was when I heard about it 50 years later shows how much it affected my mind at the time! I still get that empty sick spooky feeling when I think about it. I too don't understand why this hasn't got more attention. I think the term serial killer even started with this incident.
I'm only nine minutes in yet but can I just say how nice it is to hear a true crime story on TH-cam read out just as it is without either censoring absolutely everything or replacing half of it with a downplayed and harmless sounding version to be as kid and advertiser friendly as possible.
I have liked to listen to true crimes for a long time but on TH-cam it just became more and more annoying to listen to over time so I mostly switched to other audio platforms.
I’ve seen this story told a few times by podcasts but this was the best version by far. Stated the horror of what the situation truly was but without being a grotesque play by play of the crimes. This continues to be the best true crime podcast out there.
Yeah I'm sorry but this beats Pedro Lopez in my book. I'm pretty haunted by this, I think even more so than Lopez.
I agree.
Emma Kenney is wonderful, if you haven't seen her videos. I'm pretty sure she did a video on Corll. She does deep dives but usually not this long.
The FitnessGram PACER Test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult as it continues. The test is used to measure a student's aerobic capacity as part of the FitnessGram assessment. Students run back and forth as many times as they can, each lap signaled by a beep sound
The pacer tests were the bane of my existence during school. I LOATHED them so much. I couldn't ever get faster than the 3rd beep
I could hear it as I read it
I was looking for this
Thank you for all your channels Simon .
EVERYONE knows about the candyman and his windowless van, even if we don’t know why we know about it.
In the 90’s in Detroit windowless vans were synonymous with “stranger danger” and you NEVER took candy from strangers.
In Australia in the 70’s-80’s we were taught never to take candy or get into a van with a stranger
We had a known pedo in the 90s who would cruise around in a white windowless van as well.
Good point
Big facts
"Never trust the man in the big white van..."
He is well known in the area and part of the reason my grandparents moved from the Houston area to Nola in the early 1970s. Even if the police did nothing, the citizens knew something was wrong. There were parents that believed someone was helping all these kids runaway from home. My uncle was about 12 at the time, so they were wanting to keep him from running away. Then my grandmother's sister was murdered during a robbery. It prompted my grandparents to get out of the area and start a small dairy farm outside of nola.
This is the most brutal reading I’ve heard from Simon. And I’ve listen to all the heavy hitter episodes on this channel. I don’t know what it was, but gawd. It was so chilling.
Yeah i thought snowtown episode was crazy 😮 but this is something else.
About an hour in, and it hit me that all those teenage runaways we heard about as kids in the 70s were probably all murdered.
Crazy right? There is so many runaways around the World..
No, likely not. If someone runs away, which is fairly common, the highest likelihood terrible thing to happen to them is being kidnapped for human trafficking. People rarely get murdered in comparison to all the other shit that happens. There's also a ton of homeless young people that are on their own.
More trafficked--which is just as bad.
All of them? Some of them become drug addicts and died in a ditch. Be realistic.
The police should investigate a case, runawsy or not. If its just a runaway theyd in all likelihood be found rather quickly.
congratulations to Simon for ascending to his final form of just a head and hands!
I've been waiting for this one... I've always been baffled by how little press Corll got and how poorly remembered this case is compared to Gacey, when he was arguably the worse of the two when you lay it all out.
I think it's because Gacy (and others like him) lived though the trial and for years afterwards, while Corll died before anyone got to know what a horrific sicko he was. No trial, no interviews, no opportunity to build fame for Corll.
@@Kari.F. Ding ding ding. Same with Dahmer.
@Kari.F. That's a fair point, though I also suspect it might've been helped by some deliberate suppression by the local government. They were pretty well burned by the prospect of being the home of the worst serial killer in America (at the time), in terms of raw body count, and I think that they probably worked pretty hard to try and make the whole thing go away in the news.
@@jaceelliott6317 True. I can't imagine that this would be something that any city (or small town for that matter) would want to be known for!
@@jaceelliott6317 they worked harder on making it go away than on finding justice for all the kids they failed.
Your voice is just sooo captivating.. making the story way more interesting to listen to
I first heard about this guy when I lived in Houston 10 years ago. Even down there though it was surprisingly hush hush and most people hadn't heard of him. I have always been appalled that this has been fairly swept under the rug. Thanks for covering it.
Everything about this is absolutely devastating, but the thought of James on his bike, going to sell his bottles so he could take his girlfriend on a date, just stood out for me. An innocent, sweet effort to have a nice time with his sweetheart ending so horrifically is so unfathomable and cruel. I don't know why that just stands out to me, but it does. Maybe it's just because my mind is filling in the blanks, like how excited, and hopeful James might have been, looking forward to his date. All these boys had so much ahead of them. I know that's stating the obvious, but this case is just so heartbreaking and infuriating.
Thank you David, fir your amazing, empathetic, in depth reasearch into thia case. Thank you Simon for presenting it for us, eapecially knowing how hard these brutal cases are for you to cover. Thank you Christian for your great editing, placing moments of levity when appropriate while still showing respect to the victims and their familes. These crimes are difficult to listen to, and I imagine it must so much more difficult to spend days or weeks researching, writing and putting these episodes together. Take care of yourselves and be proud of your work telling the stories of people who were robbed of their lives and their voice.
That one got to me too.
Yes Evil is sick and satans soldiers are scattered everywhere across the earth. May god give these boys souls the peace they deserve, after such a horrific end.
Poor Simon, this one was brutal and he kept wanting to talk about his kids even though the episode was so awful. Give this man a good old fashioned heist video next time! Maybe a really old robbery on the high seas, I bet Simon would love that!
I've suggested on his subreddit doing an episode on the theft of William Wallace's sword. It has a happy ending and it's altogether a very light story. It may not be a very long script, but it would be a very good palette cleanser
@@jdt.jd. I would be perfectly fine with a 30 minute episode if it means Simon doesn’t have to read about horribly murdered children for a change!
Agreed. Maybe something from the "follies and foibles of bank robberies" side of things
The depths of depravity that human beings are capable of never ceases to amaze me. Every time I hear a story like this, I think well that has to be the worst person every and then...nope there's some one worse.
To answer your question as to why the authorities won’t excavate/use sonar detection, the answer is twofold: 1) the high cost has very little reward due to the public mostly not knowing about the case and 2) TX is rapidly growing and a bodies being found would hurt the real estate value because the name of the town would be included in headlines. Just my theory as someone familiar with TX.
So the whole state of Texas is basically like the town from Jaws that didn't want to close the beach.
@@FancyRPGCanada Exactly lol!
And Houston needs its parking lots. If you tear them up you’re going to have a riot on your hands. As for the bodies not found on High Island, we get too many hurricanes that hit there The bodies were likely washed out to sea.
I don't believe I've heard of this case before which is impressive, since I've seen a LOT of true crime. That being said, despite being desensitized over the years, the first 10 minutes in I'm just horrified beyond words. Thank you Simon and the rest of the team for going through these cases, which hopefully lead to improvements which mean absolutely vile shit like this happens less.
American middle schoolers know 2 scary stories: Bloody Mary and Candyman. They don’t know who Corll is but we know the tropes. Never trust a white can with no windows, don’t get close to someone you don’t know, and for god’s sake don’t follow them to their vehicle. Even though his name is forgotten by them, his legacy has changed the critical thinking of many kids throughout the decades since.
Candyman is a staple. I think they even made a movie on it recently.
There is the 90s movie Candyman that takes place in Detroit, and they recently remade it.
@@revenge0lobsterThat was filmed in Chicago at Cabrini Green. An infamous housing project. The author Clive Barker’s partner grew up there. That’s how he got the inspiration for the story, and knew of Cabrini Green being he’s British. Cabrini Green was known as one of the worst, dangerous projects in the US.
The movie has absolutely nothing to do with this case, but the idea of a candyman killer is probably from Corrl
@@aazhie yes, I know that.
@@SleepinGriffin If you knew that why mention the movie when it has nothing to do with this lol
My dad was drafted for Vietnam.
He knew someone who literally had brain cancer who was drafted. It took six months for them to actually be allowed out.
If you could stand and breathe you were good to go as far as they were concerned.
That’s horrible. At the end of the day we are all just cannon fodder for the rich.
"Gonna expire anyways. Best rev up that meat grinder of war."
I have an ex who desperately wanted to join the army like her big brother, and was disqualified for being on exactly one psychiatric medication at the time (she's never been on one since). She was devastated, but given the fact that that would have sent her into Iraq, I think the consensus is she was ultimately spared the unnecessary trauma.
@@GiantPetRatShe seems cringe af. Glad she’s an ex
"McNamara's Morons" lol
Now I get why Dean isn't well known. He never saw trial himself due to being shot dead. Sad. This case should be more well known.
Ah, I remember the beep tests. It was nice because if you failed early, you could just sit on the side line as everyone else runs back and forth
😂😂 I never reached beyond like level/stage 3 I think but I hated how bad I was at it. But I guess being able to sit down early on was a plus. Lol
I just didn’t even start running, my PE teachers just gave up
The joy I gleaned from hearing Simon say "Turd" so many times and so casually was immense! Norm Macdonald, the gift that keeps on giving.
The word turd was part of the British vernacular during Simons childhood hence him probably seeming so casual about it.
@@whatwhatyep "Word turd?" Word, turd.
@@ReddFoxx1562 yes the word. Turd. It was very much used.
@@whatwhatyep Word. Thanks, turd!
@@ReddFoxx1562 Word, "pretentious."
2hrs. Ah. David at it again!🎉🎉
Perfect, listening while doing chores, making supper and working out while having my day ruined! What a deal!
Done the laundry and done ironing which i postponed for several days. Changed the bed sheets and arranged my wardrobe. But i am sad. Cheers!
SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOOOOOOT!
Started listening to this while I was walking my dog, but I had to stop .
I kept getting sad and then laughing because my dog is hilarious .
He's a bassethound,so it's hard not to lough at his baying and weird little legs.
I'm glad I did the two separately, this is a rough one.
I zoned Simon out a lot so I only picked up pieces, unfortunately (or fortunately rather I nearly dropped a hot pan one part when I zoned in again)
I tried to put myself to sleep with this but had to get up and feel awful. Only fell asleep 2 hours later.
The Houston police shouldve been held accountable for refusing to consider scads of missing boys anything else but labled "runaway".
Wow, Simon your stance on the death penalty has been a remarkable journey of transformation to behold over the episodes. Personally I agree completely.
Including teens? Why shouldnt minors be punished the same? Whats the point in keeping them in jail for 70+ yrs? Either let them out eventually or treat them like adults. It would be different if there was only one crime and it was something like pushing someone off a building but in some situations its the stuff of nightmares. And you know these types of criminals will have to be kept away from other prisoners.
Yeah,anyone who believes in the death penalty is sick 🤢
@@CashelOConnolly Why would you prefer Corll never died? Why is it healthy (opposite of sick) keeping someone alive for the rest of their life, probably being attacked in prison.
@@CashelOConnollydisagree
@@CashelOConnollyagreed. The mindset that allows the death penalty is the same mindset that allows these narcissist murderers to think they are the arbiters of life and death, and it’s the same mentality that lets war kill millions. Killing is always wrong, and our morality around it should come from the view that all life is precious, and complex, not that the government can tell us to kill and be killed with no remorse.
I can't tell you how much this story has stressed me. Normally I can manage to keep a distance. My son is 13. This is horrible
It scares the hell out of me
I was feeling the same way too..I also have a 13yo son, and it just makes my stomach churn thinking about any of that happening to my child...There would be no containing my rage and Fury...That police department would hate my guts LOL
@@shannonrj78 I hear ya
"Not an excuse" as someone with neurological conditions and mental Health issues a good way to word it is not an excuse but a explaination.
Glad to see a decent Video done on Corll with attention to detail. All the other videos that people have done on Corll were done in 30mins & they just breezed through the names of the victims & seemed very shallow.
Thanks for taking the time to do your research & taking the time to do a detailed Video on the Madman &Monster who was Dean Corrl.
Try Emma Kenny
My wife's uncle was one of the victims in the Heights. His remains were never found.
Houston PD has never lived this case down.
😔
God bless you. I hate we remember monsters not their victims
I was working w a foster kid once, and we saw a bunch of lady bugs that were clearly mounting each other. She says, "What are they doing? And do NOT tell me they are wrestling. I am not stupid. " 😂 I laughed so hard. I said, "I know you are not stupid. That's how lady bugs make babies." She says, "I Knew It! My sister is such a liar!" Oh my. Her mom and I laughed for a long time over that one.
Mostly unrelated story but it made me laugh. We should be honest but age appropriate. I grew up around animals so we just sort of knew how it worked
I was baby sitting an 8 year old and a 5 year old sisters, while drawing on the sidewalk with chalk the younger one just out of the blue asks “how do you make babies?”
The 8 year old glanced at me quickly and started shaking her head and I told her to ask her dad. She got upset asking “why would dad know any better than you?” To which her sister started giggling. Eventually I just was like “you’ll find out later” and she exacerbate just said “no, do you draw the head first or the body?”
@settame1 😂🤣😂 oh my goodness, that made me laugh. Kids are too funny. I try to keep a little notebook for each kid I work with. The funny, sweet, or heartwarming stuff they say/do that I think the parents will enjoy remembering.
How many channels does Simon have!?!??! I feel like I keep finding new ones every day!
My son says I'm addicted to "death crack" and need a "murder fix". You must be my dealer. Trying to cut down. Thanks for all you do.
Canadian here. I blame the beep test for my generalized anxiety disorder 😂
The beep test. I haven't thought about that in years. The horror.
we call it the pacer test in the US. and i blame it for me almost dying of an asthma attack.
US, We had the "beep test" (shuttle runs) and also push-up tests! I can still hear the woman's voice on the cassette recording, "Down....up!...down....up!..." A torturously slow pace for push-ups.
@@cali.cruzin we did sit-ups instead in my highschool.
"Turd Ferguson" reference is hysterical. May Norm Macdonald snicker as he rests in peace.
"It's a funny name!" *chews gum*
Wow, I actually sat here and watched the whole video in one sitting. I've never heard that story before, and I consider myself a Serial Killer encyclopedia. Most brutal story I've ever heard. Sounds like a movie
Same here.
In a Madmans World (2017) is an account from Henleys viewpoint.
Candyman (2021) is partly based on Dean Corll, as well as John Wayne Gacy though they aren't specifically portrayed.
@@Dreasura Thank you! I didn’t know about the movie! It’s a lurid story, I’ll have to watch when I’m in the mood to turn my stomach!
Anthill kids, junko and Albert fish are all equally or worse than this story… it depends on what deeply effects you worse.
Slow mental manipulation into physical abuse? Horrific and extended torture? Or absolute mental breaks that lead to self harm and methodical dismantling of others lives?
There are many stories as horrific as this unfortunately, but I will say it takes the cake on stranger danger turns into absurd levels of violence on young boys.
David Parker Ray 🤢 The toy box killer stuff was nuts
I'm with Simon on this one. How is it that we've never heard of this before?
I do have to say that I really do love David's scripts on all the channels he writes for. They are always very in-depth and very well researched.
I HAD heard about it before as "The Candyman" which I swear was the original title. Which is why I didn't watch it then. This time I was like "Oh, a new CC! How did I miss that?" and...yah :/ Now I feel like I should finish it, but I HATE the ones involving kids and teens, and especially boys the same age as my son...
I think Dean not having a trial is probably the likely reason that he's not as well known.
I'm equally confused as to how people haven't heard of this before. Not because I haven't, but because everyone I know who's into true crime stories knows about the Candyman Killer.
I SPECIFICALLY save casual criminalist episodes for my 2 hour drive home on the weekends Simon! Make them as long as you want! Lol😂
"Also, fu*k those people", you said after the prank call report, and I silently & motionlessly erupted in a standing ovation for you!
This one was beyond horrible... the cops showed no mercy for all of the murder victims and their families...rest in paradise to all of those victims.
If I have to guess why this case isn't widely known, besides the possibility of Gacy and/or Corll being connected to a possibly huge and powerful sex trafficking ring, it's the same reason why this case caused Simon to get so mad and frustrated, the lack of police information and a limited amount of witness testimony. There also wasn't any huge public warning and worse so, most serial killers aren't told about to the general public. And these are only ones that were discovered or investigated. Maybe that's a good thing, though. Not all serial killers need to be well-known about, especially if it just gives sick people ideas like Gacy with the handcuffs.
I was thinking same.
Hopefully one day the whole “Delta Project” thing is exposed, the links between Paske, Corll, and Gacy are so obvious it hurts and nobody talks about it
Wow, this is my first episode I'm watching from your channel, and what a doozy...
Immediately subscribed.
The police negligence is staggering, worthy of jail time.
I was going to comment an give some leeway base on timelines and location as it coud be different police departments, but then I hers omon say how police were told hoe a victim was at david Brooks House and it was ignored ffs
Almost like they were being bribed or something