The Crime Book

229

At a press conference after the

shootings, Ramiro Martinez (left) and

the other three police officers who had

confronted Whitman showed a

diagram of their haphazard strategy.

clues to his state of mind. Among

other things it said: “I don’t really

understand myself these days. I

am supposed to be an average

reasonable and intelligent young

man. However, lately (I can’t recall

when it started) I have been

a victim of many unusual and

irrational thoughts. I talked to a

Doctor once... and tried to convey

to him my fears that I felt come (sic)

overwhelming impulses. Since then

I have been fighting my mental

turmoil alone... to no avail.”

After stating that he intended to

kill his wife, Whitman continued:

“I don’t want her to have to face the

embarrassment my actions would

surely cause her... I truly do not

consider this world worth living in,

and am prepared to die, and I do

not want to leave her to suffer alone

in it... Similar reasons provoked me

to take my mother’s life...”

In addition to his wife and

mother, Whitman killed 14 people

in cold blood and wounded 31

others that day; most of the

casualties occurred in the first 20

minutes. Before the shooting, US

police had no policies in place for

responding to an attack by what

MURDER CASES

is known today as an “active

shooter”, and the event led to an

overhaul of police procedures.

Special Weapons and Tactics

(SWAT) teams were formed

nationwide, and these have

swooped into action in the many

similar atrocities that have taken

place in the decades since 1966. ■

Brain damage and

criminal violence

The Whitman case is arguably

most notable for being one of

the first in which evidence of

brain abnormalities could be

definitively linked to violent

behaviour. After he was

gunned down, Whitman’s

body was transported to the

morgue, where the top of his

skull was removed with a

bone saw. When his brain was

removed, the examiner noted

a tumour, roughly the size of a

nickel in diameter, sprouting

under the thalamus, which

is crucially involved in

awareness and consciousness.

Most importantly, the

tumour compressed the

amygdala – a set of neurons

located deep in the brain’s

medial temporal lobe that play

a key role in the processing of

emotions. Three decades prior

to Whitman’s rampage, US

neuropathologist Paul Bucy

and German psychologist

Heinrich Klüver had

discovered that fearlessness,

dampened emotion, and a

propensity to overreact were

all associated with damaged

amygdala in monkeys. Their

findings provided a viable

explanation for Whitman’s

seemingly senseless violence.

After my death I wish

that an autopsy would be

performed on me to see

if there is any visible

physical disorder.

Charles Whitman

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