George Sodini Sought Dating Help Before Pennsylvania Gym Shooting

Aug. 7, 2009 -- New video of suspected Pennsylvania gym shooter George Sodini shows the man who killed three women at LA Fitness attending a seminar to learn how to pick up women.

In the video Sodini, dressed in a white button-down shirt, is seen sitting in rapt attention, listening to author R. Don Steele tell the audience that men have to be tough to be successful in love.

"Nice guys must die," Steele said in the video. "I would say that is the problem with most guys in the room. You are too nice."

Sodini can even be seen with a young woman during a practice exercise during the seminar.

A copy of Steele's book, "How to Date Young Women: For Men over 35," was seen in a video tour of Sodini's house that he posted online.

Steele could not be reached for comment.

Sodini mentioned Steele's advice in another video he'd posted, identifying the author by his initials.

"RDS says that I have approximately, maybe 15 more years to be successful at this," he said.

But instead of continuing his pursuit of women, it is believed that Sodini calmly walked into the Bridgeville, Pa., LA Fitness Tuesday night and opened fire on a crowded Latin dance class. He killed three women and wounded several others before turning a second gun on himself.

The three who died were 46-year-old Heidi Obermier, 49-year-old Elizabeth Gannon and 39-year-old Jody Billingsley, according to the Allegheny coroner's office. Sodini also shot the pregnant class instructor, who saved her life and that of her unborn child by playing dead.

Funerals for the three women who died start Saturday.

Blog entries found online after Sodini's death indicate he longed for a relationship and was upset that he hadn't had sex since 1990. He also wrote of a troubled relationship with what he said was his domineering mother.

Click here to read the full text of George Sodini's blog.

Steele's advice during the seminar seemed to speak to all those issues.

"It's normal to be scared when you've been hurt by women in the past," Steele told the group, including Sodini. "The first woman who hurts is your mother. And that lasts as lifetime."