Charles Whitman

Charles Whitman was born on June 24, 1941. Even before Whitman entered grade school he showed signs that he had an exceptional intellectual promise. Whitman at a young age was well liked by his neighbors and even already was showing signs of mastery of the patio. At the age of six he had an IQ test done it showed that his IQ was at an exceptional 138. While he was little he became enamored by guns; since his father was a really big gun fanatic. “He became an Eagle Scout at the age 12 and receiving national recognition as be the youngest eagle scout in the world” (Joseph, 1999, p.1). Once in high school Charles did continue on with all of these activities, which included pitching for his high school’s baseball team.

After high school Charles joined the U.S. Marines, and those that were with him described him as “the kind of guy you would want around you if you went into combat”. While he was in the Marines, that is when he got married, and that is when he started to show his first signs that something might be amiss. This is when he began having bursts of anger towards others that he was around. Charles ended up being court marshaled for threatening to “kick the teeth out of another marine”, he was cosigned to the brig for 30 days and he lost his rank. This is when he started taking copious notes, and is what is referred to “hypergraphia” which is excessive writing and also a disturbance associated with the amygdala.

Since this was happening Charles Whitman decided to seek the help of a professional and this is when he consulted a staff psychiatrist at the university of Texas Health Center, about his all of this uncontrollable violent impulses. Whitman said that his father was domineering, brutal, and extremely demanding of him and of the others that were in his family.

The day before he climbed into the tower, he went to his mother’s penthouse and once he was inside he immediately attacked her. While attacking her, he brutally