1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: This story contains adult content and language, along with references 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,400 Speaker 1: to sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised. 3 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:17,520 Speaker 2: And I would argue that some of these secrets that 4 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 2: I'm revealing right now in this book are things that 5 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 2: people just didn't know about the case, the reasons why 6 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:26,440 Speaker 2: it still was important, why in some ways, Dean Coral 7 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:29,440 Speaker 2: should be even more famous sin John Wayne Gacy because 8 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:32,280 Speaker 2: there were all these other things going on around his murders. 9 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:41,680 Speaker 1: I'm Kate Winkler Dawson, a nonfiction author and journalism professor 10 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:44,479 Speaker 1: in Austin, Texas. I'm also the co host of the 11 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: podcast Buried Bones on Exactly Right, and throughout my career, 12 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:52,360 Speaker 1: research for my many audio and book projects has taken 13 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:55,640 Speaker 1: me around the world. On Wicked Words, I sit down 14 00:00:55,720 --> 00:01:00,440 Speaker 1: with the people I've met along the way, amazing writers, journalists, fomakers, 15 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:04,880 Speaker 1: and podcasters who have investigated and reported on notorious true 16 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: crime cases. This is about the choices writers make, both 17 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:11,640 Speaker 1: good and bad, and it's a deep dive into the 18 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: unpublished details behind their stories. Dean Coral was a serial 19 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:21,280 Speaker 1: killer in Houston in the early nineteen seventies. He kidnapped 20 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: and murdered more than two dozen missing teenage boys before 21 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:29,119 Speaker 1: he was murdered by one of his accomplices. Decades later, 22 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:33,399 Speaker 1: a forensic anthropologist discovered a box of remains from the case. 23 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 1: She spent years using scientific tools to identify some of 24 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 1: the unknown victims. Journalist Lisa Olsen tells me the story 25 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:44,679 Speaker 1: at the center of her book, The Scientist and the 26 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:51,160 Speaker 1: Serial Killer. I have heard of the story of Dean before, 27 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: and you know, this is an awful story that I 28 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: know has lived, I guess in infamy in Texas. There 29 00:01:58,240 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 1: are quite a few people who had never heard of 30 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: it outside of the state. You have a different focus 31 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:07,080 Speaker 1: for this book that I think is fascinating because I 32 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:12,120 Speaker 1: am absolutely fascinated with the work of forensic anthropologists, and 33 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: I don't know enough about them. So this is what 34 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:16,640 Speaker 1: I'm counting on for you, is to tell me exactly 35 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 1: what that is and how it relates to this case. 36 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: So when you tell people at a dinner party, I've 37 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 1: written this amazing book and they say, what's it about. 38 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:28,840 Speaker 1: What is your three paragraph pitch to them? What do 39 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 1: you say it is about? 40 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 2: This book is about what was an infamous murder case 41 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:37,519 Speaker 2: in the early seventies in Texas involving a man named 42 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 2: Dean Coral, who was around here called the candy Man, 43 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:45,520 Speaker 2: who was linked after his murder, to the disappearance of 44 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 2: more than two dozen young boys and young men in 45 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:52,520 Speaker 2: the Houston area, all of whom, with the exception of 46 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:55,960 Speaker 2: one or two, had been assumed to be not victims 47 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:59,480 Speaker 2: of any crime, but simply runaways. Their parents and their 48 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:01,920 Speaker 2: siblings and their friends were looking for them, but the 49 00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 2: police were not. So there was this discovery that generated 50 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:12,239 Speaker 2: national news. The Vatican, the Zvestia, the Russian Empire issued 51 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:15,720 Speaker 2: press releases condemning the Houston police for failing to notice 52 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:18,640 Speaker 2: how many young men had disappeared, because they found them 53 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 2: their bones in these mass graves that were discovered only 54 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 2: because the person who killed Dean Coral, who was one 55 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:30,280 Speaker 2: of his accomplices, led them to the burial grounds. And 56 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:32,520 Speaker 2: what I say about what my book is about is 57 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 2: about what you never knew about that case. There was 58 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 2: a lot that wasn't known because Coral was killed, he 59 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:41,400 Speaker 2: never lived to tell his story, and a third of 60 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 2: his victims were not identified for decades. And so my 61 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:49,360 Speaker 2: story starts with a woman who comes to the Morgue 62 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 2: in the mid two thousands as a forensic anthropologist. Her 63 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 2: name is doctor Sharon Derek. She discovers these boxes of 64 00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 2: bones of unidentified teenagers, and she is completely floored because 65 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,240 Speaker 2: this is a case she heard growing up in Texas. 66 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:08,480 Speaker 2: This was a case that gave Texas teenagers nightmares about 67 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 2: being kidnapped, about being disappeared, about being sexually assaulted and tortured. 68 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 2: This was all of that, and she's just as pulled 69 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:18,360 Speaker 2: and shocked that there are so many boxes of bones 70 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:22,120 Speaker 2: of unidentified people who are approximately her age, boys and 71 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 2: young mens who grew up in the same neighborhood where 72 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:27,040 Speaker 2: her grandparents lived, where her cousins grew up. And so 73 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:29,680 Speaker 2: she sets out on this journey to try to use 74 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:34,840 Speaker 2: modern forensic apology techniques to identify who they are. And 75 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 2: in the course of that work, which does generate news 76 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:41,800 Speaker 2: at the time when she makes these discovery, she on 77 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 2: earth's deeper truths about these cases that were never made 78 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,239 Speaker 2: public in the seventies and I think are still really 79 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:51,479 Speaker 2: important today, things like the fact that some of these 80 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:53,880 Speaker 2: boys were victims of what we would call today a 81 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:56,600 Speaker 2: sex trafficking ring, with some of those images had been 82 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:01,359 Speaker 2: sold to a worldwide network of pedophile and the fact 83 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 2: that many of these boys really had been reported missing 84 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:09,000 Speaker 2: partly because their families were you know, didn't have the 85 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 2: same kind of power as other families. Maybe they were 86 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:15,400 Speaker 2: led by single women, their parents didn't get the same attention, 87 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:18,960 Speaker 2: and so they were never identified even though they probably 88 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 2: should have been at the time. You know, there was, 89 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,719 Speaker 2: of course a stigma to these crimes that persists today 90 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:27,920 Speaker 2: in that young men who are victims of sexual assault, 91 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:30,280 Speaker 2: even today, if you look at research by the National 92 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 2: Center for Missing and Exploited Children, still don't feel empowered 93 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:37,599 Speaker 2: to talk about when they are assaulted or when someone 94 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 2: attempts to assault them. And so an open secret among 95 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 2: a generation of Houstonians and from these neighborhoods where these 96 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:47,360 Speaker 2: boys were taken, was that there were living victims. There 97 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 2: were probably twice as many living victims who were still around, 98 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:54,120 Speaker 2: and so many of whom I interviewed who could talk 99 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:57,240 Speaker 2: about the near missus they had when the same pedophile 100 00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:01,279 Speaker 2: tried to come after them, and that was also so suppressed. So, 101 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:04,599 Speaker 2: you know, I think it's an incredible story of scientific 102 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 2: discovery by a woman, which is something, you know, a 103 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:09,479 Speaker 2: story I wanted to tell, but it's also a story 104 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:11,800 Speaker 2: that resonates today about you know, we need to pay 105 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:15,400 Speaker 2: more attention to the issue of the unidentified, which remains 106 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:18,400 Speaker 2: a huge problem. You know, there's just not enough resources 107 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:21,480 Speaker 2: to use these new forensic tools to identify people, and 108 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 2: then the plight of missing persons and sex assault victims 109 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:28,560 Speaker 2: is still a big, big issue, you know. So that's 110 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:30,800 Speaker 2: why I felt like it was worth telling this story 111 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:33,240 Speaker 2: in a whole new way. So I tell people, you know, 112 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 2: this is a story you thought you knew if you 113 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 2: were a Houstonian, But I'm going to tell you a 114 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:39,839 Speaker 2: lot of things about what you didn't know. This isn't 115 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 2: a who done it? It's a who was it? And 116 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:43,120 Speaker 2: what did it mean? 117 00:06:43,839 --> 00:06:46,560 Speaker 1: Dean Coral was truly awful. I mean, when you hear 118 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,039 Speaker 1: all of the details of what happened to these young 119 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:53,360 Speaker 1: men and these boys, you know, it truly, truly is terrifying. 120 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:56,479 Speaker 1: One of the things that's so disconcerting about Dean Coral 121 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,200 Speaker 1: before we kind of get into that part of the story, 122 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:01,599 Speaker 1: just so everybody has context, is that he was a 123 00:07:01,839 --> 00:07:05,599 Speaker 1: seemingly respected member of the community. You know, his parents 124 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:09,120 Speaker 1: had a business. And what a great cover up it was, 125 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 1: and that's one of the things that alarms me is 126 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: the of course, the idea that the serial killer is 127 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:17,960 Speaker 1: the next door neighbor. It is not the person who 128 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 1: might look like an Edmund Kemper or someone who you know, 129 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: like you look at it and it seems obvious, and 130 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:26,240 Speaker 1: Dean Coral did not seem obvious. Do you want to 131 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:28,400 Speaker 1: kind of go back and tell me a little bit 132 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:30,840 Speaker 1: about the background, just so that we can understand going 133 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:34,440 Speaker 1: forward when we meet Sharon the significance of what she found. 134 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:37,960 Speaker 2: Yes, So, Dean Coral was an electrician. He worked for 135 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:41,960 Speaker 2: the you know, city lighting and power company. He wasn't 136 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,840 Speaker 2: anybody who tracked it a lot of attention. And in 137 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:48,600 Speaker 2: the day his as you said, his mother owned a 138 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 2: series of candy shops. That's why they called him the 139 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:54,120 Speaker 2: candy man some of the kids because he ran those 140 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:57,680 Speaker 2: shops with his mother. He literally mixed up recipes and 141 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 2: made candy, praylans and things like that. That then some 142 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:04,559 Speaker 2: of these boys actually worked in the shops and leaned 143 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:08,440 Speaker 2: up or delivered and over time I think this would 144 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 2: have attracted attention today, but in the seventies it really didn't. 145 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:14,880 Speaker 2: He befriended a lot of these kids, and he used 146 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:18,040 Speaker 2: these candy shops as sort of hangout places, and so 147 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:21,160 Speaker 2: some of these kids hung out at his candy shops, 148 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 2: which tended to be near elementary schools. Most of them 149 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:27,400 Speaker 2: were in a neighborhood in Houston called the Houston Heights, 150 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:30,280 Speaker 2: which is a historic neighborhood with a lot of beautiful 151 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:32,839 Speaker 2: old Victorian houses, but in the seventies it was a 152 00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:35,360 Speaker 2: little bit run down. It's kind of become a premier, 153 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:38,160 Speaker 2: you know, where he sought after neighborhood today, but back 154 00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:40,320 Speaker 2: then there were a lot of rental properties. There were 155 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:43,360 Speaker 2: a lot of kids whose dads were World War two veterans, 156 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:46,480 Speaker 2: or parents were divorcing. There were a lot of issues, 157 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:48,959 Speaker 2: and some of these kids, he just would befriend kids, 158 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:52,440 Speaker 2: often poorer kids, and offer them a place to hang out, 159 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:55,200 Speaker 2: and he would also give them all kinds of gifts, 160 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:59,080 Speaker 2: many trips to the beach, he would let them ride 161 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 2: on motorcycle. And then he started really soliciting these favors 162 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:07,680 Speaker 2: in return that obviously these boys didn't tell their parents about. 163 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:11,200 Speaker 2: And ultimately then he starts to kidnap and as you said, 164 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:13,680 Speaker 2: torture and kill other boys and uses two of the 165 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:15,400 Speaker 2: boys he's befriended to do that. 166 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:19,240 Speaker 1: And you know what I had remembered about the story was, 167 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:22,640 Speaker 1: you know, one of the boys the mother had trusted him, 168 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:25,040 Speaker 1: and in some ways, you know, he is that man 169 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:27,960 Speaker 1: who who, if the parents are involved, might see him 170 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:30,960 Speaker 1: as a big brother figure, someone who could be a 171 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: positive influence. And then that goes back to focusing in 172 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:38,720 Speaker 1: on these vulnerable victims and who he's able to exploit 173 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:40,960 Speaker 1: because of you know, the way he looks in his standing. 174 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:43,800 Speaker 1: And there are no red flags. So when you talk 175 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:46,640 Speaker 1: about these young men being from this area and the heights, 176 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:50,720 Speaker 1: these boys, are these people who are very involved with 177 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,640 Speaker 1: their families or was it an array of involvement from 178 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:55,319 Speaker 1: the families. 179 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:58,600 Speaker 2: I mean, almost all of these kids were reported missing 180 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:01,559 Speaker 2: by their families. They weren't weren't runaways, they weren't estranged 181 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:05,360 Speaker 2: by their from their families. The police tried to characterize 182 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:08,760 Speaker 2: them as in some way sort of fringe kids who 183 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:11,880 Speaker 2: to excuse the fact that they were all dismissed as runaways. 184 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:14,080 Speaker 2: But when you look at the profiles of the children, 185 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:16,240 Speaker 2: you know, some of them are as young as thirteen. 186 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:19,360 Speaker 2: There are differences, but there are some really big red 187 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:21,440 Speaker 2: flags that today you know, in the era of amber 188 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:25,560 Speaker 2: alerts would have certainly roseen too the level of you know, 189 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:28,360 Speaker 2: this is clearly an abduction. One of the kids, who 190 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:31,640 Speaker 2: was the younger, had packed for a trip with his 191 00:10:31,679 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 2: family that were going to be leaving the next day. 192 00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:36,200 Speaker 2: He and his buddy went to the pool. You know, 193 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:38,600 Speaker 2: they only had basically their swimming suits and towels and 194 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:41,720 Speaker 2: some extra clothes in a bag, and they both disappeared. 195 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:44,840 Speaker 2: This was a you know, a really good church going 196 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:48,440 Speaker 2: kid who went to parochial school. His friend had had 197 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:50,440 Speaker 2: a little bit of problems, but the friend was a 198 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:53,920 Speaker 2: good kid too, you know, kid who teachers liked, was 199 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:56,400 Speaker 2: very close to his mom and brother. And they just 200 00:10:56,440 --> 00:10:59,480 Speaker 2: disappear off the face of the earth. And those parents 201 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:03,200 Speaker 2: hired a private detective. They put up flyers all over 202 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:05,400 Speaker 2: the neighborhood. They made some of the most noise of 203 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:08,800 Speaker 2: any parents. And yet there was no listing of these 204 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:12,880 Speaker 2: boys as kidnap or murder victims. They were just dismissed 205 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:17,240 Speaker 2: as his runaways. There was a pair of brothers who 206 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:21,000 Speaker 2: disappeared together. They were only fifteen and thirteen. Their dad 207 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:26,240 Speaker 2: talked with the police about suspecting that they had been 208 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:30,640 Speaker 2: photographed by a porn ring and gave names to the police, 209 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:34,040 Speaker 2: and the police did not follow up. I mean, it's 210 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:39,920 Speaker 2: kind of shocking. Later on, you have kids who had jobs, girlfriends, cars, 211 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:43,920 Speaker 2: who leave behind their jobs, their girlfriends and their cars, 212 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:48,480 Speaker 2: and the police assume their runaways. Why would a kid 213 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:51,400 Speaker 2: who was eighteen year old year old who was engaged 214 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:54,240 Speaker 2: to be married, who had a good job, leave his 215 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:57,720 Speaker 2: family and not even take his own car and just 216 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:01,400 Speaker 2: disappear a few weeks before high school gra You know, 217 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:05,600 Speaker 2: these things defy it defies logic today that they would 218 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:09,160 Speaker 2: have dismissed all these kids as runaways. And that's kind 219 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:11,200 Speaker 2: of the heartbreaking thing when you see when you read 220 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:14,160 Speaker 2: all these old police files, in the missing persons files, 221 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:19,280 Speaker 2: is so often it was mothers telling these stories. Fathers too, 222 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:22,240 Speaker 2: you know, fathers too are pressing for answers, and they're 223 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:24,440 Speaker 2: just being dismissed as this is going to you know, 224 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:26,199 Speaker 2: this is just a runaway. We have too many of 225 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:28,640 Speaker 2: these cases and the police just don't pull them out 226 00:12:28,679 --> 00:12:31,160 Speaker 2: of the pile. Now, granted, at the time and today too, 227 00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:33,480 Speaker 2: you still do have a lot of kids running away 228 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:35,959 Speaker 2: from home. You have some kids who are estranged from 229 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:38,920 Speaker 2: their families for a lot of reasons, you know, And 230 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 2: that was true in the seventies too. You know, there 231 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:43,680 Speaker 2: were kids who were having fights with their parents over 232 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:47,560 Speaker 2: their length, their hair, or their sexual preferences or who 233 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,640 Speaker 2: they were dating. And that was true too. But there 234 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:53,600 Speaker 2: were certainly a huge number of red flags that were 235 00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:56,559 Speaker 2: raised by the parents in these cases. And that's kind 236 00:12:56,559 --> 00:12:59,400 Speaker 2: of what's heartbreaking about the fact that the murders are 237 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:02,840 Speaker 2: not discovered and tell really what I reveal, at least 238 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:06,400 Speaker 2: thirty to thirty five boys had been killed at the time. 239 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:11,240 Speaker 2: The official count was twenty seven, but doctor Derek has 240 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:12,600 Speaker 2: proven that there were more. 241 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:17,599 Speaker 1: Did you address in the book about the connection with 242 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 1: John Wayne Gacy and that part of the porn ring? 243 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:22,480 Speaker 1: Is that something that you go into. 244 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:26,800 Speaker 2: John Wayne Gaysey. There was a documentary called The Clown 245 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:30,680 Speaker 2: and the Candy Man which explores the connections potential connections 246 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:35,400 Speaker 2: between Gaysey and Dean Coral. There were some coincidences and 247 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:39,760 Speaker 2: some potential connections there. But I am connecting Dean Coral 248 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:45,000 Speaker 2: to another person who was a pornographer in Houston, who 249 00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:49,439 Speaker 2: was prosecuted in federal court, who had in his possession 250 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:53,280 Speaker 2: the photos of eleven of his victims, and who was 251 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:56,079 Speaker 2: connected to other men who stayed in Houston and who 252 00:13:56,120 --> 00:14:01,080 Speaker 2: continued to exploit other teens after these were discovered, and 253 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 2: who were never openly questioned by police according to files 254 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:08,319 Speaker 2: I've found, or were prosecuted as either accomplices or potential 255 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:12,360 Speaker 2: accomplices to these murders, even though they were clearly involved 256 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:15,960 Speaker 2: in exploiting these same boys at least eleven of the 257 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:18,920 Speaker 2: boys about a third of the victims. The Clown and 258 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:22,320 Speaker 2: the Candyman documentary does explore the idea that there might 259 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 2: be links between Dean Coral and John Wayne Gacy, who 260 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:29,520 Speaker 2: were both linked to different ornography rings. I have not 261 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:32,360 Speaker 2: been able to confirm that there's a direct link between 262 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:34,200 Speaker 2: the two of them, but there certainly is a link 263 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:36,840 Speaker 2: between what Dean Coral was doing in a pornography ring. 264 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 1: If police had been paying attention and believes that they 265 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:44,280 Speaker 1: were not just runaways, as these boys are disappearing over time, 266 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:48,640 Speaker 1: what have it been difficult for the police to connect 267 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:53,320 Speaker 1: these boys to Dean Coral Or was he planning this 268 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:57,320 Speaker 1: so well that even if they were looking for something, 269 00:14:57,360 --> 00:14:59,720 Speaker 1: it would be hard because nobody saw them with him? 270 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:02,360 Speaker 1: Or whatever The case might be, would they have been 271 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:05,040 Speaker 1: able to make the connection and save lives much sooner? 272 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:09,720 Speaker 2: You know, we're not talking about a modern homicide detective unit, 273 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:13,000 Speaker 2: of course. However, I think you know, looking back, you 274 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:16,239 Speaker 2: know clearly if you look at the list of victims, 275 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:21,000 Speaker 2: the known murder starts in nineteen seventy and the first 276 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,480 Speaker 2: victim was snatched off the street. It was hitchhiking, So 277 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:26,720 Speaker 2: I don't think they could have connected Dean Coral to him. 278 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:31,440 Speaker 2: But the second and third victims, Danny Yates and Jimmy Glass. 279 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:35,640 Speaker 2: Janny Yates brother told me that he could have identified 280 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:39,440 Speaker 2: Dean Coral, and that his brother and he had met 281 00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:44,080 Speaker 2: Coral when they were walking with James Glass after failing 282 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:47,680 Speaker 2: to get into a drive in Cinema. They're picked up 283 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 2: by Dean Coral and taken around until the elder brother said, 284 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:54,720 Speaker 2: you know, you got to let us out. But after 285 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:57,080 Speaker 2: that incident, it was a short time after that that 286 00:15:57,160 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 2: the other two boys who were taken by Coral and 287 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:04,760 Speaker 2: there both disappear. Now that little brother, that boy, who 288 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:07,360 Speaker 2: would have been fifteen at the time, said I could 289 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:10,040 Speaker 2: have told them who that was. I would have told 290 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:14,240 Speaker 2: them that my brother and James Glass had his phone number, 291 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:18,200 Speaker 2: I could have given them a description. Nobody ever asked me, 292 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:20,240 Speaker 2: nobody were listened to me. And that's part of what 293 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 2: is the tragedy of this book is when you look 294 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:27,600 Speaker 2: at the stories of the boys and their friends, which 295 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:31,440 Speaker 2: I try to reconstruct really by interviewing their best friends 296 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:33,440 Speaker 2: at the time. Because so many people have carried these 297 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:37,000 Speaker 2: stories of these losses for so many years, you see 298 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:39,600 Speaker 2: that if the police had been able to talk to 299 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:42,280 Speaker 2: more of these teens and got more information, there would 300 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:44,200 Speaker 2: have been things that would have led them to Dean Coral. 301 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:47,040 Speaker 2: You know, later on Victims, he took the two boys 302 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:50,360 Speaker 2: who were washing to the swimming pool. Mally Winkle had 303 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:54,920 Speaker 2: worked for Dean Coral at his candy shop. His friend 304 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:57,720 Speaker 2: David had gone there to the candy shop. You know, 305 00:16:57,760 --> 00:17:00,400 Speaker 2: there were other kids who were directly connected to the 306 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:03,640 Speaker 2: candy shop who disappeared from the same neighborhood or from 307 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:07,239 Speaker 2: other neighborhoods around the heights. So if you know, if 308 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:10,640 Speaker 2: they had done some sort of sophisticated analysis, I think 309 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:13,359 Speaker 2: they could have they could have seen these connections to 310 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:17,600 Speaker 2: Dean Coral. But as you say, the parents of you know, 311 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:21,080 Speaker 2: Mally's mom did not suspect Dean Coral. She thought he 312 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:22,919 Speaker 2: was a good guy. She thought he was kind of 313 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:26,399 Speaker 2: a big brother type looking out for her kid. Later on, 314 00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:30,399 Speaker 2: he killed Billy Balch, who was a kid whose parents 315 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:34,600 Speaker 2: also trusted Dean Coral, who Billy had delivered candy for 316 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:38,520 Speaker 2: Coral at his shop. And Billy and his brother were 317 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:42,439 Speaker 2: both killed by Dean Coral in separate abductions. But his 318 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:46,199 Speaker 2: parents went to them, went to Dean and said, you know, 319 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:49,440 Speaker 2: are boys missing. Can you help us? Because they thought 320 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:52,480 Speaker 2: Dean would be somebody who could help ask questions. And 321 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:54,800 Speaker 2: of course, you know, Deane says, I know nothing about it, 322 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:58,639 Speaker 2: so it would it might have been difficult to solve. However, 323 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:01,600 Speaker 2: you know, I show in the that the leadership at 324 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:04,960 Speaker 2: the police department at the time were very dismissive of 325 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 2: these young boys missing persons and of their parents and 326 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:12,160 Speaker 2: also you know, tried to say, oh wait, there wasn't 327 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:14,439 Speaker 2: anything that would have connected them, even though there was 328 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:17,439 Speaker 2: at the time a map published in the Houston Chronicle 329 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:20,119 Speaker 2: in the Houston Post that showed how a number of 330 00:18:20,119 --> 00:18:23,560 Speaker 2: these victims actually lived just a couple of blocks from 331 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:26,520 Speaker 2: one of the known accomplices. Because Coral. The murders are 332 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:30,520 Speaker 2: discovered because a teenager named Elmer Wayne Henley kills Dean 333 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:33,440 Speaker 2: Coral when Coral is killing yet trying to kill yet 334 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:36,920 Speaker 2: another couple of his friends. He's already seen a whole 335 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:39,199 Speaker 2: bunch of his other friends murdered by Dean Coral, and 336 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:42,640 Speaker 2: he's done nothing to help them. But he decides enough enough, 337 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:44,560 Speaker 2: and he picks up a gun and sheets and kills 338 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:48,360 Speaker 2: Dean Coral. At that point, you know, the police don't 339 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:51,520 Speaker 2: have too much trouble finding the other victims missing persons 340 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:54,160 Speaker 2: in the case files because so many of them were 341 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:57,800 Speaker 2: Elmer Wayne Henley's classmates, went to the same junior high school, 342 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:01,240 Speaker 2: so many of them lived within or three blocks of 343 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:04,800 Speaker 2: Elma Wayne Henley, and so, you know, after the fact, 344 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 2: the police acknowledged, you know, at least the detectives acknowledged 345 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:10,080 Speaker 2: that there were there were things that would have led 346 00:19:10,119 --> 00:19:13,360 Speaker 2: them to the connections if they looked at the time, 347 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:16,080 Speaker 2: though you know, there wasn't There weren't abe alerts, There 348 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:20,120 Speaker 2: weren't you know, awareness of sexual predators. There weren't computers 349 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:24,680 Speaker 2: to sort of analyze the locations of these kinds of disappearances. 350 00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:27,359 Speaker 1: People were hitchhiking. I mean, hitchhiking was a normal thing 351 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:29,920 Speaker 1: during this time period too, So clearly it's a much 352 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:33,760 Speaker 1: less vigilant time period than we're in right now, particularly 353 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:34,280 Speaker 1: with kids. 354 00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:37,879 Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely people were hitchhiking, but people also really felt 355 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:42,440 Speaker 2: a lot more safe about just walking or riding their 356 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:44,720 Speaker 2: bike to friends' houses. You know, a lot of these 357 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:47,320 Speaker 2: kids were taken during the day. It was just a 358 00:19:47,359 --> 00:19:49,960 Speaker 2: different time, So I try to convey that too. I 359 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:53,320 Speaker 2: don't think these parents were negligent. I don't think, you know, 360 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:55,199 Speaker 2: like I think at the time the police tried to 361 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:58,720 Speaker 2: claim that they were. But nearly all of these kids, 362 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:02,000 Speaker 2: with the exception of I think on, was immediately reported 363 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:06,800 Speaker 2: missing by their parents, and there were details provided in 364 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:10,199 Speaker 2: the case where the boy wasn't reported missing. He was 365 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:13,040 Speaker 2: a little older than the other victims, and like some 366 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:17,119 Speaker 2: of the other victims, his name was Roy Bunton. He 367 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:20,400 Speaker 2: had kind of fought with his mom about the length 368 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:22,680 Speaker 2: of his hair. He was nineteen, He had a job, 369 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:25,560 Speaker 2: and so his family did think that he had just 370 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:27,639 Speaker 2: left home and that he had gone off to start 371 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:31,040 Speaker 2: his own life somewhere else because there had been conflicts 372 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:33,159 Speaker 2: and you got to remember too, of course, and I 373 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:35,600 Speaker 2: try to paint this world for everyone. You know, this 374 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:38,840 Speaker 2: clearly wasn't the connected world we have today where everyone 375 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:41,800 Speaker 2: has cell phones a geolocation. You know, people had their 376 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:45,679 Speaker 2: home phones and sometimes the home phones got disconnected. You know, 377 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:49,760 Speaker 2: people moved. Some of these families used payphones or neighbors' 378 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:53,479 Speaker 2: phones to call the police to make the reports. Clearly, 379 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:55,720 Speaker 2: you know when a kid went missing. In the case 380 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:58,120 Speaker 2: of one of these kids, that is the first kid 381 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:01,960 Speaker 2: that Sharon identifies, Randy Hart, Randy was riding his bike 382 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:05,240 Speaker 2: to his job at a gas station. Randy doesn't come 383 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:07,960 Speaker 2: home the first night that his mob doesn't worry right 384 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:11,919 Speaker 2: away because she thinks maybe Randy decided to stay the 385 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:14,280 Speaker 2: night with one of his friends. Sometimes he did that. 386 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:16,960 Speaker 2: It wasn't as easy to call home. They didn't have 387 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:19,200 Speaker 2: a home phone, so she didn't worry till the next 388 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:22,760 Speaker 2: day when he didn't come home. But that was understandable 389 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:24,639 Speaker 2: at the time. It was just a lot harder to 390 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:26,240 Speaker 2: get in touch and stay in touch. 391 00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:29,960 Speaker 1: Tell me a little bit about the accomplices, which I mean, 392 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:33,760 Speaker 1: it's incredible that he had one, let alone two young men. 393 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:35,919 Speaker 1: One I think you know, we've had an author on 394 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:40,320 Speaker 1: here talking about her extensive interviews with Elmer Wayne Henley, 395 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:43,399 Speaker 1: who was supposed to be a victim it sounded like, 396 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:46,359 Speaker 1: and then turns out to be somebody who was forced 397 00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:49,520 Speaker 1: to work with Dean Coral. Tell me about the dynamic 398 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:53,680 Speaker 1: between Coral and these two young men who were involved here, 399 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:57,440 Speaker 1: and ultimately, you know, Henley ends up shooting and killing Coral. 400 00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:01,520 Speaker 2: So Coral has a county shop, like I said, in 401 00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:03,800 Speaker 2: the heights, near an elementary school. And one of the 402 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:06,640 Speaker 2: kids who goes to a shop's name is David Brooks. 403 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:10,160 Speaker 2: And David Brooks parents had a messy divorce. His mom 404 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:12,920 Speaker 2: moved to Beaumont. She was a nurse. He tried living 405 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:14,479 Speaker 2: with his mom for a while. They didn't get along. 406 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:17,720 Speaker 2: He moved back with his dad, who had another wife 407 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:20,880 Speaker 2: and other children from another mother. He didn't get along 408 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:23,760 Speaker 2: very well with his dad, so he started hanging out 409 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:26,880 Speaker 2: more and more with Dean Coral. Coral does what we 410 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:32,040 Speaker 2: now would call grooming. He pays David to accept blowjobs, 411 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:35,640 Speaker 2: you know, and David, as a young kid, sort of thinks, well, 412 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:38,479 Speaker 2: this is an easy way to make money. Over time, 413 00:22:39,119 --> 00:22:44,240 Speaker 2: David Brooks becomes aware that Dean Coral is snatching and 414 00:22:44,359 --> 00:22:47,680 Speaker 2: killing other kids, and he doesn't do anything about it. 415 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:51,520 Speaker 2: At that point, Coral is sort of his surrogate father. 416 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:56,720 Speaker 2: He's basically living with Coral. He becomes involved in inviting 417 00:22:56,800 --> 00:23:00,680 Speaker 2: kids to quote party at Coral's place. Corals Squirrel really 418 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:04,439 Speaker 2: doesn't drink himself, but he always has alcoholic drugs a 419 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:07,520 Speaker 2: plenty for kids in the neighborhood. You know, in the 420 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:09,520 Speaker 2: old days, he would have candy it his candy shop. 421 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:12,440 Speaker 2: He would offer to take kids to the beach or fishing, 422 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:16,280 Speaker 2: and the parties were part of that lure. David becomes 423 00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:19,239 Speaker 2: somebody who invites people to parties. So David invites his 424 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,560 Speaker 2: friend Elma Wayne Henley to one of those parties. And 425 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:25,080 Speaker 2: Henley's version is that he thinks the first time he 426 00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:29,919 Speaker 2: was supposed to be a victim. But in Henley, Coral 427 00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:33,720 Speaker 2: finds someone who's even more willing than David Brooks to 428 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:39,520 Speaker 2: invite people he knows David prior to bringing Henley to 429 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:42,520 Speaker 2: Coral's house, and you know, of course, there were a 430 00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:45,040 Speaker 2: lot of kids who partied with Coral who were never killed. 431 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:49,560 Speaker 2: Henley starts inviting people he knows even more than Brooks. 432 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:51,600 Speaker 2: I think Brooks from the get go, is a little 433 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:54,720 Speaker 2: worried that if he invites friends of his or people 434 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:58,320 Speaker 2: he knows directly, you know, that could be traced back 435 00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:02,200 Speaker 2: to him. But Henley seems to be have no compunction about, 436 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:06,680 Speaker 2: you know, inviting his neighbors Mally Winkle and David Hill. 437 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:08,840 Speaker 2: The guys do we talked to the two boys who 438 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:11,960 Speaker 2: were wearing their swimming suits. He claims he didn't know 439 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,159 Speaker 2: about that. But anyway, by the time he's involved, his 440 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:18,040 Speaker 2: friends have already been killed by Dean Coral, and he 441 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:21,800 Speaker 2: gets involved in in inviting people he does know well 442 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:26,159 Speaker 2: to party with Coral, including Franka Gary, and after Franka 443 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:29,760 Speaker 2: Gary is tortured and killed, Elmer Wayne Henley becomes the 444 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:33,960 Speaker 2: boyfriend of Frank's girlfriend and then and then Elmer Wayne 445 00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:38,080 Speaker 2: Henley brings in another neighbor of his, Mark Scott. He's there. 446 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:41,200 Speaker 2: He's part of it, either in the body disposal crew 447 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:43,879 Speaker 2: or the recruitment clew and two other boys from his 448 00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:46,879 Speaker 2: neighborhood who went to school with our broad end. The 449 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:50,800 Speaker 2: murders accelerate when Henley comes aboard and how Antley tells 450 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:55,040 Speaker 2: Sharon uh doctor Derek he came to enjoy killing it 451 00:24:55,040 --> 00:24:59,880 Speaker 2: became something he liked. David Brooks was never as fourth 452 00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:02,920 Speaker 2: in interviews as Henley was. Henley sort of enjoyed doing 453 00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:06,919 Speaker 2: a lot of interviews. Lately, the Texas prison system has 454 00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:09,679 Speaker 2: cut down those interviews. He's not allowed to talk to 455 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:12,399 Speaker 2: the press anymore, but for years he took some pleasure 456 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:14,800 Speaker 2: in it. Maybe that was his way of compensating, or maybe, 457 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:17,160 Speaker 2: you know, helping to identify the victims was his way 458 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:21,159 Speaker 2: of coping. I don't know, but there's no question that 459 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:23,639 Speaker 2: there were a lot of people. The number of murders 460 00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:26,680 Speaker 2: accelerated after Elmer Wayne Henley became involved. But we also 461 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:29,440 Speaker 2: know more about who was killed because Elmer Wayne Henley 462 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:33,080 Speaker 2: cooperated with police and provided information about the names of 463 00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:33,720 Speaker 2: the victims. 464 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:39,160 Speaker 1: Why do you think that Dean Coral is not as 465 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:43,160 Speaker 1: well known as John Wayne Gacy? First I thought homophobia, 466 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:45,879 Speaker 1: but that would not be the case. Is it the 467 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:51,920 Speaker 1: vision of boys being buried in Gaysey's house yard wherever 468 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:54,440 Speaker 1: it was, versus Dean Coral who had kind of taken 469 00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 1: them off site, or what do you think that that is? 470 00:25:58,359 --> 00:26:02,120 Speaker 1: Where there's this war around John Wayne Gacy, but really 471 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:05,399 Speaker 1: not around Dean Coral. At least the people that I 472 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:07,639 Speaker 1: know outside of the state of Texas were not that 473 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:08,840 Speaker 1: familiar with this case. 474 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:13,360 Speaker 2: I think it's because Dean Coral was killed in nineteen 475 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:16,720 Speaker 2: seventy three. He didn't have three decades to develop a 476 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:20,240 Speaker 2: following as a serial killer, you know, he didn't. In fact, 477 00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:23,400 Speaker 2: there's an episode in the book where I talk about 478 00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:27,480 Speaker 2: how a prosecutor at Elmer Wayne Henley's retrial because Elmer 479 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:29,280 Speaker 2: Wyne Henley did it get a lot of publicity at 480 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:31,760 Speaker 2: the time. But he wasn't the main killer. He wasn't 481 00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:33,720 Speaker 2: the guy who did all of these murders. You know, 482 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:37,240 Speaker 2: he was connected to maybe half, but he wasn't this 483 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:40,240 Speaker 2: main killer. He wasn't the instigator of everything. He was 484 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:43,399 Speaker 2: a henchman, you know, or a victim, depending on how 485 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:45,440 Speaker 2: you want to look at things. Dean Coral is dead. 486 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:48,960 Speaker 2: He never can tell his life story. His family doesn't 487 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,480 Speaker 2: tell his life story. They don't go after the accomplices, 488 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:55,080 Speaker 2: so that doesn't come out. Only some of the murders 489 00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:58,320 Speaker 2: are discussed at a trial. There's only six or seven 490 00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:01,639 Speaker 2: of the cases that are discussed. Trials are held in 491 00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:05,639 Speaker 2: the early seventies and the appeals are you know, quickly 492 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:08,919 Speaker 2: dispatched that no one was sentenced to death. You know, 493 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:12,360 Speaker 2: Gaysey was sentenced to death, and the death penalty generates 494 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:16,080 Speaker 2: more attention. You know, Elma, Wayne Henley is serving life 495 00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:19,320 Speaker 2: sentences and David Brooks never gave any interviews and died 496 00:27:19,359 --> 00:27:23,320 Speaker 2: of COVID. So there are reasons that And I would 497 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:26,160 Speaker 2: argue that some of these secrets that I'm revealing right 498 00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 2: now in this book are things that people just didn't 499 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:32,800 Speaker 2: know about the case. That the reasons why it still 500 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:35,879 Speaker 2: was important, why in some ways Dean Coral should be 501 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:39,000 Speaker 2: even more famous than John Wayne Gacy because there were 502 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:42,120 Speaker 2: all these other things going on around his murders. During 503 00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:45,120 Speaker 2: Ellmerwayne Henley's retrial, as I said, for a while, Emma, 504 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:47,760 Speaker 2: Wayne Henley was just sucking up the publicity and really 505 00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:51,680 Speaker 2: excited about maybe being a movie during the retrial because 506 00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:54,800 Speaker 2: his first convictions were overturned because there was some there 507 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:57,399 Speaker 2: was a lot of communication between the press and the 508 00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:00,560 Speaker 2: members of the jury, and so I judge Grantedwayne Henley 509 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:03,280 Speaker 2: retroll and corpus Christie and they have it at this 510 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:06,480 Speaker 2: courthouse that in the seventies was very modern. It looked 511 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:11,160 Speaker 2: like a Jetsons movie set. Fear to do live action jetsons, 512 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:14,640 Speaker 2: you would set it at the Corpus Christie Courthouse. But anyway, 513 00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:18,600 Speaker 2: there's this weird scene where Henley during the trial, passes 514 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:22,080 Speaker 2: the prosecutor on the way to the bathroom and he 515 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:25,360 Speaker 2: says to the prosecutor, you know, he's kind of upset 516 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:29,159 Speaker 2: about the fact that Gasey has broken his record for 517 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:31,320 Speaker 2: the number of victims because at the time, you know, 518 00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:35,879 Speaker 2: in the modern era of homicide investigations, Dean Coral was considered, 519 00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:38,040 Speaker 2: you know, the number one killer in terms of the 520 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:41,480 Speaker 2: number of victims. And so Henley says, you know, this 521 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:44,400 Speaker 2: bothers me that Gasey, you know, is now being creudits 522 00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:47,040 Speaker 2: having more victims. If you give me a deal in 523 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:49,960 Speaker 2: this case, I'll tell you where some more bodies are. 524 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:52,760 Speaker 2: So there's this sense of, you know, he did want 525 00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:56,080 Speaker 2: to be infamous. Yeah, but you know the killing of 526 00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:59,320 Speaker 2: Kral made the tension and the interest in Coral of 527 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:02,400 Speaker 2: short drays. You know, his story is sort of lost 528 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:03,600 Speaker 2: when his life ends. 529 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:06,560 Speaker 1: Did the prosecutor take him up on that? I guess 530 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:12,120 Speaker 1: Shorthand what happens after there's this confrontation with Henley and Coral. 531 00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:15,640 Speaker 1: Coral ends up dead. My memory is that Henley was 532 00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:18,240 Speaker 1: the one who, you know, was able to tell them 533 00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:20,600 Speaker 1: about the boat house where a lot of the bodies were. 534 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 1: And then I can't remember did he turn in David 535 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:27,080 Speaker 1: Brooks or did David Brooks realize something was happening and 536 00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:29,200 Speaker 1: he spoke to the police first. 537 00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:32,320 Speaker 2: So you're right, you know, Elder Wayne Henley kills Coral 538 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:34,800 Speaker 2: when cREL tries to kill two more of his friends, 539 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:38,680 Speaker 2: finally cracks. They called the police, and then he decides 540 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:41,120 Speaker 2: he tells the police. He doesn't tell them that he 541 00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:43,440 Speaker 2: helped korl kill people, but he tells police that he 542 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:46,200 Speaker 2: knows where Coral kept a lot of other bodies. I mean, 543 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:50,880 Speaker 2: he leads the Pasadena police to this boat shed that 544 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:54,360 Speaker 2: Coral had rented in Houston, and it's every bit as 545 00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:57,480 Speaker 2: grizzly as the Gaycy murger scene. You know, there's awful, 546 00:29:57,520 --> 00:30:01,760 Speaker 2: a huge excavation that last for two days and they 547 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:05,040 Speaker 2: on earth what they think are fifteen bodies, but there's 548 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:08,240 Speaker 2: even more there. Later they find extra bones and they realize, 549 00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:10,280 Speaker 2: you know, the medical examagers at the time realized they 550 00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:13,480 Speaker 2: probably left some behind. And that's part of the revelations 551 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:15,520 Speaker 2: of the book what was really in that boatshed? And 552 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:19,040 Speaker 2: then David Brooks separately, when he's starting to hear about 553 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:22,800 Speaker 2: what's happening at the boatshed, he goes to Houston Police 554 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:25,640 Speaker 2: and offers to give a statement, and he gives a statement, 555 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:29,520 Speaker 2: and then eventually he and Elmr Wayne Henley, not eventually 556 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:33,400 Speaker 2: but very quickly go and lead police to two other locations. 557 00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:36,280 Speaker 2: Actually Henley does shows them a couple more bodies in 558 00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:39,040 Speaker 2: a woods in an area near Coral's family had a 559 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:43,719 Speaker 2: fishing cabinet in East Texas. And then Brooks and Henley 560 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:47,800 Speaker 2: together help the police search this big beach on the 561 00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:51,120 Speaker 2: Gulf of Mexico where they find more graves. So Brooks 562 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:54,920 Speaker 2: is assisting as well. Brooks, though was never as forthcoming 563 00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:58,480 Speaker 2: about his involvement in the murders to his death, he 564 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:01,600 Speaker 2: claimed that he was more accessory after the fact that 565 00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:04,960 Speaker 2: he was coerce, that he was controlled by this man 566 00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:06,680 Speaker 2: who was so much older than him and had so 567 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:09,840 Speaker 2: much impact on his life. Now, I think you know, 568 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:13,680 Speaker 2: Brooks was obviously an accomplice as guilty as Henley was 569 00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:16,480 Speaker 2: in many ways, but Henley was more forthcoming about his 570 00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:19,560 Speaker 2: involvement and what he did, and his active involvement in 571 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:20,240 Speaker 2: killing people. 572 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:23,600 Speaker 1: He knew we're in Texas. Why was this not a 573 00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:26,960 Speaker 1: death penalty case? I mean, not taking politics out of this, 574 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:30,080 Speaker 1: I'm surprised that either of these men were not put 575 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:32,479 Speaker 1: on death row or am I wrong about that? 576 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:36,320 Speaker 2: If you remember in the seventies that death penalty was overturned, 577 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:38,959 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, by the Supreme Court for a period, and 578 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:42,479 Speaker 2: these murders occurred during the period when the penalty had 579 00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:47,120 Speaker 2: been overturned. The Texas legislature was putting in a new 580 00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:51,400 Speaker 2: death penalty statute that would pass muster and not be discriminatory. 581 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:54,080 Speaker 2: That death penalty was overturned because so many more people 582 00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:57,280 Speaker 2: of color were being put to death, particularly in the South. 583 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:02,200 Speaker 2: They passed a statute that the prosecutor at the time 584 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:05,480 Speaker 2: determined could not be applied to this case. That the case, 585 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:08,240 Speaker 2: the period of time, and the wording the statute made 586 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:13,320 Speaker 2: it impossible for Harris County, which was is still one 587 00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:16,120 Speaker 2: of the counties that most often sought the death penalty. 588 00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:20,400 Speaker 2: They felt it was impossible for them to prosecute either 589 00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:25,360 Speaker 2: of these teenagers for capital murder with the penalty of death. Yeah, okay, 590 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:29,160 Speaker 2: so it's kind of a fluke procedural blip in the 591 00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:33,000 Speaker 2: history books that these two boys are exempt from the 592 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:36,000 Speaker 2: death penalty. Now, today they would not have been prosecuted either, 593 00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:40,560 Speaker 2: because the death penalties not applied to juveniles. But in 594 00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:43,880 Speaker 2: the seventies, it certainly was, in the eighties, it certainly 595 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:45,640 Speaker 2: was in the nineties, it certainly was. 596 00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:48,600 Speaker 1: Let me kind of switch over to the end of 597 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:52,480 Speaker 1: that story and the beginning of doctor Derek's story. So 598 00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:55,840 Speaker 1: they both are given life in prison, both them, both 599 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:57,000 Speaker 1: of these young men. Is that right? 600 00:32:57,160 --> 00:32:57,600 Speaker 2: That's right? 601 00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:00,720 Speaker 1: And you said Brooks died of COVID, but Henley is 602 00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:02,000 Speaker 1: still alive. Is that right? 603 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:03,479 Speaker 2: Yes, he is still alive. 604 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:08,000 Speaker 1: So now that we think case closed. And then you've 605 00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:11,360 Speaker 1: described the scene where tell me the year again, where 606 00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:14,960 Speaker 1: doctor Derek sees these this box of bones and kind 607 00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:17,960 Speaker 1: of reopens this case. How does that story start? 608 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:20,520 Speaker 2: Well, so it's in the early two thousands when she 609 00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:24,520 Speaker 2: gets this job at the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office, 610 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:29,000 Speaker 2: and she's thrilled because she has just become a forensic anthropologist, 611 00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:32,880 Speaker 2: and she's really she knows that the Harris County Medical 612 00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:37,160 Speaker 2: Examiner's Office has this backlog of three hundred to four 613 00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:40,600 Speaker 2: hundred unidentified people. She knows about that because she's been 614 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:45,200 Speaker 2: in Harris County working with the health department doing analysis 615 00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:48,720 Speaker 2: of murderers and deaths of young children and trying to 616 00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:52,560 Speaker 2: do preventive work. And then she talks the me who 617 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:55,720 Speaker 2: she knows from other work into trying to assign her 618 00:33:55,760 --> 00:33:59,600 Speaker 2: as an anthropologist, and somebody is working to develop more 619 00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:03,760 Speaker 2: of us secialten forensic anthropology to work on those cases, 620 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:06,560 Speaker 2: because she knows that A, there are murders that are 621 00:34:06,600 --> 00:34:09,879 Speaker 2: not being solved because of all that backlog of unidentified. 622 00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:14,120 Speaker 2: B that there are families out there who still need answers. 623 00:34:15,120 --> 00:34:18,160 Speaker 2: And see, she knows that the technology has evolved, you know, 624 00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:20,040 Speaker 2: and that so that so many of these cases are 625 00:34:20,040 --> 00:34:24,560 Speaker 2: from the seventies, the eighties, the nineties when DNA wasn't available, 626 00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:27,720 Speaker 2: and so since you know, the late eighties, early nineties, 627 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:31,680 Speaker 2: DNA becomes a tool for identifications. Of the seventies, the 628 00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:35,640 Speaker 2: main tools they had really were teeth, you know, dental work. 629 00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:37,520 Speaker 2: Did the kids go to a dentist or not. If 630 00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:39,839 Speaker 2: they didn't, boy, it could be really hard for them 631 00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:42,120 Speaker 2: to be identified. If they broke a bone, an next 632 00:34:42,200 --> 00:34:44,760 Speaker 2: ray it might help. But with the kind of remains 633 00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:46,640 Speaker 2: that were found in this case, you know, which were 634 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:51,120 Speaker 2: pretty seriously decomposed remains. Even though there were some kids 635 00:34:51,160 --> 00:34:53,400 Speaker 2: who had been killed the same summer that the bodies 636 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:55,719 Speaker 2: were found, most of these kids had been dead for 637 00:34:55,760 --> 00:34:59,000 Speaker 2: as long as two three years and they were only bones. 638 00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:02,840 Speaker 2: So knows as a forensic anthropologist, you know, when she 639 00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:05,440 Speaker 2: finds these boxes of bones, it's part of this greater 640 00:35:06,239 --> 00:35:08,680 Speaker 2: work that she's tried to take on of, you know, 641 00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:13,200 Speaker 2: looking at this backlog of unsolved dead people. But when 642 00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:15,440 Speaker 2: she sees those boxes, she has a lot of hope 643 00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:17,799 Speaker 2: that she can apply tools that weren't available in the 644 00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:20,560 Speaker 2: seventies to help solve these cases. And that turns out 645 00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:21,200 Speaker 2: to be true. 646 00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,040 Speaker 1: That's incredible, And you know, I told you at the 647 00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:28,120 Speaker 1: beginning of this I'm so fascinated with forensic anthropology. For 648 00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:31,279 Speaker 1: one of my first shows, I went to the what 649 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:33,239 Speaker 1: I hate the phrase, the body farm, you know, at 650 00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:35,719 Speaker 1: Texas State University and met with the head of the 651 00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:36,880 Speaker 1: program there, Daniel. 652 00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:37,960 Speaker 2: He's an incredible guy. 653 00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:41,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, he's so kind and you know, it 654 00:35:41,719 --> 00:35:44,560 Speaker 1: was not easy walking around in the field. He took 655 00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:47,120 Speaker 1: me out into the field to show, you know, where 656 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:49,480 Speaker 1: the bodies go and the kind of research they do. 657 00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:51,239 Speaker 1: And I think when I was out there, they were 658 00:35:51,239 --> 00:35:54,240 Speaker 1: maybe building a mock house and setting it on fire 659 00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:56,920 Speaker 1: for the FBI or somebody to kind of show the 660 00:35:56,920 --> 00:35:59,680 Speaker 1: way that you know, bodies burn so that they can 661 00:35:59,719 --> 00:36:03,879 Speaker 1: solve cases. I asked Daniel to please give me the 662 00:36:03,920 --> 00:36:07,440 Speaker 1: boundaries between when does the work of a medical examiner 663 00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:12,200 Speaker 1: pathologist end and when does the work of an anthropologist begin. 664 00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:15,040 Speaker 1: How do you know who to call in for what case? 665 00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:15,400 Speaker 2: Is it? 666 00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:18,800 Speaker 1: Once they're at the bone level that that's where you 667 00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:20,320 Speaker 1: would bring in an anthropologist. 668 00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:24,120 Speaker 2: That's a good question. I mean, pathologists do the autopsies. 669 00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:27,800 Speaker 2: They're the physicians, and they you know, do the plected, 670 00:36:28,040 --> 00:36:31,000 Speaker 2: did the data, you know, they analyzed the work ins, 671 00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:34,359 Speaker 2: They order the tests of say, you know, to see 672 00:36:34,400 --> 00:36:38,400 Speaker 2: if someone is had consumed drugs or not, you know, 673 00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:41,560 Speaker 2: and they make the determination of manner and cause of death. 674 00:36:41,920 --> 00:36:43,839 Speaker 2: You know, was this a murder victim, was this an 675 00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:48,280 Speaker 2: accidental death, Was this a natural death? Or was this unknown? 676 00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:52,480 Speaker 2: You know, they do that their work often contributes to identifications. 677 00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:56,279 Speaker 2: Always in the bigger cities, there were people called investigators 678 00:36:56,320 --> 00:36:59,640 Speaker 2: who were sort of more like detectives. And my book 679 00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:02,880 Speaker 2: has a really, i think an interesting story of a 680 00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:05,200 Speaker 2: young woman who started out as a secretary because that 681 00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:07,480 Speaker 2: was what they used to hire women as in the seventies, 682 00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:10,960 Speaker 2: but who was an aspiring investigator and becomes eventually the 683 00:37:11,040 --> 00:37:14,440 Speaker 2: chief investigator, who helped dig up clues on these cases, 684 00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:18,040 Speaker 2: who helped try to find the dental records. And at 685 00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:21,000 Speaker 2: the time, even in the seventies, the Harris County office 686 00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:24,040 Speaker 2: had at guiding Joe j. Hempstek, who was a really 687 00:37:24,239 --> 00:37:28,080 Speaker 2: kind of famous medical examiner and the time, who was 688 00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:32,480 Speaker 2: pretty cutting edge because he had a forensic dentist helping him, 689 00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:36,120 Speaker 2: who was doing sort of what you think of anthropologists 690 00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:39,960 Speaker 2: doing today, looking at the tee, looking at bones. They 691 00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:43,440 Speaker 2: were doing some of that. So flash forward and you're right, 692 00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:48,400 Speaker 2: there's this movement among anthropologists who start who are initially 693 00:37:48,640 --> 00:37:52,560 Speaker 2: who are studying bones from prehistory and history in the 694 00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:55,960 Speaker 2: Smithsonian other places, and the FBI starts to ask them 695 00:37:56,000 --> 00:38:00,280 Speaker 2: to consult in these more difficult cases involving bones bones 696 00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:04,200 Speaker 2: only because pathologists have trouble with those cases that often 697 00:38:04,239 --> 00:38:07,400 Speaker 2: those are considered, you know, just impossible to solve, and 698 00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:11,560 Speaker 2: these forensic anthropologists develop out of the bigger group of anthropologists, 699 00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:13,600 Speaker 2: and they start to develop, like you said, the research 700 00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:17,600 Speaker 2: at places like the original body Farm, which is in Tennessee, 701 00:38:17,680 --> 00:38:20,719 Speaker 2: and then places like the Body Ranch which you're describing 702 00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:23,360 Speaker 2: in San Marcos, Texas and other places where they collect 703 00:38:23,760 --> 00:38:27,480 Speaker 2: a lot of data on how people decompose, how body. 704 00:38:27,560 --> 00:38:31,080 Speaker 2: They study things. These forensic anthropologists study things like the 705 00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:35,319 Speaker 2: rate of decomposition in different situations, like if they're in 706 00:38:35,360 --> 00:38:38,280 Speaker 2: a burning house, or if they're in a car buried 707 00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:42,319 Speaker 2: or not buried, what predators might do, so that they 708 00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:49,520 Speaker 2: collect scientific data on decomposition on bones that allows for identifications, 709 00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:53,319 Speaker 2: allows for clues to be gained from the analysis of 710 00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:56,640 Speaker 2: bodies that mees, especially in the seventies, would never have 711 00:38:56,719 --> 00:38:59,160 Speaker 2: been able to gather on their own, you know. Like 712 00:38:59,200 --> 00:39:03,160 Speaker 2: for example, Sharon figures out fairly quickly on in her 713 00:39:03,600 --> 00:39:06,760 Speaker 2: research on the first case, which involves the boy, turns 714 00:39:06,760 --> 00:39:09,440 Speaker 2: out to be Randy Harvey, who I call in the 715 00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:11,680 Speaker 2: first part of the book the boy with the boots 716 00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:13,960 Speaker 2: because he had a set of boots that were very 717 00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:18,200 Speaker 2: seventies and she bailed bell bottomed jeans. And she realizes 718 00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:20,680 Speaker 2: that in looking at the databases she has from all 719 00:39:20,680 --> 00:39:23,680 Speaker 2: this research and after doing her own examination of these bones, 720 00:39:24,239 --> 00:39:27,600 Speaker 2: that this boy was probably a lot younger than they 721 00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:30,560 Speaker 2: thought in the seventies. That he was simply a kid 722 00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:34,120 Speaker 2: who at age fifteen had already gotten pretty tall, was 723 00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:38,640 Speaker 2: about six feet, but he clearly had other characteristics in 724 00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:41,160 Speaker 2: his bones that she could tell and in his teeth 725 00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:44,040 Speaker 2: that he was likely a younger teen. And so when 726 00:39:44,080 --> 00:39:46,839 Speaker 2: they did the analysis on his bones in the seventies, 727 00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:50,240 Speaker 2: they might not have considered Randy, who was a missing person, 728 00:39:50,360 --> 00:39:54,440 Speaker 2: as a possible match for that set of remains because 729 00:39:54,719 --> 00:39:57,680 Speaker 2: they presumed he was older than he was based on 730 00:39:57,719 --> 00:40:00,000 Speaker 2: his size. So that's an example. But you know, there's 731 00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:03,600 Speaker 2: a lot of other data that forensic anthropologists can use 732 00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:08,000 Speaker 2: to kind of solve these cases that is really amazing, 733 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:09,239 Speaker 2: And I try to go through a lot of that 734 00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:12,840 Speaker 2: technology without being too you know, in the weeds in 735 00:40:12,880 --> 00:40:15,320 Speaker 2: the book, but to try to give you some ideas 736 00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:17,600 Speaker 2: about how they could use a lot of different amazing 737 00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:21,640 Speaker 2: tools to figure out who people are based on their 738 00:40:21,640 --> 00:40:25,000 Speaker 2: bodies or their bones. So one of the things that 739 00:40:25,080 --> 00:40:28,479 Speaker 2: becomes an important clue for Sharon is I think really 740 00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:31,720 Speaker 2: interesting to me is that we think of race as 741 00:40:31,760 --> 00:40:35,160 Speaker 2: you know something, you check a box. Forensic anthropologists see 742 00:40:35,239 --> 00:40:37,399 Speaker 2: race as a kind of a continuum, and it's more 743 00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:39,759 Speaker 2: based on ethnicity. So one of the clues that I 744 00:40:39,760 --> 00:40:42,319 Speaker 2: think becomes important in one of these cases I think 745 00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:45,480 Speaker 2: is really interesting is she looks at the characteristics of 746 00:40:45,560 --> 00:40:48,040 Speaker 2: the teeth of two of the boys, and it's a 747 00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:52,800 Speaker 2: combination of teeth that more frequently occurs in people who 748 00:40:52,840 --> 00:40:57,360 Speaker 2: have some Native American heritage and maybe some wow European 749 00:40:57,400 --> 00:40:59,920 Speaker 2: heritage mixed, which of course is not incommon in the 750 00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:03,080 Speaker 2: United States. But there were just two boys in the 751 00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:06,279 Speaker 2: group of you know, thirty who had that same combination 752 00:41:06,360 --> 00:41:10,279 Speaker 2: of teeth, and that was one of the factors that 753 00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:13,479 Speaker 2: allowed her to start to develop a hypothesis that really 754 00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:16,560 Speaker 2: came from a kind of a citizen tipster, a journalist 755 00:41:16,560 --> 00:41:18,280 Speaker 2: who had looked at some of these cases, who said, 756 00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:21,040 Speaker 2: you know, one of these boys might be misidentified. She 757 00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:24,040 Speaker 2: started to think that that might be true because she 758 00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:27,400 Speaker 2: noticed that this boy's teeth were similar to another boy, 759 00:41:27,800 --> 00:41:29,880 Speaker 2: and that they could actually be brothers, and that there 760 00:41:29,880 --> 00:41:32,160 Speaker 2: were two sets of brothers that were murdered, but one 761 00:41:32,200 --> 00:41:34,239 Speaker 2: of the sets of brothers did seem like they were 762 00:41:34,280 --> 00:41:37,080 Speaker 2: the right brothers the other set. When she looked at them, 763 00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:40,320 Speaker 2: she could tell from the combination of teeth and what's 764 00:41:40,360 --> 00:41:44,760 Speaker 2: known now about ethnicity, you know, characteristics, that the two brothers, 765 00:41:44,800 --> 00:41:48,520 Speaker 2: the second set of brothers were probably not correctly identified, 766 00:41:48,800 --> 00:41:51,880 Speaker 2: that in fact, the second brother was probably yet another 767 00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:57,319 Speaker 2: unidentified corpse, and she corrects that mistake by using teeth. Wow. Yeah, 768 00:41:57,360 --> 00:42:01,320 Speaker 2: So there's a lot of different things can be factors 769 00:42:01,480 --> 00:42:04,920 Speaker 2: in forensic anthropology research, and you know, they relate to 770 00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:07,319 Speaker 2: a lot of times to the kinds of research that 771 00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:09,759 Speaker 2: are done at places like the body ranch that you 772 00:42:09,840 --> 00:42:13,920 Speaker 2: described in San Marcus, because that they're not just doing 773 00:42:14,160 --> 00:42:17,040 Speaker 2: research for fun. You know, they're trying to figure out 774 00:42:17,040 --> 00:42:20,000 Speaker 2: things that can help people solve cases or like you said, 775 00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:23,239 Speaker 2: identify immigrants. Yeah, and she goes through some of the 776 00:42:23,280 --> 00:42:25,440 Speaker 2: pitfalls and some of that. You know, some of that 777 00:42:25,520 --> 00:42:29,919 Speaker 2: research is very tricky, but it can help rule out 778 00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:32,200 Speaker 2: people too as much as it can help find the 779 00:42:32,280 --> 00:42:32,840 Speaker 2: right match. 780 00:42:33,160 --> 00:42:36,080 Speaker 1: One of the things that Daniel Wescott told me when 781 00:42:36,160 --> 00:42:40,840 Speaker 1: I interviewed him was oftentimes his work as a forensic 782 00:42:40,840 --> 00:42:45,200 Speaker 1: anthropologist is to exclude things, not include. He said, very 783 00:42:45,239 --> 00:42:49,000 Speaker 1: rarely am I able to say definitively yes, this person 784 00:42:49,080 --> 00:42:51,719 Speaker 1: did this or that he said. I can oftentimes say, though, no, 785 00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:55,880 Speaker 1: this is not the case. Is she finding these, you know, 786 00:42:55,960 --> 00:42:58,680 Speaker 1: like the brother or Randy, finding these people who might 787 00:42:58,680 --> 00:43:01,520 Speaker 1: have been previously not ident and then following up with 788 00:43:01,640 --> 00:43:05,319 Speaker 1: DNA testing a decade later? Or how is tell me 789 00:43:05,360 --> 00:43:08,399 Speaker 1: the process? She finds bones, She has no idea who 790 00:43:08,400 --> 00:43:10,799 Speaker 1: this is and then where does it go from there 791 00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:11,799 Speaker 1: for her to figure it out? 792 00:43:12,160 --> 00:43:14,560 Speaker 2: Well, she initially finds three sets of bones, and she 793 00:43:14,640 --> 00:43:18,120 Speaker 2: later discovers more. You know, she does what they did 794 00:43:18,120 --> 00:43:20,520 Speaker 2: in the seventies. She looks at the old case file, 795 00:43:20,640 --> 00:43:24,359 Speaker 2: she looks at the old missing persons reports, and she 796 00:43:24,600 --> 00:43:27,800 Speaker 2: does new examinations of the bones, new examination of the 797 00:43:27,880 --> 00:43:30,719 Speaker 2: bones to see if there was anything missed in the 798 00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:34,239 Speaker 2: seventies or anything any estimates of age that might be 799 00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:37,400 Speaker 2: different than what was determined in the seventies. And so 800 00:43:37,480 --> 00:43:40,400 Speaker 2: she does find things that seem off in terms of 801 00:43:40,920 --> 00:43:45,320 Speaker 2: height estimates or age estimates that allow her to widen 802 00:43:45,360 --> 00:43:48,000 Speaker 2: the net in terms of who they could be. And 803 00:43:48,000 --> 00:43:51,759 Speaker 2: that's what's so important with that age estimate change in 804 00:43:51,800 --> 00:43:55,799 Speaker 2: the Randy case, because she sees Randy's name as a 805 00:43:55,840 --> 00:43:58,440 Speaker 2: missing person in one of the police reports that's in 806 00:43:58,480 --> 00:44:01,759 Speaker 2: the stack from the seventies file. She sees his name 807 00:44:01,840 --> 00:44:04,400 Speaker 2: referenced in one of the old police reports that she 808 00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:08,040 Speaker 2: gets from the DA's office. She is, you know, doing 809 00:44:08,120 --> 00:44:10,680 Speaker 2: some kind of quote unquote detective work along with her 810 00:44:10,680 --> 00:44:13,560 Speaker 2: forensic work to try to see if there are potential 811 00:44:13,800 --> 00:44:17,680 Speaker 2: matches in that universe of missing persons from the segnenties. 812 00:44:17,760 --> 00:44:20,600 Speaker 2: And of course then she tries to use some databases. 813 00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:22,799 Speaker 2: She happens to be a little bit of a database nerd, 814 00:44:23,560 --> 00:44:25,920 Speaker 2: and she tries to see if any of these kids 815 00:44:25,920 --> 00:44:28,000 Speaker 2: then popped up as a live later you know that 816 00:44:28,040 --> 00:44:30,480 Speaker 2: they just in the seventies were listed is missing, but 817 00:44:30,520 --> 00:44:33,240 Speaker 2: there's no trace of Randy Harvey. You know, Randy Harvey's 818 00:44:33,360 --> 00:44:37,040 Speaker 2: missing forever. And then she goes ahead and tries to 819 00:44:37,080 --> 00:44:40,800 Speaker 2: find his family because if you can find a parent, 820 00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:44,279 Speaker 2: a DNA match can be a pretty easy thing to do, 821 00:44:44,400 --> 00:44:47,960 Speaker 2: which is to verify a potential identification. So what she 822 00:44:48,000 --> 00:44:50,680 Speaker 2: does with Randy Harvey, she looks through his missing person 823 00:44:50,760 --> 00:44:54,879 Speaker 2: file and she discovers that yes, his age, his estimated height, 824 00:44:54,960 --> 00:44:56,960 Speaker 2: and the clothes that he was wearing at the time 825 00:44:57,000 --> 00:45:00,360 Speaker 2: he went missing seemed to match what she has, but 826 00:45:00,480 --> 00:45:04,240 Speaker 2: to really know for sure that he is this case 827 00:45:04,280 --> 00:45:08,319 Speaker 2: that has been unidentified since nineteen seventy three, she has 828 00:45:08,320 --> 00:45:11,040 Speaker 2: to try to find either his parents or his siblings, 829 00:45:11,280 --> 00:45:13,520 Speaker 2: and she knows that there's a chance that his mother 830 00:45:13,760 --> 00:45:17,880 Speaker 2: and father are not alive, and she only has his 831 00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:20,360 Speaker 2: mother's part of his mother's name on an old report, 832 00:45:20,520 --> 00:45:22,799 Speaker 2: and she starts looking for his mother, and she has 833 00:45:22,960 --> 00:45:25,840 Speaker 2: one of his sister's names that one of his sister's 834 00:45:25,920 --> 00:45:28,600 Speaker 2: kind of heartbreakingly called the morgue when she was a 835 00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:31,920 Speaker 2: teenager asking about her brother, and so she finds the 836 00:45:31,960 --> 00:45:35,480 Speaker 2: sole message, the while you were out note from the sister. 837 00:45:36,239 --> 00:45:39,880 Speaker 2: So she tries to find Leonore, Randy's little sister. It 838 00:45:39,920 --> 00:45:43,279 Speaker 2: takes a while because Randy, it turns out, was his 839 00:45:43,560 --> 00:45:47,719 Speaker 2: name was spelled Randell, and so she doesn't find it 840 00:45:47,760 --> 00:45:50,240 Speaker 2: the first time she's looking for his name in public records. 841 00:45:50,480 --> 00:45:53,160 Speaker 2: His mother's name was Francis, but her full name was 842 00:45:53,400 --> 00:45:56,640 Speaker 2: Love Francis, so it takes a while before she can 843 00:45:56,680 --> 00:45:59,080 Speaker 2: find the names. And then when she finally does find 844 00:45:59,360 --> 00:46:04,080 Speaker 2: Francis Harvey, his mom, she's just recently died, and that 845 00:46:04,120 --> 00:46:06,640 Speaker 2: really sends her into a tailspan but then she looks 846 00:46:06,719 --> 00:46:10,400 Speaker 2: for his sister, and it's through a whole lot of research, 847 00:46:10,600 --> 00:46:13,720 Speaker 2: looking through a lot of obituaries of other people named Harvey, 848 00:46:14,040 --> 00:46:17,400 Speaker 2: that she finds someone who seems to possibly be his sister, 849 00:46:17,480 --> 00:46:19,600 Speaker 2: and she just calls. She calls a lot of people, 850 00:46:20,040 --> 00:46:21,840 Speaker 2: and finally one day she gets a kind of a 851 00:46:21,840 --> 00:46:25,120 Speaker 2: distant cousin who says, yes, I know I know Leonora Harvey, 852 00:46:25,160 --> 00:46:27,239 Speaker 2: and I can give you her phone number. And it 853 00:46:27,280 --> 00:46:30,240 Speaker 2: turns out Lenore lives just about an hour north of Houston, 854 00:46:30,320 --> 00:46:33,680 Speaker 2: So all this time his sister has been only an 855 00:46:33,680 --> 00:46:36,439 Speaker 2: hour away. And he actually has two sisters who are living, 856 00:46:36,480 --> 00:46:38,919 Speaker 2: one full sister and one half sister. But that makes 857 00:46:38,920 --> 00:46:43,360 Speaker 2: the process of identification tricky because a sibling match in 858 00:46:43,480 --> 00:46:46,799 Speaker 2: DNA can be trickier. His siblings don't share as much 859 00:46:46,880 --> 00:46:51,080 Speaker 2: DNA as parents and children do, and so identifications can 860 00:46:51,120 --> 00:46:53,480 Speaker 2: be verified better if you have more than one sibling. 861 00:46:53,520 --> 00:46:55,160 Speaker 2: It turned out in this case one of the siblings 862 00:46:55,239 --> 00:46:57,640 Speaker 2: was a full sibling and one was a half sibling, 863 00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:00,600 Speaker 2: so there was some question about that. So, you know, 864 00:47:00,680 --> 00:47:05,320 Speaker 2: DNA isn't the exact magic formula for identifications. We hope 865 00:47:05,480 --> 00:47:09,000 Speaker 2: it would be. It's pretty amazing if you have a parent, 866 00:47:09,080 --> 00:47:11,160 Speaker 2: but these kids had been gone for so long that 867 00:47:11,280 --> 00:47:13,359 Speaker 2: very few of the parents were still alive. She did. 868 00:47:13,640 --> 00:47:16,440 Speaker 2: Some of the identifications she made, she was able to 869 00:47:16,480 --> 00:47:18,920 Speaker 2: get the mothers or fathers, but most of them she 870 00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:22,920 Speaker 2: made through verified through sibling DNA matching, which required more 871 00:47:22,920 --> 00:47:24,480 Speaker 2: than one sibling in most cases. 872 00:47:24,800 --> 00:47:26,400 Speaker 1: So that confirmed Randy, then. 873 00:47:26,800 --> 00:47:30,160 Speaker 2: Yes, it did. It did that along with the characteristics 874 00:47:30,200 --> 00:47:31,880 Speaker 2: in his case. A lot of the other boys, there 875 00:47:32,320 --> 00:47:35,440 Speaker 2: were no personal effects found, but in Randy's case, there 876 00:47:35,440 --> 00:47:39,800 Speaker 2: were personal effects found that also helped verify his physical characteristics. 877 00:47:40,120 --> 00:47:42,040 Speaker 2: She could still see the size of his belt, she 878 00:47:42,080 --> 00:47:45,080 Speaker 2: could still see the size of his shoes. His sisters 879 00:47:45,200 --> 00:47:49,000 Speaker 2: could still look at what he was wearing and recognize 880 00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:52,240 Speaker 2: it as a uniform that was issued by the gas station, 881 00:47:52,600 --> 00:47:56,120 Speaker 2: the jacket that where he worked the day he was missing, 882 00:47:56,239 --> 00:47:59,040 Speaker 2: so those were there were additional clues for Randy's case, 883 00:47:59,080 --> 00:48:02,279 Speaker 2: and his full sister happened to share sort of some 884 00:48:02,360 --> 00:48:07,080 Speaker 2: unusual facial characteristics. They had both had kind of long jaws. 885 00:48:07,520 --> 00:48:09,880 Speaker 2: That was something that counted. So in a way, it 886 00:48:09,920 --> 00:48:12,600 Speaker 2: was the combination of factors that allowed her to figure 887 00:48:12,600 --> 00:48:17,000 Speaker 2: out who Randy was. Randy was also very associated with 888 00:48:17,080 --> 00:48:19,440 Speaker 2: the case. He had been considered by police at the 889 00:48:19,440 --> 00:48:22,759 Speaker 2: time to be a possible murdered victim, that they just 890 00:48:22,800 --> 00:48:23,720 Speaker 2: hadn't made the connection. 891 00:48:24,280 --> 00:48:27,799 Speaker 1: So what was the reaction the sisters once Sharon? I mean, 892 00:48:27,880 --> 00:48:30,440 Speaker 1: normally a detective would disclose this, but now you've got 893 00:48:30,440 --> 00:48:33,160 Speaker 1: this forensic anthropologist calling and saying, I think I can 894 00:48:33,200 --> 00:48:36,760 Speaker 1: identify your brother who's been missing for more than thirty years. 895 00:48:37,120 --> 00:48:39,640 Speaker 1: Was it relief from them or what was it? Do 896 00:48:39,680 --> 00:48:40,040 Speaker 1: you think? 897 00:48:40,400 --> 00:48:44,080 Speaker 2: I think in most of these cases there was a relief, 898 00:48:44,719 --> 00:48:47,719 Speaker 2: a tempered kind of happiness. I mean, you can't say 899 00:48:47,719 --> 00:48:50,960 Speaker 2: that this makes someone happy to know for sure someone's. 900 00:48:50,560 --> 00:48:53,799 Speaker 1: Dead, especially in this way. How awful, I mean, to 901 00:48:53,960 --> 00:48:55,640 Speaker 1: know what he did, how awful. 902 00:48:55,920 --> 00:48:58,719 Speaker 2: But so many of these families had suspected that their 903 00:48:58,960 --> 00:49:03,560 Speaker 2: siblings were victims of this killer for different reasons. To 904 00:49:03,719 --> 00:49:06,520 Speaker 2: finally know for sure after so long, to be able 905 00:49:06,560 --> 00:49:12,120 Speaker 2: to actually have a burial ceremony, to commemorate the memory 906 00:49:12,160 --> 00:49:15,360 Speaker 2: of your brother, those things brought a lot of I 907 00:49:15,400 --> 00:49:18,480 Speaker 2: think relief to the two sisters, and they certainly gave 908 00:49:18,560 --> 00:49:22,400 Speaker 2: answers and they addressed I think what had for a 909 00:49:22,440 --> 00:49:25,000 Speaker 2: lot of people in other cases been sort of the 910 00:49:25,080 --> 00:49:28,640 Speaker 2: state of suspended animation, of not knowing, and so that 911 00:49:28,800 --> 00:49:32,160 Speaker 2: not having any ability to sort of move on or 912 00:49:32,239 --> 00:49:35,520 Speaker 2: have any answers. And so I didn't talk to all 913 00:49:35,600 --> 00:49:39,080 Speaker 2: of the siblings in these cases. I did talk to 914 00:49:39,120 --> 00:49:42,240 Speaker 2: some of them. A lot of them expressed at least 915 00:49:42,719 --> 00:49:46,320 Speaker 2: a relief at finally being able to know what had happened. 916 00:49:46,400 --> 00:49:49,720 Speaker 2: It's an answer, an answer, an answer, and an ability 917 00:49:49,760 --> 00:49:52,920 Speaker 2: to have a ceremony to know for sure that the 918 00:49:52,960 --> 00:49:56,279 Speaker 2: person was dead. There were different circumstances with each of 919 00:49:56,320 --> 00:49:59,640 Speaker 2: the people she identified, but in most cases I think 920 00:49:59,680 --> 00:50:01,960 Speaker 2: there was a relief, and in some cases there was 921 00:50:02,040 --> 00:50:06,040 Speaker 2: also the knowledge that a misidentification had been made, but 922 00:50:06,120 --> 00:50:11,560 Speaker 2: that misidentification allowed another family to understand what had happened 923 00:50:11,560 --> 00:50:14,839 Speaker 2: to their lost loved one, And so some families had 924 00:50:14,840 --> 00:50:17,520 Speaker 2: a sense that the you know, the revelations in their 925 00:50:17,600 --> 00:50:20,920 Speaker 2: cases were leading to other families getting answers, and so 926 00:50:21,040 --> 00:50:23,600 Speaker 2: there was some you know, then there becomes some sort 927 00:50:23,640 --> 00:50:26,640 Speaker 2: of a purpose that I think sometimes is helpful. And 928 00:50:26,680 --> 00:50:29,400 Speaker 2: in Randy's case, there was also a law in Texas 929 00:50:30,239 --> 00:50:34,399 Speaker 2: named for him, because the law in Texas that gave 930 00:50:34,520 --> 00:50:39,320 Speaker 2: crime victims some money for burial or for expenses had 931 00:50:39,600 --> 00:50:44,040 Speaker 2: formally excluded anyone before the law was passed, and after 932 00:50:44,360 --> 00:50:48,000 Speaker 2: this case became public, that legislature changed the laws so 933 00:50:48,040 --> 00:50:51,360 Speaker 2: that someone who was identified after that law was passed 934 00:50:51,400 --> 00:50:56,200 Speaker 2: could still obtain victim assistance money for a funeral, because 935 00:50:56,200 --> 00:51:01,360 Speaker 2: this family had no assistance for a funeral for Randy. 936 00:51:01,600 --> 00:51:04,000 Speaker 2: And so that's part of how I think his memory 937 00:51:04,080 --> 00:51:08,040 Speaker 2: was in a way honored and celebrated after Sharon made 938 00:51:08,040 --> 00:51:10,360 Speaker 2: this discovery, and of course the fact that he was 939 00:51:10,400 --> 00:51:13,680 Speaker 2: identified brought in a lot of other tips about other 940 00:51:14,480 --> 00:51:19,360 Speaker 2: missing teams from the seventies that helped her identify other kids. 941 00:51:19,719 --> 00:51:23,480 Speaker 1: Tell me the total, how many initially were confirmed? I 942 00:51:23,560 --> 00:51:26,800 Speaker 1: know more than twenty eight was the number I had read? 943 00:51:26,960 --> 00:51:29,839 Speaker 1: What was the number that she added to that when 944 00:51:29,880 --> 00:51:30,960 Speaker 1: it was all said and done. 945 00:51:31,160 --> 00:51:34,400 Speaker 2: Twenty eight includes one of her identifications that twenty seven 946 00:51:34,840 --> 00:51:38,880 Speaker 2: was the official number initially. You know, there were three 947 00:51:39,200 --> 00:51:43,960 Speaker 2: others whose identities she's confirms that were not initially counted, 948 00:51:44,040 --> 00:51:47,120 Speaker 2: and then there were ones that she you know, and 949 00:51:47,160 --> 00:51:50,400 Speaker 2: obviously of the twenty seven, so she adds to the 950 00:51:50,480 --> 00:51:54,719 Speaker 2: victim list three names. But of those original victims, she 951 00:51:54,880 --> 00:52:00,520 Speaker 2: identifies on two, three, four, five, she identifies five of them, 952 00:52:00,640 --> 00:52:04,960 Speaker 2: so she's you know, works on eight eight cases really 953 00:52:05,000 --> 00:52:09,000 Speaker 2: intensely and has discoveries, not all of which have been 954 00:52:09,000 --> 00:52:11,200 Speaker 2: announced to the public, by the way, so people reading 955 00:52:11,200 --> 00:52:13,359 Speaker 2: my book will learn about a couple of things that 956 00:52:13,400 --> 00:52:14,720 Speaker 2: haven't been announced before. 957 00:52:15,560 --> 00:52:17,600 Speaker 1: I was wondering where we are. I didn't know if 958 00:52:17,600 --> 00:52:19,359 Speaker 1: this was the end of the case for her, or 959 00:52:19,440 --> 00:52:21,880 Speaker 1: is this work going to continue on this particular case. 960 00:52:22,600 --> 00:52:25,560 Speaker 2: Well, she left the office a few years ago. She 961 00:52:25,640 --> 00:52:30,359 Speaker 2: still she teaches and works on forensic anthropology cases as 962 00:52:30,400 --> 00:52:33,439 Speaker 2: a consultant, but she left the Harris County office, and 963 00:52:33,480 --> 00:52:36,400 Speaker 2: there are other forensic anthropologists who have worked on these cases. 964 00:52:36,440 --> 00:52:39,400 Speaker 2: But after she left, really there was no one bringing 965 00:52:39,440 --> 00:52:44,080 Speaker 2: that same body of knowledge and focus to these cases. 966 00:52:44,120 --> 00:52:46,799 Speaker 2: So I think that's why some of these latest discoveries 967 00:52:46,800 --> 00:52:49,360 Speaker 2: that were confirmed were not announced. 968 00:52:49,960 --> 00:52:52,200 Speaker 1: When you were done with this, you know, you've done 969 00:52:52,200 --> 00:52:55,080 Speaker 1: all your reporting, You've done all your writing. First of all, 970 00:52:55,080 --> 00:52:57,400 Speaker 1: I think this must have been a very difficult book 971 00:52:57,480 --> 00:53:02,200 Speaker 1: to write, simply because the details Dean Coral's crimes were 972 00:53:02,280 --> 00:53:05,560 Speaker 1: so to me horrific. But after that's all said and done, 973 00:53:05,680 --> 00:53:08,080 Speaker 1: what do you take away from this? What does this 974 00:53:08,160 --> 00:53:12,480 Speaker 1: add to you as an author, in your understanding of 975 00:53:12,960 --> 00:53:16,480 Speaker 1: crime and forensics and who we are as a society. 976 00:53:16,960 --> 00:53:21,600 Speaker 2: You know, my interest in unidentified and missing persons goes 977 00:53:21,640 --> 00:53:25,120 Speaker 2: back further. It goes back to when I lived in Seattle, 978 00:53:25,239 --> 00:53:29,279 Speaker 2: which was at the time I lived there, still plagued 979 00:53:29,360 --> 00:53:32,960 Speaker 2: by the fact that the most prolific known serial killer 980 00:53:33,000 --> 00:53:39,239 Speaker 2: in American history, the Green River Killer, had preyed upon many, many, 981 00:53:39,320 --> 00:53:42,360 Speaker 2: many women, depending on who you believe, the total somewhere 982 00:53:42,400 --> 00:53:45,480 Speaker 2: between forty and sixty and many of those women had 983 00:53:45,480 --> 00:53:49,719 Speaker 2: not been identified right away, some more identified after he 984 00:53:49,840 --> 00:53:53,839 Speaker 2: was eventually caught and prosecuted, I mean decades later. But 985 00:53:53,920 --> 00:53:56,880 Speaker 2: they had one of the first forensic anthropologists of any 986 00:53:57,000 --> 00:54:01,000 Speaker 2: county the state had a forensic anthropologist who worked with 987 00:54:01,080 --> 00:54:03,919 Speaker 2: them on those cases, and they were doing some really 988 00:54:03,960 --> 00:54:06,600 Speaker 2: cutting edge things. And I met her when I lived 989 00:54:06,640 --> 00:54:09,799 Speaker 2: in Seattle and worked in Seattle, and a reporter named 990 00:54:09,840 --> 00:54:12,640 Speaker 2: Lewis cam who's still in Seattle and works for NBC, 991 00:54:13,160 --> 00:54:16,640 Speaker 2: and I did a statewide look at every missing person 992 00:54:16,800 --> 00:54:20,239 Speaker 2: that was had a case file anywhere in Washington, so 993 00:54:20,360 --> 00:54:23,799 Speaker 2: much smaller state than Texas, and we wrote about what 994 00:54:23,880 --> 00:54:25,960 Speaker 2: were some of the reasons that some of these cases 995 00:54:25,960 --> 00:54:27,880 Speaker 2: weren't being solved, and one of them was you know 996 00:54:27,920 --> 00:54:30,600 Speaker 2: that many of these were in ural jurisdictions where there 997 00:54:30,600 --> 00:54:35,160 Speaker 2: isn't money or knowledge necessarily of the need for forensic 998 00:54:35,160 --> 00:54:38,839 Speaker 2: anthropology or even something as simple as doing a good 999 00:54:38,920 --> 00:54:42,360 Speaker 2: drawing of the person's face and putting it on the Internet. 1000 00:54:43,080 --> 00:54:46,440 Speaker 2: And so we wrote about how people get forgotten about 1001 00:54:46,520 --> 00:54:49,319 Speaker 2: and how then that allows killers to go and prosecuted. 1002 00:54:49,400 --> 00:54:51,239 Speaker 2: And we did a series of stories and because of 1003 00:54:51,280 --> 00:54:54,440 Speaker 2: those stories, we were able to help forensic anthropologists and 1004 00:54:54,480 --> 00:54:59,080 Speaker 2: investigators identify I think it was eight different people. Two 1005 00:54:59,120 --> 00:55:02,319 Speaker 2: of them were mother and child murder victim from the 1006 00:55:02,360 --> 00:55:07,440 Speaker 2: eighties who who remained unidentified for decades, and that was 1007 00:55:07,480 --> 00:55:09,839 Speaker 2: the story that I worked on. And I had moved 1008 00:55:09,840 --> 00:55:12,920 Speaker 2: to Houston when I got a phone call from Australia 1009 00:55:13,280 --> 00:55:16,600 Speaker 2: and it was the brother of the murder victim, the 1010 00:55:16,640 --> 00:55:20,399 Speaker 2: woman who had recognized a sketch that I had gotten 1011 00:55:20,440 --> 00:55:23,319 Speaker 2: a forensic artist to do for us as part of 1012 00:55:23,360 --> 00:55:27,600 Speaker 2: our series as a picture of the baby, the toddler 1013 00:55:27,800 --> 00:55:31,560 Speaker 2: who belonged to his missing sister. The police followed up 1014 00:55:31,560 --> 00:55:33,960 Speaker 2: on that lead and that was a DNA match. The 1015 00:55:34,400 --> 00:55:37,040 Speaker 2: idea that there are so many people whose cases are forgotten, 1016 00:55:37,040 --> 00:55:40,600 Speaker 2: and there are so many families who remain without answers. 1017 00:55:40,960 --> 00:55:43,200 Speaker 2: Was really a personal one for me when I moved 1018 00:55:43,239 --> 00:55:45,319 Speaker 2: to Houston. When I moved to Texas, and I knew 1019 00:55:45,360 --> 00:55:48,319 Speaker 2: about the huge caseload that Harris County had because when 1020 00:55:48,320 --> 00:55:50,360 Speaker 2: I was in Seattle, they were talking to me about 1021 00:55:50,400 --> 00:55:53,120 Speaker 2: how you know, there were certain counties in America that 1022 00:55:53,239 --> 00:55:55,960 Speaker 2: had huge case loads. And one of the reasons they 1023 00:55:56,080 --> 00:55:59,000 Speaker 2: had such a huge caseload was though that the Mammy's 1024 00:55:59,120 --> 00:56:02,400 Speaker 2: Office had done so a good job of documenting the 1025 00:56:02,640 --> 00:56:06,800 Speaker 2: unidentified with the hope that someday the technology would allow 1026 00:56:06,880 --> 00:56:09,440 Speaker 2: for them to be identified. It was an issue I 1027 00:56:09,480 --> 00:56:11,320 Speaker 2: cared about, and I knew that there was a power 1028 00:56:11,920 --> 00:56:14,799 Speaker 2: for the press and for science to help solve these 1029 00:56:14,880 --> 00:56:18,560 Speaker 2: cases back then, and I met doctor Derek Sharon when 1030 00:56:18,719 --> 00:56:21,120 Speaker 2: I first moved to Houston and talked to her about 1031 00:56:21,160 --> 00:56:24,279 Speaker 2: her work, and it was just unfolding then really as 1032 00:56:24,320 --> 00:56:26,759 Speaker 2: I got to Houston, and it kept unfolding over a 1033 00:56:26,800 --> 00:56:29,320 Speaker 2: long period of time, and at some point we started 1034 00:56:29,320 --> 00:56:31,680 Speaker 2: talking and I said, have you ever thought about writing 1035 00:56:31,680 --> 00:56:32,040 Speaker 2: a book? 1036 00:56:32,080 --> 00:56:33,440 Speaker 1: And you know. 1037 00:56:33,440 --> 00:56:36,440 Speaker 2: It seems like there might be something to say about 1038 00:56:36,480 --> 00:56:40,000 Speaker 2: your work, and we ended up working on this book together. 1039 00:56:40,280 --> 00:56:42,440 Speaker 2: You know. She provided a lot of research and provided 1040 00:56:42,480 --> 00:56:46,000 Speaker 2: fact checking. I did all the writing and other reporting. 1041 00:56:46,520 --> 00:56:48,480 Speaker 2: It took a lot longer than I expected, and I 1042 00:56:48,600 --> 00:56:51,480 Speaker 2: ended up interviewing one hundred people because I think these 1043 00:56:51,480 --> 00:56:54,560 Speaker 2: stories are important because of the people who get the 1044 00:56:54,600 --> 00:56:58,360 Speaker 2: answers and the people who were unidentified. So my challenge 1045 00:56:58,400 --> 00:57:00,480 Speaker 2: in this story, to me was to bring back to 1046 00:57:00,600 --> 00:57:03,399 Speaker 2: life as much as I could these eight boys these 1047 00:57:03,440 --> 00:57:06,839 Speaker 2: cases she worked on, talked to their friends. I had 1048 00:57:06,880 --> 00:57:09,160 Speaker 2: teenage boys myself, and I thought, if I'm going to 1049 00:57:09,200 --> 00:57:11,520 Speaker 2: learn anything about them, I need to find their best friends. 1050 00:57:11,680 --> 00:57:15,280 Speaker 2: And that was hard, but I was rewarding too, because 1051 00:57:15,320 --> 00:57:17,560 Speaker 2: a lot of people told me stories they had never 1052 00:57:17,640 --> 00:57:21,400 Speaker 2: told and people who thought these stories were still really important. 1053 00:57:21,440 --> 00:57:23,520 Speaker 2: There were a lot of people who said, you know, 1054 00:57:23,560 --> 00:57:26,000 Speaker 2: the real full story of these cases and what was 1055 00:57:26,000 --> 00:57:29,200 Speaker 2: covered up about these crimes needs to be out there 1056 00:57:29,720 --> 00:57:33,560 Speaker 2: for us and for other people to heal and for 1057 00:57:33,640 --> 00:57:37,280 Speaker 2: us to accept what happened. You know, I'm hoping that 1058 00:57:37,360 --> 00:57:40,600 Speaker 2: my book serves the purpose for that greater community of 1059 00:57:40,640 --> 00:57:43,040 Speaker 2: the friends and family of these those boys. I know 1060 00:57:43,080 --> 00:57:45,840 Speaker 2: there's some people who will be harmed by these stories 1061 00:57:45,840 --> 00:57:48,840 Speaker 2: being retold, but I'm hoping that there's a greater value 1062 00:57:48,960 --> 00:57:50,200 Speaker 2: in the stories being shared. 1063 00:58:01,560 --> 00:58:04,440 Speaker 1: If you love historical true crime stories, check out the 1064 00:58:04,480 --> 00:58:07,360 Speaker 1: audio versions of my books The Ghost Club, All That 1065 00:58:07,480 --> 00:58:10,720 Speaker 1: Is Wicked, and American Sherlock and Don't Forget. There are 1066 00:58:10,800 --> 00:58:14,560 Speaker 1: twelve seasons of my historical true crime podcast, Tenfold More 1067 00:58:14,600 --> 00:58:18,240 Speaker 1: Wicked right here in this podcast feed, scroll back and 1068 00:58:18,280 --> 00:58:21,040 Speaker 1: give them a listen if you haven't already. This has 1069 00:58:21,080 --> 00:58:25,600 Speaker 1: been an exactly right production. Our senior producer is Alexis M. Morosi. 1070 00:58:25,960 --> 00:58:30,400 Speaker 1: Our associate producer is Christina Chamberlain. This episode was mixed 1071 00:58:30,440 --> 00:58:34,320 Speaker 1: by John Bradley. Curtis Heath is our composer. Artwork by 1072 00:58:34,480 --> 00:58:38,880 Speaker 1: Nick Toga. Executive produced by Georgia Hardstark, Karen Kilgarriff and 1073 00:58:38,960 --> 00:58:43,320 Speaker 1: Danielle Kramer. Follow Wicked Words on Instagram at tenfold More 1074 00:58:43,360 --> 00:58:46,680 Speaker 1: Wicked and on Facebook at Wicked Words Pod.