Henry Lee Lucas

Henry Lee Lucas (August 23, 1936–March 13, 2001) was an American criminal, convicted of murder and once listed as America's most prolific serial killer. However, he later recanted his confessions. He once flatly stated "I am not a serial killer" in a letter to researcher Brad Shellady.

"The Lucas Report" and controversy

Lucas' claims gradually became criticized as outlandish and less likely: He claimed to have been part of a cannibalistic, satanic cult called "The Hand of Death" http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/pmc/issue.501/11.3knox.html, to have taken part in snuff films, to have killed Jimmy Hoffa, and to have delivered poison to Jim Jones in Jonestown.

Related Topics:
Cannibalistic - Satanic - Cult - Snuff film - Jimmy Hoffa - Poison - Jim Jones - Jonestown

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In response to these claims, and to reports of the Lucas Task Force's questionable investigative methodology, the Texas Attorney General's office issued a study (sometimes called "The Lucas Report") in 1986. Attorney General Jim Mattox wrote that "when Lucas was confessing to hundreds of murders, those with custody of Lucas did nothing to bring an end to this hoax," and "We have found information that would lead us to believe that some officials 'cleared cases' just to get them off the books."

Related Topics:
1986 - Hoax

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Here are a few examples of crimes the Lucas Task Force ruled "closed" based on Lucas' "confessions," when strong evidence has been cited, indicating Lucas was far from the scene of the crime:

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• Lucas confessed to the August 10, 1977, murder of Curby Reeves in Smith County, Texas, while payroll records indicate that Lucas worked a full shift at the Kaolin Mushroom Company in Kaolin, Pennsylvania.
• Lucas confessed to the March 20, 1979, murder of Elaine Tollett in Tulsa, Oklahoma, while medical records indicate Lucas was in hospital in Bluefield, West Virginia.
• Chris Piazza, then a prosecutor in Little Rock, Arkansas, wrote of a specific 1981 robbery-murder case in which Lucas claimed involvement that "the testimony of Henry Lee Lucas ... is dubious, to say the least" and that Lucas' testimony was "inaccurate in nearly every detail."

It is rumoured that one of the reasons that Henry Lee Lucas made reference to his involvement in 3,000 murders is because he was given a strawberry milkshake for each confession he made. Considering his apparent weight gain in later photos during his arrest, this does seem like a possibility, however unsubstantiated.

Related Topics:
Strawberry - Milkshake

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