David Owen Brooks
David Owen Brooks (February 12, 1955 – May 28, 2020) was an American convicted murderer and accomplice of serial killer Dean Corll, who, along with Elmer Wayne Henley Jr, abducted, raped, tortured, and murdered at least 28 boys and young men between 1970 and 1973 in Houston, Texas. The crimes, which became known as the Houston Mass Murders, came to light after Henley shot Corll dead.
Many of the victims had been friends of Brooks and Henley. At the time of their discovery, the Houston Mass Murders were considered the worst example of serial murder in American history.
In the years between his 1975 conviction and his death in 2020 from COVID-19, Brooks was repeatedly denied parole.
Childhood
Brooks first met Corll while in the sixth grade. He was one of many children and youths who socialized at the Corll Candy Company, and later admitted Corll was one of few people who did not mock his glasses. In Brooks' oral confession, he admitted that Corll sexually abused him from the age of 12, for which Corll paid him with gifts or cash.
Murders, arrest and death
Corll's victims were typically lured to a succession of addresses in which he resided between 1970 and 1973 with an offer of a party or a lift. They would then be restrained by either force or deception, and all were killed by either strangulation or shooting with a .22-caliber pistol. Seventeen of these murder victims were buried in a rented boat shed; four other victims were buried in woodland near Lake Sam Rayburn; one further victim was buried on a beach in Jefferson County; and at least six victims were buried on a beach on the Bolivar Peninsula.
Corll is known to have committed one murder, and likely two, prior to Brooks participation as accomplice. Brooks unintentionally discovered Corll sexually assaulting two teenage boys at the apartment where he (Corll) resided.
In December 1970, David Brooks entered unannounced into an apartment rented by Corll. He discovered Corll in the act of sexually assaulting two teenage boys, whom he had strapped to a four-poster bed. According to Brooks, Corll "jumped up and said, 'I'm just having some fun!'" He promised Brooks a car in return for his silence; Brooks accepted this offer and Corll subsequently bought him a green Chevrolet Corvette. Brooks was later told by Corll that the two youths had been murdered, and he was offered $200 for any boy he could lure to Corll's apartment—an enticement he accepted.
In the winter of 1971, Brooks, having by this stage assisted in luring a minimum of six teenage boys to Corll's various addresses, introduced an acquaintance of his named Elmer Wayne Henley to Corll. Henley was likely an intended victim, although Corll evidently saw Henley as an invaluable potential accomplice. Both Brooks and Henley would remain active participants in the abduction and abuse of Corll's victims until Corll was shot to death by Henley on August 8, 1973.
In addition to their participating in the abductions and murders of the victims, both Brooks and Henley also burglarized several addresses, for which they were paid small sums of money.
Brooks was found guilty in State of Texas v. David Owen Brooks in 1975. He was found guilty of the June 4, 1973 abduction and murder of 15-year-old William Ray Lawrence. An appeal against Brooks' conviction was lodged; but, in 1979 this appeal was dismissed.
Brooks died on May 28, 2020, at age 65 in a Galveston, Texas, hospital while serving out his life sentence. He had other illnesses, but died from COVID-19.