By Jo Scott-Coe
For the 58th anniversary of the 1966 UT Tower Shooting
August 1 will mark fifty-eight years since a mass shooting at UT Austin left fourteen people dead and thirty-two wounded (one victim later dying from his injuries). When the killer hauled his weapons to the tower that hot summer day in 1966, he had already murdered his mother and wife under cover of darkness—enacting a pattern of private harm now understood to precede mass shootings nearly two thirds of the time.
My book, Unheard Witness: The Life and Death of Kathy Leissner Whitman, centers the struggle of the young woman abused by the future gunman during four years of marriage. This new history was possible because of Nelson Leissner, the eldest of Kathy’s three brothers. He preserved and protected a massive archive of personal letters written and received by Kathy from the summer before her wedding day in 1962 to just weeks before her death in 1966—roughly 600 letters all told, Kathy’s portion alone approximately 180 thousand words.
After the unspeakable loss of his only sister, Nelson remained steadfast in cherishing her memory over five decades. But as he wished that Kathy’s full humanity would be respected and understood—released from the smothering death grip of her husband’s brutal acts and criminal notoriety—Nelson also did not wish to cause their parents any new pain.
When he and I first met in 2014, through letters and emails and phone calls, Nelson’s mother and father had been deceased for some time. In our many conversations after finally meeting face-to-face in Texas, Nelson remained constant in one determination and one refrain: if Kathy’s story could save one life, that was what he wanted.
He described how, among the many cards and messages his parents received in the days after the shooting and his sister’s shocking death, some strangers lashed out with blame. Such attacks on surviving family members compound the original wounds from the first acts of cruelty, placing shame and silence where they do not belong. Those who have any connection to a perpetrator are often deemed least worthy of public compassion or attention, even when they have been harmed.
The result is a kind of community betrayal that can be hard to name. Anyone who has suffered the loss of a loved one to abuse or to gun violence understands well what it is like to endure the empty spaces left behind, especially when news cycles overlook some victims and move on. This quiet pain is intensified when public ignorance or shallow lore substitute for knowledge, making it more difficult for secondary survivors to share truths that are necessary for healing.
Nelson and I have known each other through ten cycles of this tragic day. This year, when I asked him to share his thoughts, he remained somber. “All of my fond memories of Kathy seem to fade away when the month of August comes around. It is just a sad month for me,” he said, recalling the loss of his cousin in an August car accident three years before Kathy’s death. He added, “I have been so happy and proud of you for writing the book, giving Kathy a voice.” He still wonders what his parents would think about it.
We can never know the answer to that. But I have learned so much about Nelson over the past decade—his resilience and zest for life, his biting wit and eye for absurdity, his loyal and Texas-sized heart—and I know one thing for certain: Nelson did his best to stand with Kathy and with her memory during years when it was very lonely to do so. How lucky anyone would be to have such a brother.
If you or someone you know is experiencing relationship abuse in any form, help is available. The National Domestic Violence Hotline provides free, confidential support 24/7/365. Text START to 88788, call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), or chat online at TheHotline.org.
If you live in Austin TX, you can also contact the 24-hour SAFEline. Call 512-267-SAFE (7233), text 737-888-SAFE (7233), or chat www.safeaustin.org/chat.
In 2023, Nelson shared his thoughts about seeing restored film footage of Kathy from her high school years, before she met the man who would take her life. You can watch that video here.
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Jo Scott-Coe is a professor of English composition and literature at Riverside City College and the author of three nonfiction books, Teacher at Point Blank, MASS: A Sniper, a Father, and a Priest, and Unheard Witness: The Life and Death of Kathy Leissner Whitman.
