#Kathy Leissner

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Newspaper announcement of Kathy and Charles' Whitmans marriage.

Palm Beach Post, Tuesday 21 August, 1962.

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‘Only Daughter’ featured in The Spokesman Review, August 2, 1966.

“Well, she was our only daughter,” said Raymond W. Leissner, whose daughter Kathy was slain by her husband before he killed 12 other persons from a snipers nest high atop a University of Texas building in Austin. Kathy, 23, was a telephone company employee in Austin this summer. She had been a public school science teacher this spring. Charles Joseph Whitman apparently stabbed his wife to death before dawn Monday in their apartment. Near Tears Leissner, a real estate man and rice farmer in this town of 968 people 35 miles south-west of Houston, was near tears as he spoke briefly with newsmen after learning of the murder of his daughter. Asked about his son-in-law, killed by police after his murderous spree, Leissner said: “He was just as normal as anybody I ever knew, and he worked awfully hard at his grades.”  Kathy was graduated from the University of Texas in 1964. She was queen of the annual youth fair at Needville several years ago. Mrs Leissner remained secluded in the house as Leissner spoke to reporters. ‘Nothing Wrong’ Speaking further of Whitman, he said: “There was nothing wrong with him that I knew of. It’s just a very sad tragedy that happened to a very nice family (the Whitmans)” The Leissner’s have three sons: Nelson, 17; Ray, 14, and Adam, 2. A billboard at the outskirts of Needville reads: “The home of friendly people.” Donald Ferguson, a farmer and neighbour to the Leissner’s, said he had known Whitman very well and Kathy for 11 years. He said Whitman was “a real nice boy, I understand he was what you call 'a brain.” He said this of Kathy: “She was as sweet a person as I have ever known - I meant it - 100 per cent.”

[racingtoaredlight]

On This Day...

On this day in 1966, at 11:25 a.m. 25-year old student Charles Whitman entered the Main Building, or “Tower” as it is more commonly referred to, on the campus of the University of Texas, took an elevator to the 28th floor, stepped out onto the observation deck, and at 11:48 a.m. began randomly shooting an assortment of hunting rifles at people below. For the next 96 minutes, Whitman fired at anything that moved, eventually killing 14*--including an unborn baby--and wounding 31 others. Eventually a small group of police officers assisted by the manager of a nearby store made their way into the tower and up to the 28th floor where they shot and killed Whitman.

Charles Whitman graduated high school in June 1959 and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps one month later. Whitman had an excellent record as a marine and he demonstrated exceptional marksmanship on the rifle range where he qualified as a sharpshooter. In 1960, Whitman applied for a Navy-Marine Corps scholarship program that would allow him to attend college and earn an degree so that he could become commissioned as an officer. Whitman enrolled in the University of Texas in September 1961 and majored in mechanical engineering. Whitman’s grades were poor, however, and he wasted much of his time gambling and hunting. In 1962, Whitman met and married Kathleen Leissner, en education major. During 1962 and 1963, Whitman’s grades only marginally improved and the Marine Corps terminated his scholarship and ordered him back to active duty at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Whitman’s previously sterling record, however, was marred by his continued gambling and for threatening another marine over an unpaid loan for which Whitman demanded a usurious interest rate. Convicted at a court martial in November 1963, Whitman was sentenced to 30 days in the brig, 90 days of hard labor, and was demoted from lance corporal to private. Despite this, Whitman was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in December 1964. He returned to Austin where he re-enrolled in the University of Texas, this time in an architectural engineering program.

In May 1966, Whitman helped his mother move from his hometown in Florida to Austin after she filed for divorce from Whitman’s father, citing years of violent domestic abuse. By this time, Whitman was complaining of regular, intense headaches which caused him immense pain. Unable to determine the cause, he coped with them by taking Excedrin, Dexedrine, and amphetamines. Added to this was the stress of fending off his father, who called continuously from Florida, trying to convince Whitman to bring his mother home. Whitman refused. Feeling that something was wrong with himself, but completely unable to pinpoint it or apparently do anything about it, Whitman’s mood grew increasingly despondent and morose over the summer of 1966.

Sometime after midnight on the morning of August 1, Whitman drove to his mother’s apartment, let himself in, and killed her while she slept. He then drove back to his apartment and stabbed his wife Kathy while she slept, killing her immediately. Whitman left notes at both locations trying to explain his actions, saying that he loved his mother and wife and killed them in order to shield them from pain, embarrassment, humiliation. He left a suicide note at this apartment in which he, among other things, requested that an autopsy be performed on his body after he died. Whitman’s mother and wife were his first two victims.

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Whitman spent the rest of the morning driving to various hardware stores, retailers, and gun shops, purchasing guns and ammunition. At his apartment, he packed a footlocker that included three rifles, a shotgun, ammunition, several knives, earplugs, toiletries, coffee, vitamins, and painkillers. Whitman then drove to campus and parked, using a falsified research assistant’s parking pass. He entered the ground floor of the Tower and found a university employee to turn on the elevator for him. Whitman exited the elevator in the 27th floor, lugged his footlocker up a flight of stairs and walked into the reception area of the 28th floor observation deck. Whitman pulled out a rifle and attacked the receptionist, Edna Townsley, striking her multiple times with the butt of his rifle, fracturing her skull. Shortly afterward, the Gabour family, visiting a student-relative on campus, walked into the reception area. Whitman attacked them with his shotgun, wounding or killing four of them. Whitman then pulled his footlocker out onto the observation deck, shouldered one of his rifles, and began firing.

Over the next hour and a half, Whitman moved along the observation deck, shooting at anything that moved. Whitman shot at people on campus and at students and retailers on the The Drag, a section of Guadalupe Street that forms the western border of the campus. Students were shot as they went about their business, then other students, university employees, and nearby business owners were shot as they attempted to aid those who had been hit. Police officer Billy Paul Speed, one of the first to arrive on campus, was hit by Whitman as he stood behind a wall with the bullet passing through a six inch gap in the masonry. At least two people were hit at a range of over 500 yards after they moved from their shelter, thinking they were out of range.

Mass shootings on university campuses were not widely contemplated in 1966 and both the university and the city of Austin struggled to respond. A nearby funeral home was pressed into service, using its ambulance and hearses to hastily collect and take the wounded to nearby hospitals. An armored truck in the neighborhood was also pressed into service to evacuate the injured. Whitman shot at these vehicles and the drivers and anyone who attempted to move his victims to safety.

Around noon, three police officers were joined by Allen Crum, a 40-yeard old Air Force veteran who owned a store on the Drag, outside the Tower. Armed with a rifle, a shotgun, and their sidearms, the group entered the Tower and slowly made their way up the flights of stairs. Encountering the wounded members of the Gabour family, one of them motioned to the observation deck doorway, indicating Whitman’s location. The officers and Crum quietly approached the doorway and then bolted onto the observation deck, catching Whitman by surprise. They opened fire on Whitman who was hit immediately and fell to the ground. One officer then approached Whitman and shot at point blank range to ensure he was dead. It was 1:24 p.m.

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In accordance with the request Whitman made in his suicide note, an autopsy was performed on August 2. The examination led to the discovery of a small, pecan-sized tumor in Whitman’s brain. Though the neuropathologist who conducted the exam concluded that it had no effect on Whitman’s actions, subsequent investigation, including by a government commission assembled to investigate the massacre, found that Whitman had visited numerous university doctors in the months leading up to the shooting. They had each prescribed various medications to Whitman and one recommended he meet with a psychiatrist. The Connally Commission ultimately concluded that the tumor did in fact affect Whitman’s actions, suggesting that it may have pressed against his amygdala, a part of the brain which controls anxiety and fight-or-flight actions.

August 1, 1966, was one of the deadliest days in state history and Whitman remains of the most prolific spree killers ever. The Tower’s observation deck remained closed until 1968. It was closed again in 1975 after the deck became a spot for suicides, with nine people jumping to their death. The deck was finally reopened in 1999 after safety and security barriers were installed.

*David Hubert Gunby was badly wounded and ultimately died in 2001 due to complications of the injuries he suffered that day in 1966. His death was ruled a homicide and thus he became the 15th fatality 35 years later.

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[zanybouquetturtleuniverse]

austinwoodandmetal.com/handyman.html Photo of my aunt Kathy Leissner given to her husband Charles Whitman signed yours until the end of always. He would later kill her his mother and 16 others from the UT tower.

[catapultbooks]

During twenty-five years teaching, I’ve witnessed hundreds of young women and men trying to find the best place to be themselves. Trying not to lose it when the world feels mad. I’ve seen the surreptitious texts that lead to quick exits from the classroom, the worried frowns in a side row desk, the split lip, the tears, the flashes of frustration or temper. Sometimes I hear their stories, help them find resources. Sometimes they push away or simply disappear.

Catapult Community | Remembering Kathy Leissner | Jo Scott-Coe

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Lanier High School Class of 1967 Yearbook dedication to Karen Griffith (Student/Would be Senior) and Kathleen Whitman, (Karen's Biology teacher and Gunman's Wife).

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"Kathy and Charlie on the back patio of her parents' home in Needville on October 12, 1963."

Private archive of Nelson Leissner.

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Nelson and Kathy Leissner at the Leissner family home, Easter 1964

© Nelson Leissner

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"Kathy relaxes at the counter of City Drugs in Needville, Texas."

Private archive of Nelson Leissner.

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"Kathy (center) clowns in the locker room with two high school friends and volleyball teammates after losing the district championship in 1961. As art editor for the school annual, Kathy made sure this photo made the cut of snapshots.

Private archive of Nelson Leissner.

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