George Metesky

"The Mad Bomber" redirects here. For the 1972 film, see The Mad Bomber (film).

George Metesky
Metesky in the Waterbury, Connecticut, jail after his arrest in 1957.
Born
George Peter Metesky

(1903-11-02)November 2, 1903
Connecticut
DiedMay 23, 1994(1994-05-23) (aged 90)
Waterbury, Connecticut
Other namesMad Bomber, "F.P."
Occupation(s)Electrician, mechanic
Criminal statusTransferred to Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in 1973, released the same year
MotiveAnger and resentment about a workplace injury
Conviction(s)Not tried: declared legally insane and incompetent to stand trial
Criminal charge47 charges: attempted murder, damaging a building by explosion, maliciously endangering life, and carrying concealed weapons in violation of New York State's Sullivan Law.
PenaltyCommitted to Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane

George Peter Metesky (November 2, 1903 – May 23, 1994), better known as the Mad Bomber, was an American electrician and mechanic who terrorized New York City for 16 years in the 1940s and 1950s with explosives that he planted in theaters, terminals, libraries and offices. Bombs were left in phone booths, storage lockers and restrooms in public buildings, including Grand Central Terminal, Pennsylvania Station, Radio City Music Hall, the New York Public Library, the Port Authority Bus Terminal and the RCA Building, and in the New York City Subway. Metesky also bombed movie theaters, where he cut into seat upholstery and slipped his explosive devices inside.[1]

Angry and resentful about events surrounding a workplace injury suffered years earlier, Metesky planted at least 33 bombs, of which 22 exploded, injuring 15 people.[2] The hunt for the bomber enlisted an early use of offender profiling. He was apprehended in 1957 based on clues given in letters he wrote to a newspaper. He was found legally insane and committed to a state mental hospital.[3][4]

  1. ^ "6 Hurt in Bombing at Theatre Here; 1,500 in Brooklyn Paramount as Crude Device Explodes". The New York Times. December 3, 1956. Retrieved September 14, 2007. A crude, homemade bomb exploded in the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre last night, injuring six persons. Fifteen hundred persons were in the theatre.
  2. ^ "15 Were Injured by Bomb Blasts; 33 Devices, of Which 22 Went Off, Were Planted Here Over 16-Year Period – List of Bomb Sites". The New York Times. January 23, 1957. Retrieved September 25, 2007. Between Nov. 18, 1940, and Dec. 24, 1956 – a month more than sixteen years – the "Mad bomber" placed at least thirty-three homemade explosive devices.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT_1956-12-25SUMM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "'Bomber' Ordered to State Hospital; Leibowitz Commits Metesky to Matteawan as 'Hopeless and Incurable Man' – Mental Factor Decisive". The New York Times. April 19, 1957. Retrieved September 14, 2007. George Metesky, the so-called "Mad Bomber," was committed to Matteawan Hospital for the Criminally Insane yesterday by Judge Samuel S. Leibowitz in Kings County Court.