Charles Whitman

American mass murderer

• Born: June 24, 1941
• Birthplace: Lake Worth, Florida
• Died: August 1, 1966
• Place of death: Austin, Texas

Cause of notoriety: Whitman, who murdered seventeen people in a one-day killing spree, was killed by authorities before he could be brought to trial.

Active: August 1, 1966

Locale: Austin, Texas

Early Life

Charles Joseph Whitman (WHIHT-muhn) was born to Charles A. and Margaret E. Whitman in Lake Worth, Florida, and was raised Roman Catholic. In grade school, Whitman demonstrated superior intelligence, and at the early age of twelve he became an Eagle Scout. Despite their affluence and social prominence, the Whitman family suffered internal discord. Whitman’s father was physically and verbally abusive toward Charles and his mother. Whitman graduated from high school in June, 1959, and, after a serious confrontation with his father in July, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he became a sharpshooter. In 1961, Whitman applied for and received a scholarship from the Naval Enlisted Science Education Program and began study at the University of Texas, Austin. The following summer he married.

Haunted by his father’s berating, Whitman’s academic performance as an engineering student began to suffer despite his best efforts. His scholarship was revoked in February, 1963, and he was forced to return to Camp Lejeune, South Carolina. While stationed there, he was court-martialed for unlawful possession of a firearm and usury. Notwithstanding these infractions, Whitman was honorably discharged from the Marines in December, 1964, and he returned to the University of Texas engineering program.

In early 1966, Whitman’s mother and youngest brother, John, left his abusive father and other brother, Patrick, and moved to Austin. Whitman began to receive harassing phone calls from his father.

Criminal Career

In March, 1966, Whitman met with a doctor at the university health center to discuss recurring feelings of rage and hostility. He failed to return as directed for subsequent visits but was prescribed Dexedrine by his psychiatrist. Later it was discovered that he had a cancerous brain tumor.

On July 31, 1966, Whitman stabbed and killed his mother, leaving a note describing his actions. In the predawn hours of August 1, Whitman stabbed his wife in her sleep, leaving another note expressing his reasons and his final wishes. Dressed as a maintenance worker, Whitman entered the Clock Tower of the University of Texas at about 11:30 a.m. and ascended to the observation deck, carrying a footlocker containing several high-powered semiautomatic rifles, handguns, and ammunition. In the process, Whitman killed a tower employee and two visitors. At 11:48 a.m., Whitman began firing a rifle from the 307-foot tower, killing the first random victim on the main mall of the campus. During the following ninety-six minutes, Whitman killed eleven (including an unborn child) and wounded thirty-one people from his barricaded position; three decades later, the day’s seventeenth victim would die from wounds sustained during the spree.

Legal Action and Outcome

The massacre ended when two Austin police officers, Houston McCoy and Ramiro Martinez, and one deputized citizen, Allan Crum, crept out onto the observation deck to confront Whitman. As Martinez emptied his .38-caliber revolver in the direction of Whitman, McCoy fired on Whitman twice with a 12-gauge shotgun, killing him. Martinez waved a white towel when the murderous rampage finally ended at 1:24 p.m. Whitman’s body was returned to Florida, where he was buried.

Impact

Charles Whitman’s mass murders significantly affected Austin’s first responders. The Austin Police Department and Brackenridge Hospital’s emergency room were quickly overwhelmed during the murder spree. In the following months and years, police administrators established special weapons and tactics (SWAT) units, and hospitals developed protocols for mass casualty incidents.

The University of Texas Clock Tower was closed for two years after the shootings. It reopened to the public in 1968, but after a series of suicides, it again closed in 1975. After twenty-four years, the tower’s observation deck, replete with guided tours and physical security features, reopened on September 15, 1999.

The shock of Austin’s darkest ninety-six minutes had local and national media implications. Word of the massacre spread quickly via television, newspapers, and word of mouth. Nationally, the story was featured on the August, 1966, covers of Time and Life magazines. Surviving victims, suffering short-and long-term disabilities, were interviewed for years after the incident. David Gunby, one of the first gunshot victims of Whitman on August 1, 1966, died from kidney complications on November 12, 2001, the result of wounds he had sustained during the shooting spree.

Bibliography

Helmer, William J. “The Madman in the Tower.” In Crime Chronicles. New York: Warner Books, 2000. Part of a larger collection of true crime events that occurred in Texas, this concise analysis of Whitman shows the historical context and magnitude of the murder spree.

Lavergne, Gary M. A Sniper in the Tower: The Charles Whitman Murders. Denton: University of North Texas Press, 1997. Using primary sources and photographs, this is an in-depth factual account of Charles Whitman’s father’s “tough love,” Whitman’s hate for his father, and how it shaped his life leading up to the mass murders.

Nevin, David. “Texas Sniper’s Murder Rampage.” Life 61, no. 7 (August 12, 1966): 24-31. Published eleven days after the incident, the cover story traces Whitman’s early life through his murderous rampage as depicted in photographs.