Katherine Ramsland

Tracy Ullman

The True Story of How Houston's Deadliest Murderer Turned a Kid into a Killing Machine

The Serial Killer's Apprentice

This was a study of the infamous Candy Man killings in Houston, TX in the early 1970s.  It focused specifically on the grooming of the killer's two assistants.  I am really conflicted about the life sentences for the two "assistants".  The were both in their early teens when the manipulation started, but the both also willingly participated in murder and covering up certain crimes.  I am not sure what the correct answer is.  They both definitely deserve to have been punished, but life imprisonment?  This is a very complex situation and I do not know what the correct answer is, or if the sentence was the correct one.  It just seems that two teenage boys were drawn into a web of manipulation and deceit, and if they had not met Dean Corll, neither would have ever been involved in a murder.  We will never know Corll's version of events, or the full extent of the participation of the assistants.  All this book leaves a reader with is more questions, but it is worth reading.  

The Serial Killer's Apprentice The True Story of How Houston's Deadliest Murderer Turned a Kid into a Killing Machine

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