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America’s Sordid Secret: The Candy Man
The ‘Candy Man’ murders, also known as Houston Mass Murders, included the killing and rape of over 28 adolescent boys.
A Rocky Household
Dean Arnold Corll was born on December 24, 1939, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was the first child of Mary Anna Robinson and Arnold Edwin Corll. Arnold was a very strict man and a father. He and Mary would fight a lot. In today’s standard, he would be considered an abusive father.
However, Mary was very protective of her son and took the brunt of her husband’s aggression. Their marriage was very unstable, to say the least. In 1942 they welcomed their second son Stanley Wayne Corll and in 1946, i.e., four years later, they got divorced.
After the divorce, Mary sold their house and settled in Memphis, Tennessee. This was a drastic transition for her children as they moved from a beautiful home into a trailer. It was done so the boys could be near their father, stationed near Memphis for an Air force assignment. Despite the strained relationships, Mary wanted to keep her family united, something that greatly impacted her children.
Dean was a shy but serious child. He rarely socialized with children of his age. He was gravely infected by rheumatic fever when he was seven, which remained undiagnosed for four years. This was a hard time for him medically as well as psychologically. Apart from his deteriorating health, he had to deal with his parent’s rocky relationship. In 1953 Arnold and Mary remarried, moved to Texas, and got divorced again in the same year.
Pecan Prince
The lack of stability didn’t end here. A few years later, Mary met another man, Jake West, and a few years later, they got married. In contrast to her previous marriage, this one was pretty solid. They also had a daughter, Joyce. On top of that, Mary and Jake started their own candy company called The Pecan Prince.
Stanley and Dean helped their mom manufacture candy, and Jake would go and sell them. For Dean, this was pretty…
