Updated 04/07/2009 06:00 AM
News 10 Now Exclusive: The ramblings of a killer
They are the rambling words of a killer. A letter sent to News 10 Now by Jiverly Wong, the gunman in the shootings at Binghamton's American Civic Association. The letter was postmarked Friday, the day of the mass killing and News 10 Now received it Monday. Bill Carey takes a look at Wong's last message. SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- It is a question that has gone unanswered. Why? What led 41-year-old Jiverly Wong to carry out a massacre?
There's been much discussion about the motivation behind the Binghamton shooting. Speculation about a Vietnamese immigrant upset over his lack of English skills, upset over the loss of a job. But, in the letter, a much different story is being told.
And it is a story of a mentally unstable man, obsessed with unnamed undercover police whom he says have taunted him, tortured him and spread rumors about him wherever he went for years. First, forcing him to leave California, then once he returned to the Binghamton area, attempting to force him out of the country.
He tells stories of police entering his room and sitting down and watching him sleep, touching him while he slept, even stealing money from his wallet.
He claims the police would drive in front of him and then stop their car suddenly trying to cause an accident. Thirty-two times he said it happened, but he says....I never hit the car.
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Police say Wong entered the civic association wearing body armor, and parked a car at a rear door to block anyone's escape. They say those are signs of premeditation. That prior planning is made clear by the letter.
The accompanying pictures of Wong with the two guns, along with the registration that allowed him to possess the weapons. And, most telling, the date at the top, March 18th, indicating he was planning the attack two weeks earlier. The letter wasn't mailed until the day of the shooting.
What he intended is also clear from his own description of himself... I am Jiverly Wong shooting the people.
At the end, a summation, with Wong saying he cannot, in his words, accept my poor life. He says he is taking on the job of a judge, that he will, again quoting, cut my poor life, later adding, ..at least two people with me go to return to the dust of the earth.
His only apology was not for what would happen. He said simply, I am sorry I know a little English.
The letter ends with his demand that a "cop", the focus of his delusions, must be held responsible.
Then, the letter ends chillingly with, you have a nice day.