Grace Baldridge is joined by Jay Light to talk about American serial killer, Dean Corl, who–along with his teenage accomplices–raped and killed at least 28 boys in a series of killings spanning from 1970 to 1973 in Houston, Texas. This became known as the Houston Mass Murders.
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Texas had anti-sodomy laws until Lawrence v. Texas in 2003.
I live in Houston now, so this was a bit trippy. I wasn’t alive then, and it would be a decade or so before I was moved there. I had heard of the candyman, but hadn’t realized it happened here in H-town.
I found it weird his first murder or how it started wasn’t really covered… I’m a bit confused on the timeline.
Yeah, I am with you on that. I was a bit disappointed with the entire episode I hate to say. I was interested in this episode because I didn’t know anything about Dean Corll and I think Jay Light is a great guest. However, the timeline is very confusing and the information was presented… less organized than usual I guess would be the way to talk about it. They jumped around a lot and they didn’t really establish what was happening that last night before diving in then going back I don’t know. I hate knocking it because I love the show and again Jay is great but this episode needed some more pre-planning I think.
I’m pretty sure it’s because this info isn’t known. Like I live in Houston and we hear about this as kids, but nobody really realises that this actually happened. Because he was killed and not interrogated, police can only say the first ‘known’ victim, not the first victims.
Yes, it could have been a bit more organised, but a lot of info is missing because it’s not known.
Jay Light is my all-time favourite MWF guest.
That little pop-up graphic around 1:45 talking shit about John Wayne Gacy legit made me laugh out loud. That was magical.
I’ve heard of him through Rob Dyke’s video on him. Still waiting for that crossover with Murder with Friends and Rob Dyke.
Does anyone else find it odd that so many of these serial killers operated in the 1970s and 80s?
There is a theory – popularized by Freakonomics – that lead paint and leaded gasoline were a cause of criminality, and that removing lead has led to dropping levels of crime.
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Lead-crime_hypothesis
Repeat, this is a theory. Some people credit CompStat, which was featured on The Wire.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CompStat
I think that – as in so many things – that there are many, many factors at play.
YOU NEED TO COVER ROCH THERIAULT THIS SEASON. You’ve done Manson and Jones, this guy was a Canadian cult leader and he was fucking insane. And one of his victims survived after finally escaping the cult, after he CUT OFF HER ARM.
Also please cover BTK killer this season.
Also if you want really modern murders, the Tim Bosma murder from 2013 in Canada had an epically long trial.
When they started talking about calling 911, I thought oh, lord, these young kids. 911 wasn’t around until the 80’s, they just mean they called the police. So I looked it up and 911 was actually invented in 1968 although it wasn’t implemented every where in the U.S. until the 80’s. So I learned something.
Born and raised in Houston, Texas… How have I never heard about this???! I’m pretty upset with myself. Lol.
Thank you Grace!
It never ceases to amaze me: the depravity of humans…chilling!
Incredible sadness all around in this case. One of the reasons I’m grateful for this show is it gets these cases into more and more of the public eye, allowing people to see when and where communication breakdowns happen and the serious consequences of a lack of empathetic professional mental health counseling. Everybody, regardless of background or sexual orientation, needs easy, affordable access to counseling, just knowing it’s there gives the kind of options that save lives.
Awareness that lots of problems cannot be solved by the families that often cause them is crucial. We lack this awareness today, a situation made many times worse by a private, money driven situation that scares people away from seeking the outside help they need.
Effective, empathetic professional mental health counselors in the service of all people regardless of status or income are in large quantities only in societies with universal health care systems. A Medicare-For-All system for Americans empowered by our strong nurses’ union would definitely reduce lots of fears creating mental instability and feeding groups like the NRA.
Another great episode! I really like Jay. I’m surprised I’d never heard of this guy. I was born in ’74 in Oklahoma, and my mother often talked about true crimes. Maybe the fact that he was into boys was why she didn’t talk about it. My mother is weird about homosexuality (she’s getting better, but when I was growing up, it was like she thought that speaking of it would conjure a gay couple, mid-intercourse, right there in the living room), which I always thought was a funny thing to shut down a conversation over, but she’d go on for hours about the macabre details of murders, torture, and all kinds of sick stuff.
Anyway, this was an excellent episode. I continue to be impressed with the quality and content of this show. You’re all doing an amazing job!
:)