Charles Witman- The Texas Tower Sniper
Charles Witman was born on June 24th, 1941 in Lake Worth, Florida. It’s been stated that Charles didn’t have the best upbringing and that the worst of it came from his father. His father collected firearms and taught each of his kids to shoot and clean weapons. Charles often accompanied his father on hunting trips and was an Eagle Scout. His father said:
““Charlie could plug the eye out of a squirrel by the time he was sixteen.””
In 1955, Charles went to St. Ann’s High School in West Palm Beach and it’s stated that he was a very intelligent and popular person. He graduated in 1959 and without telling his father he enrolled in the United States Marine Corps. One of his friends said Charles joined the military because his father beat him so badly when he came home drunk one night and he wanted to get away.
Charles was in the Marines from 1959 to 1960. He earned high scores on his marksmanship tests and at shooting long distance at moving targets. He wanted to become a commissioned officer. He did well on his tests and was approved to attend a prep school in Maryland, from there he transferred to the University of Texas at Austin to study mechanical engineering.
Charles’s college life was not good. He was a poor student, he was arrested for butchering a deer in a shower of the dorms and another student said that Charles had made an interesting and scary statement to him, he said that Charles said:
““A person could stand off an army from atop of it [the tower] before they got him.””
Charles married a woman named Kathleen Leissner in 1962. In 1963, he was ordered for active duty at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, he had to finish his 5 year enlistment. It seems that while he was there, his behavior was getting out of hand. He was gambling a lot and even was court-martialed for gambling and for using a firearm on base. He was even demoted. While he was in North Carolina, he wrote in a journal that was named Daily Record of C.J. Whitman. He wrote about his life in the military, how he wanted to be with his wife and how we wanted financial dependence from his father. His parents also separated right before the events at the Texas Tower.
On the day before the events, Charles bought binoculars and a knife and Spam from a 7 Eleven. At 6:45pm, Charles wrote a suicide note and it said:
“I do not quite understand what it is that compels me to type this letter. Perhaps it is to leave some vague reason for the actions I have recently performed. I do not really understand myself these days. I am supposed to be an average reasonable and intelligent young man. However, lately (I cannot recall when it started) I have been a victim of many unusual and irrational thoughts. These thoughts constantly recur, and it requires a tremendous mental effort to concentrate on useful and progressive tasks”
In his note, he also said he wanted an autopsy done to see if there was anything causing him to act this way. It’s now determined that he had some kind of brain damage.
He went to his mother’s house and stabbed her and covered her with a sheet. He left a note that said:
“To Whom It May Concern: I have just taken my mother’s life. I am very upset over having done it. However, I feel that if there is a heaven she is definitely there now [...] I am truly sorry [...] Let there be no doubt in your mind that I loved this woman with all my heart”
He returned to his own home and killed his wife. He stabbed his wife 3 times and covered her with a sheet, as well. He then left another note and this one said:
“I imagine it appears that I brutally killed both of my loved ones. I was only trying to do a quick thorough job [...] If my life insurance policy is valid please pay off my debts [...] donate the rest anonymously to a mental health foundation. Maybe research can prevent further tragedies of this type [...] Give our dog to my in-laws. Tell them Kathy loved “Schocie” very much [...] If you can find in yourselves to grant my last wish, cremate me after the autopsy.”
At 5:45am, before he drove the university, he called his wife and mother’s employers and said they wouldn’t be in that day because they were sick.
Charles arrived to the university around 11:35am and said he was a research student and needed to deliver equipment so he could get access to the parking lot. He climbed to the 28th floor and started shooting from the observation deck. In 96 minutes, he killed 14 people and wounded 31. The officers raced to the top to find Charles and put a stop to it. He was finally killed by Sergeant Ramiro Martinez and Patrolman Houston McCoy.
During Charles Whitman’s autopsy, the medical examiner found a “pen sized” brain tumor. The examiner said the brain tumor would have no effect on the actions of this person.
Usually during these cases, the victims are not talked about so I am going to list all the victims, their ages and if they died or were injured. It’s a lot of names but the victims are not talked about enough.
Edna Elizabeth Townsley, 51- died
Mike Gabour, 19- injured
Martin "Mark” Gabour, 16- died
Marguerite Lamport, 45- died
Mary Frances Gabour, age unknown- injured
Claire Wilson and her unborn child, 18- injured
Thomas Frederick Eckman, 18- died
Robert Hamilton Boyer, 33- died
Devereaux "Maitland" Huffman, 31- injured
David Mattson, 22- injured
Roland Ehlke, 21- injured
Tom Herman, age unknown- injured
Thomas Aquinas Ashton, 22- died
Homer J. Kelley, 64- injured
Nancy Harvey, 21- injured
Ellen Evganides, age unknown, injured
Aleck Hernandez, 17- injured
Karen Griffith, 17- died
Thomas Ray Karr, 24- died
David Hubert Gunby, 23- died
Brenda Littlefield, 18- injured
Adrian Littlefield,19- injured
Claudia Rutt, 18- died
Paul Bolton Sonntag, 18- died
Carla Sue Wheeler. 18- injured
Roy Dell Schmidt, 29- died
Billy Paul Speed, 24- died
Harry Walchuk, 38- died
Billy Snowden, 35- injured
Sandra Wilson, 21- injured
Abdul Khashab, 26- injured
Janet Paulos, 20- injured
Lana Phillips, 21- injured
Oscar Royvela, 21- injured
Irma Garcia, 21- injured
Avelino Esparza, 26- injured
Robert Heard, 36- injured
John Scott Allen, 18- injured
Morris Hohman, 30- injured
F.L. Foster, age unknown- injured
Robert Frede, age unknown- injured
Della Martinez, age unknown- injured
Marina Martinez, age unknown- injured
Delores Ortega, 30- injured
C.A. Stewart, age unknown- injured
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I personally don’t think Charles Whitman’s brain tumor caused this to happen, especially when I read the part about him saying how he could shoot people from the tower. I do think he had a traumatic childhood, he was beaten and saw his mother getting beat. I think his father was an evil man and somehow Charles turned into his father and possibly even worse since he’s actually a mass murderer.
I also listened to the True Crime Garage episode about this case and I agree with what they said about him and why he might have killed his mother and wife. I don’t think he intended or wanted to kill them, I think he thought they would have been ashamed of him if he were to survive.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Whitman
https://truecrimegarage.com/home/blog/charles-whitman-229
