Read A Sniper in the Tower Online

Authors: Gary M. Lavergne

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

A Sniper in the Tower (37 page)

 
Page 113
It is still not entirely clear why
Whitman wanted the film in his
cameras developed. 
Austin Police
Department Files.
wedding band on the dresser. The photos depicted a livestock show and carnival held the previous March and other happier occasions in San Antonio and Town Lake. To his brother John, whom he had seen only a few days earlier, he wrote a short letter.
8-1-66
Monday
3:00
A.M.
Dear Johnnie,
Kathy and I enjoyed your visit. I am terribly sorry to have let you down. Please try to do better than I have. It won't be hard. John, Mom loved you very much.
Your brother,
Charlie
The letter he wrote to his brother Patrick hints at deep and bitter divisions within the Whitman family:
8-1-66
Monday
3:00
A.M.
Pat,
You are so so wrong about Mom. Maybe some day you will understand why she left Daddy. Pat, Mom didn't have any desire to harm Daddy whatsoever. She just wanted what she had worked for. She really needed that $40.00.
 
Page 114
Thanks for sending it. She'll never know about that Grandmother or not.
Charlie
15
Whitman's final letter to his father, C. A. Whitman, has never been made public.
16
IV
Whitman's grandiose schemes for mass murder required meticulous planning. For the next seven hours Whitman remained focused to an extent he had seldom, if ever, demonstrated on other, more wholesome pursuits. First, he retrieved from the small garage a green footlocker in which he would store his arsenal and other supplies. A forwarding address was stenciled in white letters on the marine locker: "C. A. Whitman, PO. Box 1065, Lake Worth, Fla., USA" along with "Lance Cpl. C. J. Whitman" followed by a fleet marine address. He packed as though remembering his assertion that "an army could be held off" from the Tower. The Austin Police Department later catalogued an amazing array of supplies including but not limited to:
Channel Master 14 Transistor AM-FM Radio (portable) with brown case
Robinson Reminder (note book, no writing)
white 3-1/2 gallon plastic water jug (full of water)
red 3-1/2 gallon plastic gas jug (full of gasoline)
sales slip from Davis Hardware for 1 August 1966
four "C" cell flashlight batteries
several lengths of cotton and nylon ropes (different lengths)
plastic Wonda-scope compass
paperMate black ball point pen
one Gun Tector, green rifle scabbard
hatchet
Nesco machette with green scabbard
Hercules hammer
green ammunition box with gun cleaning equipment
Gene brand alarm clock
cigarette lighter
 
Page 115
canteen with water
green Sears rifle scabbard
Camallus hunting knife with brown scabbard and whitt stone
large Randall knife with bone handle with the name of Charles J. Whitman on the blade with brown scabbard with whitt stone
large pocket knife with a lock blade
10-inch pipe wrench
eye glasses and a brown case
box of kitchen matches
12 assorted cans of food and a jar of honey
two cans of Sego
can of charcoal starter
white and green 6-volt flashlight
set of ear plugs
two rolls of white adhesive tape
solid steel bar (approximately one foot long)
Army green rubber duffle bag
green extension cord
lengths of clothes line wire and yellow electric wire
bread and sweet rolls
gray gloves
deer bag
17
Amazingly, room for guns and ammunition (which the above list does not include) still remained. Whitman's elaborate preparation may have been motivated by a genuine belief that he really could hold off an army from the Tower deck and would be able to stay there as long as he liked; he had enough supplies for several days.
Without question Whitman thought clearly enough to hide effectively the murders he had already committed. He had to explain why Kathy would not show up for work at 8:30
A.M.
Knowing that Southwestern Bell switchboards are manned twenty-four hours a day, he called the on-duty shift supervisor at 5:45
A.M.
and told her that Kathy suffered from diarrhea and vomiting and could not report for work. He concluded by apologizing to the supervisor.
18

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