The Confession Killer: Netflix series answers whether Henry Lee Lucas was America's deadliest serial killer or just playing law enforcement
Netflix is back with quality true-crime content.
With its brand new docuseries 'The Confession Killer', the streaming platform brings to light the curious case of Virginia-born convict Henry Lee Lucas, who confessed to hundreds of murders during his incarceration and in return received preferential treatment from jail officials. While Lucas went on to become probably the most prolific murderer in modern history, it is still unclear how many people he actually killed.
Lucas was just 23 when he was arrested for killing his abusive mother back in 1960. At the time, he faced a 20- to 40-year sentence at Michigan State Penitentiary despite claiming self-defense. Almost a decade later, Lucas was released from prison due to overcrowding. However, he would be back behind bars during the '80s after confessing to the murders of his 82-year-old landlord Kate Rich and his girlfriend Becky Powell.
In a sensational moment during his arraignment, Lucas stunned the court as well as law enforcement after coyly asking the judge what they should do about the other 100 women he had murdered.
Following Lucas's albeit outlandish claims, Texan Sheriff Jim Boutwell formed a task force to investigate his alleged murder spree. Assuming that Lucas would cough up critical details about the unsolved cases, Boutwell took him seriously; despite the fact that he was all too willing to confess to almost every killing they interrogated him about.
What's more? Police were able to close a staggering 213 unsolved cases after Lucas confess to each and every one of them. Ironically, law enforcement developed a sort of camaraderie with the unabashed criminal for considerably reducing their caseload. As a result, officers would often bring him his favorite milkshakes and let him wander in the jail premises freely without handcuffs.
It is difficult to fathom how Lucas managed to play the detectives who thoroughly questioned him about the crimes. Investigators now believe he most likely parroted back clues that were given to him -- but that, in itself, is a tough nut to crack.
Authorities would later determine that the logistics of Lucas's confessions really did not make any sense. The murders he took responsibility for ranged from 100 to 600, but he was convicted for 11 killings in total. Meanwhile, homicide detectives had spoken to him about an estimate of 3,000 homicides across 40 states in a bid to solve as many cases as possible.
DNA evidence later confirmed that Lucas didn't kill 20 of his alleged victims, and investigative journalist Hugh Aynesworth rightly pointed out how he would have had to travel over 11,000 miles in October 1978 alone to murder eight of the victims. Further research into his case led journalists and officers to conclude he made up stories simply to maintain his celebrity status in jail. Besides, several of the victims' families were not convinced it was Lucas who killed their loved ones.
"Lucas was a challenge for law enforcement. It was well known he was a liar, but he had also taken officers to the remains of two women he confessed to killing," producer Melissa Robledo explained. "He was very clever at reading officers and leading interrogations to deliver facts that 'only the killer could know.' His confessions seemed credible, but were full of inconsistencies – ultimately those were overlooked when they shouldn’t have been. This was before DNA, so it makes you wonder how many people were wrongly convicted of other things."
Eventually, Lucas was sentenced to death for the murder of a victim identified only as "Orange Socks." But then George W. Bush, who was governor of Texas at the time, came to his rescue.
The future president shocked the nation by commuting Lucas's sentence, saying the facts of the case clearly "lacked certainty." 'The Confession Killer' subsequently threw another curveball at law enforcement -- recanting all his confessions and insisting he had only killed his abusive mother.
While many of the cases were never reopened, District Attorney Ken Anderson, who prosecuted Lucas, thinks he probably killed anywhere between three to a dozen people.
At the end of the day, not a soul would know of Lucas's true kill count. He ultimately took the secret to his grave in 2001, dying from heart failure at age 64.
'The Confession Killer' debuts on Friday, December 6, as a five-part documentary series on Netflix.