True Story of Henry Lee Lucas From Netflix True Crime Series ‘The Confession Killer’

Netflix has become a content hot spot for true crime junkies over the past few years as it’s played host to such original documentary series and movies as Making a Murderer, Amanda Knox, and Confessions of a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes. And now, true crime fans have one more Netflix original show to binge: The Confession Killer, a five-part docu-series about Henry Lee Lucas.

Directed by Robert Kenner (famous for his 2008 doc Food, Inc.) and Taki Oldham, The Confession Killer delves deep into the 600+ murders that Henry confessed to in the 1980s. His numerous alleged crimes made him, by far, the most prolific serial killer the United States had ever seen — but as viewers will learn in Netflix’s new series, his confessions were likely based on countless lies.

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The Confession Killer | Official Trailer | Netflix

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Before you settle down to watch this bone-chilling series, here’s everything you need to know about Henry Lee Lucas and the hundreds of crimes for which he, at one point, claimed responsibility.

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How the confessions began

Henry Lee Lucas became a violent criminal at a young age: He was just 23 when he confessed to killing his mother in 1960, and for that crime, Henry served 15 years in a Michigan prison. Not long after his release, however, Texas police connected him to the murders of his young girlfriend and his 82-year-old landlord — he confessed to those violent crimes, as well.

Henry Lee Lucas (right) is accompanied by Texas Ranger Phil Ryan (left) in 1983.

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Interestingly, however, Henry’s confessions didn’t stop there. After his arrest for the murders of his girlfriend and landlord, Henry — a poor drifter with few teeth and a very low IQ — began confessing to even more killings. Hundreds of them, in fact. According to him, he had murdered over 600 people all over the country, and he’d committed the gruesome acts in almost every way imaginable.

An alleged give-and-take relationship

Confessing to these 600 murders gave Henry the title of the United States’ most prolific known serial killer, but it also came with a lot of perks: Today, we now know that Henry was often “rewarded” for his many confessions with milkshakes and hamburgers from Williamson County Sheriff Jim Boutwell and his Texas Rangers. He was also frequently allowed to go without handcuffs at the jail where he was temporarily being held, and during this time, he became somewhat of a local — and national — celebrity; in fact, strangers would often ask for photos and autographs.

Henry Lee Lucas (right) is escorted by Texas Ranger Bob Prince (left) in the 1980s.

Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc

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The relationship was mutually beneficial, allegedly. As The Confession Killer outlines, Henry’s confessions allowed law enforcement officers across the country to close many of their unsolved murder cases — and led Sheriff Boutwell and the Texas Rangers to come off as “heroes” of sorts. During the height of Henry’s 1980s confession spree, some 200 murders were (either officially or unofficially) attributed to him.

Doubt arises

As time went on, holes started to appear in Henry’s confessions. Although he seemed to know grisly details about many of the crimes (he was even known to draw precise portraits of his alleged victims that were accurate down to the eye color), his timeline was often off or, in some cases, entirely impossible. For example, journalist Hugh Aynesworth — who closely covered Henry during his confession heyday — calculated that in the month of October 1978 alone, Henry would have had to drive 11,000 miles back and forth across the country in order to commit all the murders he had claimed to have committed.

Still, many of the murder cases to which he had previously confessed were never reopened.

Henry ultimately went on to take back many of his confessions, claiming that police had bribed him with food and provided him with necessary details about some of the crimes so that his confessions would be more convincing. DNA tests also found that Henry was not guilty of at least 20 of the murders that he had claimed were his doing. Still, many of the murder cases to which he had previously confessed were never reopened.

What’s happening with the cases today

In 2001, 64-year-old Henry died in prison of natural causes, taking the truth about which of his alleged crimes he actually did commit with him. And today, many of the victims’ families are left without answers.

Henry Lee Lucas sits in his prison cell in 1998.

Pam Francis

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The Confession Killer directors Robert and Taki hope that their Netflix series will help bring the pain these families still feel to light — and maybe will even help inspire law enforcement to reopen their loved ones’ cases and search for the truth.

“We met with a lot of victims’ family members,” Robert told The Guardian in a December interview. “They’re still in pain — they want to know what happened to their loved ones … Justice was denied by what happened. And there’s a chance to reopen it, and I’m hoping the juries will and the series can bring about some comfort to the victims’ family members.”

You can stream The Confession Killer on Netflix now.

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Heather Finn

Content Strategy Editor

Heather Finn is the content strategy editor at Good Housekeeping, where she heads up the brand’s social media strategy and covers entertainment news on everything from ABC’s ‘The Good Doctor’ to Netflix’s latest true crime documentaries.