What's next for the property where 'Candy Man' Dean Corll's house once stood?

PASADENA, Texas (KTRK) -- The house in Pasadena where the infamous "Candy Man" Dean Corll once lived and died was demolished Friday.

For almost 50 years, people have recalled the atrocities that once happened inside the house at 2020 Lamar.

"He would set them down and strap them to a board like this," Howard Rogers demonstrated with his arms outstretched. "Molest them and kill them. Who would want to live there? Not me."

It was a kidnapping, torture and murder ring led by Corll, known as the "Candy Man," because his family owned a candy shop that was uncovered in 1973, but only after Corll was shot and killed inside the house.

Elmer Wayne Henley, one of two accomplices, was the shooter. He revealed the extent of the crimes. Nearly 30 boys and young men disappeared in the early 1970s never to be seen again.

Henley and David Brooks led police to their buried remains at three different Texas locations. It was known as Houston's mass murders, and it still haunts people today.

STREAM NOW ON ABC13: The Candyman Murders

"I wish that would have never happened to anyone," Rogers added.

Neighbors woke up on Friday to demolition crews tearing down the small one-story house. It was built in the early 1950s and recently renovated. One neighbor told ABC13 she was relieved to see it gone.

"I'm glad it's gone. I feel for a lot of families, the lingering pain would still be there, if that place was there. So many memories," she said.

As recently as August 2021, Tim Miller of Texas EquuSearch was digging in the backyard for possibly more victims. The excavation turned up nothing, but the house and its awful past drew more attention.

"Just knowing I'm on the same street, I tell people, and that's the first thing people bring up. 'That's the Candy Man's house,'" the neighbor added.

Late last year, the Pasadena Economic Development Corporation bought the property. A city spokeswoman says the plan is to use it for the Little Vince Bayou Greenway Project. A neighbor said he was told it would be an entrance to a trail network.

So, what was once a place so terrible is now leveled to begin again.

"I think it's good," Rogers said.

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