Henry Lee Lucas

Serial Killer

Henry Lee Lucas: Murderer, Drifter, and the "Confession Killer"

Overview

Henry Lee Lucas became one of the most notorious figures in American criminal history after claiming responsibility for hundreds of murders across the United States. During the early 1980s, investigators from numerous jurisdictions traveled to Texas to question him about their unsolved cases. Lucas offered detailed-sounding accounts of killings involving women, men, and children, and police departments initially credited him with solving more than 200 homicides. He was frequently described as the most prolific serial killer in American history. That reputation eventually collapsed. Travel records, employment documents, jail records, witness statements, and later DNA testing proved that Lucas could not have committed many of the murders he confessed to. In some cases, he was demonstrably hundreds or thousands of miles away when the victims were killed. Investigators also allowed him to study photographs, reports, maps, and other case information before or during interviews, enabling him to repeat facts that appeared to demonstrate inside knowledge. Lucas was unquestionably a murderer, but the true number of his victims remains far smaller than his extraordinary claims suggested. The strongest evidence connects him to three killings: his mother, Nellie Viola Lucas; 15-year-old Frieda Lorraine "Becky" Powell; and 80-year-old Kate Rich. He was convicted of additional murders, but many of those convictions rested heavily on confessions that were later discredited or seriously questioned.

Early Life and Criminal Background

Henry Lee Lucas was born on August 23, 1936, near Blacksburg, Virginia. Accounts of his childhood describe severe poverty, instability, neglect, and physical abuse. Lucas later claimed that his mother, Nellie Viola Lucas, regularly beat and humiliated him. He lost an eye during childhood after an injury was left untreated, and he struggled socially and academically. As a teenager and young adult, Lucas accumulated arrests for offenses that included burglary, theft, and automobile-related crimes. He spent time in juvenile institutions and prisons before committing his first proven murder. His pattern of drifting, stealing vehicles, using false identities, and moving between states later made it difficult for investigators to reconstruct his whereabouts. ...

Confirmed Victims: (3)

Nellie Viola Lucas Age: (71), Date of Death: January 11, 1960

Suspected Victims:

Marie Petry Heiser Age: (50), Date of Death: June 27, 1977

Stella McLean Age: (45), Date of Death: February 7, 1978

Janet Callies Age: (40), Date of Death: November 15, 1978

Cheryl Anne Scherer Age: (19), Date of Death: April 17, 1979

Kathy Ann Smith Age: (22), Date of Death: Discovered on June 21, 1979

Jerilyn Peoples Age: (18), Date of Death: February 10, 1981

Barbara Begley Age: (17), Date of Death: April 18, 1982

Patricia Marie Hicks Dahlstrom Age: (28), Date of Death: September 1982

Librada Apodaca Age: (71), Date of Death: May 27, 1983

Henry Lee Lucas - Wikipedia