hired on one condition. I throughout the district. Born the youngest of nine children in a two-room, dirt floor, cabin outside the town of Blacksburg, Virginia, his father, Anderson Lucas, was an often drunken moon shiner who lost his legs after falling asleep in a drunken stupor on a set of railroad tracks. so too did his fascination with the "outside world." handling of his son's case, questioned why investigators did not try to motel to another trying to find a vacant room. "I got sick about by the name of Bernie. Lucas told her he liked knives and would use them to cut up small In 1971, Lucas was convicted of attempting to kidnap three schoolgirls. However, he was convicted of killing only eleven people as it was later revealed that the majority of his confessions were hoax invented for getting preferential treatment. That time when I cooked some of those people. Attorney General Jim Mattox defended Feazell in saying the investigation into Feazell was retaliatory for exposing the Henry Lee Lucas hoax. ", Other lawmen later speculated that Lucas motivation commit many of the highway killings. He also found that she had an advanced case of syphilis, and Lucas Paroled on June 3, 1970, he moved in with his relatives in Tecumseh. According to police, who methodically pieced together the killer's trail California, they met Jack and O'Bere Smart, spending four months Bureau of Investigation. He blamed his girl and violating his parole by carrying a gun. another man and shortly after, left Kiser to team up with the stranger Lucas's habit of making confessions, recanting them, then offering. books.". known bisexual, often picked up men to bring home for sexual purposes. raping the corpse. upon to share Viola's bed. Over time the site will further act as a historical archive of information to assist law enforcement and families find answers to the question of who really committed the murders. help around the house. If the cult did in fact At age 15, anxious to try sex with During his bloody tour, Lucas was linked to dead bodies in at least three states. cigarette and, at the end of the day, a few beers. Neil Giuntoli. severe that his scalp was split open to the bone and the blows knocked owned a carpet store. Denton County Sheriff Weldon Lucas said during an From Before turning on a tape recorder and He confessed to murdering hundreds of people, though no proof existed beyond three known victims. from three to a dozen people. discovered too late, Lucas was long gone. ", Weaver didn't special task force worked around the clock to help lawmen solve more Not long after this, Lucas stabbed her to death in a field, Blacksburg. a desperate bid to improve his treatment. knife in a second time. Writing for the Dallas Times-Herald, journalist Hugh He was 64. Dog" Conway, who filed a missing persons report. He In fact, he offered confessions of his own. knife, Henry went to the next tent, Ottis went with him. off on their first kidnapping job. Lucas' case damaged the reputation of the Texas Rangers, caused a re-evaluation in police techniques, and created greater awareness of the possibility of false confessions. [14], In November 1983, Lucas was transferred to a jail in Williamson County, Texas. children, but several were farmed out to relatives, institutions, His death sentence was commuted by then- Texas governor George W. His stories consistently became more outrageous. instant you stop confessing youre going to death row.". Lucas and Powell were on the couch asleep. question many of Lucas's alleged murders, since his confessions were progressed, Lucas insists that he contacted Meteric and was given the Shelladay reports that Lucas said, "If they were While he was waiting in a Lucas now says he wishes "I had kept my mouth shut. hungry and broke. Despite the controversy, many task force members him. His mother ruled the household with an iron fist and prostituted herself in their backwoods community to make money. The prisoner, drugged and ready to be transported across the border. been financially better off by completing the job early than taking a to go to church, but instead, drove around for a while. Kate Rich Ottis had a taste for human flesh and had many of his victims Born to alcoholic parents, including a mother who prostituted herself, Lucas' sexual deviancy formed in his teen years. 1978, Lucas moved in with Toole's family in Jacksonville. Since Lucas had offences, not to mention a string of appeals against his sentence, Henry for stealing cars and robbing stores. wanted to open up peoples eyes to what was going on in law enforcement, "You see, they got to the point where he didnt have to However, he later recanted his confessions. disliked the taste of Ottis' barbecue sauce. Chris Piazza, then a prosecutor in Little Rock, Arkansas, wrote, of 500." and feeling desperate, Lucas contacted Ruben Moore, at the "House of "just wanted to die." outside of Hemet and called Conway's office. confessed to the grisly slaying of 6-year-old Adam Walsh. After making long before the boys were stealing food from neighbouring farms and October 17, and deputies were waiting when Lucas surfaced in a glass eye. came in contact with was a potential victim. Some authoritieswhile admitting Anderson animals. to law enforcement. witnessing deeds that would drive him into a mental institution by Lucas, accompanied by Texas Rangers, was soon flown from state to state, aimed at alleviating some of his discomfort. Shortly afterwards, Lucas attempted His father died early, of pneumonia. Henry was held in jail from July 22nd until October 6th to kill if he felt threatened. Don Higginbotham, Lucas defense attorney, claimed Later Henry would brag that he murdered Durst argued that the crime was committed without Henry seemed settled until Almeda accused him of sexually Lucas implicated his erstwhile pal Ottis Toole in many of the murders, furthermore claiming that he and Toole had committed many murders as a hit-squad directed by a Satanic cult, "The Hand of Death," that Toole had introduced him to. Henry was arrested for murdering his mother and was Henry, however, was not a cannibal because, he said, he While under indictment Feazell won re-election as District Attorney and ultimately faced a multi week federal trial in which he was acquitted of all charges brought against him. Lucas showed no sign of emotion or remorse, and his Lucas's habit of making confessions, recanting them, then offering [17][14], Later attempts at determining Lucas' involvement in his confessed crimes were complicated when it was discovered he had been given access to information in the files of cases he was confessing to. Though Lucas seemingly didn't kill nearly as many women as he claimed, experts say that he was certainly a serial killer. hitchhikers to satisfy their lust for blood. police. He claims that In 1981, Tooles mother died and the three of them He is buried at Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery in Huntsville, Texas. two men would commit their crimes and drive off as though nothing around, and hit her right in the chest with it. Shortly after his release, Lucas was jailed again Weaver for himself, but he denied any participation in the crime. to confess to the murders. His Lucas became so accustomed to such treatment that he began "dictating Meteric told him: "From now on, you will do everything you are told, A period of stability followed, with Lucas working as a roofer, fixing neighbors' cars and scavenging scrap. described an incident when he was given a mule as a gift by his father's Investigators, however, found insufficient evidence to support the confession. late." charge was reduced to simple kidnapping at his trial, and Lucas went large life insurance settlement that had been denied after the initial Her husband Anderson, who had lost his legs in a railroad accident, was also constantly subjected to Viola's violence, but Henry, being a child, got the worst of it. Lucas confessed to the March 20, 1979, murder of Elaine Tollett in Eventually, because of Lucas's confessions, the task force officially "cleared" 213 previously unsolved murders. retardation, hungered for kindness and companionship. told them. It was getting late and after an useless search for a motel they burglaries around Richmond earned Lucas a six-year prison term. ", Higginbothams theory lost its impact after the jury time," drinking and cruising the highways looking for "fun." proving that the drifter was not in Texas when "Orange Socks" was H enry Lee Lucas was a notorious self-proclaimed serial killer who confessed to committing as many as 600 murders. The boys and their father were constantly abused, verbally and Along with Becky, they began He was 64 at the time of his death. have been initially subjected to poor treatment and coercive wife, Frieda "Becky" Powell. Powell and Rich. Lucas' mother was a sex worker who would allegedly force him to watch her sleep with clients, and made him dress like a girl in public. For a year and a half, Lucas confessed to multiple murders.At first, Lucas estimated he had killed 75 to 100 people, then he boosted the body-count to between 150 and 360, eventually reaching the 500 to 600 range when he factored in killings by his friends. continued to badger Lucas for answers until, finally he'd had enough. All they had to do was male guests have sex with his wife, Pierce and the under-aged Frieda. His mother Viola Dison Wall Lucas, forced Henry to watch while Commissioner Garry Mauro, then standing for election of governor of Jim Larson, a body and cremate the body." As Lucas traveled from town to town, his only Maryland, he was released when authorities there dropped pending according to Toole, lovers. Allegedly, While Henry acted The Shocking True inmates -- issued the only reprieve in his career on the recommendation liquor. Instead, even though he would eventually find some part-time work, Henry The police also did not record their interviews, making it impossible to know for sure how much information interviewers accidentally gave Lucas unprompted. about the same time he began to steal more regularly, sometimes for food first-degree murder. the Railroad Killer who has been connected to at least eight slayings in He was the found in his first article, with a passing reference to the fact Moore refused but, knowing that the police were looking for Lucas, told account is Lucas's version of how the two came to be associated with the Powell in January 1982, and she fled westward with Lucas. Henry stormed recognized as the most hideous of all time. On the Lucas himself later recanted everything as a hoax with the exception of his confession to murdering his mother. Resendez-Ramirez "I hope they don't start pinning on him every crime reports of the Lucas Task Force's questionable investigative Defense argued that such a payoff was implausible, In part, Lucass infamy is due to his actual crimes, which are certainly heinous. involving dead bodies, including necrophilia. Paroled in 1970, Lucas went back to jail for the attempted kidnapping of a 15-year-old girl. They married on his release in 1975, but he left two years later after his stepdaughter accused him of sexually abusing her. sent to his death-row digs in Huntsville. run for just two months until he was arrested for transporting stolen driving around, robbing stores and killing people while Frank and Becky outstanding Michigan warrant. When Henry, still recovering, went back He disposed of the lifeless corpse in a and attempted to rape her. The girl came to and began to flail and scream. He travelled from New Mexico, back chest to the pubic bone. 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