1941
August 1, 1966

Mass Murderer

0n August 1, 1966, Charles Whitman, a married University of Texas architectural engineering student, carried weapons and supplies into the U of T tower and opened fire on students below. He killed fifteen people and wounded thirty-one others in the span of an hour and a half.

Behind the picket fence

To most observers, Whitman appeared to be the all-American boy-next-door type. The oldest of three sons of a plumbing contractor, he grew up in Lake Worth, Florida. He attended Catholic school and served as an altar boy. A talented athlete, he played sports, had a paper route, and became an Eagle Scout at age twelve.

But Whitman’s childhood had been far from ideal. His father had a short temper and subjected his sons to harsh discipline and often beat his wife. Throughout his life, Whitman nurtured an intense hatred for the man...