The Mind Of A Mass Murderer: Charles Whitman, Brain Damage, And Violence (VIDEO)

Charles Whitman (1963 Cactus, the student yearbook of the University of Texas)

On August 1, 1966, Charles Whitman murdered his mother and his wife before traveling to the campus of the University of Texas, climbing inside the tower, and killing fourteen others. He was dubbed the infamous UT sniper, but his story involves much more than Marine Corps training and a proclivity for violence. In fact, Whitman complained of headaches and an altered mental state in the days and weeks leading up to the killings. His own suicide note read that "I do not really understand myself these days. I am supposed to be an average reasonable and intelligent young man. However, lately (I cannot recall when it started) I have been a victim of many unusual and irrational thoughts."

Whitman knew that something was wrong. His note further reads, "After my death I wish that an autopsy would be performed on me to see if there is any visible physical disorder." And indeed there was. Whitman was found to have a glioblastoma, a type of brain tumor, pressing against regions of the brain thought to be responsible for the regulation of strong emotions.

To learn more about the link between brain damage and violence, I reached out to Dr. Michael Koenigs of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Neuroscience Training Program, a researcher specializing in emotional, social, and personality changes following focal brain lesions. Please see the video above and/or the transcript below. And don't forget to weigh in by leaving a comment at the bottom of this page.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL TRANSCRIPT

MALE VOICE: The time is 5:30.

CHET HUNTLEY: David Brinkley is on vacation. I'm Chet Huntley. For an hour and a half today, the normally placid university and capital city of Austin, Texas was held in the grip of a terror which began in killing and ended in killing.

MALE VOICE: Charles J. Whitman, a 25-year-old Marine veteran who earned a sharpshooter rating while on active duty. He was identified by police as the sniper.

CARA SANTA MARIA: Hi everybody. Cara Santa Maria here. As many of you know, 38-year-old Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales was recently charged with 17 counts of murder, following the killings of nine children and eight adults in Southern Afghanistan. His lawyer claims that a previous brain injury could be implicated. The speculation surrounding this story is eerily similar to the case of Charles Whitman, the infamous University of Texas sniper who killed 16 people and injured 32 others on August 1, 1966. I reached out to Michael Koenigs of the University of Wisconsin-Madison to learn more about the brains of mass murderers.

MICHAEL KOENIGS: There are certain kinds of brain injuries, so physical damage to the organ in your head, that result in very profound changes in emotional reactions, you know, how we interact with other people, in short, our personalities.

CSM: Studying this fundamental link between brain and behavior could shed light on just why some perfectly normal, non-violent people snap and commit mass murder. You see, in very rare instances, a person may suffer damage to a highly specific region of the brain that can cause catastrophic changes to his or her mental state.

MK: Far and away damage to prefrontal cortex is most commonly associated with personality changes.

CSM: In the case of Charles Whitman, prior to his killing spree, he complained of headaches and peculiar neurological symptoms.

MALE VOICE: I do not really understand myself these days. I am supposed to be an average reasonable and intelligent young man. However, lately (I cannot recall when it started) I have been a victim of many unusual and irrational thoughts. [excerpt from Whitman's suicide note]

CSM: On autopsy, he was found to have a brain tumor the size of a walnut pressing against the thalamus, hypothalamus, and amygdala.

MK: So the areas that were affected by Whitman's tumor, the hypothalamus and the amygdala in particular, are known to play a critical role in mediating an individual’s emotional state. Alright, so the amygdala is well known to be this structure that is critically involved in the experience of fear and anxiety.

CSM: Whitman expressed profound regret after killing his mother.

MALE VOICE: I have just taken my mother's life. I am very upset over having done it...Let there be no doubt in your mind that I loved this woman with all my heart. [excerpt from Whitman's suicide note]

MK: It’s important to keep in mind that other individuals who have incurred damage or injury in that part of the brain do not end up as mass murderers, so the Whitman case is very unusual in that regard.

CSM: What do you think about the link between brain damage and murder? Reach out to me on Twitter, Facebook, or leave your comments right here on the Huffington Post. Come on, talk nerdy to me!

DISCLAIMER: Robert Bales has not been convicted of any crime.

See all Talk Nerdy to Me posts.
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GALLERY: UNUSUAL NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS

Loading Slideshow

• Alien Hand Syndrome

  Also sometimes referred to as the Dr. Strangelove Syndrome, this condition causes a patient's hand to <a href="http://health.howstuffworks.com/diseases-conditions/rare/alien-hand.htm" target="_hplink">take on</a> a life of its own and act on its own accord.

• Riley-Day Syndrome

  Patients with this condition are often <a href="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001387.htm" target="_hplink">unable</a> to feel any pain, which can prove dangerous should they ever get injured.

• Cotard's Syndrome

  An individual's <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12011289" target="_hplink">belief</a> that he or she is dead despite those around them saying they are not. Some report also believing they do not exist at all.

• Apotemnophilia

  The <a href="http://cbc.ucsd.edu/pdf/apotem.pdf" target="_hplink">desire</a> of an individual to amputate a perfectly-healthy limb.

• Alice in Wonderland Syndrome

  Patients with this condition <a href="http://www.aiws.info/symptoms" target="_hplink">report</a> experiencing distorted body proportion: certain body parts -- often the head and hands -- are larger than they should be.

• Prosopagnosia

  Sometimes called "face-blindness," this condition <a href="http://www.faceblind.org/research/" target="_hplink">renders</a> individuals unable to recognize faces -- even those of the people they love or encounter on a regular basis.

• Capgras Delusion

  The belief that an acquaintance, or even someone an individual knows very well, is <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124745692" target="_hplink">actually</a> an identical-looking imposter.

Comments

[subwayjack]

02:03 PM on 04/30/2013

Here: http://www.uttowertragedy.com - I have all the records and was Power of Attorney for the officer who killed Whitman. Yes, the tumor played a major role, among other issues.

[carjohn]

01:52 PM on 03/28/2013

I think that Whitman was found to have an Astrocytoma impinging on the Red Nucleus, whose function is only known to be responsible for coordination. This is a slower growing malignancy than Glioblastoma.
All that being said, much of the subcortical brain is "silent"; that means we don't know what certain regions do - i.e. the Red Nucleus could have many more functions than coordination. I would be interested in knowing how your source was able to associate Whitman's Astrocytoma to effects on the Amygdala. Where did that information come from?
Additionally, Christopher Dorner (Great Bear Lake Suicidal Mass Murderer) similarly posted a peculiar request for a study of his brain, believing there was something wrong with it. Having studied suicidal mass murderers, I know that they have shown significant personality changes and strange behavior noticed to many. One day I hope that Neuroimaging will be performed on such individuals so that we might be able to identify young adults like Whitman, Dorner, Cho, Loughner, Holmes, Lanza et al before they cause disasters.
This is very interesting discussion that remains little studied. John Liebert, MD, Psychiatris
Author, Suicidal Mass Murderers: A Criminalological Study of Why They Kill, CRC Press

[alleypanther]

05:57 AM on 04/02/2013

Do you think tumors are more of a common cause than a chemical imbalance of more than 50 known proteins and glucose that can lead to psychotic episodes? From what I've read there may be genetic markers that could cause those imbalances, although it's much debated, what's your take on it?

[Johnny Rose]

09:34 AM on 02/05/2013

There is something more subtle than the link between observable brain damage and murder. Psycopaths or mass murderers are created through specific child development - the lack of love and attention from the moment they were babies, or how they grow up in violence. Human's psychology is much more complicated, and that is why a society with healthier development, less poverty, less crime, will be a society with less poverty, less crime in the future. There's something more subtle than a brain tumor or injury in human behavior, other injuries that are not so easily seen, but yet happen and affect our behavior. It's a good thing to have everyone visit a shrink and deal with whatever problems they may have, we are all capable of harm, and dealing with stress or with "my mother never loved me", is as important as dealing with brain tumors, brain injury, or PTSD.

[ebanks84]

09:18 PM on 01/28/2013

That's interesting to know. They need to do brain scans on all mass murderers to find the common link that could be the cause of their personality dysfunction. This is a beginning. Let's keep going until we can find these people "before" they initiate their insanity.

[John Thomas Harper Jr]

02:23 PM on 02/04/2013

As if that would happen! The rehabilitation of criminals would put a dent in the prison industry. And you know how people get when you bother their money.

[ebanks84]

06:49 PM on 02/04/2013

Yeah, they get how they are now, greedy little money mongers, that's all. Nothing changes overnight. It would be just a start.

[BannedInBoston]

12:18 AM on 12/22/2012

The psycholotgist in the video said that most brain damage of the type Whitman had does NOT cause people to commit the kinds of _atrocities he did.So brain damage alone cannot be the explanation and, in any case, is certainly not a sufficient explanation....

[dagacheme]

10:45 AM on 01/04/2013

How about the psychoactive drugs he was on?

[Bobotheclown]

01:51 PM on 04/01/2013

Who ever said it was an explanation?

[ryanxavier]

01:35 AM on 09/08/2012

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Diamond Texas

[MsLadyBlueWorld]

07:51 PM on 08/22/2012

Demons

[DANIELLECLARKE]

07:10 AM on 08/12/2012

Living in the country eating organically grown foods and drinking clean water sure has helped me to think clearer and also the good hard work helps too.. When i lived in the city life sucked and my mind was filled with all kinds of crap. Thankfully i got out of there.. No i was never violent with others but i was suicidal but thats long gone now..

[Even17]

01:40 PM on 08/17/2012

i am glad you were able to escape the suicidal feelings and are now doing well. i've been in some pretty dark places, as well, so i know how hard it can be. I'm happy for you that you were able to find relief :-)

[BannedInBoston]

12:22 AM on 12/22/2012

Living around a lot of people can do that to you. You pick up all kinds of cross-currents of toxic mental energy from being around too many people and this energy can affect you this way. I don't have suicidal thoughts because I don't believe in suicide and therefore simply don't allow myself to have such thoughts but I understand people who do and I understand how being around a lot of people in packed city life for example (been there, done that) can have that effect. I live alone by choice (having been through two marriages) and am MUCH happier for this very reason....

[jackbond]

01:53 AM on 08/06/2012

Can we have Mitt Romney tested for glioblastoma?

[BannedInBoston]

12:27 AM on 12/22/2012

Or just horsesassitis....

[ezzellcharles]

09:01 AM on 03/27/2013

both of you, what does Mitt Romney have to do with any of the above? Has he killed anyone? Or, are you envious you weren't lucky or smart enough to make a lot of money, within the scope of the law? Luck or hard work, or just plain intelligence....there is nothing wrong with success, and there shouldn't be a stigma on it because you weren't so fortunate. Do you give lottery winners this kind of grief?

[Rich Cash]

12:35 AM on 07/24/2012

Must be a slow news day here on HP. Whitman's tumor and the effect it had on his personality and subsequent murderous conduct has been know for many years. I can remember discussing this case in Psych 101 in 1977.

[catmandoozy]

02:02 AM on 07/24/2012

I recall when it happened. I was a young man not much older than Whitman. That doesn't mean that discussing it today among people who may have been too young to remember it or even to have heard of the incident before today is a waste of time and a 'slow news day'.

Every subject doesn't automatically become 'old news' simply because you're already aware of it.

[Rich Cash]

02:34 AM on 07/24/2012

Woah there, Catman...I never said it wasn't worth discussing, I simply said it was old news. We could have had a good conversation about this story but you'd rather start an argument. Stop trying to pick a fight when no fight was intended.

[cognitogrrl]

06:57 PM on 07/23/2012

I wonder if the walnut sized tumor that Whitman had was operable. If he had gone to a doctor and told of his neurological symptoms as well as troubling thoughts, could they have diagnosed and treated this? While they might not have had the medical technology in Austin, he could have been treated in Houston.

Also I wonder if he was unwilling to seek medical treatment due to thinking it was mental illness and being afraid of stigma, until it was just too far gone.

[Reisearch]

07:58 PM on 07/23/2012

Gee, maybe you should google Charles Whitman and see if there are other articles or books on him.

[beyondliberal]

06:38 PM on 08/04/2012

It wouldn't have been operable in 1966; it was too deep. Even today, a glioma can only be debulked if in an accessible area, but not removed entirely because of the nature of the type of tumor itself. Gliomas spread like wildfire.

[cognitogrrl]

12:43 AM on 08/05/2012

Excellent point. However, once the glioma was diagnosed, doctors would have been able to advise him as to why he was having these dark thoughts and "other neurological symptoms." He could have been kept away from guns. Might have been hospitalized on medication and/or a trial of radiation. I don't know if they were shrinking tumors with radiation in those days.

[Reisearch]

02:08 PM on 07/23/2012

What's the point of being so educated if all you do is post intersting videos and offer a one to two paragraph synopsis? I want more, please! Maybe link this subject to some of your research?

[cognitogrrl]

07:02 PM on 07/23/2012

I think the point of CSM's articles is to get people reading, thinking, and talking. With a screen name like "Reisearch," I would think you could Google Charles Whitman and see if there are other articles or books on him.

[f0rTyLeGz]

04:59 PM on 12/17/2012

Google Charles Whitman. Even the Wikipedia article is interesting. It is an amazing story of madness and bravery.

[Reisearch]

08:36 PM on 12/19/2012

Wikipedia is not a source of information. It's a great website to edit so you can win dumb bets with your friends, regardless of who's right.

[sixxdixx]

08:10 AM on 07/23/2012

I find it interesting that Whitman was aware of what he did, he know it was wrong and he also had insite to teh fact that he knew he was supposed to be reasonable and intelligent.
the fact that he was fully aware makes this much more complex to me.

[Bobotheclown]

02:05 PM on 04/01/2013

Like all true mentally ill people, the manifestation of his illness was far more complex than the primitive "did not know the difference between right and wrong" that is used in courtrooms. Mentally ill people often know the difference between right and wrong but they still have no control over which actions they choose. In some cases they think they can make correct decisions but history shows that they are consistently acting irrationally or against their own interests. In Whitman's case he was both an intelligent man and a soldier. He was trying to investigate his own mind as the illness took him over. Even on the day of the killings he was able to write a very long and detailed note (an essay really) about what he was feeling and how he had tried to control it. He knew he was going to die and so he tried to leave as much information as he could for future doctors to study.

[111222111]

03:40 AM on 07/22/2012

Translation: Cranial ultrasounds will be required upon entering the theater.

[lacrosselamore]

01:09 PM on 07/11/2012

I read a study once that said a large percentage prisoners in State Penatentaries for violent crimes sustained severe head injuries as children.

[Mark Andre]

08:33 PM on 07/21/2012

In defense of their parents:

They only dropped their babies a couple of times, they bounced off the ground a few times and were just fine...

...well at that time anyways!

[kazenoya1]

02:37 PM on 07/23/2012

Its not the initial bouncing that make the difference it when in middle school you the their arms and legs to their body and let them try out for soccer as the ball