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 (82 page)

Page 281


went around to several different jobs. Finally, they had an opportunity to appoint him as a Texas Ranger so they could have a Mexican American in the job. ¹⁷

It was during the same interview that former Chief Miles strongly and disingenuously asserted that "the newspapers sort of took over" and "gave all the credit to Ramiro Martinez."
¹⁸. Miles must not have given a great deal of prior thought to what he said. On the next day he angrily refused follow-up questions by saying that he did not "have a damn thing to say about the Whitman Case, who shot the sniper, or why he felt the news media had wrongly given Martinez credit for ending the tragedy"
¹⁹

Other APD officers have candidly shared their feelings about the issue. Jerry Day asserted, "Houston was definitely the one who killed Whitman."
²⁰In October of 1975, Lieutenant Bolton Gregory, one of two officers who discovered Kathy Whitman's body, maintained that the autopsy showed that a shotgun blast killed Whitman. He went on to explain that Martinez fired six times but hit the sniper only once in the arm.
²¹(Dr. Coleman de Chenar, the pathologist who performed the autopsy, did note that "pellets" were found in the brain; there is no notation, however, concerning a 38-caliber round in Whitman's arm.) Houston's advocates in this controversy are sincere in their beliefs but none of them has ever questioned Martinez's bravery.

There are many facts about the shooting of Charles Whitman that Ramiro and Houston agree on: Ramiro led the way, turned the corner first, and from a very low position fired all six rounds in his revolver as quickly as he could pull the trigger; Houston fired two blasts from a 12-gauge shotgun loaded with 00 buckshot; Ramiro subsequently grabbed the shotgun from Houston's grasp and ran towards Whitman and fired into Whitman's upper body. The area of disagreement concerns Whitman's reaction once Ramiro started firing. Ramiro recalls that Whitman "sprung like a cat" and from a standing position tried to level his carbine to fire back, while Houston recalls that Whitman stayed in a seated position as he tried to level the carbine.
²²The disagreement is believed to be significant because if Whitman were standing it is more likely that Ramiro wounded him. If he were seated the large deck lamps would have

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obstructed his line of fire, and furthermore, only Houston would have had a clear view of the sniper's head to fire the fatal blasts.

There are other facts that are not in dispute. A total of thirty-three missiles were fired at Whitman by Ramiro and Houston. Ramiro fired six rounds from his revolver; Houston fired eighteen pellets in two shots. Ramiro fired another nine pellets at very short range from one shotgun blast. To seek to determine which of the two men killed Charles Whitman is to search for the pellet or bullet that inflicted not only a fatal injury, but the first injury that might have been fatal. Even if possible, such a search would be extraordinarily unproductive, serving only to legitimize the notion that such a discovery is a prize to be won. Chief Miles initially stated that no one should seek or take "credit" for killing another human being, a wise statement he should have stuck to. Regardless of how justified or necessary, the killing of a person, even someone as evil as Charles Whitman, should not be an occasion for celebration. Selflessness, courage, and the rescue of an entire university from the clutches of a killer deserve recognition. In that respect, two Austin policemen, Ramiro Martinez and Houston McCoy, side by side, faced identical dangers to bring the madness to an end. Killing and death are not measures of courage; if so, Whitman would have been the bravestan absurd notion. Would Martinez and McCoy have demonstrated less courage had they taken Whitman alive?

It can hardly be denied, however, that Ramiro Martinez has received the bulk of the recognition for killing Charles Whitman. The
Deadly Tower
movie ended the politeness of the debate. The controversy has focused some attention on the role Houston McCoy played in ending the incident, but unfortunately, more space and time have been focused on the argument than the deed. Some who resent how Houston has been overlooked have postulated a number of different reasons for the historical oversight. Houston has suggested that, in part, he is to blame; West Texans grow up in a culture "where you just don't talk a lot about yourself."
²³Others claim that the Hispanic community adopted Ramiro Martinez as a hero, and that fact somehow exaggerated the recognition he received. Unlike many controversies associated with the Whitman case, the evidence is clear: the reason Ramiro Martinez was identified as the slayer of Charles Whitman cannot be traced to the actions of newspaper

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reporters or Hispanic groups, but a single, most unlikely, individualPolice Chief Bob Miles.

In the Austin Police files on the Whitman case there is only one reference to the whereabouts of Chief Miles during the shootout. Apparently he and a "Major Biggerstaff" proceeded to Brackenridge Hospital, most probably as a result of the shooting of fellow officer, Billy Paul Speed.
²⁴Not surprisingly, requests for statements were directed at Chief Miles even before the incident came to an end, and his first statements contained a number of inaccuracies. For example, on the next day, citing a statement by Miles as their source, the
Austin American-Statesman
incorrectly reported that Martinez and Jerry Day, with Houston McCoy, were led through tunnels beneath the UT campus.
²⁵

At 3:00
P.M.
on 1 August 1966, only about one and a half hours after Miles could have found out that Whitman was dead, he issued the following statement via teletype:


ALL PUBLIC NEWS MEDIA


SNIPER ON TOP OF UNIV OF TEX AS [sic] TOWER WAS DOA 1 22 PM THIS DATE ATTEMPTED APPREHENSION MADE BY OFFICER RAMIRO MARTINEZ PATROLMAN AUSTIN POLICE DEPT & OTHERS SUBJECT TENTATIVELY IDENTIFIED AS CHARLES J WHITMAN CAU-MALE DOB 6-24-41 RESIDENT OF AUSTIN SEVEN KNOWN DEAD ESTIMATED 27 INJURED


CHIEF R A MILES PD AUSTIN TEXAS OPR CUNNINGHAM 8 1 66 3 PM ²⁶

At that time Ramiro Martinez could hardly have been seeking sole credit for killing Whitmanhe had been taken to APD headquarters where he was suffering from dry heaves. From that moment, however, being the only officer named in Miles's release, Martinez became the focus of attention. Reporters from all over the world

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