49 Facts About Charles Whitman

Charles Joseph Whitman was an American mass murderer and Marine veteran who became known as the "Texas Tower Sniper".

Charles Whitman fatally shot three people inside UT Austin's Main Building, then accessed the 28th-floor observation deck on the building's clock tower.

Charles Whitman killed a total of seventeen people; the 17th victim died 35 years later from injuries sustained in the attack.

Charles Whitman was born on June 24,1941, in Lake Worth, Florida, the eldest of three sons born to Margaret E and Charles Adolphus Whitman Jr.

Charles Whitman's father was raised in an orphanage in Savannah, Georgia, and described himself as a self-made man.

The marriage of Charles Whitman's parents was marred by domestic violence; Charles Whitman's father was an admitted authoritarian who provided for his family but demanded near perfection from all of them.

Charles Whitman was known to be physically and emotionally abusive towards his wife and children.

Charles Whitman's father was a firearms collector and enthusiast, who taught each of his young sons to shoot, clean, and maintain weapons.

Charles Whitman regularly took them on hunting trips, and Charles became an avid hunter and accomplished marksman.

Charles Whitman joined the Boy Scouts of America at age 11.

Charles Whitman became an Eagle Scout at twelve years three months, reportedly the youngest of any Eagle Scout up to that time.

Charles Whitman became an accomplished pianist at the age of 12.

In September 1955, Charles Whitman entered St Ann's High School in West Palm Beach, where he was regarded as a moderately popular student.

Charles Whitman told a family friend that the catalyst for his enlistment was an incident a month earlier, in which his father had beaten him and thrown him into the family swimming pool because Charles Whitman had come home drunk.

Charles Whitman achieved 215 of 250 possible points on marksmanship tests, doing well when shooting rapidly over long distances as well as at moving targets.

Charles Whitman earned high scores on the required examination, and the selection committee approved his enrollment at a preparatory school in Maryland, where he completed courses in mathematics and physics before being approved to transfer to the University of Texas at Austin to study mechanical engineering.

In September 1961, Charles Whitman entered the mechanical engineering program at UT Austin.

Charles Whitman's hobbies included karate, scuba diving, gambling, and hunting.

Charles Whitman earned a reputation as a practical joker in his years as an engineering student, but his friends noted he made some morbid and chilling statements.

In February 1962,20-year-old Charles Whitman met Kathleen Frances Leissner, an education major three years his junior.

Charles Whitman's family drove from Florida to attend the event, and his younger brother Patrick served as best man.

Charles Whitman was ordered to active duty in February 1963 and went to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, for the remainder of his five-year enlistment.

Charles Whitman apparently resented his college studies being ended, although he was automatically promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal.

Charles Whitman wrote about his upcoming court-martial and contempt for the Marine Corps, criticizing them for inefficiencies.

Charles Whitman wrote about his efforts and plans to free himself from financial dependence on his father.

In December 1964, Charles Whitman was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps.

Charles Whitman returned to UT Austin, enrolling in the architectural engineering program.

In January 1965, Charles Whitman took a temporary job with Central Freight Lines as a traffic surveyor for the Texas Highway Department, while his wife worked as a biology teacher at Lanier High School.

Charles Whitman was a volunteer scout leader with Austin Scout Troop 5.

Friends later said that Charles Whitman had told them that he struck his wife on three occasions.

In May 1966, Charles Whitman's mother announced her decision to divorce her husband because of his continued physical abuse.

Charles Whitman drove to Florida to help his mother move to Austin.

Charles Whitman was reportedly so afraid that his father would resort to violence against his mother as she prepared to leave that he summoned a local policeman to remain outside the house while she packed her belongings.

Charles Whitman picked up his wife from her summer job as a telephone operator before he met his mother for lunch at the Wyatt Cafeteria, which was close to the UT Austin campus.

Charles Whitman wrote that he had decided to kill both his mother and wife.

Charles Whitman further explained that he wanted to relieve both his wife and mother of the suffering of this world, and to save them the embarrassment of his actions.

Charles Whitman did not mention planning the attack at the university.

Charles Whitman left a handwritten note beside her body, which read in part:.

Charles Whitman then returned to his home at 906 Jewell Street, where he killed his wife by stabbing her five times in the chest as she slept.

Charles Whitman covered her body with sheets, then resumed the typewritten note he had begun the previous evening.

Charles Whitman left instructions in the rented house requesting that two rolls of camera film be developed and wrote personal notes to each of his brothers.

Charles Whitman last wrote on an envelope labeled "Thoughts for the Day", in which he stored a collection of written admonitions.

At 5:45 am on August 1,1966, Charles Whitman phoned his wife's supervisor at Bell System to explain that Kathy was ill and unable to work that day.

Charles Whitman made a similar phone call to his mother's workplace five hours later.

Charles Whitman falsely identified himself as a research assistant and told a security guard he was there to deliver equipment.

Charles Whitman then climbed to the 28th floor of the Main Building's clock tower, killing three people within the tower, and opened fire from the observation deck with a hunting rifle and other weapons.

Charles Whitman killed 15 people and wounded 31 in the 96 minutes before he was shot and killed.

Charles Whitman had seen a minimum of five doctors between the fall and winter of 1965 before he visited a psychiatrist from whom he received no prescription.

Charles Whitman met with Maurice Dean Heatly, the staff psychiatrist at the University of Texas Health Center, on March 29,1966.