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 (68 page)

 
Page 234
he is a perfectionist in other respects and extremely expansive. The youth has lived for the day when he could consider himself as a person capable of excelling [sic] his father in high society in general. He long ago acknowledged that he had surpassed him in educational fields, but he is seeking that status in versely [sic] all fields of human endeavor. He has self-centered in egocentric [sic], and at the same time he wants to improve himself. The degenerated state of affairs with his parents plus his repeated recent failures to achieve have become extremely frustrating to him which he (and his father) would express his hostility; thus some of the experiences noted above.
No medication was given to this youth at this time and he was told to make an appointment for the same day next week, and should he feel that he needs to talk to this therapist he could call me at anytime during the interval.
M.D. Heatly, M.D./dms
15
During the question-and-answer portion, Heatly described Whitman as someone who looked like he could have been a professional football player. Then he made a remark that would dominate nearly all future descriptions of Charles Whitman. "His features and the flat top or burr haircut suggested the all-American boy" Combined with the earlier statement containing descriptions of Whitman as an honor student and a dependable young man, and subsequent stories of how he was an Eagle Scout, a model marine, a hard-working newspaper boy, a talented musician, and an all-around nice guy, a myth emerged. The unsavory side of Charles Whitman's life took a back seat to the image of an "all-American boy."
When asked if, in retrospect, he saw any psychosis, Heatly replied, "I found no psychosis symptoms at all." Instead, he suspected an "organic" or physical malady which could have led to a sudden episode of violence. After a number of questions Heatly summed up his impressions back in March of 1966, the same impressions he had the day after Charles Whitman committed the largest simultaneous mass murder in American history. ''I am unable to account for
 
Page 235
the chain of events on a pure and uncomplicated psychiatric basis."
16
The Heatly press conference lasted about forty-five minutes. Disturbing questions followed: Should Maurice Heatly have known that Charles Whitman was a dangerous individual? Should Dr. Heatly have had Whitman committed? Was Whitman crying for help? Were those cries ignored? Those questions haunt the University of Texas to this day. Since the incident, only a few fellow UT staff and faculty members, in hushed tones, have engaged in criticism of Dr. Heatly, and much of that criticism could conceivably be attributed to wrenching emotion. Robert Ressler, an author and criminologist, has suggested that Heatly should have "soft committed" Whitman. But the relevant literature of the event nearly unanimously absolves Dr. Heatly's actions.
Charles Whitman was a psychiatrist's worse nightmare. A University of Chicago psychiatrist, Dr. Robert Daniels, summed up the feelings of the medical family. "Thousands of peopleand I mean literally thousands talk to doctors about having such feelings." Most do not go through with their inclinations, and when they do their medical records are seldom, if ever, the subject of public scrutiny. In 1965, according to
Time
magazine, of the nearly 2,500,000 Americans treated for mental illnesses, nearly one-third were classified as psychotic. Psychosis exists in varying degrees. Minimally, psychotics lose touch with reality.
17
When Charles Whitman visited Dr. Heatly in March, he had not lost touch with reality. It appears that he continued to be in touch with reality through his conscious decisions to protect himself and to cover his crimes. Had anyone suspected he was mentally ill, yet another quandary would have emerged. As criminologist James Alan Fox has pointed out, mental illness is not a crime; neither is having a violent fantasy.
18
Successful treatment of mental illness, even when obvious, most often involves confidentiality in order to gain the trust of the patient, who in turn, like Charles Whitman, determines the extent of treatment. Even when mental illness is suspected, how mentally ill should a person be to justify involuntary commitment? And who should authorize commitment?
Answers to those questions in reference to Charles Whitman are easy Committing himself would have been most uncharacteristic,
 
Page 236
and, if an attempt had been made to commit him involuntarily, who would have done so? Neither Kathy nor Margaret would have done it; both women trusted and felt safe in Whitman's company to the very moment he killed them. None of his friends or teachers considered committing him. Some people thought he was intense, but most thought he was a nice guy. Those close to him would have given testimony to his sanity, not insanity.
Second guessing Dr. Heatly would have been extraordinarily easy on 2 August 1966 and it may still be tempting. But on 29 March 1966, any commitment of Charles Whitman would have been the result of a "hunch" that most doctors would have found unscientific and most Americans would have found inconsistent with the principles of a free society. Ironically, with the tragic exception of what Dr. Heatly considered a "transient feeling," his report and observations of Charles Whitman were quite insightful and accurate. Arguably, even the "transient feeling'' notation was accurate. The sniping did not take place until four months later, and during that time, no one, not Kathy, not Margaret, not his closest friends, imagined that this all-American boy could be capable of such violence.
1 Patrick Whitman quoted in
Austin American-Statesman
, 1 August 1986.
2 APD Files:
SOR
by G. Phifer, 3 August 1966;
Austin American-Statesman
, 4 August 1966.
3 APD Files:
SOR
by T. J. Allen, 8 August 1966; Connally Report, p. 4;
Daily Texan
, 1 August 1986.
4 McBee Inquest, 1 August 1966; APD Files:
CAPOR
by D. Kidd and B. Gregory, 1 August 1966,
SOR
by B. Gregory, 1 August 1966.
5 APD Files:
SOR
by B. Hamm, 3 August 1966; Mrs. D. W. Nowotny quoted in
Austin American-Statesman
, 2 August 1966.
6 Mike Cox is now the Public Information Officer of the Texas Department of Public Safety. In 1966 as a cub reporter he wrote of his experiences on 1 August. He graciously made available his writings on the incident. Hereafter cited as Cox Papers; APD Files:
SOR
by B. Gregory, 2 August 1966;
Austin American-Statesman
, 4 August 1966.
7 APD Files: "The Tower Incident" is an unidentified and undated document that appears to be the script of a television broadcast. It is not clear as to why the document is in the file.
SOR
by F. Monk, 1 August 1966;
Austin American-Statesman
, 2 and 7 August 1966. The unidentified Cook Funeral Home employee called in to KLBJ Radio:
The Paul Pryor Show
, 1 August 1995.
8 APD Files:
SOR
by F. Monk, 1 August 1966; APD Files:
HOR
by D. L. Moody, 1 August 1966.

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