Tanner Garza explores murder confession of Elmer WayneHenley in new noise album

Cover art for Tanner Garza’s album “The Man with the Candy.” Cover art for Tanner Garza’s album “The Man with the Candy.” Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Tanner Garza explores murder confession of Elmer WayneHenley in new noise album 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Dean Corll remains one of Houston’s most infamous, yet elusive monsters, as does his personal executioner, Elmer Wayne Henley. Their violent, murky tale is the basis of Houston noise music master Tanner Garza’s latest release, “The Man With the Candy.”

Corll kidnapped, raped, tortured and murdered at least 28 boys in Houston in the early 1970s. Henley was his teenage accomplice along with another boy, David Brooks. Corll initially lied to Henley about his activities before ensnaring him in his gruesome crimes with threats and psychological manipulation. Henley was 17 when he shot Corll dead rather than be involved in the rape and murder of his friend Rhonda Williams. He cooperated with the police afterward and is currently serving out his prison sentence in Huntsville.

An attraction to the dark and frightening is a hallmark of the Houston noise scene. Garza’s other band, Black Leather Jesus, is named after Cameron Hooker, a sadist who kidnapped a jogger and made her live under his bed in a box as he used her for sex and torture.

“I’ve always been kind of a history nerd,” Garza says of the Corll killing. “I found out about this crime when I was 19, and it’s always been bugging me. It’s seldom talked about, even though it’s the most horrifying thing I’ve ever heard of.”

Garza combed through hours of videos and audio recordings of news reports and official records from the aftermath of Corll’s massacre. In Garza’s project, the broken voice of Henley wavers over ambient noise and harsh flourishes that are reminiscent of shovels digging graves in gravel. It’s half serial killer podcast, half haunting atmospheric masterpiece that blurs the lines between traditional noise and ethereal mood music.

“I enjoy the harsh sounds, but when I joined BLJ, everyone had harsh sound side projects, so I wanted to do something different,” Garza says.

When it came time to release the album, he wanted an image that matched the violent tale. To that end, he got in touch with murderabilia mogul Rick Staton, who is notorious for popularizing the collecting of items associated with serial killers. Staton allowed Garza to comb through his archives, everything from Henley’s old Boy Scout uniform to Marvel comics the boy had owned. Among the artifacts was Henley’s mother’s address book, where Corll corrected a misnamed entry for himself. That autograph made it onto the cover of Garza’s album.

“You can feel the evil off the page,” Garza says.

"The Man With the Candy" By Tanner Garza Available for streaming at tannergarza.bandcamp.com. The album will be released on cassette in late November.

Jef Rouner is a writer in Houston.