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 (88 page)

Page 302

era. The crime photos were helpful in piecing together the positions of things and people in the reception area of the Tower, the Penthouse Apartments, and 906 Jewell Street. Whitman's pictures were helpful in forming physical descriptions of Charles and Kathy Whitman during the last weeks of their lives. The Texas DPS file had photos as well.

The
Report to the GovernorMedical AspectsCharles J. Whitman Catastrophe
, dated 8 September 1966, and footnoted as ''Connally Report," summarized Charles Whitman's life, medical history, and death. It included a psychiatric profile, an analysis of his brain tumor, and evidence of his drug abuse. In spite of the wealth of technical information, the commission that investigated the case drew no hard conclusions as to what prompted Charles Whitman to become a mass murderer. After a detailed but ultimately unsuccessful search for a psychiatric or organic cause for the mass slayings, the eminent scientists on the commission could not bring themselves to conclude that Whitman killed because he
wanted
to.

Secondary Sources

The Barker History Center of the University of Texas at Austin has a number of files and scrapbooks entitled "Tower Sniping." The scrapbooks are a convenient source of newspaper articles from 1966 to the present.

The Austin History Center of the Austin Public Library has a file entitled "Mass MurdersWhitmanM8960 (1)" consisting of loose newspaper clippings, mostly from the
Austin American-Statesman
, and copies of a few primary documents from the Austin Police Department file. The center has back issues of the
Austin American-Statesman
on microfilm, which I utilized. Not surprisingly, the
Austin American-Statesman
provided the most complete reporting of the incident and was an invaluable source. Every major newspaper in the world reported the incident and some of the information citing the
Statesman
as a source can be found in virtually any newspaper of the day. The quality of the reporting, however, should not be understated; it was excellent. Below is a list, probably incomplete, of reporters who from 1966 to 1991 contributed to
Austin American-Statesman
coverage of the Tower tragedy.

Page 303

Jim Berry

Nat Henderson

Chris Whitcraft

Jack Maddigan

Mike Cox

Russell Tinsley

Sara Speights

Brenda Bell

Jerry White

Joe Vargo

Glen Castlebury

Derro Evans

Al Williams

Carol McMurtry

Sam Wood

Paul Recer

Jerry Hall

Larry BeSaw

Cheryl Coggins Frink

Bob Banta

An army of Associated Press and United Press International reporters also covered the incident. They are too numerous to mention. However, one of the reporters, Robert Heard, was actually wounded by Whitman and would later release reports from his hospital room. Additionally, Mr. Heard's first anniversary article for the Associated Press (
Austin American-Statesman
, 30 July 1967) was especially helpful because he located and interviewed at least twenty-six of the thirty-one persons who had been wounded on 1 August 1966. Mr. Heard also provided me with a copy of Fahrenthold and Rider's
Admissions: The Extraordinary History of Brackenridge Hospital
(Austin, Texas: City of Austin, 1984), which deals with the events of 1 August 1966 in Chapter 5. He also faxed me an account of his own movements and wounding on that day.

Other newspapers, magazines and periodicals utilized in my research included:

Palm Beach Post
(Florida)

Lake Worth Herald
(Florida)

Texas Observer

Daily Texan

National Observer

Austin Citizen
(Texas)

San Antonio Standard
(Texas)

San Angelo Standard
(Texas)

Time

UTmost

Life

Playboy

Dallas Morning News

Rosenberg Herald-Coaster
(Texas)

New York Times

Summer Texan

San Antonio Daily Express
(Texas)

Los Angeles Herald-Examiner

Memphis Press Scimitar
(Tennessee)

Sherman Democrat
(Texas)

Texas Monthly

Newsweek

Esquire

Page 304

William J. Helmer's articles in the
Texas Observer
(19 August 1966),
Texas Monthly
(August, 1986), and
Playboy
(October, 1970) were particularly useful. The combination of Helmer's training as a journalist and his being an eyewitness to the event served him well.

As of 1996, no other book has been written about Charles Whitman or the University of Texas Tower incident. There is a peripheral case study on Whitman in Carl Sifakis's
Encyclopedia of American Crime
(New York City: Facts on File, Inc., 1982). Whitman is mentioned often in Jack Levin and James Alan Fox's excellent studies of mass and serial murderers,
Mass Murder: America's Growing Menace
(New York City: Plenum Publishing, 1985) and more recently,
Overkill
(New York City: Plenum Publishing, 1994). Without question, Levin and Fox are America's premier scholars on serial and mass murders. The most detailed treatment, in book form, of Charles Whitman's murders was a single chapter in one of Time-Life's series of books on True Crime that dealt with mass murderers. Unfortunately, the text was largely based on newspaper articles which contained minor errors of fact.

Background material on the histories of the City of Austin, the University of Texas at Austin, and the State of Texas were meant only to put those places in the context of the Whitman murders. Davis and Colson's
Austin: Lone Star Rising
(Memphis: Towery Publishing, Inc., 1994), Richard Zalade's
Austin
(Austin: Texas Monthly Press, 1984), and Clifford Hopewell's
Sam Houston: Man of Destiny
(Austin: Eakin Press, 1987), provided some of the material for the brief discussion of Austin's early history. A concise history of the University of Texas at Austin is Margaret Catherine Berry's
UT Austin: Traditions and Nostalgia
(Austin: Eakin Press, 1992).

Mary Gabour Lamport wrote an autobiography entitled
The Impossible Tree
(Austin: Ginny's Copying Service, 1972), which is a lovely story of her life and family. It is also a story of admirable devotion, faith, and courage. However, her horrible experiences in the Tower take up only a little more than two of the chapters.

Page 305

Acknowledgment

First and foremost I wish to thank my wife Laura. Writing is an avocation for me; my real job requires extensive travel. Taking on a project like this took me away from her on holidays, vacations, and weekends. Even while we were together at home, my preoccupation interfered with our normal lives together. At any time she could have reasonably asked me to stop. Instead, she provided valuable support. Her
summa cum laude
degree in journalism, her mastery of the mechanics and grammar of the English language, and her considerable skills as an editor made her

Page 306

professionally indispensable. Her name belongs on the front of this book.

Falba F. Turner, my former colleague, patiently listened to endless stories of virtually every person mentioned in this book, and she never told me to just shut up. She read first and second drafts of every chapter as they were written and asked very good questions. I have selfishly exploited her considerable intellectual power.

The cooperation of the Austin Police Department has been superb. Specifically, Lieutenant David Parkinson, presently the head of APD's Robbery/Homicide Detail, very patiently responded to my repeated telephone calls, requests and visits. Never once did he attempt to influence my work, yet he generously shared his considerable knowledge and training in response to my numerous questions. Lieutenant Parldnson also located and contacted Houston McCoy and Ramiro Martinez for me and made those interviews possible. Detective J. W. Thompson helped me track down the full names of APD officers mentioned and greatly facilitated my repeated requests for information. Special Agent James Echols of the Austin Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation provided valuable insights and technical expertise. He also greatly assisted in my Freedom of Information Act application for FBI files, although the FBI now claims that the file cannot be located. Mike Cox, Chief of Media Relations, and Assistant Commander Enrique Garcia, both of the Texas Department of Public Safety, made possible my review of the DPS files on the event. Coincidentally, Mike Cox, in 1966 a seventeen-year-old reporter for the
Austin American-Statesman
, was one of the first reporters to reach 906 Jewell Street after the sniping incident. He generously provided me a copy of his account of 1 August 1966.

I am indebted and deeply grateful to Houston McCoy of Menard, Texas. My interview with him took most of a day of detailed and sometimes painful recollections. We were able to use the comfortable home of Hugh Bob Spiller for our work. Houston also made available his collection of pictures, clippings and other memorabilia on the Tower incident.

Judge Ramiro Martinez, Justice of the Peace of Precinct 2 of Comal County, Texas, very generously gave of his time for an interview. We drank a great deal of coffee at Luby's Cafeteria in New Braunfels, Texas, and he refused to let me pay for any of it.

Page 307

Phillip Conner, now Sergeant-Investigator for the Travis County District Attorney, very thoughtfully met with me on very short notice. Mr. Conner was also helpful in dealing with unexpected problems associated with the development of this work.

I did meet for a short time with Mr. C. A. Whitman of Lantana, Florida, who graciously welcomed me to his home. While we did not agree on terms for an in-depth interview, our parting was amicable and I wish to thank him for the time he did spend with me. Lawrence A. Fuess of L. A. Fuess Partners Engineers of Dallas very thoughtfully provided for lunch while I interviewed him in his office.

My former colleague, Dr. Charles Carrick, presently the Superintendent of Scotsboro City (Alabama) Public Schools and an attorney, and Joseph M. Bertrand, an attorney from New Orleans, also provided guidance. Brother David Sinitiere, F.S.C., helped me focus and clarify my thoughts on the writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas.

Dr. Albert Lalonde, a neuro-surgeon and former Chief of Staff of Brackenridge Hospital, welcomed me to his home and reviewed autopsy and other medical reports associated with the Whitman Case.

Other friends and colleagues from the Austin area who provided valuable observations and advice include Norm Hood, who helped me understand the finer points of the arsenal Whitman used from the deck, Karen Pennell, Shannon McGuire, Will Brennan, and Bruce and Val Nordquist. My dear friend, Linda McDonald, often caught mistakes no one else noticed; her irreverence kept me from taking myself too seriously. Pam Lange of Dallas, Texas, gave me much needed advice and help in navigating through the business of publishing. Dr. Richard Sawyer of Iowa City, Iowa, helped me to construct the prediction model used in the discussion of problems associated with predicting who will become a mass murderer. Charles Sidney Stutes of Rayne, Louisiana, reviewed early drafts of the first chapters and helped to determine the direction of the final manuscript.

The staffs of the Barker History Center of the University of Texas at Austin, and the Austin History Center of the Austin Public Library, patiently hauled stacks of files and scrapbooks for my use. Especially helpful was Daniel Barrera of UT's Undergraduate Library. Dan has annotated the Whitman Papers and is an author of

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