George Metesky, AKA The Mad Bomber, smiling behind bars after his arrest in 1957 for planting 33 bombs in New York City between 1941 and 1957. [614×516]
George Metesky, the Mad Bomber, 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. 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. The hunt for the bomber enlisted an early use of offender profiling. He was apprehended based on clues given in letters he wrote to a newspaper. He was found legally insane and committed to a state mental hospital. In 1973, the United States Supreme Court ruled that a mentally ill defendant cannot be committed to a hospital operated by the New York State Department of Correctional Services unless a jury finds him dangerous. Since Metesky had been committed to Matteawan without a jury trial, he was transferred to the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, a state hospital outside the correctional system. Doctors determined that he was harmless, and because he had already served two-thirds of the 25-year maximum sentence he would have received at trial, Metesky was released on December 13, 1973.
Metesky returned to his home in Waterbury, where he died 20 years later at the age of 90 in 1994.
will_cee
Was he the basis for batman’s “ The Joker”?
Calaban007
Dude looks like he’s got a huge head. Also, looks like he could be John Travolta’s dad.
Treliske
One of the first cases to be solved by criminal profiling. it is amazing how many details the police got correct when trying to determine the type of person who would have planted those bombs.
trixieevans
Has anyone else read a book about this guy and these bombings? I know I did a few years back but I can’t remember what it was called… i remember it being really good though
Barton_Foley
George Metesky, the Mad Bomber, 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. 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. The hunt for the bomber enlisted an early use of offender profiling. He was apprehended based on clues given in letters he wrote to a newspaper. He was found legally insane and committed to a state mental hospital. In 1973, the United States Supreme Court ruled that a mentally ill defendant cannot be committed to a hospital operated by the New York State Department of Correctional Services unless a jury finds him dangerous. Since Metesky had been committed to Matteawan without a jury trial, he was transferred to the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, a state hospital outside the correctional system. Doctors determined that he was harmless, and because he had already served two-thirds of the 25-year maximum sentence he would have received at trial, Metesky was released on December 13, 1973.
Metesky returned to his home in Waterbury, where he died 20 years later at the age of 90 in 1994.
will_cee
Was he the basis for batman’s “ The Joker”?
Calaban007
Dude looks like he’s got a huge head. Also, looks like he could be John Travolta’s dad.
Treliske
One of the first cases to be solved by criminal profiling. it is amazing how many details the police got correct when trying to determine the type of person who would have planted those bombs.
trixieevans
Has anyone else read a book about this guy and these bombings? I know I did a few years back but I can’t remember what it was called… i remember it being really good though