On this day in 1957, George Metesky was arrested at his home in Waterbury, CT. Metesky was suspected of being the “Mad Bomber” that had terrorized New York during the 1940s and 50s. In all, he had planted thirty-three bombs. Twenty-two of the bombs exploded, injuring fifteen people. His motive: denial of a worker’s compensation claim against Consolidated Edison in 1931. Metesky’s arrest was the result of an early use of profiling techniques by police. He was found legally insane and committed to a mental institution in 1957. He was released in 1973, and died in 1994 at the age of 90.
Further reading:
truTV: George Metesky: New York City’s Mad Bomber
Wikipedia: George Metesky
John D.:
That’s a real interesting story…I was too young to remember that arrest.
These days. a loon like THIS would be remanded to a facility that would dope him up and then RELEASE him back to the streets.
We all know how well THAT works.
Time to revisit the past and open up some REAL asylums for such people.
Good post.
Stay safe out there.
Or maybe just get weekend furloughs, like John Hinckley.
No, he wouldn’t get drugs. He would go into politics.
Or become a professor in college
Any of those is a distinct possibility. Unnerving, isn’t it?