To Die For
A mass murderer
forges a strange union with Houston crime victims.
By Steve McVicker
The city of
Houston wants to build a monument to victims of violent crime -- and
mass murderer Elmer Wayne Henley wants to help pay for it with part
of the proceeds from his second art show. Although the idea repulses
the father of one of Henley's victims, city officials appear ready to
accept the offer, even if not everyone involved is clear on exactly
who Henley is. Almost 25 years have passed since Henley and two of his
buddies, Dean Corrl and David Brooks, first sexually tortured and then
killed and buried 26 young Houston men in the summer of 1973. After
being sexually abused and murdered, some of the victims -- most of them
teenage boys -- were buried in shallow graves in a boat shed in southwest
Houston, others under the sand dunes of High Island. Henley, Corrl and
Brooks became notorious. The victims were forgotten by anyone other
than family and friends. Now, Henley wants to contribute to the construction
of a monument to memorialize all victims of violent crime in Houston.
Just over a year ago, Henley had his first one-man show when 22 pieces
of his work were featured at Hyde Park Gallery in Montrose. Henley wasn't
there to enjoy his moment of glory, as he was, and still is, incarcerated
in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Coffield Unit, where he
is serving six consecutive life sentences. Nevertheless, all 22 of the
banal black-and-white graphite drawings and oil paintings were snapped
up that evening -- a testament, says gallery owner Larry Crawford, to
Henley's prowess as an artist. Crawford says sales from the show generated
$3,600. The take was split three ways, with one-third going to Henley's
mother, one-third to the Montrose Clinic (a local AIDS health center)
and one-third to the gallery for security and expenses (Crawford claims
to have made nothing himself.) Fourteen months later, Henley is back
-- or at least 26 more pieces of his art are. Featured in this year's
show will be two emu eggs on which Henley has painted landscapes. And
like last year, Crawford says one-third of profits will again be donated
to a good cause, and this year that cause is the Victims Memorial Monument
Fund. The director of the city's Crime Victims' Office calls a partnership
between Henley and the memorial fund a strange one. Indeed, Andy Kahan
admits he was dumbfounded when he was initially approached by the gallery.
"At first I thought that this was a marriage that would be made in hell,"
says Kahan. "But after I thought about it a little more, I realized
that this was going to happen with or without us, so why not make the
best of it?" An example of Henley's art. Additionally, although he would
prefer Henley not be given this kind of spotlight, Kahan believes that
prisoners should be encouraged to give something back to society. And
Kahan knows of no other example of victims benefiting from the prison
projects of other serial killers, such as the clown art of John Wayne
Gacy or the designer fashions of Charles Manson. But what Henley has
to give back to society, Walter Scott doesn't want. Nor, he believes,
should the city of Houston. "I don't want that kind of money," says
Scott, whose son Mark was one of Henley's victims. "He's just looking
for some sort of glory. He ought to just stay in prison and keep his
mouth shut and do his time." As for the people who buy Henley's paintings
and drawings, Scott believes the purchasers have more in common with
souvenir hunters at a freak show than with serious collectors of art.
And if money is generated, he would prefer it go back into the prison
system that keeps his son's killer separated from the rest of the world
instead of to Henley's mama or to a memorial for crime victims. According
to Kahan, for the past two years the city has been conducting a search
for an artist to create a monument befitting the memory of victims of
violent crime. The memorial will be erected near downtown along Allen
Parkway, just across Buffalo Bayou from the Houston Police Officers
Memorial. The memorial has an estimated price tag of $300,000, all of
which, says Kahan, will be raised through private donations. The project,
which was the idea of Lee Wells-Flowers with Parents of Murdered Children
and Justice For All, is being coordinated by Kahan's office, the parks
department and the Municipal Art Commission. After he was first contacted
by the gallery about the Henley proposal, Kahan took the idea to the
parks department, where, he concedes, the plan was initially met with
a few sideways glances. Parks spokeswoman Susan Christian says parks
officials feel that if Kahan and the victims' rights and justice-reform
groups he deals with are comfortable with Henley contributing to the
memorial fund, so are they. (Kahan says that Parents of Murdered Children
has endorsed the donation, but the president of that organization did
not return calls from the Press.) Christian adds that the parks department
feels that Houston has been in the forefront of the victims' rights
movement nationally and wants a monument of national significance to
reflect that. The proposal to accept the money from the sale of Henley's
art was also approved by a vote of the Municipal Art Commission. At
the time of the vote, there was no debate about taking money from Henley
for the memorial. However, according to commission chairwoman Drucie
Chase, she was unaware that the money would be coming from a mass murderer.
"This does give me some pause," says Chase, after being informed about
Henley's background by the Press. "This sort of arouses my thinking."
Chase says she will ask the commission to take a harder look at the
proposal at the board's April meeting. Meanwhile, under the watchful
guard of extra security, the opening of Henley's second art exhibit
will take place this Friday night at Hyde Park Gallery as scheduled.
Andy Kahan doesn't plan to attend. Neither does Walter Scott. But he'll
be thinking about it -- and Henley. "I think about him killing my son
every day," says Scott.