On August 1, 1966, the United States and the rest of the world witnessed a mass shooting at the University of Texas at Austin that is still considered one of the most shocking and impactful mass murders in that countryâs history. Charles Whitman was a twenty-five-year-old married student who truly went âballisticâ on that day. Sniping from the domineering UT Tower, he killed or wounded more than forty victims before being shot and killed by police.
As a former Marine and excellent marksman, Whitman had extensive experience with firearms but had no history of criminal activity or mental illness. A clue emerged from Whitmanâs suicide note. In it, he said that he knew something was wrong with himself and requested that an autopsy be performed after his death. During that procedure, a malignant tumour was found deep in his brain. This finding ignited a fierce debate amongst medical experts about its role in Whitmanâs final violent actions.
This highly referenced book seeks to settle this debate by explaining the mechanisms of how the tumour was instrumental in influencing Whitmanâs behaviour. It explores how obstructive hydrocephalus and temporal lobe seizures may have led to the destructive events on that fateful day.
On August 1, 1966, the United States and the rest of the world witnessed a mass shooting at the University of Texas at Austin that is still considered one of the most shocking and impactful mass murders in that countryâs history. Charles Whitman was a twenty-five-year-old married student who truly went âballisticâ on that day. Sniping from the domineering UT Tower, he killed or wounded more than forty victims before being shot and killed by police.
As a former Marine and excellent marksman, Whitman had extensive experience with firearms but had no history of criminal activity or mental illness. A clue emerged from Whitmanâs suicide note. In it, he said that he knew something was wrong with himself and requested that an autopsy be performed after his death. During that procedure, a malignant tumour was found deep in his brain. This finding ignited a fierce debate amongst medical experts about its role in Whitmanâs final violent actions.
This highly referenced book seeks to settle this debate by explaining the mechanisms of how the tumour was instrumental in influencing Whitmanâs behaviour. It explores how obstructive hydrocephalus and temporal lobe seizures may have led to the destructive events on that fateful day.
ï»żï»żï»żï»żâIf there exists a God, let him understand my actions and judge me accordingly.â
âCharles Whitman wrote in a letter, âTo Whom It May Concern,â after killing his mother on August 1, 1966, at 12:30 a.m. (from the Austin History Center Collection)
âDreams do come true if we only wish hard enough. You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it.â
âJames M. Barrie, Scottish author (1860-1937)
In preparation for writing a new novel [working title Cerebral Dark Matter], I decided to review the information available regarding a historic series of crimes that occurred on the University of Texas (UT) at Austin campus on the first of August, 1966. The story has been told countless times over the years in the hope that additional information will arise and improve our understanding of the mysteries that still exist. The incident involved a series of killings that commenced with the stabbing murders of the perpetratorâs mother and wife and culminated in a sniping rampage from the top of the UT tower by the lone gunman, Charles Whitman. This massacre was the first to occur on a U.S. campus and was unprecedented in the degree of carnage. At the State of Texas level, this incident
Figure 1. UT Austin Tower circa 1580.
Photoby Larry D. Moore, CC 4.0, Wikimedia Commons (WMC).
was officially referred to as the Charles J. Whitman Catastrophe, a term used in the title of a report detailing the findings of an extensive investigation into the incident requested by the governor at that time, John Connally [yes â the John Connally who tragically had an intimate encounter with a sniperâs bullet released by another Marine]. The horrific series of events has also been referred to as the Austin Texas shooting rampage, UT Sniper massacre, UT Tower killings, Charles Whitman mass murder, and similarly descriptive labels. To keep the format consistent for the remainder of this book, I will refer to the series of crimes as the âevents on 8-1-66â (Whitman wrote that abbreviated date on a note posted in his home before leaving to commit the mass murder). The âsniping phaseâ of the catastrophe lasted approximately one-and-a-half hours, and much of it was recorded live by TV news cameras â another first in U.S. history. Police ultimately killed Whitman, and when the enormity of the âevents on 8-1-66â became evident, a tsunami of inquiries and investigations was launched. Whitman had been unwell with chronic headaches and cognitive disturbances for some time prior to the âevents.â During his autopsy, a tumour was discovered impinging on a region of his brain, the amygdala, which processes emotional responses and is also involved in decision-making and memory formation. My unfinished fictitious tale will be about an unfortunate young man diagnosed with a devastating brain tumour who is driven to perform a herculean task to save humanity. One question I was trying to answer in researching this incident was, âCan a brain tumour result in the death of someone other than the patient?â
If you are a member of the next generation and not familiar with these events that occurred in Austin, it might be informative to know that the Mandalay Bay massacre in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017, was a copycat crime committed fifty-one years after the original. The âevents on 8-1-66â have intrigued investigators and the public for over five decades because some aspects of this case were, and remain, unresolved. In particular, questions regarding Whitmanâs motives and whether his actions were influenced by his âorganic brain diseaseâ (the brain tumour). Most
Figure2. Drawing of a coronalsection of a human brain by Henry Carter (1518). The arrow points to theamygdala. Public Domain (PD) on WMC.
people wondered, âHow could this married, all-American, engineering student and ex-Marine kill his mother and wife and then, with military precision, conduct a sniping massacre that killed or wounded dozens of innocent strangers?â The evidence does not support the explanation that he just suffered overwhelming stressors, âsnapped,â and became a gun-crazed maniac. Rephrasing that question in a more confrontational manner: Why did an unprovoked, lethally weaponized, American male decide it was time to adjust his fatherâs attitude and gain international notoriety, using indiscriminate death and destruction before embracing a law enforcement-facilitated euthanasia?
My intent is to metaphorically look back through Whitmanâs gun scope, through his eye to the retina, along his optic nerve, the optic tracts, into his occipital lobes, and expand into his tormented and vengeful brain. This journey will examine the events in Whitmanâs life that may have poisoned his mind and led to his extremely deviant and completely unexpected behaviour. I will review the neuropathological findings obtained during his autopsy, in particular the characteristics of the small
Figure 3. UT Austin 15G3 Yearbook photo of Charles J Whitman.Austin Center History(AHC), PD. Optic pathway by Jonrichfield, CC 4.0 on WMC.
brain tumour,and evaluate the extent to which âorganic brain diseaseâ contributed to this tragedy. In reality, Whitman was probably suffering from multi-factorial organic brain disease since it is well-documented that, in addition to the brain tumour, he had sustained repetitive head injuries and had indulged in the use of amphetamines. I also discuss the possibility that Whitmanâs military service may have been responsible for him developing the tumour. During the official investigations into these crimes, it became apparent that the numerous medical experts could not draw a firm conclusion as to whether the tumour was, at least partially, responsible for Whitmanâs heinous acts. No consensus was reached regarding the question, âWould Whitmanhave committed the crimes if the brain tumour hadnât existed?â This book will review the evidence to determine if Whitmanâs violent behaviour was intentional (premeditated homicide), a consequence of a neurochemical imbalance and neuronal misfiring (psychiatric), or brain malfunction due to the progression of a âdisease of the mindâ (organic brain disease). Since the police killed Whitman, the question becomes rhetorical, but the issue can stimulate debate about the assignment of guilt in future cases where the perpetrator is diagnosed with organic brain disease.
Much of the information regarding the âeventsâ in Austin that I reviewed was derived from source documents, which were easily obtained through Internet searches. The most informative documents were the Report to the Governor, Medical Aspects, Charles J. Whitmore Catastrophe, September 8, 1966, the Charles Whitman autopsy report, and records and photos from the Austin Police Department. I found the extensively researched and comprehensive work on
Figure 4. âWhy? Eyeâ by Maria Eklind, CC 2.0 on Flickr. Background by Emile Morter on Unsplash.
this subject, A Sniper in the Tower: The Charles Whitman Murders, written by Gary Lavergne and published in 1997, invaluable as a source of details regarding the events. In the epilogue, Lavergne passes on a haunting impact statement:
âThirty years after the Tower incident, people on the Austin PoliceForce still think of Charles Whitman, and they still get angry ⊠[He] assaulted not only individuals, he also assaulted Austin. And in many ways,he continues to fire from the deck. Virtually all who were on the campus on that damn hot day in August stil llook at the Tower and see the face of Charles Whitman. Many still hear the shots and feel the terror. Whatever good Whitman may have done in his life is buried with him in West Palm Beach, Florida; his evil continues to live in Austin, Texas ⊠In some ways, Charles Whitman inhabits the Tower. It has a âbad karma.â That curse reaches all those who Whitman hurt âŠâ
A memorable review of this book offered by Charles Bowden, a former contributing editor for Esquire magazine, establishes the historical significance of the âevents on 8-1-66â: âCharles Whitmanâs âGuns of Augustâ blew a hole in the American Century and drove us down the road towards gated communities and S.W.A.T. teams. Read this brilliant birth certificate of Fear Nation.â Chapter 2 of Mass Murderers: Profiles of a Rare and Notorious Breed of Killer, compiled by the editors of TIME-LIFE Books, provided additional in-depth information on this subject. The contributors should be commended for the publicationâs excellent pictorial content. Tower 3Đœiper â The Terror of Americaâs First Active Shooter on Campus, written by Monte and Nathan Ackers and Dr. Roger Friedman, provides an update on the facts related to this case and provides new opinions. The Charlie I Knew: A Factual Account of Our Friendship by Francis âJoeâ Schuck (a military comrade of Whitman and then UT at Austin student and close friend) provided great insights into Whitmanâs character and many of his life experiences. MASS: A SĐœiper, a Father, and a Priest by Jo Scott-Coe shed additional light on many of Whitmanâs relationships, in particular with his priest and friend, Father Leduc. He is portrayed as a strangely different spiritual leader who was eventually identified by the Catholic Church as having been credibly accused of the sexual abuse of children. Finally, I included several excerpts from Ryan Greenâs book on this subject, The Texas Tower SĐœiper: The Terrifying True Story of Charles Whitman, because they eloquently portray important events in Whitmanâs life. Greenâs âAbout the Authorâ section explains that he takes âthe unique approach of writing from the killerâs perspectiveâ and skillfully ânarrates
Figure 5. Students (not wounded) relaxing on the SouthMall in the early sixties. Photo from Behindthe Tower and the Dolph Briscoe Center, CC 4.0.
some of the most chilling scenes youâll encounter in the true crime genre.â
We can benefit from the passage of time, and new information on this matter continues to be slowly uncovered. This case was never a âWhodunit?â For an hour and a half, it was a âWho the hell is doing this?!!!â It is unlikely that there is any ongoing criminal investigation, and for a long time, the âeventsâ were academically a âcold caseâ. There has been little progress over the past fifty-five years in our understanding of the âWhy?â All investigations by the Austin Police Department, the FBI, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the media, and any Austinites with âinsiderâ information failed to identify any accomplices, co-conspirators, or loose ends. My goal was to re-examine the events and factors responsible for Whitmanâs actions and to reassess the potential role of the small tumour found deep in his brain. No physician, especially no oncologist who has cared for patients with brain tumours, has written a comprehensive book on this subject. The thirty-five chapters are grouped into three sections. Section I: The Murders, the Man, and the Mind recounts the events leading up to the mass murder that occurred in Austin on August 1, 1966; introduces the perpetrator, his family, and his victims; and attempts to determine the status of Whitmanâs mental health. Section II: The Mystery of the Mind and Motives identifies the numerous factors that contributed to Whitmanâs emotional turmoil and may have motivated him to kill his mother, his wife, and numerous total strangers. Most of the novel concepts introduced in this book, including the re-interpretation of the forensic evidence, the oncological aspects of Whitmanâs case, and proposals on the pathophysiological mechanisms that influenced his behaviour, are explored in Section III: The Mind and the Malignancy. This true crime story is extremely intriguing and full of complexity and can perhaps be best summarized by â âOne man, one day â unbelievable devastation of human lives!â As already mentioned, the journey will visit many disciplines. When a disease adversely affects the brain/mind and induces abnormal cognition and/or behaviour, the pathophysiology is encompassed in the domain of âorganic psychiatry.â Because of the climax, many readers will be surprised to learn that one of the subplots is a tragic love story.
Baby Boomers should consider what they were like when they were twenty-five years old before judging Whitman. Younger readers should try to view the events through a sixties filter because the 1960s were different times in many ways, and the significance of the tragedy will likely be better appreciated. It was a time of the father-dominated family unit, and for the most part, mothers were housewives and caregivers. Families would take âa drive in the countryâ for fun, and there was religious enlightenment every weekend. Men dated women and vice versa, but not much else. Anti-homosexuality laws existed in the U.S. until 1962 to 2003 (depending on the state) and were repealed in Canada in 1969. Overt interracial relationships were uncommon. Home technologies included black-and-white
Figure G. Photo by FEMA, PD on WMC.
televisions (ten channels at best), rotary dial or touch-tone telephones, magnetic tape recorders, 8 mm home movies, cameras with film, and record players, which were fed LPs or 45s. Newspapers and radio broadcasts ruled the information highway. Home delivery of newspapers was common, but downtown individuals sold many on street corners while declaring the latest headlines. There were no cell phones, tablets, laptops, or personal computers. No Internet, so no Spotify, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Netflix, etc. Offices relied heavily on telephones, typewriters, Dictaphones, shorthand notes, and teletype machines to conduct business. Gasoline was cheap and the roads and highways were flooded with spacious, gas-guzzling, all-metal automobiles lacking airbags or even seatbelts. The âCold Warâ dominated international affairs, and every living personwas at risk of nuclear annihilation. Reports on the war in Vietnam, the space race, and civil rights demonstrations dominated nightly TV newscasts. Medical knowledge and technology were advancing steadily but primitive compared with what we can do today.
I strived to adhere to verified information regardless of source. In this book there are many references to various organizations, including the Austin Police Department (APD), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the UT Austin administration, and the United States Marine Corps (USMC). None should be construed as criticisms of these organizations. Well, enough of the âwarm-upâ band â enjoy the latest re-examination of a legendary true crime.
Figure 7. USMC base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, âExchange.â Photo was taken in November 1963 while Whitman was still serving and was awaiting a court-martial hearing (to address charges of a non-violent nature.). Photo from William C Reed Collection, USMC Archives, Flickr.
Author Note: This book was written in Canada by a Canadian author and, therefore, uses Canadian English. Many excerpts or quotations are American in origin, and I maintained that fidelity using American English. This is why a word like tumour is spelt with or without the second âuâ. Interestingly, the word âauthourâ. has become obsolete. I tend to identify keywords, phrases, or concepts with single parentheses and italicize important text (bolded if especially noteworthy). Text in red font highlights essential information. [Square brackets] contain author comments. Also, be aware this book is about a mass murder and forensic sciences, including autopsy techniques. Some of the written passages and crime scene or autopsy photos might be disturbing to some readers.
Many books have been written on Charles J. Whitman (CJW), exploring various cause & effect scenarios, but they are to the limitations of medical science of their times. With scientific & technological advancements, many new findings have been made since CJWâs death. These corroborate with what his friends & acquaintances knew back then: that CJW wasnât an inherently evil man who hated people enough to shoot them in cold blood. This is the story of CJW & his brain, with medical knowledge acquired since the 1960âs. Â
Dr. Young is a medical oncologist and has worked extensively with patients with brain tumours. But his knowledge extends beyond oncology, to neurology, psychology and forensic science, and the legal and social aspects of this incident.
The book is divided into 3 sections. It chronologically & logically explores the incident, CJW himself, his background covering his childhood, his parents, his married life, his education & career journey leading up to the shooting, his autopsy & funeral. It then first explores CJWâs psychological state & finally his brainâs physiology & its impact on CJW.
The Dr. Young pulls references from multiple sources, including photographs for accuracy, and neutrality. The narration jumps across timelines and materials which are directly and indirectly related to the incident, thus providing multiple viewpoints about each topic. Quotes from sources, photographs and explanatory illustrations make the book more engaging and lucid.
The language in the first two sections is clear and engaging. But it gets quite technical in the final section and reads like a medical journal at times. Despite explanations for some terms, readers may have to search the internet at times. But this may not offer enough hindrance to put readers off. Overall, Dr. Young explains even the most complex topics coherently without oversimplification.
Itâs a medium-length book, though the final section may slow down the reader especially if one doesnât have prior knowledge about neuroscience but wants to delve deeper. But itâs suitable for readers from all backgrounds, because it helps them form a better understanding of topics like the human brain & psychology, nature vs nurture, the cause vs effect debates in violence, the capabilities & limitations of medical science, law enforcement, gun control, and leaves much food for thought.