The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
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The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
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Dean Corll was never convicted of the murders of twenty-seven young boys in Houston, for the crime was only uncovered after Corll's accomplice shot him dead and then turned himself in to police. Corll was a Houston-area electrician who hosted parties for neighborhood children with the help of Elmer Wayne Henley, a teenager, in the suburb of Pasadena. In August of 1973, Henley and another accomplice, David Brooks, became angry with Corll, who had been paying them $200 for each boy they brought to the house. Henley turned on Corll and shot him six times; afterward, Henley confessed to police. He showed detectives Corll's torture room, where a wooden board with handcuffs was used to sodomize the young boys that Corll and his accomplices lured inside. A boat shed rented by Corll was found to contain the bodies of seventeen victims under its floorboards, and another ten were found at other burial sites. All died from strangulation or gunshot wounds and had been sexually assaulted and in some cases even mutilated. Henley was found guilty of murder in 1971 and sentenced to six 99-year prison terms.