Henry Lee Lucaas
Henry Lee Lucas was an American serial killer who confessed to over 100 murders while in prison. He is confirmed to have 3 victims and his crimes are thought to have spanned from 1960-1983.
Born in 1936 to a poor family, Lucas was described as an attention seeker and liar who lost his eye aged 10 after it became infected. Lucas’ mother was a prostitute who wold force her son to watch him having sex with clients and make him cross-dress in public allegedly so she could pimp him out. Lucas dropped out of school early and began drifting around Virginia. He claimed, and later recounted, that he had committed his first murder in 1951, strangling a teenage girl.
In 1960, Lucas killed his mother during an argument, he claimed she struck him so he stabbed her. He was sentenced to 20-40 years in prison but was released after 10. In 1971 he was convicted of attempting to kidnap 3 schoolgirls. He later befriended murderer Ottis Toole, the two began a sexual relationship and Lucas began a relationship with Toole’s niece Frieda ‘Becky’ Powell, the pair ran away to California. In 1983, he was arrested for unlawful firearm possession an later confessed to a double murder, leading police to the remains of the two bodies. He was incarcerated for his crimes. The confession led police to trust Lucas and prove him capable of murder.
In November 1983, Lucas was transferred to a jail in Williamson County, Texas where he attempted suicide. Lucas claimed he was abused and tortured and denied legal help. In. interviews Lucas confessed to additional unsolved killings. The task force officially ‘cleared’ 213 unsolved murders based on his confessions and Lucas received special treatment for his confessions, he was taken to restaurants, rarely handcuffed and allowed to wander freely through the jail. Lucas’ confessions were criticised as imprecise, he originally claimed to have killed 60 people, then raised this number to over 100 and then gave a figure of over 3000. He also frequently withdrew confessions and made statements such as ‘I am not a serial killer.’ DNA evidence has verified Lucas did not kill 20 of his supposed victims.
Lucas’ case led to a re-evaluation in police techniques and false confessions, he was given privileges such as steak dinners and milkshakes during ‘confession’ interviews and was allowed to see case files to refresh his memory, giving him crucial knowledge that ‘only the killer could know.’ Lucas died of congestive heart failure in 2001, aged 64, while incarcerated. He is buried in an unmarked grave.
