George Metesky
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George Metesky (1904-1994) planted around thirty bombs in New York City from 1940 to 1956. He was known in the media as "The Mad Bomber".
He placed his first bomb on November 16, 1940, at a Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison. The small, poorly made pipe bomb did not explode and was discovered with a note threatening Consolidated Edison. The second device, another dud, appeared a year later. Metesky then sent a note, composed of cut-out letters and signed "F.P." (later revealed to mean "fair play"), announcing the cessation of his bombing campaign due to "patriotic feelings" for "the duration of the war".
Metesky sent a series of threatening letters to various sources in the fallow period up to his third bomb, which was discovered before it could explode on March 29, 1950, at Grand Central Station. His fourth device, planted in a telephone booth in the New York City Public Library, was the first to explode. Metesky planted three more devices in 1950, all duds.
Metesky targeted public places, notably movie theaters, where he inserted his devices in the underside of seats. It was not until 1953 that a Metesky bomb caused any injuries.
His erratic and irregular campaign left the city police at a complete loss. After the December 2, 1956, bombing at a movie theater in Brooklyn, which left six people injured, the police approached Dr. James Brussel, a psychiatrist with the New York State Commission for Mental Hygiene.
Brussel produced a criminal profile of the bomber. Brussel derived a number of insights from the evidence beyond those of the police — the bomber was male, unmarried, foreign (possibly a Slav), a Catholic, in his 50s, living in Connecticut, a genuine paranoiac, self-educated and suffering from an oedipal complex. Brussel also convinced the police to heavily publicise the profile, predicting it would gain a response from the bomber. The publicity, from late December, created a large number of false confessions and poor quality leads.
Consolidated Edison had undertaken several searches of its records and while examining those of its subsidiary United Electric & Power Company, in knowledge of the profile, came across records relating to George Metesky. An employee from 1929 to 1931 who had been denied a disability pension, several of his letters were on file. They displayed close similarities in the phraseology used by F.P. and appeared to match the profile developed by Brussel. The connection was sealed when Metesky wrote a letter to the Journal American giving the date of the injuries he blamed on Consolidated Edison. Metesky was arrested in January, 1957; he confessed to being the bomber and revealed the meaning of "F.P." to the police.
Metesky was found insane on April 18, 1957 and was committed to the Matteawan State Hospital. He was resistant to treatment but caused no trouble and was released in 1973.
External links
- Court TV profile of Metesky and Brussel (http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminology/metesky/)