Henry Lee Lucas: A Well-Known Serial Killer

- Henry Lee Lucas – Henry Lee Lucas was a well-known serial killer throughout the 1960s and ‘70s. He was born on August 23, 1936 in the fairly large town of Blacksburg, Virginia. At the early age of 10, Henry lost an eye after it had become infected after a fight henry engaged in. One of Henry's friends would describe him to people as someone who would try to seek attention in some very strange ways. Aside from Henry's strange ways, Henry lived a rough life in the home front as his mom had prostituted herself by forcing Henry to watch her have sex with clients and crossdress in public. Lucas’ father, Anderson, had lost his legs after a railroad accident, died when Henry was 13 due to going and getting drunk and collapsing during a blizzard

During that time, Henry was engaged to marry a pen pal with whom he had corresponded with while in prison. When Henry’s mother had visited him for Christmas, she responded negatively and disapproved of her son’s fiancée and insisted he move back to Blacksburg. Henry refused, and after which they argued repeatedly during the visit about upcoming nuptials. Early that next year on January 11, 1960, in Tecumseh, Michigan, Henry killed his mother during an argument regarding whether or not he should return home to her house to care for her as she grew older. Henry claimed she struck him over the head with a broom, “at which point he stabbed her in the neck, he then fled the scene”, he said. What Henry didn’t know is that she was not in fact dead, when his half-sister Opal returned later, she discovered their mother alive in a pool of blood. She immediately called the ambulance, but it turned out to be too late to save her mother’s life. It was said that she died of a heart attack precipitated by the assault. Henry returned to Virginia, then says he decided to drive back to Michigan, but was found and arrested in Ohio for the outstanding warrant in

After serving 10 years in prison, they released him in June 1970 due to prison overcrowding. Lucas was convicted of attempting to kidnap three schoolgirls. While serving a five-year sentence, he established a relationship with a family friend and single mother who had written to him. They married on his release in 1975, but he left two years later after his step daughter accused him of sexually abusing her. Lucas began moving between various relatives and one got him a job in West Virginia, where he established a relationship that ended when his girlfriend's family confronted him about