Luke Woodham and the Pearl High School Massacre
Filled with rage for most of his life, Luke exploded in 1997, killing three people — including his own mother — and wounding seven others.
Luke Woodham was born on February 5, 1981. As a toddler, Luke was adorable; a blonde-haired, blue-eyed bundle of energy who had an active imagination and loved to read.
By the time he started kindergarten, however, Luke was somewhat overweight and needed thick eyeglasses to see. Mary Ann Woodham dressed him each day in clothes that looked old-fashioned, and she kept his hair so closely cropped that it made him look as if he had a receding hairline. Looking like a little old man, he was an easy target for bullies at school, and he would endure their insults throughout his entire school career.
Luke’s home life was far from ideal. His parents would often fight, and their screaming matches terrified him. They divorced when he was eight, and Luke’s father made no effort to stay in contact with his children. Luke was convinced that he was to blame for the failure of his parents’ marriage, and he sank into a deep depression. It’s not common for a child so young to experience serious depression like this, but Luke’s mother does not appear to have noticed that there was anything wrong with her…
