together 88.tog.21 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

With the face of a child and the body of a woman, tiny Rhonda Williams was suffering from some severe emotional and physical traumas. Her mother had died when she was very young and her father was an intimidating man. Then her first love, a boy named Frank Aguirre, disappeared suddenly. Recently, she had sprained her foot in an accident. While she painfully convalesced, her relationship with her father became increasingly strained and he banned many of her friends from visiting the house. Wayne was the only one of her friends that her father liked.

That night, frightened by her father's anger after he had too much to drink, she packed an overnight bag and decided to get away from the house until he sobered up. Wayne left Tim at a laundromat nearby and went to the house to get Rhonda. She was too afraid to unlock her bedroom door to let Wayne in, so he came to the window to escort her from the house. The two of them then met Tim Kerley at the laundromat.

Wayne told Rhonda that they were going to Corll's house. She didn't want to go there, but finally agreed. Tim gave her a beer to drink.

The three teenagers reached Corll's house around 3 a.m.. Rhonda did not realize that Corll was infuriated that the two boys had brought a female to the house, but she knew that something was wrong. Henley was able to take the edge off Corll's anger and the small party started back up again. While Corll smoked pot and drank beer, the boys drank some moonshine that Wayne's dad had given him. Rhonda joined them in smoking some pot and fell asleep while sitting against the wall.

Hours later Henley awakened to Corll handcuffing his wrists. His ankles had already been bound together. From much previous experience, Henley understood that torture and painful death were imminent. Looking around him, he saw that Tim had been stripped and both of his friends had been bound with rope. Electrical tape sealed their lips.

" I'm gonna kill you all!" Corll shrieked, according to Henley. "But first I'm gonna have my fun."

Henley pleaded with Corll: He would help Corll torture Tim. Corll could assault Tim and he would rape Rhonda. Then they would kill Tim and Rhonda together.

After threatening Henley with a .22 caliber pistol and a knife, Corll relented and took off the handcuffs and ropes. Corll told Henley that if he did not do something to Rhonda that he, too, would be a victim.