The Mad Bomber of New York (48 page)

In earlier years
: “New York Procedure for Determination of Sanity of Defendant. Desmond Act,” 1260.

“[T]here is no question”
: “Expert at Work to Help Metesky,”
New York Journal-American
, January 23, 1957, 15.

“I understand”
: “Tells of Injuries at Power Plant,” 10 (emphasis added).

“I believe a new claim”
: “Hunt for All Data on Bomber Case,” 7.

“champion of lost causes”
: William F. Longgood, “Lawyer for the Defense,”
Saturday Evening Post
, November 2, 1957, 87.

“He's very much the fox”
: Ibid., 88.

“I guess I was born with”
: Ibid., 26.

“To me, the man on trial”
: Ibid., 87.

“He is as jovial and gay today”
: See “Insanity Plea for Mad Bomber,”
New York Journal-American
, January 26, 1957, 4.

Prosecutors had earlier stated
: “Doctors Study Bomber,”
New York Herald Tribune
, January 24, 1957, 2.

“alert, cooperative, and eager”
: “Report of Psychiatric Examination,” March 1, 1957.

“exhibited abnormal thinking and acting”
: Ibid.

“imminently dangerous to others”
: The People of the State of New York against George Metesky, alias George Milauskas, Court of General Sessions County of New York, Indictment No. 321–57.

The charges
: “Jury Indicts Metesky on 47 Bomber Counts,”
New York Journal-American
, January 30, 1957, 1.

“Gee whizz!”
: “‘Bomber' Indicted For B'klyn Blast,”
New York Journal-American
, February 19, 1957, 1.

The average stay
: Zitrin,
The Psychiatric Division
, 422.

“This fellow is smarter”
: “Metesky Hearing Postponed; Wait Full MD Report,”
New York Journal-American
, February 20, 1957, 1.

During the 1955 murder trial
: “Justice John A. Mullen Dies; Served on State Supreme Court,”
New York Times
, September 30, 1972, obituaries.

“Did he indicate to you”
: See “Bomber Planned to Darken N.Y.,”
New York Journal-American
, March 5, 1957, 17.

“All delays in cases of this sort”
: See “Trial Is Ordered for ‘Mad Bomber,'”
New York Times
, March 1, 1957, 31.

“I have thought about it”
: Testimony of Albert A. LaVerne, on March 27, 1957, during a Section 662a Hearing before Judge Samuel S. Leibowitz, Kings County Court,
The People of New York vs. George Metesky,
Indictment No. 269/1957.

CHAPTER XX: “AS PLAIN AS THE NOSE ON YOUR FACE”

“While generally compliant”
: “Report of Psychiatric Examination,” March 1, 1957.

“I don't believe in letting people”
: “Sanity Report on Bomber Goes to Officials Today,”
New York Journal-American
, March 4, 1957, 3.

“We cannot keep a man”
: “Fear Tombs Suicide Try by Metesky,”
New York Journal-American
, March 1, 1957, 1.

“I am going to do”
: “Jail for ‘Bomber' Leads to Dispute,”
New York Times
, March 2, 1957, 23.

“I don't know what [those powers] are”
: “Sanity Report on Bomber Goes to Officials Today,” 3.

“The law is right there”
: See “Judge, Lawyer Clash at ‘Bomber' Hearing,”
New York Times
, March 23, 1957, 1, 20, for all quotes and circumstances of the March 22, 1957, hearing.

“a rather bizarre conflict”
: Transcript of a Section 662a Hearing held on March 27, 1957 before Judge Samuel S. Leibowitz, Kings County Court,
The People of New York vs. George Metesky,
Indictment No. 269/1957.

“one county is looking for”
: Ibid.

“out of courtesy and respect”
: Ibid.

“we will proceed”
: Ibid.

On March 29 Metesky
: See “Bomber Ordered to Stand Trial,”
New York Times
, March 30, 1957, 21; and “Mad Bomber's Lawyer Fights ‘Sanity' Ruling,”
New York Journal-American
, March 30, 1957, 3; for quotes and circumstances of the March 29, 1957, hearing.

“I am claiming”
: “Expert Asks Compensation for Bomber,”
New York Journal-American
, April 7, 1957, 6.

CHAPTER XXI: “HIS DAYS ON EARTH ARE NUMBERED”

“Well it's no use living”
: Testimony of Dr. Albert A. LaVerne, March 27, 1957.

“This man could at any time”
: “Reveal Bomber Stricken by TB,”
New York Journal-American
, April 3, 1957, 1.

“How many reports would you say”
: All quotations are taken from the transcript of a Section 662a Hearing held on April 10, 1957 before Judge Samuel S. Leibowitz, Kings County Court,
The People of New York vs. George Metesky,
Indictment No. 269/1957.

“It is my feeling”
: All quotations are taken from the transcript of a Section 662a Hearing held on April 15, 1957 before Judge Samuel S. Leibowitz, Kings County Court,
The People of New York vs. George Metesky,
Indictment No. 269/1957.

“The decision of this Court”
: All quotations are taken from the transcript of a Section 662a decision delivered on April 18, 1957 by Judge Samuel S. Leibowitz, Kings County Court,
The People of New York vs. George Metesky,
Indictment No. 269/1957.

CHAPTER XXII: THE BIRTH OF CRIMINAL PROFILING

“amazingly accurate”
: “Proven Profile,”
Newsweek
, February 4, 1957, 82.

“had not done badly”
: “Bomber Is Booked; Sent to Bellevue for Mental Tests,” 18.

“textbook case of paranoia”
: “‘Textbook Case of Paranoia,'”
New York Herald Tribune
, January 23, 1957, 2.

“word picture”
: Telephone interview with William F. Schmitt, December 10, 2009.

Brussel himself had been accused
: Malcolm Gladwell, “Dangerous Minds,”
New Yorker
, November 12, 2007, 36, 44; Don Foster,
Author Unknown
(Henry Holt and Company, 2000), 116.

some of the publicized character portraits
: “‘Mad Bomber' Believed to Be Man about 45”; “Mad Bomber Believed ‘Ordinary Man' in 40s.”

though Brussel would later be criticized
: See Gladwell, “Dangerous Minds,” 36, 44; Don Foster,
Author Unknown
, 116.

In point of fact
: See “Proven Profile,” 82; “16 Year Search for Madman,” 31; “Bomber Is Booked; Sent to Bellevue for Mental Tests,” 18; “Psychiatrist Depicts the Bomber,” 1; and “Bomber a Woman? Idea Called ‘Silly,'” 11.

“A profile isn't a test”
: Gladwell, “Dangerous Minds,” 36, 43.

In some circles
: See e.g. Diana Concannon, Bruce Fain, and Diane Fain,
Kidnapping: An Investigator's Guide to Profiling
(Academic Press, 2008), 2, and Stephen G. Michaud,
Beyond Cruel
(Macmillan, 2007), 211.

“private blend of science”
: Brussel,
Casebook
, 4.

“the first crude manual”
: John E. Otto and Stephen Band,
Into the Minds of Madmen: How the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit Revolutionized Crime Investigation
(Prometheus Books, 2004), 66.

“I am not the best writer”
: “Sirhan Expert Wanted ‘Vivid' Report,”
New York Times
, March 19, 1969, 26.

“the Gentle Titan”
: Otto and Band,
Into the Minds of Madmen
, 153.

Teten had developed
: Turvey,
Criminal Profiling
, 35.

“He was a wonderful old gentleman”
: Otto and Band,
Into the Minds of Madmen
, , 118.

Teten recognized that Dr. Brussel's method
: Email from Howard Teten to author dated July 8, 2009.

“In what might be termed”
: Email from Howard Teten to author dated July 9, 2009.

“Dr. Brussel had an exhaustive”
: Email from Howard Teten to author dated July 8, 2009.

“comprehensive and probing”
: Email from Howard Teten to author dated July 9, 2009.

Finally, Teten believed
: Ibid.

Though the two men generally agreed
: Email from Howard Teten to author dated July 8, 2009.

Conversely, Teten's approach
: Ibid.

“I would much rather”
: Ibid.

In the years that followed
: Otto and Band,
Into the Minds of Madmen
, , 116–117.

“He was an innovator”
: Email from Howard Teten to author dated July 8, 2009.

CHAPTER XXIII: RIGHT FROM WRONG

“To the layman and the lawyer alike”
: Transcript of a Section 662a decision delivered on April 18, 1957 by Judge Samuel S. Leibowitz, Kings County Court,
The People of New York vs. George Metesky,
Indictment No. 269/1957.

the McNaughten rule
: New York Penal Law, Section 1120.

Irresistible Impulse rule
:
Parsons v. State
, 81 Ala. 577, 2 So. 854 (1887).

“an accused is not criminally responsible”
:
Durham v. United States,
214 F.2d 862 (1954).

“I trust that the State of New York”
: Transcript of a Section 662a decision delivered on April 18, 1957 by Judge Samuel S. Leibowitz, Kings County Court,
The People of New York vs. George Metesky,
Indictment No. 269/1957.

“a fine example”
: Ibid.

“Metesky may have had a delusional mission”
: Ibid.

“Application of [the McNaughton Rule]”
: Robert Allan Carter,
History of the Insanity Defense in New York State
(New York State Library Legislative Research Service 1982), 10, quoting Public Papers of Governor Averell Harriman, 1957, 1070–1071.

Finally, in 1965
: Robert Allan Carter, History of the Insanity Defense in New York State, 12.

a defense based upon the inability
: Ibid., 13; See also American Law Institute, Model Penal Code: Tentative Draft No. 4, April 1955, 27.

“if at the time of such conduct”
: Former New York Penal Law, Section 30.05; L. 1965, Chapter 1030 (emphasis added).

The intent and effect
: Robert Allan Carter,
History of the Insanity Defense in New York State
, 12, citing
People v. Buthy,
38 A.D. 2d. 10, 326 N.Y.S. 2d. 512 (1971).

CHAPTER XXIV: MATTEAWAN

“storage bin”
: Ron Casanova, Each One Teach One: Up and Out of Poverty, Memoirs of a Street Activist (Curbstone Press, 1996), 47.

“Abandon hope”
: Dante,
Inferno,
Canto iii. 1.9. (Cary, trans.)

Prior to the age of reform
: Grant H. Morris, “The Confusion of Confinement Syndrome: An Analysis of the Confinement of Mentally Ill Criminals and Ex-Criminals by the Department of Correction of the State of New York,” 17
Buff. L. Rev.
, 651 (1968).

In 1855 the New York Legislature
: Henry M. Hurd, William F. Drewry, Richard Dewey, Charles W. Pilgrim, G. Adler Blumer, and T. J. W. Burgess,
The Institutional Care of the Insane in the United States and Canada,
volume 3 (Johns Hopkins Press, 1916), 241–242.

Those “twice cursed”
: Morris, “The Confusion of Confinement Syndrome,” 651, 652.

The nine-hundred-acre estate
: Federal Writers Project,
New York: A Guide to the Empire State
(US History Publishers, 1989), 576.

in 1892 the newly constructed
: Morris, “The Confusion of Confinement Syndrome,” 651, 653.

“isolation of dangerous and vicious patients”
: Chapter 45, Section 1, N.Y. Sess. Laws (1888).

“gives primacy to the problems”
: Application for the Commitment of ANONYMOUS, an Alleged Dangerously Mentally Ill Patient to Matteawan State Hospital, 69 Misc.2d 181, 183 329 N.Y.S.2d 542, 545 (1972).

Sadistic beatings and involuntary medication
: See e.g., Casanova,
Each One Teach One
, 47.
Schuster v. Herold,
410 F.2d 1071 (1969),
Neely v. Hogan,
62 Misc.2d 1056, 310 N.Y.S.2d 63 (1970). Special Committee on the Study of Commitment Procedures and the Law Relating to Incompetents of the Ass'n of the Bar of the City of New York, Mental Illness, Due Process, and the Criminal Defendant, 23–26 (1968).

Unlike the more benign conditions
: Morris, “The Confusion of Confinement Syndrome,” 651, 658.

The dangers, restraints, and poor conditions
:
Schuster v. Herold,
410 F.2d 1071, 1078 (1969).

“a place more likely”
:
Wolfersdorf v. W. C. Johnston, M.D.
, 317 F.Supp. 66, 67 (1970).

Denied any effective therapeutic measures
: Morris, “The Confusion of Confinement Syndrome,” 651, 656.

In 1965, prior to the introduction of reform measures
: Ibid., 651, 657.

“marooned and forsaken”
:
Schuster v. Herold,
410 F.2d 1071, 1079 (1969).

“They used to take him out”
: James, “The Mad Bomber vs. Con Ed,” 48.

“I became fully convinced”
: Letter of George Metesky dated November 24, 1963 to District Attorney Frank Hogan.

“So many injustices have been done”
: Transcript of hearing dated December 15, 1966,
George Metesky v. Dr. W. C. Johnston, Superintendent Matteawan State Hospital
, Supreme Court of the State of New York Dutchess County.

“I made this application”
: Ibid.

“Inappropriate emotional reaction”
: Ibid.

“He doesn't pay much attention”
: Ibid.

“[Metesky] has failed to establish”
: Opinion of Judge Joseph F. Hawkins,
George Metesky v. Director of Matteawan State Hospital
, Supreme Court of the State of New York Dutchess County, Index No. 217/1964.