Thomas Hewitt (TCM)
From DC Database
Contents |
History
Thomas Hewitt was born August 7th, 1939 inside the Blair Meat Co. packing plant in Fuller. The child was born with severe physical deformities and his mother died soon after giving birth. The manager of the plant discarded the infant, placing it inside of a dumpster outside the building. Luda May Hewitt discovered the baby while scrounging for food and took it as her own. [1]
Thomas grew up at the Hewitt residence and Luda May loved the child unconditionally. Luda's immediate family, Charlie and Monty Hewitt, though not as affectionate towards Thomas as his new mother was, accepted the boy into their family as if he were Luda May's natural child.
Over the years, Thomas Hewitt experienced great hardship due not only to his physical deformity, but also suffered severe mental impairment as well. This, in combination with the macabre living conditions that he was subject to, had averse effects on his psyche. One example of this included Thomas' penchant for trapping and skinning small animals. He even developed and interest in needlepoint and would sew together random patches of various animal pelts which he would use for clothing, headwear and other ornamentation (such as necklaces made out of teeth). As a teenager, Thomas was the target of tremendous ridicule by his peers. His teachers at the town school tried their best to help him adjust, but even they agreed that Thomas was "beyond learning". On July 9th, 1958, Thomas had been spying on some bathers at a nearby waterhole. One of them, Jesse, caught Thomas peering at them and began berating him. Thomas retaliated by attacking Jesse and bringing him back to a millhouse on the Hewitt property. After tying him down to a bed, Thomas, clad from head to toe in animal pelts, removed the skin from Jesse's face with a knife. The motivation behind such an act remains unclear. Perhaps he was trying to make Jesse look more like himself, or perhaps by possessing Jesse's face, he could make himself look more normal. Charlie Hewitt stepped into the mill and found Thomas standing over the dying boy. Though shocked, he didn't disapprove of Tommy's actions, and actually assisted him in finishing off his victim and concealing the body. [2]
That same day, a school instructor named Mister Hanson visited the Hewitt residence to speak with Luda May. He expressed his concerns over Thomas’ wellbeing and revealed that he was aware of the boy’s habit for trapping and skinning animals. Luda May insisted that there was nothing wrong with Tommy’s behavior, but Hanson threatened to file a report with the city and have him moved to a special home. As Hanson turned to leave, Luda May bludgeoned him across the back of the head with a shovel, killing him. [3]
As an adult, Tommy Hewitt began working as a butcher at the same meat packing plant that he was born in. In 1969, health inspectors closed the plant down, and the manager instructed Tommy to leave the premises. For reasons unknown, Hewitt went berserk and killed his employer with a sledgehammer. Charlie Hewitt learned what had happened and knew that the local sheriff, Winston Hoyt, was looking to arrest Tommy. To ensure his nephew's freedom, Charlie murdered Hoyt and took his place as town sheriff. [4]
By the early 1970s, murder had become a commonplace activity for the members of the Hewitt family. Tommy Hewitt had developed a taste for killing people with his chainsaw and wearing his victims' faces as masks. Luda May would prepare the bodies for family meals, and Charlie Hewitt would discard the remains down a large cistern on the Hewitt estate. Local law enforcement had no idea that any of this had been taking place.
In August of 1973, Tommy Hewitt, having fully embraced his "Leatherface" persona, murdered four teenagers who had been traveling from Mexico to Dallas for a rock concert. His first victim was a boy named Kemper, whom he skinned, using his face as a personal flesh mask. His second victim was a young woman named Pepper who he killed with his chainsaw outside the farmhouse. He then tortured a boy named Andy, leaving him hanging from a meat hook to bleed to death. Following which was a boy named Morgan who lost his life while trying to flee. He chased the remaining teenager Erin Hardesty across town to the Blair Meat Co. packing plant, but was unable to kill her. Erin fought back, hacking off Tommy's right arm with a meat cleaver. He attempted to pursue her, but Erin miraculously escaped. When state authorities learned about Erin's story, they raided the Hewitt residence. Tommy, concealed in the cellar leapt out and attacked them killing several state troopers. During the attack, an image of "Leatherface" was recorded on film and ultimately recovered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. At the time, it was believed that Tommy Hewitt was the sole perpetrator of the events which soon came to be known as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. [5]
In 1974, the F.B.I. re-opened the unsolved case and conducted an investigation in Fuller. At the behest of his mother, Tommy Hewitt went into hiding along with the other surviving members of the Hewitt clan. Luda May, now the leader of the family, brought them down into the tunnels that ran beneath Travis County where they remained in hiding. At this time, Tommy's uncle "Old Monty" fashioned a crude prosthetic to replace his missing limb made from bone, metal rods, and a hook. Though handicapped, Tommy was still capable of wielding a chainsaw and demonstrated his skill when he killed several Travis County deputies. [6]
The following evening, Tommy Hewitt had two more encounters with agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation – encounters that ultimately led to the deaths of both men. The first was FBI agent Baines, the uncle of young Pepper (whom Leatherface murdered with his chainsaw during the '73 massacre). Leatherface fought with Baines on two instances. He initially encountered him outside the Blair Meat packing plant. Baines, already injured after battling a slaughterhouse foreman named Hank, managed to survive this first struggle with Leatherface, though Tommy's chainsaw did succeed in lacerating the agent's chest and severing his Achilles tendon. Baines managed to track Tommy back to the Hewitts' underground grotto, but Tommy severed his right arm with a meat cleaver, then decapitated him with his chainsaw. One of the other Hewitt captives, WTEX reporter Kim Burns managed to escape the family's clutches along with the insensate FBI profiler agent Henkle. Thomas used his chainsaw to burrow upwards through the earth and managed to capture Henkle, dragging him back down into the tunnels where he promptly killed him. Tommy gave chase to the fleeing Kim Burns and pursued her all the way into town. Grabbing her, he tossed her into the back of a meat truck driven by his cousin Zeke. Kim succeeded in cutting Leatherface's leg with a meat hook and pushing him out of the back of the moving vehicle. Leatherface was unable to pursue her any further, and Kim managed to escape. [7]
No information concerning Tommy Hewitt's actions immediately following the '74 massacre has yet to be revealed. However, it is known that Tommy survived in the intervening years and was seen alive and well as recently as 2007. Having returned to the original Hewitt household, he now lived with a middle-aged cook and a younger butcher (presumably both relatives of his, though their names and relationship to the other family members remains unknown). In 2007, the "cook" lured a group of amateur film makers into the house and Tommy used his chainsaw to murder a director named Mike and a sound engineer named Marty. [8]
Leatherface's activities following the 2007 massacre have yet to be recorded.Powers and Abilities
Abilities
thomas as peak human speedStrength level
above average but by no means superhumanWeaknesses
Thomas Hewitt's right arm was severed with a machete. [9]
Paraphernalia
Transportation
usually travels by foot but in spiteof hos stupidity he can drive a standerd car.
Weapons
Though his weapon of choice was always a chainsaw, Thomas Hewitt was also known to use a two-handed sledgehammer to incapacitate his victims.
Notes
- Thomas Hewitt is exclusive to the continuity of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre comic book series published by WildStorm Productions and its subsequent spin-off projects. Thomas Hewitt is based on the character of Leatherface as seen in the 2003 remake of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. WildStorm Productions treats the 2003 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie and the 2006 prequel film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning as an authoritative part of the history supplemented within the comic book titles. Some material from the films has been included in this article for the sake of context even though the events of which have not been adapted into comic book format. To date, nothing from the comic book titles contradicts information provided in the films.
Trivia
While thomas,s real mother was seen in the preque film the identity of his real father was never revealed.
See Also
- Discuss Thomas Hewitt (TCM) on the forums
- Appearances of Thomas Hewitt (TCM)
- Character Gallery: Thomas Hewitt (TCM)
- Images featuring Thomas Hewitt (TCM)
Recommended Reading
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre: About a Boy
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre: By Himself
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Cut!
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Raising Cain
Links and References
Footnotes
- ↑ Wikipedia:The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
- ↑ The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: About a Boy
- ↑ Texas Chainsaw Massacre: About a Boy 1
- ↑ Wikipedia:The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
- ↑ Wikipedia:The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (film)
- ↑ The Texas Chainsaw Massacre #1
- ↑ The Texas Chainsaw Massacre #6
- ↑ The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Cut!
- ↑ In the movie it was a meat cleaver
