Free A Sniper in the Tower by Gary M. Lavergne

troop of the Methodist Church represented a more comfortable and significant contact with the congregation. He had been recruited as an Assistant Scout Master in January, 1965. By February he had become the Scout Master of Troop 5. As a former Eagle Scout and Marine Corps reservist, Charlie should have been ideally suited to lead and counsel young boys, but in reality he had limited success. Some of the other adults involved with the troop remember that at times he had little patience, and on one occasion he got angry with another scouting associate over whether the troop had been made to do too many calisthenics. Even though Charlie did not take constructive criti-

 

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cism well, he could be quite an effective leader. Nearly everyone associated with the scouts remembered how well he taught the safety and care of firearms. At Camp Tom Wooten, Charlie demonstrated the use of a 22-caliber rifle by hanging a clothespin on a line, and from a distance of about seventy to eighty feet, shooting it so that it spun continuously until it fell apart.
Others began to notice that Charlie often had very severe headaches, perspired profusely (even on cold days), and had the nervous habit of chewing on his fingernails. He ate constantly, and since his discharge from the marines, he probably exercised less. Predictably, he put on weight. The kids began to call him "Porky." His service as a scout master ended by January of 1966, after only a few months of involvement. He is reported to have asked to be relieved because of the pressures of work and studies. 24
Kathy spent the spring of 1965 student-teaching at Lanier High School. She graduated with the UT-Austin Class of 1965 with a B.S. in Science Education. Meanwhile, Charlie got more frustrated and impatient. Racked with insecurity, he was haunted by a short rhetorical question he had written in his diary eighteen months earlier: "As I look back over my past few adult years they seem so wasted. Will I ever accomplish anything I set out to do?" 25
1 John T. Davis and J. B. Colson, Austin: Lone Star Rising (Memphis: Towery Publishing, Inc., 1994), p. 19.
2 Ibid., pp. 4, 1921; Clifford Hopewell, Sam Houston: Man of Destiny (Austin: Eakin Press, 1987), p. 25354.
3 Hopewell, pp. 27075.
4 Davis and Colson, p. 103; Richard Zelade, Austin (Austin: Texas Monthly Press, 1984), p. 50.
5 Davis and Colson, p. 21.
6 Ibid., p. 44.
7 Austin History Center, File AF Murders-Mass M8960 (1), unidentified clipping. Hereafter cited as "AHC"; Austin American-Statesman , 3 August 1966; Zelade, p. 65.
8 Austin American-Statesman , 3 August 1966.
9 Ibid.; Dallas Morning News , 4 September 1966.
10 Austin American-Statesman , 7 August 1966, 1 August 1976; Newsweek , 15 August 1966; AJS; UTMost , September, 1991; Time , 12 August 1966; Davis and Colson, p. 11; Mary Catherine Berry, UTAustin: Traditions and Nostalgia (Austin: Eakin Press, 1992), p. 27; Dallas Morning News , 2 August 1966.

 

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11 Davis and Colson, p. 21; Berry, p. 27; Austin American-Statesman , 1 August 1976.
12 Austin American-Statesman , 1 August 1976.
13 Unidentified clipping in AHC; Austin American-Statesman , 1 August 1976. J. Frank Dobie quoted in Berry, p. 30.
14 Berry, pp. 27, 29; Dallas Morning News , 2 August 1966. A complete carillon has 35 bells. Today the Knicker Carillon has 56 bells.
15 Summer Texan , 2 August 1966; Austin American-Statesman , 1 August 1976.
16 APD Files: The Daily Record of C. J. Whitman , entry of 6 February 1964.
17 Texas DPS Files: Intelligence Report , 18 August 1966; APD Files: The Daily Record of C.]. Whitman , entry of 6 February 1964; Life , 12 August 1966.
18 Lawrence A. Fuess; FBI Files: Cole Report , 17 August 1966, p. 16; Time-Life, p. 42; Austin American-Statesman , 7 August 1966.
19 APD Files: The Daily Record of C. J. Whitman , entry of 11 February 1964.
20 FBI Files: Cole Report , 17 August 1966, p. 17; APD Files: Certificate of Service, Armed Forces of the United States , Charles J.