George Metesky facts for kids

George Peter Metesky (born November 2, 1903 – died May 23, 1994) was an American electrician and mechanic. He became known as the Mad Bomber because he caused fear in New York City for 16 years. From the 1940s to the 1950s, he planted explosives in many public places.

His bombs were found in theaters, train stations, libraries, and offices. He hid them in phone booths, storage lockers, and restrooms. Famous places like Grand Central Terminal, Pennsylvania Station, Radio City Music Hall, the New York Public Library, and the Port Authority Bus Terminal were targeted. He even placed bombs in the New York City Subway and inside movie theater seats.

Metesky was very angry about a serious injury he got at work years before. He planted at least 33 bombs, and 22 of them exploded. These explosions hurt 15 people. The search for him was one of the first times police used offender profiling to understand a criminal's mind. He was caught in 1957 after sending letters to a newspaper. Doctors later found he had a serious mental illness, and he was sent to a special hospital.

Why the Bombs Started

After World War I, George Metesky joined the U.S. Marines. He worked as a specialist electrician in Shanghai. When he came home, he got a job as a mechanic for a company called Consolidated Edison. He lived in Waterbury, Connecticut, with his two sisters.

In 1931, Metesky was working at a power plant. There was an accident where hot gases from a boiler knocked him down. He breathed in the fumes, which made him very sick.

The Workplace Injury

This accident left Metesky unable to work. After getting sick pay for a few months, he lost his job. He claimed the accident caused him to get pneumonia, which then led to tuberculosis. He tried to get money for his injury through workers' compensation, but his request was denied. He appealed this decision three times, but each time he was rejected. The last rejection was in 1936.

Because of this, he grew to hate the company's lawyers. He also felt angry at three co-workers. He believed they lied in court to help the company.

Pennsylvania Station, a place where Metesky planted a bomb.

Metesky planted his first bomb on November 16, 1940. He left it on a window sill at a Consolidated Edison power plant in Manhattan.

His first two bombs did not get much attention. But starting in 1951, he began planting bombs more often. These random bombings made New York City residents very nervous. They also put a lot of pressure on the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Metesky often called buildings to warn them about bombs. However, he never said exactly where the bomb was. He also wrote letters to newspapers, saying he would plant more bombs. Some bombs came with notes, but these notes never explained why he chose that specific place.

Between 1940 and 1956, Metesky planted at least 33 bombs. Twenty-two of them exploded, injuring 15 people.

The Big Search for the Bomber

Throughout the investigation, police thought the bomber was a former Consolidated Edison employee. They believed he had a strong grudge against the company. Detectives looked through many company records. They also followed hundreds of other clues and tips. They checked lawsuit records and hospitals for people with mental illnesses. People even reported neighbors who acted strangely.

A new group, the Bomb Investigation Unit, was created just to find the bomber.

What Police Knew About Him

In April 1956, the police sent out a warning across several states. They described the person they were looking for as a skilled mechanic. This person would have access to tools like a lathe (a machine that can shape metal). They also knew the bomber mailed letters from White Plains, New York. He was likely over 40 years old and had a "deep hatred" for Consolidated Edison.

Police shared pictures of a homemade pipe bomb, similar to those the bomber used. They also showed samples of the bomber's unique handwriting. They asked anyone who recognized it to contact them. They even checked driver's license applications in White Plains, finding 500 that matched the bomber's handwriting.

On December 2, 1956, a bomb exploded at the Brooklyn Paramount theater. This caused huge news coverage. The next day, the Police Commissioner ordered the "greatest manhunt" in the history of the NYPD. He promised a "good promotion" to whoever arrested the bomber.

By December 27, 1956, rewards totaling $26,000 were offered for the bomber's capture.

False Alarms and Distractions

During the search, many fake bombs and false reports wasted police time. They also scared the public even more.

Around 1951, another former Con Edison employee, Frederick Eberhardt, sent a fake pipe bomb filled with sugar to the company. He was charged with sending threats. Police believed he was not mentally well and had been sending fake bombs for months. Eberhardt was sent to Bellevue Hospital for a mental check-up. His case was later dismissed because the package did not contain "written threats" as required by law.

In October 1951, the main waiting room at Grand Central Terminal was emptied. Three thousand lockers were searched after a bomb warning call. This search took three hours and involved many police officers.

On December 29, 1956, at the peak of false bomb reports, a note in a phone booth at Grand Central Terminal said a bomb was at the Empire State Building. This meant all 102 floors had to be searched. A railroad worker picked up as a suspect later died of a heart attack during questioning. He was later found not to be the bomber.

Creating a Profile

Fingerprint experts, handwriting experts, and the bomb unit worked hard but made little progress. Since traditional police methods were not working, police captain John Cronin asked his friend James A. Brussel for help. Brussel was a criminologist and psychiatrist.

Brussel looked at crime scene photos and letters from the bomber. He talked about the bomber's skills with metal and electricity. As he spoke with the police, Brussel created a "portrait" of the bomber. Today, we call this an offender profile.

Brussel believed the bomber thought Consolidated Edison had treated him unfairly. This made Brussel think the bomber suffered from paranoia. This is a mental condition where someone has strong, fixed beliefs that are not true. Based on the evidence, Brussel made several predictions about the bomber:

• He was a man, likely between 40 and 50 years old.
• He was precise, neat, and tidy, based on his letters and how well his bombs were made.
• He was probably a good employee, always on time and well-behaved.
• He might be from a Slavic background, as bombs were sometimes used in Middle Europe.
• He was likely Catholic, as most Slavs were Catholic.
• He was polite but not friendly.
• He had a good education, but probably did not go to college.
• He might be foreign-born or live in a community with many foreign-born people. The letters sounded like they were first thought of in another language, then translated into English.
• He was a loner, with few friends and little interest in women.
• He was likely unmarried, perhaps living with an older female relative.
• He probably lived in Connecticut, as many Slavs lived there. Also, many of his letters were mailed from Westchester County, which is between Connecticut and New York City.

Brussel also predicted that when the bomber was caught, he would be wearing a double-breasted suit, buttoned up.

Even though police usually kept the investigation quiet, Brussel convinced them to share the profile widely. He believed that if any part of the profile was wrong, the bomber would try to correct it. The New York Times published the profile on December 25, 1956. It summarized the predictions, including that the bomber was a single man, 40-50 years old, a skilled mechanic, and a former Consolidated Edison worker.

After the profile was published, bomb hoaxes and false confessions increased a lot. On December 28, police received over 50 fake bomb alarms.

Letters to the Newspaper

The day after the profile came out, the New York Journal-American newspaper published an open letter. It was written with the police and asked the bomber to give himself up. The newspaper promised a "fair trial" and offered to print his complaints.

Metesky wrote back the next day, signing his letter "F.P." He said he would not give up. He wanted to "bring the Con. Edison to justice." He listed all the places where he had planted bombs that year. He seemed worried that some might not have been found. He also wrote: "My days on earth are numbered – most of my adult life has been spent in bed – my one consolation is – that I can strike back – even from my grave – for the dastardly acts against me."

After police edited it, the newspaper published Metesky's letter on January 10. They also published another open letter asking for more information about his complaints.

Metesky's second letter gave details about his bombs, saying he preferred pistol powder. He promised to stop bombing until at least March 1. He wrote, "I was injured on job at Consolidated Edison plant – as a result I am adjudged – totally and permanently disabled." He said he had to pay his own medical bills and that Consolidated Edison had blocked his workers' compensation case. He also wrote: "When a motorist injures a dog – he must report it – not so with an injured workman – he rates less than a dog – I tried to get my story to the press – I tried hundreds of others – I typed tens of thousands of words (about 800,000) – nobody cared – ... – I determined to make these dastardly acts known – I have had plenty of time to think – I decided on bombs."

The newspaper published this letter on January 15. They asked for "further details and dates" about his compensation case so it could be looked at again fairly.

Metesky's third letter arrived on January 19. He complained about lying on "cold concrete" for hours after his injury without help. He said he then got pneumonia and later tuberculosis. He gave more details about his lost compensation case and how his co-workers had supposedly lied. He also gave the date of his injury: September 5, 1931. He hinted that if he did not have a family who would be "branded" by his surrender, he might consider giving himself up to get his case reopened. He thanked the Journal-American for sharing his story and said "the bombings will never be resumed." This letter was published the day after Metesky was arrested.

Finding the Bomber

Alice Kelly, a clerk at Consolidated Edison, had been looking through company files for days. She was searching for employees with serious health problems. On Friday, January 18, 1957, she found a file marked in red with the words "injustice" and "permanent disability." These words had been in the Journal-American letters.

The file belonged to George Metesky, an employee from 1929 to 1931. He had been injured in a plant accident on September 5, 1931. Several letters from Metesky in the file used words similar to those in the newspaper, like "dastardly deeds." Police were told about this clue that evening. They asked Waterbury police to quietly check on George Metesky and his home.

After Metesky's arrest, police first said one of their detectives found the file. Later, it was confirmed that Alice Kelly had found it. She refused to claim the $26,000 reward, saying she was just doing her job.

Police investigators later said that Consolidated Edison had made the investigation harder for almost two years. The company had repeatedly said that records of employees who left before 1940 (like Metesky) had been destroyed. Investigators said they only learned these records existed on January 14, through a secret tip. Even then, the company delayed giving access to the files.

The Arrest

Four NYPD detectives, along with Waterbury police, arrived at Metesky's home with a search warrant just before midnight on Monday, January 21, 1957. They asked him for a handwriting sample and to write the letter 'G'. He wrote the 'G', looked up, and said, "I know why you fellows are here. You think I'm the Mad Bomber." The detectives asked what "F.P." stood for, and he replied, "F.P. stands for Fair Play."

He led them to his garage workshop, where they found his lathe. Inside the house, they found pipes and connectors suitable for bombs hidden in the pantry. They also found three cheap pocket watches, flashlight batteries, brass terminal knobs, and unmatched wool socks. These socks were the type he used to carry the bombs. Metesky had answered the door in pajamas. When told to get dressed for the police station, he came back wearing a double-breasted suit, buttoned up, just as the profile predicted.

Talking to the Police

Metesky told the officers that he had been "gassed" in the Consolidated Edison accident. He said he got tuberculosis from it and started planting bombs because he "got a bum deal." He went through a police list of 32 bomb locations. He never used the word "bomb," instead calling them "units." He remembered the exact date and size of each "unit."

He then added 15 earlier bombs to the police list. These were all left at Consolidated Edison locations and had not been reported. He explained that when his bombs at Con Edison were not in the newspapers, he started planting them in public places. He wanted to get attention for the "injustices" done to him. He also confirmed why he did not plant bombs during World War II: as a former Marine, he stopped "for patriotic reasons."

Police found parts for a bomb that would have been larger than any he had planted before. Metesky explained it was meant for the New York Coliseum.

What Happened Next

Metesky admitted to placing 32 bombs. After a grand jury heard from 35 witnesses, he was accused of 47 serious actions. These included trying to hurt people, damaging buildings with explosions, and carrying hidden weapons (the bombs). He was accused of trying to hurt seven people who were injured in the past five years. Metesky was brought to court from Bellevue Hospital, where he was being checked by doctors.

Sent to a Special Hospital

After hearing from mental health experts, Judge Samuel S. Liebowitz declared Metesky had a serious mental illness called paranoid schizophrenia. The judge said he was "hopeless and incurable" both mentally and physically. He found Metesky too sick to stand trial. On April 18, 1957, Judge Liebowitz sent Metesky to the Matteawan Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Beacon, New York.

Doctors thought Metesky would only live a few weeks because of his advanced tuberculosis. He had to be carried into the hospital. But after a year and a half of treatment, his health improved. Fourteen years later, a newspaper article described the 68-year-old Metesky as "vigorous and healthy looking."

While he was at Matteawan, the Journal-American hired a lawyer to appeal his denied injury claim. The lawyer argued that Metesky was too mentally ill at the time to know his rights. However, the appeal was denied. Metesky did not respond to mental health therapy, but he was a good patient and caused no trouble. His sisters visited him regularly. He also sometimes saw Brussel, the psychiatrist who created his profile. Metesky would tell Brussel that he had built his bombs carefully so they would not kill anyone.

His Release

In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court made a rule. It said that a person with a mental illness could not be kept in a hospital run by the correctional system unless a jury decided they were dangerous. Since Metesky had been sent to Matteawan without a jury trial, he was moved to the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center. This was a state hospital not part of the prison system.

Doctors at Creedmoor decided he was not dangerous. He had already spent two-thirds of the 25-year maximum sentence he might have received if he had gone to trial. So, George Metesky was released on December 13, 1973. The only rule was that he had to visit a mental health clinic near his home in Connecticut regularly.

When a reporter interviewed him after his release, he said he would no longer use violence. But he still felt angry about Consolidated Edison. He also said that before he started planting bombs: "I wrote 900 letters to the Mayor, to the Police Commissioner, to the newspapers, and I never even got a penny postcard back. Then I went to the newspapers to try to buy advertising space, but all of them turned me down. I was compelled to bring my story to the public."

Metesky went back to his home in Waterbury. He died there 20 years later in 1994, at the age of 90.

Images for kids

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  Pennsylvania Station, a place where Metesky planted a bomb.