- Philip Bloeser, 22, was one of 30 people that Elliot Rodger sent his hate-filled manifesto to on Friday
- Bloeser has said that he can’t sleep or eat since reading the 22-year-old’s 140-page-long rant
- Revealed that he began to worry about his friend in January after a disturbing Facebook post
- Bloeser described his friend as having a ‘boring personality’ and being ‘incredibly shy’
- Claimed that he was not as close as Rodger made out in his manifesto
- Bloeser said that Rodger kept his mental illness hidden from everyone
- Elliot Rodger killed stabbed and shot six people on Friday in Isla Vista, California
One of the Virgin Killer’s best friends has told how his world has been turned upside down by Elliot Rodger’s bloody massacre, saying: ‘I can’t believe I was friends with a psychopathic, mass murderer’.
Rodger’s referred to Philip Bloeser as his first real school friend in the warped manifesto he wrote before carrying out the brutal rampage that left six people dead and 13 injured.
Philip is actually referenced almost as much as anyone in the document.
Shocked and stunned: Philip Bloeser was friends with virgin killer Elliot Rodger and revealed to MailOnline that he became concerned about the 22-year-old’s welfare in January and tried to warn his mother
And he was one of 30 people who received the chilling manifesto, emailed by Rodger just nine minutes before he killed his first two victims, sorority sisters Veronika Weiss and Katie Cooper.
The 22-year-old had already slaughtered three victims in his apartment and went on to gun down 20-year-old Chris Martinez in a local deli.
The first Philip knew about Friday night’s carnage in Isla Vista was when he turned on the TV the following morning and watched in horror as his school friend’s horrendous crimes were described on the news.
He then checked his emails and found the manifesto, which left him sick to his stomach. Speaking to MailOnline in his first full interview, the devastated 22-year-old said: ‘I have been literally sick every day since this happened. I can’t eat and I’m struggling to sleep.
‘I just can’t believe I was friends with a psychopathic mass murderer. Elliot was incredibly shy and awkward his entire life and it was clear he had issues, but there was never anything to suggest he was capable of this. He never displayed anything even bordering on violence or aggression.
‘If I’d had even the faintest idea I would have done something. Back in January he posted something slightly worrying on Facebook. It wasn’t extreme or aggressive, but he seemed depressed.
Sick: Elliot Rodger, 22, stabbed three people in his home and shot dead three other students before he took his own life on Friday. The rampage came after he posted rants online about how women hated him
‘I can’t remember it word for word, but he was basically saying how lonely he was and that no girls would ever talk to him. I actually posted a comment to try to cheer him up, but he deleted it.
‘I was a bit worried, so I called his mum Chin, to make her aware of it. She was worried as well, but she told me they were doing all they could to help him, that he was seeing a psychiatrist and was taking medication.
‘I honestly had no idea he was being treated for mental health problems, but when his mum told me that I felt reassured and thought, that’s it, case closed, the issue is being dealt with. His parents loved him and they never pushed him away.
‘When I saw what had happened on the news my jaw dropped to the floor and I was shaking in disbelief. Then I read the manifesto. It makes me sick to think just nine minutes later he shot those girls.
‘I have seen Chris Martinez’s father talking about losing his only son and it is absolutely heartbreaking.’
Victims: Rodger’s first victims included his roommates Weihan Wang, left, and Cheng Yuan Hong, righ
Gunned down: George Chen, left, was also found stabbed to death in their home – although he did not live at the house – while Rodgers gunned down Chris Michael-Martinez, right, when he opened fire at a deli
Loss: Katie Cooper, left, and Veronika Weiss were standing outside a sorority house when they were shot
He went on: ‘I could never have possibly imagined anything like this was going to happen. What people need to realize is you cannot rationalize or explain this. He obviously had a serious mental illness; that he was able to hide from the world.
‘Everyone is focusing on Elliot’s lack of success with women, but they need to appreciate he was unable to communicate with anyone. He was so shy and painfully awkward. He had a boring personality and he didn’t talk.
‘He would never dream of approaching a girl, he just expected them to come to him, which they didn’t. Even if any of them ever had, it wouldn’t have lasted long, because he wouldn’t chat to them.
‘I honestly had no idea he was being treated for mental health problems, but when his mum told me that I felt reassured and thought, that’s it, case closed, the issue is being dealt with’
Philip Bloeser
‘I remember he once said to me: ‘I saw this really attractive girl today and she didn’t even come up to me, she ignored me’. I asked him if he tried talking to her and he said no.
‘I tried to offer him advice and encourage him to talk to girls, but he wouldn’t do it.’
Philip – who works in retail – met Rodger’s at Topanga Elementary School, when they were in the same class. They became friends, along with another boy called Addison Altendorf but Philip says he always found Elliot incredibly awkward and shy.
He said: ‘I always like to reach out to people and I am a friendly person, so despite the fact Elliot was difficult to talk to, I became friends with him.’
In Rodger’s manifesto, he first mentions Philip, saying: ‘Philip was always very mature for his age, and he was nice to me on my first day. He became my first friend at Topanga Elementary.’
Heartbroken: His father, Richard Martinez, breaks down next to his brother as he speaks to the media outside the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Headquarters on Saturday
Sadness: Two students comfort each other as they attend a candlelight vigil for the victims on Saturday night
Later he writes: ‘I had a lot of playdates with Philip, and through Philip I also played with his brother Jeffrey, who was two years younger than us.
‘While Philip was calm and mature, Jeffrey was the complete opposite. Jeffrey Bloeser was wild and boisterous, which often brought a lot of fun to my playdates with Philip.’
‘He would never dream of approaching a girl, he just expected them to come to him, which they didn’t. Even if any of them ever had, it wouldn’t have lasted long, because he wouldn’t chat to them.’
Philip Bloeser
Philip fully recognizes he was friends with Rodger, but he does not feel he was as close to him as the killer makes out. He said: ‘In reality I was just trying to be nice to Elliot.
‘He was incredibly hard work to talk to and I would always make sure Addison was there when we met up. We really had nothing to talk about. He liked computer games and skateboarding when he was younger, but that was it.
‘I lost contact with him for about three years at one point in our childhood, but other than that we stayed in fairly regular touch.
‘Elliot would usually contact me on Facebook and we would see each other probably once or twice a year. I can honestly say this was the last thing I could ever imagine him doing. Yes, he was shy and yes he was awkward, but that was it.
‘The person described in that manifesto and the person on the YouTube recording is not the person I knew. In the video, he even sounds different, he puts on a different voice. It’s almost demonic.
‘And I was amazed to hear him talk so much and so articulately, usually all you would get were one word, monosyllabic answers from him.
‘I used to try to tell him he had the opportunity to be more outgoing and to enjoy life, but it seems he didn’t ever listen to me.’
This security footage could be the last known recording of virgin killer Elliot Rodger, just hours before he went on his bloody gun rampage
A figure wearing a t-shirt, shorts and a baseball cap walks up to the door of Giovanni’s pizza restaurant in Isla Vista, lingers around outside, talking on the phone for a few seconds and then walks off
At one point in Rodger’s manifesto he references an occasion when he went to the Getty museum with Philip and Addison.
He wrote: ‘…we visited the Getty. Museum to admire the brilliant scenery and architecture. While there, I overheard Philip telling Addison that some girls were checking him out.
‘Feeling jealous, I asked Philip if any of those girls checked me out, and he had the audacity to say no, none of them did. I felt so heartbroken that I left the two of them and cried to myself, ruining my whole experience at the museum. How could girls check out Addison but not me?’
Philip remembers the incident, but his perception of events is completely different. He said: ‘I do recall that. I explained to Elliot that if he wanted attention from girls he needed to talk to them, but he wouldn’t take my advice.
‘In my mind it wasn’t a big deal at all, but he obviously perceived it differently.’
Another incident that seemed to have a huge impact on Elliot was a row he had with Addison, who apparently told him, ‘No girl in this whole world will ever want to f*** you.’
He went on: ‘I already felt that no girl in the world wanted to f*** me. I was a kissless virgin after all. That was the sole reason why I was suffering. But to hear it come from someone else, someone like Addison, really caused it to sink into core of my mentality and emotions.
‘That whole night made for a very vile and wicked experience. I decided not to see Philip and Addison for a long time.’
Agitated: Rodger, pictured, said he would speak to his friend, James, for hours about his troubles
Again Philip remembers there being a minor incident between his two friends, but considered it to be of no real importance. He said: ‘It seems Elliot had a completely warped sense of reality and perceived things very differently to everyone else.’
Last summer Elliot persistently messaged Philip, asking if he was available to meet up. By this point, despite Philip’s good nature, he was trying to distance himself from his friend, because he was so awkward.
‘Everyone is focusing on Elliot’s lack of success with women, but they need to appreciate he was unable to communicate with anyone. He was so shy and painfully awkward. He had a boring personality and he didn’t talk.’
Philip Bloeser
He said: ‘Spending time with Elliot was such hard work, he messaged me a few times and I put it off, but eventually I told him to contact Addison and arrange something.’
They agreed to see each other last September and it was the last time they ever met face to face.
Philip explained: ‘We met up in Palisades Bluffs Park and I think we all got in Elliot’s SUV Mercedes.
‘After a while we drove to a restaurant to get some food, but I was so tired I stayed in the car and let the other two go inside.’
While in the restaurant Addison and Rodger had a heart to heart and the soon to be killer expressed some worrying views on woman and the world.
In his manifesto he wrote: ‘I am indeed an intelligent person, but the cruelty of this world gives me no choice but to exact my Retribution.
‘I tactfully told Addison that I had no intentions of “doing anything stupid”. That was my last conversation with him. It was also the last time I ever saw Philip and Addison.’
Philip said: ‘Elliot obviously said something strange enough to prompt Addison to tell him not to do anything rash, but we actually never discussed it.’
Remembered: Students write messages at a tribute to the victims at one of the crime scenes on Monday
Earlier this week Philip’s mother Cathleen Bloeser gave an interview over the phone in which she said Rodger had told her son he had a desire to rape women and that he had actually invited Philip and Addison to come to his apartment on the day of the massacre.
Philip says this is completely untrue and that his mother was confused. He said: ‘My mother has been ill for a long time and is heavily medicated, as a result she doesn’t think rationally sometimes. She was very shaken up by what happened and she said a few unhelpful things.
‘Elliot didn’t invite either myself or Addison to his apartment. I cannot be sure that I wasn’t a target, I mean he could have come to my house to attack me, but I am fairly sure that wasn’t the case.
‘If Elliot had ever expressed to me that he wanted to rape women I would have gone to the police. If I knew he had bought a gun I would have taken action.
‘There really weren’t any warning signs or red flags, I really want people to understand that. No one saw this coming.
‘The only people I would question would be the police who went to check on him a month before this happened and his psychiatrist. If Elliot ever expressed any violent thoughts to him, surely he should have intervened?’
Philip added: ‘I just want to say I am so incredibly sad for the families who lost loved ones and I feel for Elliot’s parents.
‘Elliot was a very disturbed person, but he hid it from everyone, including me.’
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