Life of Henry Lee Lucas

Serial Killer: Henry Lee Lucas

Henry Lee Lucas was a killer best known for allegedly murdering hundreds of people in the 1960s and '70s, though only three (including his mother) were confirmed.

Henry Lee Lucas was a killer born on August 23, 1936, in Blacksburg, Virginia. Born to alcoholic parents, including a mother who prostituted herself, Lucas's sexual deviancy shaped in his teen years. In 1960, he was punished for the killing of his mother. Paroled in 1970, Lucas went back to prison for the attempted abduction of a 15-year-old girl. Released again in 1975, he murdered two more women and was imprisoned in 1983. He admitted to killing hundreds of people, though no proof existed beyond three known casualties. Lucas sat on Death Row, later changed to life in jail by Texas Governor George W. Bush. He perished in a Texas prison from natural causes on March 12, 2001.

Lucas's Early life 

Killer Henry Lee Lucas was born on August 23, 1936, in Blacksburg, Virginia. One of nine siblings, Lucas was raised by vicious alcoholic parents. His mother ruled the household with an iron fist and prostituted herself in their backwoods population to make money. As a teenager, Lucas's sexual deviance became increasingly evident, and he reported having sex with his half-brother and with dead animals.

Lucas spent his teen years in and out of prison. In March 1960, he was convicted to 20 to 40 years in prison for killing his mother. He was sent to Jackson State Penitentiary in southern Michigan, but after two attempted suicides, he was admitted to Ionia State Mental Hospital. He was paroled in 1970 after fulfilling 10 years.

His Murder and Conviction

A year after his release, Lucas was convicted to five years for trying to kidnap a fifteen-year-old girl at gunpoint. After his second release in 1975, he travelled to Michigan where he teamed up with a minor thief named Ottis Toole. They shared an unhealthy interest in rape and death. In October 1979, Lucas travelled the country supported by Ottis and his young niece, Becky Powell, who was mildly retarded.

According to Lucas, he and Powell came to be romantically involved, filling one another's lifelong need for love and respect. Despite this romance, nonetheless, he finally murdered Powell, along with Katharine Rich, an elderly woman with whom they had been staying.

In June 1983, Lucas was caught for ownership of a deadly weapon. In his cell, he started confessing to hundreds of killings. Egged on by investigators from around the country, Lucas's admissions became increasingly exaggerated. It is doubtful how many murders he did commit, but some think it was just three: his mother, Becky Powell and Katharine rich. Others thought it could be hundreds. He was convicted to death, but the sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment by Texas Governor George W. Bush. While on Death Row, Lucas became a born again Christian and spent the last 18 years of his life as a model captive. He perished in a Huntsville, Texas, prison from natural causes on March 12, 2001, at the age of 64.