Editing Charles Whitman (section)

==Documented stressors==
[[File:Diary of Charles Whitman (front cover).jpg|160px|thumb|Whitman's journal]]
While awaiting his court-martial in 1963, Whitman began to write a diary titled ''Daily Record of C. J. Whitman''.<ref>{{harv|Time-Life Books|1993|p=47}}</ref> In it, he wrote about his daily life in the Marine Corps and his interactions with his wife and other family members. He also wrote about his upcoming court-martial and contempt for the Marine Corps, criticizing them for inefficiencies. In his writings about Leissner, Whitman often praised her and expressed his longing to be with her. He also wrote about his efforts and plans to free himself from financial dependence on his father.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.greanvillepost.com/2012/12/24/the-random-killer-in-america-charles-whitman-the-texas-bell-tower-sniper/|title=The Random Killer Amongst Us—charles Whitman: The Texas Bell Tower Sniper|date=24 December 2012|access-date=12 April 2016|archive-date=8 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808161608/http://www.greanvillepost.com/2012/12/24/the-random-killer-in-america-charles-whitman-the-texas-bell-tower-sniper/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In December 1964, Whitman was [[Military discharge|honorably discharged]] from the Marine Corps. He returned to UT Austin, enrolling in the architectural engineering program. To support his wife and himself, he worked as a bill collector for the Standard Finance Company. Later, he worked as a bank teller at the Austin National Bank. In January 1965, Whitman took a temporary job with [[Central Freight Lines]] as a traffic surveyor for the [[Texas Highway Department]], while his wife worked as a biology teacher at [[Lanier High School (Austin, Texas)|Lanier High School]].<ref>{{harv|Morris|2009|p=158}}</ref><ref>{{harv|Lester|2004|p=23}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Sniper in Texas U. Tower Kills 12, Hits 33|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 2, 1966|author=United Press International|page=1}}</ref> He was also a volunteer scout leader with [[Scouting in Texas|Austin Scout Troop 5]].

Friends later said that Whitman had told them that he struck his wife on three occasions.<ref name="morgan">
[http://alt.cimedia.com/statesman/specialreports/whitman/morgan.pdf "John and Fran Morgan statement".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708154249/http://alt.cimedia.com/statesman/specialreports/whitman/morgan.pdf |date=2011-07-08 }} ''The Whitman Archives'' via ''Austin American-Statesman''. August 2, 1966.
</ref> They said that Whitman despised himself for this and confessed to being "mortally afraid of being like his father."<ref name="Time-Life Books 1993 50">{{harv|Time-Life Books|1993|p=50}}</ref> In his journal, Whitman lamented his actions and resolved to be a good husband and not abusive as his father had been.<ref name="Time-Life Books 1993 50"/>

===Separation of Whitman's parents===
In May 1966, Whitman's mother announced her decision to divorce her husband because of his continued physical abuse.<ref name="Mass Murderers' p. 49">{{harv|Time-Life Books|1993|p=49}}</ref> Whitman drove to Florida to help his mother move to Austin. He was reportedly so afraid that his father would resort to violence against his mother as she prepared to leave that he summoned a local policeman to remain outside the house while she packed her belongings.<ref name="Mass Murderers' p. 49"/> Whitman's youngest brother, John, also left Lake Worth and moved to Austin with his mother. Patrick Whitman, the middle son, remained in Florida and worked in his father's plumbing supply business.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://partners.nytimes.com/library/national/080266tx-shoot.html|title=The Texas Killer: Former Florida Neighbors Recall a Nice Boy Who Liked Toy Guns|website=partners.nytimes.com|access-date=2016-04-12|archive-date=2016-04-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408210408/http://partners.nytimes.com/library/national/080266tx-shoot.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In Austin, Whitman's mother took a job in a cafeteria and moved into her own apartment, though she remained in close contact with him.<ref name="Mass Murderers' p. 49"/> Whitman's father later said he had spent more than $1,000 (${{Inflation|US|1000|1963|r=-2|fmt=c}} in {{Inflation-year|US}}) on long-distance phone calls to both his wife and his son, begging his wife to return and asking his son to convince her to come back.<ref name="Mass Murderers' p. 49"/> During this stressful time, Whitman was abusing [[amphetamine]]s and began experiencing severe headaches, which he described as being "tremendous".