Neighbor sees two sides of Hasan Posted On: Saturday, Nov. 7 2009 05:40 AM By Victor O'Brien
Killeen Daily Herald

Patricia Villa witnessed two conflicting versions of the suspected Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan Thursday.

Hasan's kindness and generosity overwhelmed Villa Thursday morning when he gifted his belongings to decorate her meager apartment at the Casa Del Norte apartments located along North Fourth Street. A few hours later the version of Hasan described on TV shocked her.

How could the same generous man also murder 13 people and wound 38 others, she thought. She couldn't imagine how the quiet man dressed in Army fatigues who lived next to her in apartment nine on the second-floor balcony caused so much chaos.

Hours before the massacre Hasan furnished most of Villa's barren living room with a table, several chairs and two small bookshelves.

"I said what a nice guy because not even your family gives you things," Villa said. "I really needed some things."

Villa lived in the apartment since October, but knew nothing of Hasan until a few days ago when she started sitting on the second-floor balcony.

"He told me he had a little book that I could read in Spanish," Villa said of her first conversation on Wednesday morning.

When Villa said she didn't

speak Spanish, he brought her an English version of the Quran. Then he offered her vegetables, which she accepted, because Hasan said he was deploying.

Neighbors said they never talked with Hasan except for fleeting courtesies on the stairs or in the courtyard.

Hasan moved into the apartment in late July or early August, said Alice Thompson, apartment manager. He rented a single bedroom apartment with a washer and dryer for about $350.

Hasan paid Villa $60 to clean his apartment Thursday morning, a few hours before the massacre.

He never left her a key, Villa said. He also gave her a microwave, an air mattress, a steam cleaner and a scale.

Hasan gave Villa several shirts, two ties and a suit for her husband.

"He doesn't want them. Everybody will know that man gave him his shirts," Villa said of her response to the gifts.

When Villa looks around her apartment and thinks about the media reports, she does not try to make sense of the situation. Villa accepts what happened and reserves judgment on Hasan, she said.

"What he did

I know was wrong, but we can't do nothing about it," she said.

Contact Victor O'Brien at vobrien@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7468.