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A seemingly ordinary electrician and army veteran hid a horrifying double life as a serial killer that would ultimately earn him a deeply sinister nickname.

Between 1970 and 1973, Dean Corll murdered at least 29 teenage boys across Texas, US.

Working at his family's sweet shop and handing out confectionery to local children - earning him the chilling moniker of the 'Candy Man' killer - he would routinely lure his victims with alcohol or the promise of a party.

Shockingly, the twisted killer managed to recruit two troubled teenagers - David Owen Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley - to assist him in enticing his chosen victims to one of his numerous properties.

Once there, Corll would subject the youngsters to days of torture and rape before either strangling or shooting them to death, reports the Daily Star.

The disappearances of all the children went largely unnoticed for years, until August 8, 1973. On that day, Henley shot and killed Corll, who was aged 33, during a dispute over the murder of two teenagers who were friends of the accomplice.

Henley subsequently guided police to the shallow graves of many victims, discovered in boat sheds, along remote beaches and in woodland where Corll's family owned a lakeside log cabin.

The harrowing details of the boys' final moments are deeply disturbing, and approximately a third of the victims remained unidentified well into the 2000s.

Authorities discovered some bodies bearing evidence of horrific mutilation, including chewed genitals, plucked pubic hairs and glass rods inserted into urethras that had been shattered.

Elsewhere, objects had been inserted into rectums and one boy's mouth was so wide open it was thought he may have screamed to death.

One victim's severed genitals were also found beside the body inside a plastic bag.

The shocking extent of Corll's depravity prompted even the Vatican to send its condolences, while the Kremlin condemned the police's "astounding inaction" at not recognising the killing spree, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Both Brooks and Henley were imprisoned for their roles in the murders, each receiving a life sentence.

Brooks died in 2020 after contracting Covid, leaving Henley as the sole surviving perpetrator of the mass killings.

Last year saw the release of a documentary entitled 'The Serial Killer's Apprentice', which featured new interviews with the now 69 year old.

In the film, convicted murderer Henley is questioned over the phone by Dr Katherine Ramsland, charting his journey from a manipulated teenager to a killer.

"I believe that I was originally taken over to Dean's as a victim. What scares me is, did Dean recognise a fellow psychopath?" Henley admitted.

He went on to describe being groomed by Corll at the age of 15 and how that manipulation ultimately led to his involvement in the killings.

Henley has been eligible for parole since 1980 but has been refused on every occasion, with his most recent rejection coming on November 7 2025.

A childhood friend of one of the victims, Billy Lawrence, told the Independent that Henley should "die" in prison. "They weren't hoodlums. They weren't out to get into trouble. They were just innocent young boys that got kidnapped," said Debbie Stellas.

She continued: "Being murdered was one thing - but being tortured and then murdered was another," before questioning, "what was he gaining by participating in this sickness?"