In 2010, I stepped inside a maximum-security prison for a rare three-hour interview with one of America’s most notorious serial killers, Elmer Wayne Henley Jr., seeking his help to name the last two unidentified victims of Dean Corll.
I expected the safety of a plexiglass barrier. Instead I found myself standing completely unprotected, face-to-face with an unhappy Henley. Pen pals had been mailing him copies of my stories, and the moment his shackles dropped he took control of the room. As the heavy gates slammed shut, he turned the tables and demanded to know if he had just been indicted for another murder.
What unfolded in those three hours didn’t just add to the history books. It shattered the official narrative. Armed with police photographs the killer had never seen, I pushed Henley until he threw down the gauntlet, exposing a web of bombshell claims that authorities have spent decades keeping quiet.
Originally published as two separate chronological volumes, this definitive combined edition brings the entire three-hour interview together under one roof for the first time in Houston Mass Murders: The Elmer Wayne Henley Interview: (Serial Parts 4 & 5). This special edition stands alone. Please note: If you have already purchased and read Serial Parts 4 and 5 individually, you do not need to purchase this combined edition.
Packed with grainy case photographs and chilling direct revelations, it strips away decades of silence and lays out the hidden mechanics of the Harris County justice system, moving from why Henley chose to kill—forsaking the chance to save eighteen boys—to vanished district-attorney hypnosis tapes, secret immunity agreements, and yet another misidentified teenage boy.
The cover I designed is a puzzle. The text is the key. Turn the page and see what the official story left in the dark.