HENRY LEE LUCAS AND OTTIS TOOLE

PFew people in American serial killer history make us shudder as much as these two. But legend mixes with fact, and the total of killings they were responsible for has been greatly exaggerated. Lucas could be responsible for the deaths of 3 to 300 people. No one is certain. Lucas himself once confessed to killing 3000 people, but this is a known hoax on his part. In fact, once he confessed he recanted his confession, so the totals will probably remain in the grave with him.
On July 11, 1983, drifter Henry Lee Lucas was arrested for possession of an illegal firearm in Stoneburg, Texas. He was already a felon and not allowed to own firearms. He was also a suspect in the disappearance of two women but the evidence for conviction was lacking.
Lucas and Ottis Toole care nicknamed “The Tag Team from Hell”. Alone and together, they caused kaos and destruction throughout the south during their tenacious tenure.
Henry grew up in Blacksburg, Virginia as a malnourished and abused hillbilly. He had eight brothers and sisters. They were luckier than Henry, as they were farmed out to relatives while he remained at home. Dad was a disabled alcoholic who used to work for the railroad. He lost his legs after an unlucky encounter with a train, and after being abused and humiliated by his wife, he killed himself. Henry was also abused, emotionally and physically. His mother, Violet, made him wear dresses and curlers, sometimes to school. It’s no surprise that he dropped out of school and remained semi-illiterate for the rest of his life.
Young Henry and his half brother fought continually. Lucas was once stabbed in the eye by his half brother and had a glass eye replacement. Continuing his spiral into depravity he engaged in sex with this very same half brother and dead animals. His mother used to beat him so severely, that her boyfriend had to take him to the hospital on more than one occasion. He once spent 3 months in a coma after Violet hit him with a wood plank. Lucas confessed to raping and killing a girl when he was 15 years old, but later retracted this claim. This lead to him spending half his youth in and out of correctional facilities. When he was released, he traveled to Michigan where his mother was living. In a drunken binge, he plunged a knife into his mother’s back and proceeded to sexually violate her.
He was sentenced 20 to 40 years for second degree murder. He served ten and half years and was released in June, 1970.
Lucas then drifted throughout the Florida area. He was married for a brief time, but it soon ended after his wife caught him having sex with her two daughters.
It was during this time when he ran into Ottis Toole. Toole’s childhood, though no less horrific, was a little different from Lucas’. He was sexually abused by male relatives and forced to handle corpses by his Voodoo practicing grandmother. His mother fed him barbiturates and forced to dress in girls clothes (like Lucas) by his sisters. Not surprisingly, he was filled with anger and frustrations.
Toole was convicted of arson in his twenties. Toole was a part-time prostitute, psychotic and close to retardation. Toole also enjoyed the taste of human flesh. Lucas never appreciated Toole’s gourmet tastes it seems. Toole insisted he was responsible for the death of Adam Walsh, John Walsh’s (America’s Most Wanted) son, but that was never proven.
The two first met when Ottis Toole and his wife Novella, shared a house with Ottis’ mother Sarah, her husband, nephew and his teen-aged niece Frieda Powell. The Toole family knew of Ottis’ bi-sexuality. He would bring strange men home to have sex with, and to watch have sex with his wife and niece. Henry became one of these “guests”.
In 1981 Sarah died and Henry and Ottis took parenting over of the children. They traveled with the two all over the country, but returned to Florida when the children where homesick. The children were eventually placed in a shelter when Henry was sent away to prison.
When Henry was released, he hooked back up with Toole and they passed the time committing crimes throughout Florida and the South. They stole beer, money and food. They terrorized victims, eventually leading them to become bolder, turning to murder. They were the perfect killing couple. They picked up hitchhikers to satisfy their bloodlust. Sometimes, they didn’t want to go through the hassle of picking them up, so they just ran them down.
Toole and Lucas went their separate ways when Lucas shacked up with Ottis’ mildly retarded niece Becky Powell. Becky had run away from the shelter when she was 12 years old. Not surprisingly, Powell spent her life in and out of juvenile delinquent facilities, so she had had to grow up fast. In the heat of an argument one day, Henry lost it and stabbed her in the heart killing her instantly. He then raped her and dismembered her, leaving Becky’s remains in pillowcases in an empty field.
With his initial firearms arrest, he was charged with Powell’s murder, as well as the murder of 82-year-old Kate Rich. It was after four days of brutal interrogation when Lucas confessed to killing hundreds, even thousands of people in an attempt to improve his treatment. He recanted when he was finally allowed to see his attorney.
Not including his recantation, Lucas’ confessions have been challenged in law enforcement specialists and court officials. The forensic evidence in both the Powell and Rich cases is inconclusive. The general consensus is he did commit these two crimes. Strangely in court, Lucas also claimed is “killed about a hundred more women”. This was a surprise to both sides of the court. He went on to say it was because he was despondent after Becky’s death.
Detectives started thinking that he might be responsible for many of the unsolved murders throughout the South. Feeding the furious frenzy caused by the press, Lucas also claimed to have been part of a Satanic cult called The Hand of Death, snuff films and the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa. He also said he delivered poison to Jim Jones (cult leader) in Jonestown, South America.
Lucas was convicted in 11 homicides. Whether he was responsible for all of these is not known to this day, and may never be known.
His death penalty conviction was later changed to a life sentence. He died of natural causes in prison.
Toole spent the last ten years of his life in prison for arson and murder and died of liver failure in 1996.

- Martha Hughes