A Sniper in the Tower (23 page)

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Authors: Gary M. Lavergne

Tags: #History, #United States, #General, #State & Local, #Southwest (AZ; NM; OK; TX), #True Crime, #Murder, #test

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25 APD Files: University of Texas,
Application for Employment
by Charles J. Whitman, 17 June 1966;
Daily Texan
, 1 August 1991; UT Health Center; Ibid.;
Summer Texan
, 2 August 1966; Connally Report, p. 4.
 
Page 63
26 Texas DPS Files:
Intelligence Report
, 3 August 1966; Dr. Clyde Lee quoted in
Summer Texan
, 2 August 1966.
27 APD Files:
Statement of Francis J. Schuck, Jr.
, 13 September 1966; Connally Report, p. 4; FBI Files:
Cole Report
, 17 August 1966, pp. 56;
Austin American-Statesman
, 2 and 7 August 1966.
28 FBI Files:
Cole Report
, 17 August 1966, pp. 46 and 1819.
 
Page 64
5
Oozing with Hostility
I
Some of the finest behavioral scientists in the world would one day conclude that Charlie Whitman was "intelligent, intense, and driven," qualities that should result in success and satisfaction. But Charlie found frustration instead. The nice facade became harder for him to maintain; eventually he concluded that he could not master the forces working against real achievement. He took no initiative to seek meaningful help for his academic or psychological problems. He behaved inconsistently towards Kathy, although his serious loss of control was
 
Page 65
more infrequent. His bouts of depression were probably more troubling to Kathy; it would have been in her nature to try to keep Charlie happy During the spring of 1966, she began to gently guide him towards professional counseling.
Charlie believed he suffered from some physical malady. Specifically, he thought something was wrong with his head; and he also feared that he was sterile.
1
Those suspicions seemed to torture his mind, but there exists no evidence of his wanting professional help. Instead, he chose to wallow in self-doubt and personal dissatisfaction. For all his talk about the need for others to achieve and get ahead and in spite of his harsh words for his brother Patrick's refusal to get help for his problems, Charlie Whitman stalled himself by his own inability to deal with self-inflicted problems. Other sources of stress would result in a complete surrender to his frustrations and angerand in tragedy.
The grades Charlie earned in his courses during the spring and fall of 1965 were significantly improved from his earlier matriculation at the University of Texas. In the spring he made three Cs, one B, and one A. During the fall, after his summer at NASA, he earned three As and one B, but had to drop calculus. Charlie had, at last, become an honor student.
2
He had learned hard lessons and paid for his foolishness, and he now had Kathy. For some time she had been universally lauded by Lanier students, fellow teachers, school administrators, and Southwestern Bell Telephone operators and supervisors. Her loyalty and determination to make her marriage work and her emotional support for Charlie were extraordinary.
In Lake Worth, Florida, a different Whitman wife had given up. After enduring more than twenty-five years of a difficult marriage, Margaret decided she could take no more. On 2 March 1966 at 9:30
P.M.
someone called the Lake Worth Police Department reporting a disturbance at 820 South L Street. "They are going to kill each other" the complainant said. But by the time officers arrived all was quiet. Less than two hours later, at 11:20
P.M.
, LWPD received another call, but this time the caller identified himself as Charles J. Whitman of 1001 Shelley Avenue, Austin, Texas. According to the police report, Charlie informed the dispatcher that "Mr. Charles A. Whitman of 820 South L Street had threatened to do bodily harm to his mother. He advises that he is enroute to this city at this time
 
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to pick up his mother." Obviously, Margaret had called Charlie for help. Most likely he convinced her to leave his father and once she agreed he immediately set out to cover the 1,400 mile trip to Lake Worth. He arrived on 4 March to find his entire family in complete disarray. By 4:05
P.M.
Margaret had been firmly convinced of the wisdom of moving to Austin. She called the LWPD and requested that an officer be dispatched to 820 South L Street to stand by while she removed some of her personal effects. The two officers, Lieutenant Sargent and Officer Arbour, reported standing by for an hour and fifteen minutes observing C. A. and Margaret arguing and "giving each other all kinds of trouble for the entire time, all nonsense."
3
Very shortly Charlie and Margaret were in Austin. Charlie reputedly made the entire trip without any sleep. Soon afterwards Patrick arrived; before the end of March he had moved in with Charlie and Kathy. Within a few weeks Pat relocated to 1404 West 12th Street, an apartment very near Margaret. He found a job as a truck driver and salesman for Big Three Welding and Gas Equipment Company. While in Austin, however, Patrick began to feel neglected, and developed a feeling that Margaret favored Charlie. Anger and strained relations haunted the Whitmans even in the absence of C. A.; after a few weeks Patrick returned to Florida.
4
The troubled family was dysfunctional, at best. The whole messy affair just added to the pressures of a tormented young Charles Whitman. The Lake Worth problems had moved to Austin and had become inescapable.
By May, Margaret made a firm decision to make a complete break. At that time she returned to Lake Worth to get more of her things. Evidently, another painful clash took place between the elder Whitmans. An unidentified neighbor recalled that C. A. tried to remove Margaret's ring before she left him, but he could not get it off her finger. Whether or not Charlie witnessed the struggle is not known. The elder Whitman did make repeated and serious attempts to get Margaret to return to him, including a barrage of phone calls to Charlie.
I'm not ashamed of the fact I spent a thousand dollars a month on the phone bill, begging her to come back. I loved
 
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my wife dearly, my sons dearly, and I wanted our home to be happy. I kept begging Charlie to come back to me, too. I promised Charlie that if he'd only persuade his mama to come back, I'd swear never to lay a hand on her. But my wife was a fine woman, and she understood my nature, and even when she left me in Maywe'd had a clash and she said to me, "I'm leaving because you've been too good to us all." She told me that was where the thing had gone wrong.
5
And so again, C. A. Whitman associated love with brutality. In his mind, his goodness and generosity caused his family's problems. Charlie and Margaret both lived in Austin with new cars purchased by C. A. Whitman, but Margaret could justifiably argue that she was responsible for a good part of the success of the Whitman business. Through her brother, she contacted a West Palm Beach attorney to begin negotiations with C. A. to arrive at a property settlement.
Despite evidence of his generosity, C. A's admitted domineering and overbearing personality should not be underestimated. On 5 June 1966, Margaret wrote to her father: "I don't know whether you know it yet or not but Charles and I have separated and I am getting a divorce. I hate it but I just couldn't take it any longer." She never mailed the unfinished letter.
Margaret's Austin roots grew deeper when she applied for and accepted a position as a cashier at Wyatt's Cafeteria in the Hancock Shopping Center. She reported for her first day of work on 8 April 1966. Three months earlier the University of Texas had reclassified Charlie as a resident of Texas. The Whitmans were becoming naturalized Texans.
6
Kathy knew how depressed Charlie could get and she was afraid to leave him alone. He could get frighteningly unhappy and often languished in a state of anxiety Dr. Dana L. Farnsworth, a Hygiene Professor and Health Services Director of Harvard University, would later observe:
He indicated to friends that he had been depressed from time to time because he felt that something was going on inside him he did not understand. He had a fear of his

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