Charles Whitman

COMING SOON!

Although happily married, 25-year-old Charles Whitman was a worried man. He knew that he was in the grip of a terrible compulsion and on the verge of doing something appalling. Finally, on 31st July 1966 his self-control snapped and after killing his wife and mother so that they would be spared the shame he climbed the white granite tower of the University of Texas administration building, and started shooting at anyone who moved below. Fifteen people died and thirty were injured before police assault teams got close enough to gun him down.

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Charles Whitman
born: 23-06-1941
birth place: Florida, USA
died: 01-08-1966

After picking up Kathy from work that evening, they returned home, where he phoned his mother and asked if they could come around to visit. For some reason, Kathy chose not to accompany him and he went to his mother’s apartment alone, where he choked her with a length of rubber hose, before stabbing her with a hunting knife. He then sat down and wrote another letter, explaining that he had killed his mother to alleviate her suffering, and stuck the letter on the door of her apartment.

Returning home, he swiftly killed his wife Kathy by stabbing her as she slept, before returning to complete his earlier letter, placing the blame for his actions on his father, before writing notes to both of his brothers and his father. He then set about making preparations for the killing spree that he had planned for later that day.

He packed his old Marine footlocker with all the supplies that he felt might be needed for a lengthy standoff, including food, torches, knives and a selection of rifles and pistols, supplementing these later that morning with additional supplies and more guns, as well as renting a two-wheeled dolly to help him to transport the heavy locker.

Finally, he modified his new shotgun by sawing off part of the barrel and the stock, before loading the dolly and footlocker in his car, donning a pair of blue overalls, and heading for the University campus. By 11:30 a.m. he had entered the grounds with the use of his security ID, and he unloaded the locker and took an elevator to the top of the tower, where the blue delivery overalls served as a useful camouflage.

Edna Townsley was his first stranger victim: she was supervising the Tower’s observation deck that morning, and Whitman hit her on the back of her head with a rifle butt, before dragging her behind a couch, where she died a few hours later from her wounds. Just before noon, Cheryl Botts and Don Walden entered the reception area from the observation deck and saw Charlie leaning over the couch, holding two guns. They greeted him but were not immediately alarmed, then boarded the elevator, unaware of how fortunate they were to have escaped the carnage that was to follow.

Subsequent arrivals were not so fortunate: a party of six were greeted by a hail of pellets from the sawn off shotgun, which killed two of them, wounding another two critically, leaving the survivors to run for help. The alarm spread quickly on lower floors within the tower, and people began barricading themselves into classrooms and offices.

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Links relating to this biography:
Crime & Investigation Network