Dean Corll

Dean Corll
Dean Corll in 1973
Born	Dean Arnold Corll (1939-12-24)December 24, 1939 Fort Wayne, Indiana, US
Died	August 8, 1973(1973-08-08) (aged 33) Pasadena, Texas, US
Cause of death	Gunshot wounds of left chest and back. Homicide
Other names	The Candy Man The Pied Piper
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg)
Killings
Victims	28+
Span of killings	1970–1973
Country	United States
State(s)	Texas

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

Corll was also known as the Candy Man and the Pied Piper, because he and his family had owned and operated a candy factory in Houston Heights, and he had been known to give free candy to local children.

At the time of their discovery, the Houston Mass Murders were considered the worst example of serial murder in American history.

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

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