The Mad Bomber of New York (Part 1) | Morbid | Podcast | Forensic Files

Hey weirdos. I'm Ash. And I'm Elena. And this is Morbid. [Music] This is more bad or bad?
I don't know. Uh my we had to run out of out of the we literally just ran out of
the house. We had to run out for a minute and when we came back Mikey had cleaned the entire studio and lit
candles and the vibe in here is just a zillion times better. So right. It was like the greatest thing in the entire
world. I feel so relaxed. No, I feel so much better. I'm ordering Panera as we speak and it's about to this this vibe
today is about to go crazy. It's immaculate. Immaculate. I'm also feeling I'm feeling
very much in the slasher summer vibe. Me, too. Because I want to live in it. I think it's been so like gloomy and a
little bit chilly, which is nice. Oh, yeah. And you've been wearing like we've all been wearing comfy sweatshirts and
yet we put our ys in our ye. And it just feels spooky. Yeah. Yeah. And I keep getting and I mean Tik Tok's always
feeding me my my vibes. Halfway to Halloween. The halfway to Halloween and like slasher summer kind of [ __ ] I'm
getting a lot of that. I think cuz you keep saying it in my presence. It's getting me in such a mood for it. Yeah.
Like I need it. I'm craving it. And now I want to watch all the things like the Summer Slasher things. I want to read
all the Summer Slasher things. I just watched a pretty good one actually at your recommendation for Scream. We're
going to be recording it today, so it'll be out in like a couple weeks. But, um,
it's called Hell of a Summer. It was really good. It's a 2025 one. I think there's a couple movies that are called
Hell of a Summer. Brand new, but it just came out in April. It was funny. It was
I thought it was fun. It looked fun when I saw it. That's why I haven't watched it yet. But it like that's why I
suggested it to you cuz when I saw it, I was like, "That's got the vibes. It feels like it's like campy." Literally,
it is campy in in every sense of the word. Yeah. campy like fun slasher where you can laugh and also just kind of like
bop along to it. I love those kind of things. Yeah, I suggest it. Definitely go to Scream and listen to our episode
to get our full opinion. Yeah, I'm excited to watch it. Let's go, girl. Um but yeah, I don't I'm trying to think if
there's any more fun. Um if you're looking to pre-order The Butcher Game in paperback, because paperbacks are great.
Who doesn't [ __ ] love a paperback? You know what I mean? You can put that [ __ ] anywhere. You can put it in your
back pocket. I love when you say that you can put a paperback anywhere. I don't know. It's just a crazy literally
put it anywhere. But you're not wrong. It's It's easier sometimes to carry in like a bag or people love to shove a
book in their back pocket. Do they? Yeah. I've seen it a lot. Jess Mariano used to do it in Gilmore Girls. They
just moved. I think that really laid the groundwork for me that people do that. I
think that I think that imprinted on your soul. I don't think anyone else does. I was like, I don't think I've
ever seen anyone put a book in their back pocket. And actually, I feel like that would make
I feel like that would make you pretty angry. Yeah, I wouldn't do that. I can't even dog a page without you dogging on
me. Well, I'm also I'm a hard coverver girl. Okay. So, it's like this is this honestly I have no business commenting
on a paperback conversation. Um, but you can comment on your own, but I can give
you a paperback that I wrote. There you go. So, like there you go. There you go.
Take it. And you should definitely pre-order it and grab it. You can pre-order it anywhere you want to. you
feel in your soul that you want to buy a book. Whatever bookstore or book outlet
feels right to you. Yeah. And feels lovely to you, do that. I support it. Especially smaller indie bookstores.
They're like the best. I love a small indie bookstore. And if you need like a list of them, you can go to the
butcherame.com and there's like a little list of it'll bring you to different places. Um but yeah, go do that. Um
because you really want to catch up on the story because who knows why? Who knows what's coming
down the pike? Who knows why you might want to catch up on this story? I don't I don't know anything. Who can be sure?
You know, who knows? I don't know. Maybe maybe hang on to that information. Maybe, you know, I don't know. But go
catch up on it. And a paperback is a great way to do that. It's true. Um so so let's go, girls. Let's G O O boop
boop boop boop boop. So today we're gonna be we're gonna do a tupada here. Tupada. Um and it's just because there's
like a lot going on. Um this is a wild one. Um this is the mad bomber of New York. Okay. Uh it did happen in the
1940s, but like just because it happened in the 1940s doesn't mean it's not an insane story. Uh in fact, it might make
it more insane. It might make it and I think it does. Uh, this is a very interesting one. Any New Yorkers? I
wonder if you guys like know about this, have heard about it, maybe family members told you about it. It's seems
like New York was really put through it during this. Oh man. Um, so this started, it was in the fall of 1940, uh,
when an employee of the Consolidated Edison Company in Manhattan discovered a bomb in the company's main offices.
[ __ ] along with a note that said, "Con Edison Crooks, this is for you." Oh, damn. The bomb was discovered before it
detonated and no one was harmed. But a year later, the company received a second bomb, followed by a note to the
NYPD where the bomber announced that he was going to make no more bombs for the duration of World War II, but then he
would begin again after the war ended. So, this motherfucker's playing a long game. Oh, yeah. Playing a You don't call
him the mad bomber for nothing. No. um the Mad Bombers. It was literally a reign of terror on New York. Um it
lasted for a long time. Remember this is the fall of 1940. He was not He ends up
being captured luckily. So don't worry, New York. Good news. But he was captured
in 1957. Oh wow. Um it was a lot. And when they finally got him, he him as a person and his motives
didn't make a lot of sense to New York. It's always interesting when that happens. Yeah. Yeah, they'd lived in
fear of what was going on here. So, in the early afternoon of November 18th, 1940, the desk sergeant at the 20th
squad of the NYPD received a call from a very anxious employee of, like we mentioned before, the Consolidated
Edison Company, Coned, we'll call it. Oh, no. On West 64th Street. According to the caller, one of the ConEd
employees was on a break when he noticed a little, you know, wooden toolbox just
sitting unattended on a window ledge on the second floor. I'm glad he thought this was a little weird because if he
had just ignored it, it would have been a big problem. Can you imagine finding a
[ __ ] bomb on your break? You're just on lunch. You're just on lunch and you're just trying to get away from
everybody. Yeah. You're just trying to take a minute away from your [ __ ] job and then you have a bomb on your Now I
have to report a bomb. Yeah, that's a lot. I just wanted to have my egg salad sandwich, you know. That sounds good. It
does. So, when the man approached the toolbox, he saw that it contained a 4 and a half piece of iron pipe which was
capped in both ends, which like immediately not good. And when he looked closer at it, he found a small piece of
paper wrapped around it. So, this person unwrapped the paper. Damn. Which is brave as [ __ ] Pretty brave and like
ballsy. Don't do that. Like, don't do that. If ever you find a strange looking Don't touch it. just
and found a on that piece of paper he found that it was a note written in neat block print that read Con Edison crooks
this is for you. A second line of text underneath it um it was written in a coarse gray substance apparently and it
read shortage of powder boys and the note was simply signed FP. So, was he saying powder boys or was he
saying boys? There's no shortage of pow powder. I think powder boys. Powder boys. I think he's calling these bombs.
Maybe powder boys. Oh, like a pipe bomb. Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. The implications of the note obviously sent
the employee into a full panic. And he carefully set the toolbox down on the window sill cuz remember this man is now
holding this pipe bomb. [ __ ] Uh, and he ran it. Luckily, it didn't detonate. And
he ran to the phone and called the police. Later, when the note was tested, it was discovered that the second line
of text was written in gunpowder. Oh. Which was the same substance that was packed into the pipe. Hate that. Powder
boys. At the time though, the NYPD officers who responded to the call had no idea what they were actually dealing
with here. Although bombings or threats of bombings had kind of increased across
the city throughout the first half of the 20th century just with like advancement of people knowing how to
make these things. Yeah. Those matters were handled by the bomb and forgery squad. Obviously, there's like a
specialized thing. Um, so it's like when you have a group that's specially trained to do this stuff, the regular
patrol officers are like, "I don't really know what to do with this bottle." Yeah. Call in the special guys.
Yeah. They had So when they were called in, they had to report this explosive device to that specialized squad and
they had to wait hours for the bomb and forgery squad to arrive, which I'm like,
I feel like that squad should be a bit more prompt. That's the thing. That's how I feel. I feel like they should be
maybe those like you got to have one foot out the door at all times kind of squad. Like you're an emergency
responder pretty much. So, and you're very I feel like timeliness is next to godliness in that scenario. When it
comes to bombs, I'd say when it comes to to bombs, you know, cuz like I you don't
know when that's going to go off. You don't. So, like you want to get there before it does. Yeah. So waiting hours
feels risky. Hours. I'd be pissed if it took them like 25 minutes. Hours? Yeah. I'd be pissed that just the regular
patrol officer showed up. I'd be like, I did say this is a bomb. Well, it's like
obviously you can evacuate and like hopefully they did. But then you also have a whole building on your hands.
Exactly. And then that if that does explode and the building falls down, you got a whole mess to clean up and people
could get hurt. People could get hurt. Like so many things could happen. So when they did finally arrive at the
Coned building, the lead detective on the bomb squad confirmed that what they found was indeed a quote infernal
machine, which was a homemade explosive device, quote, maliciously designed to explode and destroy life or property,
but it still hadn't gone off yet. It still hadn't gone off. Now, unlike more sophisticated devices that, you know,
use electronic components, the a bomb that you're probably thinking in your head right now with the wires and [ __ ]
the infernal machine, which is one of the scariest names for something, great band name. I literally was just going to
say the there has to be I'm going to Google it. Infernal Machine has to be a Yeah.
Uh, it is a very crude, very volatile explosive that could be triggered by a number of things. Like this is not an
electronic explosive. So, it's not like somebody's just waiting or they, you know, set it to go off at a certain
point. It's like it gets triggered by random things. It's a band. It I knew it had to be a band. Good on you for for
picking that cuz that's a great band name. Yeah, absolutely is. Um, also the pipe bomb couldn't be deactivated in
like a traditional sense like a regular bomb, but instead it had to be just detonated in a controlled setting. Like
they just had to explode the bomb in a controlled area. The [ __ ] Cuz in like a
regular bomb there's way to detonate it or to like deactivate it with like electronically and [ __ ] Yeah. This
one's just like a very crude [ __ ] infernal machine. So where do you go? So, I don't really know. I think they
have to they go to like clearings to do these things because sometimes it still has to be done. Like they have to find
places to do these things. So, they really have to go to like places obviously where there's absolutely no
chance that somebody could be hurt by this. Damn. Um the squad knew that the bomb had already been handled by the
employee who had reported it. Um so they knew it wasn't triggered by, you know, moving it from its position. And after
clearing the building, one of the squad members dawned a suit of body armor and used a 5-ft grabbing pole. And he turned
the device over looking for any kind of timing device or other potential triggers. That's so scary. He Yeah, he
didn't find anything. And getting no result from poking at it and, you know, handling the device, they were fairly
certain it was not triggered by movement. And the pipe was retrieved, placed inside a bag. Uh the bag was made
of woven steel cable because that like that's how they transport bombs. Yeah. And it was taken out to the containment
truck and taken to a secluded area where it was inspected and ultimately submerged in motor oil.
Why? Apparently, and this is very interesting, motor oil was believed to clog up any moving parts that might
trigger the device. Oh, which I'm like, how did you guys figure that out? Yeah, that's interesting. was the test that
made that that a thing. I mean, it is very thick, so I guess that makes sense. Viscous. It is. So, once they were
confident that the bomb was a dud, um, investigators transported it back to headquarters for analysis. Now, inside
the pipe, technicians found a large amount of gunpowder and several typical bomb components, including a flashlight
bulb, a battery, and a steel spring, as well as a cough drop. What? which no one could explain why
that cough drop was there. Used or unused. I don't know if that was wrapped or unwrapped. I don't know if they could
tell if that was a used cough drop or not, but yeah. What a cough drop. Why? No one knows to this day. That's
bizarre. Despite having all the right parts and a cough drop to boot, it was clear it was a little bit of something
extra. Just a little spice. Maybe they wanted it to like smell good. Yeah, I guess. I don't know.
I have no idea. Uh, but despite having all the right parts, it was clear to experts that the bomb had been
incorrectly assembled by a very amateur person and was never in danger of exploding at all. Well, that's good
news. Yeah. But while there may have not been any imminent danger, the threat was
very real and investigators needed to identify the maker of the device before he improved on his technique. I was
going to say before he got better. Yeah. and and struck again because if they do
it once, of course they could do it again. Well, and especially if he knows it didn't go off. Yeah. Now he's going
to be pissed. Now, in 1940, Consolidated Edison was one of the largest employers
in Manhattan with thousands of employees, many of whom worked in the building where the bomb was found. Also,
as the primary supplier of electricity for the whole region, the company served millions of customers. That's basically
it was clear that whoever left the bomb had clearly a grudge with this company. But that fact alone didn't narrow the
pool of suspects down at all cuz remember we got thousands of employees and millions of customers. Yeah. Now
further complicating the whole thing was the fact that Coned was a conglomerate of several smaller companies operating
under like one umbrella all operating in different parts of the city. Okay. That
means that even if police did want to take the time to comb through all their administrative records, it could have
been literally years before they found anything that could help them, if they found anything at all. Right. Um, so
because of that, the incident report was written up and filed and no one really gave it a thought. The bomb incident
report. Yeah. They were just like, well, that happened. Now, in late September 1941, nearly a year after this first
bomb was discovered at the Coned building, passerbys noticed something strange lying in the road a few blocks
away from the Coned building at Fort Irving Place. It was stuffed inside a red wool sock with a 4-in length of pipe
with both ends capped. Okay. Just as they' done before, police officers called the bomb squad and the device was
removed and determined to be a dud. Damn, this guy sucks. Then it was taken back to headquarters for analysis.
There was no note with this one, but to the members of the bomb squad, the device was immediately recognizable as
being the work of whoever had left the bomb at Coned the previous year. Was there another cough drop? Inside, they
found the same ingredients as the previous bomb. All assembled in the same way. And another cough drop. Called it
cough drop. What? Cough drop number two. Does he ever say why? We're at a loss. God damn. Now, given
that the bomb was assembled the same exact way as the previous one, including the weird [ __ ] cough drop. I was
going to say random ingredients and all. Like, that's the thing that's really nailing it. And then it was discovered
around the corner of the ConEd building. Investigators were like, "Yeah, this is
the same guy." Equally disturbing was the fact that a year had passed and the bomber still appeared intent on bombing
the Coned building. That's commitment. Yeah. This time though, they theorized that he had been on his way to the
building and was interrupted or maybe diverted and chose to drop the explosive in the street and abandoned his plan.
Okay. Within days of finding the explosive in the street, letters started arriving at the Coned headquarters as
well as newspaper editorial desks, hotels, and department stores around the city. The letters were pretty short,
pretty vague, mostly alluding to um you know quote dastardly deeds and ghoulish acts that the power uh power company had
committed and uh demanding quote justice for wrongs perpetrated against the writer of the notes and others. Uh these
notes were mostly handprinted in that same like very blocky handwriting. Mh. Um, but that some were typewritten
though, like there wasn't it wasn't consistent throughout. Okay. And the clauses were all separated by dashes
rather than commas or periods. Okay. All the notes were written on the same plain
white paper. There was no identifying information about the sender other than the initials FP. Huh. And many contained
illusions to or outright threats of another bomb coming. A few months later, on December 7th, 1941, the Japanese
attacked the Pearl Harbor military base in Honolulu, Hawaii. I'm sure we all know about that. That's where I was
born. This effectively drew the American military into World War II. Not long after that attack on Pearl Harbor, the
usual round of recipients of FP letters received a new note. Although the latest
letter included the usual vague threats and you know claims of injustice, the sender also seemed to understand that
with the entire country preoccupied with the nation's you know now forceful entry
into a world war, there was very little chance that he was going to get the kind
of attention that he was so craving here. Um so he was like, you know what, I'm going to let somebody else have
their moment right now. He said, "I will make no more bombs units for the duration of the war. My patriotic
feelings have made me decide this. Later, I will bring the Coned to justice. They will pay for their
dastardly deeds." Like, that doesn't feel very patriotic. Yeah, that feels pretty rough. It's killing your fellow
man. To everyone's surprise, though, he remained true to his word, and there were no other bombs or letters from FP
in the years that followed. Interesting. The war raged on across Europe and the nation's attention was obviously he was
right. They were consumed by fighting. Yeah. And New York forgot kind of all about FP and his grudge against you know
the whole Coned building and employees and company as a whole. But FP, he was not giving up on this mission. He was
lurking. Yeah. And he did not have any intention of being forgotten. Just before 5:30 p.m. on the afternoon
of March 29th, 1951, the peak of rush hour at Grand Central Station, an explosive device detonated.
Oh no. In a cigarette urn placed outside the entrance to the Grand Central Oyster
Bar. It sent sand, cigarette butts, and other debris flying in all directions. Oh. Despite being placed on one of the
lower levels by track 27, there were no passerbys when the bomb went off. Wow. That's and no one was hit. That's
amazing. Inside this pipe bomb, he had packed nuts and bolts in there, too. Oh wow. Which is what like some of these
[ __ ] do. Like the Boston bombing is one of the ones that obviously very much sticks out to us. They put all
this like [ __ ] horrific shrapnel in it. Damage. Yeah. So since the bomb had already detonated by the time the police
came to Grand Central Station, there was no need for the bomb squad. But investigators still had little evidence
to work with and initially attributed the incident to boys or pranksters. Y'all, I'm sorry.
Bomb is not pranksters. Yeah, I was I don't know about all that. Yeah, the remains of the device were turned over
to the bomb squad for analysis, but nearly a decade had passed since the bombs were discovered at the Coned
building at this point. Wow. And this time, no one recognized the pipes and their various components because it had
kind of gone out of everyone's minds. Even if someone had recalled the bomb discoveries back in 1941, it's unlikely
they would have made, you know, the connection here because this latest bomb, one, it went off. So that's
different from the other two. It also contained no gunpowder, but instead contained just one 25 caliber round that
was rigged to a mechanism that would discharge at a predetermined time and it would send the shrapnel out in all
directions. So, he has obviously upped his game, right? It is a remarkable event that nobody was walking by,
especially like you said, like peak traffic time at Grand Central Station. Amazing. Right next to track 27. I can't
believe that nobody was hit. Veterans on the bomb squad, however, would likely have recognized one thing. A cough drop.
One cough drop contained in the pipe. [ __ ] I just Googled it and I couldn't find anything about why he did that.
Why? No one knows why. But by that time it had been disintegrated with the rest of the internal components. So they
wouldn't have been able to see it anyways. Oh yeah. But we know that it was there because we know it's the same
guy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So the bomb at Grand Central failed to achieve much notice by the police or the press
because they were kind of chalking it up to like which I'm like what kind of [ __ ] team running around New York
back then for real. Um, and the second bomb that detonated after this one, because there was another one, didn't
receive a lot of attention either. It detonated inside a phone booth in the basement of the New York Public Library.
I would call that a big deal. Yeah. Like the one at Grand Central Station, the second bomb caused no injuries, luckily,
and barely registered with anyone, earning a few paragraphs pretty deep in the pages of the New York Times that
day. But wouldn't everybody be like, "Hey, it seems like two bombings like could be related." But still, this time
the bombings were different. They didn't cause much damage or harm to anyone, but
that was only because no one had been unfortunate enough to be around when they went off. If they were, it would
cause massive damage. Had anyone been near either when they detonated, they would have I don't think they would have
survived. I really don't. They would it would be very lethal. That meant that although the police didn't know it at
the time, FP had become, like we were just talking about, more skilled and sophisticated as a bomb maker in the
decades since he had started doing this, which makes sense. He's obviously been studying how to do this for years, which
like why the [ __ ] is he still doing this? And in August, FP struck again with another bomb at Grand Central
Station. A little past 900 p.m. on the night of August 27th, a bomb went off in a phone booth on the west concourse.
Like the earlier bombs, this one caused some damage, but no injuries. This is remarkable. It is remarkable.
The Grand Central bomb was followed a few weeks later by another bomb. This one placed in a phone booth in the lobby
of the Coned offices at Fort Irving Place. If that doesn't raise some eyebrows. Yeah. The bomb exploded and
caused some damage to the lobby, but because it was detonated at 6:15 a.m., the only person in the building was a
night watchman and he wasn't in the lobby when it went off. So, it's missing like any per It's like really remarkable
cuz it's not like he's doing that on purpose. Like you were the first one when he came back again was high traffic
time. He's putting them in phone booths. Like, yeah, it's not like he's going out
of his way to Yeah, that's the thing. He's also putting shrapnel in them. So obviously he does want to hurt damage
and and like you said he's putting them in places where people would be. They just happen to not be there. It's like
really wild. Um so yeah, in fact the damage had been so minimal and mostly confined to the phone booth, the night
watchmen didn't even bother to call the police right away and waited several hours before even reporting it. Okay,
that's a bad plan because there could be more. Yeah, that's wild. Where there's one bomb, as we find out, there's many.
So the bombs all were pretty similar in their construction. So one investigator or a few investigators were believing
that they probably were in constructed and placed by the same individual. But because the bombs at Grand Central, the
public library, and Coned appeared to have been detonated at the at a time when they were like cuz that's the
thing. It's like he put them in places where people would be but he detonates them at times where people won't be
there or not a lot of people will be there. like 6:15 a.m. But what about the hight traffic one? That's the one that
it's like that one, you know, that stands out. Yeah, that one stands out. But a few of the other ones, it almost
looked like they were almost put to cause cuz they there's like conflicting ideas here because it's like there's
shrapnel in them. It looks like there's clearly a they're wanting to hurt someone, but then the times that a lot
of them are placed or detonated, I should say, are interesting. Okay. you know. Yeah, cuz it's it is crazy that
they're not getting anyone, like they're not hurting anyone. Um, investigators assumed because of this that maybe it
was like a prank and they were detonating it on purpose when people wouldn't be there to cause damage and
like chaos, but not hurt anyone. Okay. So, they were so convinced that the bombs were the work of an quote adult
prankster that they were reluctant to provide any details to the press, saying it would just build up the ego of the
nut who did it. Okay, I guess I sort of get that. I can kind of see where they're coming from. And again, this is
like the 1950s, so like, you know, yeah, a little different. Regardless of what they told the press in private,
investigators on the bomb squad were at least somewhat concerned on of the bombs. like investigators
are kind of like they're at odds a little bit of what this actually is. Mhm. In each case, the bombs did get
slightly larger and more sophisticated. So again, this is kind of showing or suggesting that like the bomber who is
doing this is really learning as he goes and he's like keeping up with his, you know, telage of trying to figure out how
to do this better and better. Uh-huh. Um, and he's getting better at it. And in the report on the second bomb at
Grand Central Station, the technician wrote, quote, "This is a well- constructed mechanism. It shows
considerable advance in technique as compared with the earlier bombs. Also, because the bombs were clearly created
in place by the same person, it was impossible for the bomb squad to ignore the reality that they were dealing with
a serial bomber, and it was only a matter of time before someone was going to get hurt. Regardless of whether
that's the intention or not, it's going to happen. It's just the way that this all works. A month later on October
22nd, the bomber struck again. This time in a bathroom at the Paramount Theater.
Fortunately, the bomb was discovered before it was detonated. Oh, that's good. And the bomb squad was able to
disassemble it without much trouble. But that right there, that there was intent.
Feels like there was Well, once you realize who he is, you're like, "Okay." Uh like the other devices, the bomb was
constructed with a roughly 4 inch long pipe containing a 25 caliber shell with that mechanism. Small amount of
gunpowder. At the time, roughly 3,500 patrons were in the theater one floor above watching a show. Wow. So this
would have caused massive casualties or at least massive damage. Yeah. And so like that one was like, oh [ __ ] So,
just as police were investigating the scene at the Paramount, the editor of the New York Herald Tribune received a
letter by Special Delivery. Inside was a letter written in block lettering that said, "Bombs will continue until the
Consolidated Edison Company is brought to justice for their dastardly acts against me. I have exhausted all other
means. I intend with bombs to cause others to cry out for justice for me." But you're not telling anybody what
happened. You're not telling anyone what happened. You're going to hurt someone.
So, no one's going to speak. And now you want these people that you're trying to
harm or inconvenience at the very least to cry out for you. Your That's what I mean. Your thinking is a little
scattered. Motive isn't making a lot of sense. The note confirmed that FP had planted the bomb at the Paramount, but
it also made reference to a second bomb in a telephone booth at Penn Station. Oh
[ __ ] It said, "If I don't get justice, I will continue, but with bigger bombs."
Okay. Police spent hours searching Penn Station, but found no sign of a bomb anywhere on the premises and eventually
abandoned the search in the early morning hours. While they may not have discovered a second bomb, the bomber had
made their intentions and motivation pretty clear in the letter, which was published in the Herald Tribune the next
day. With the publication of the letter, the NYPD had to end that whole theory of like
maybe these are just pranksters and we don't want to feed their ego. like they had to end that whole thing. Uh the ser
the city clearly had a serial bomber on their hands and he was clear that he intended to continue this reign of
terror until he got what he wanted which no one really knows how to give him that
cuz nobody knows what happened. Like I want them held I want justice for their dastardly deeds against me which were
what? And you're like cool cool. Can you tell us what those were so we can uh bring them to justice for it? Name them.
Name them. Name them. Name them. Uh, so the letter made clear at least that the bomber had some connection to Coned, but
again, who the [ __ ] are you? Like the it didn't help to identify the sender. If
anything, police found themselves right back to where they were a decade earlier
with a suspect list of millions of employees, former employees, and customers. In the absence of facts,
evidence, anything concrete that they could use, wild theories started to emerge, including the suggestion that
the bomber was operating on a lunar calendar, which led the NYPD to increase manpower
during the full moon. They said it's witches. They said it's werewolf. They said them witches be out here. Them
werewolves are who in Holland. They said, "Oh, that's just Jacob Black. Don't worry about that." They said,
"Bella, where you been, loca? They said, "Bella, where the hell you been, Loca?"
That is one of the most diabolical lines in literary history. Or is it the most genius? I said diabolical. I didn't
say bad. I just said diabolical. Also, there's just quick little side cuz we are who we are and that reminded me
of it. If you're looking for a really funny Tik Tok to watch, let me bring it up. Have you just made me think of it?
Uh, no I haven't. And I meant to tell you you're telling the masses before you tell your sister. Uh, you should all
follow this person because she is belly bunny punny. And what she's doing is she
does um recreations of what it's like to be in the boardroom during the making of
all the Twilight movies. Oh my god, that's iconic. Her name is Ellie Collins following right now. Um, and it's uh her
like thing on Tik Tok is E L L I E Collins, like C O L L I N with four S's. She is so [ __ ] funny. And all the
things that they go through with those movies, you you will just sit there and be like, "What the [ __ ] were we doing?"
I just followed her. I love it. I love it so much. So, go check her out. She's really funny. Um, she also did a whole
series of all of Taylor Swift's exes listening to her new songs as they came out. Oh, I think those have come up on
my page before. She did look familiar. She's real funny. Uh, but yeah. So, Bella, where the hell you been, Loca?
Uh, so, well, they so they they put more people on on the full moon because you got to try everything, you know? You
should just have more people on the full moon all the time, which is be crazy. People be wild on We're a huge percent
water. It's true. There you go. We're a huge percent. We're a huge percent water. It's like 86 or something. I
don't know. It's pretty impressive. It's pretty impressive how water we are. You
know, we do be a lot of water. Are we the ocean? I don't know. So, the tides are within. While they while they seemed
willing to entertain any theory at this point, regardless of how serious it seemed, investigators in the NYPD and on
the bomb squad knew the type of panic that a serial bomber was going to instill in the public and they just
wanted to stop him because now people are it's going to be hard for people to live their lives normally here,
especially in New York City. And they didn't care what the method was. They just wanted to stop this guy. That's not
great. In early November, police arrested 56-year-old former Coned employee Frederick Eberhart in
connection with a hoax bomb that was sent to Coned a few weeks earlier. Okay. Based on his employee file, um Frederick
fit the profile of the man investigators were looking for. Uh the district attorney told reporters he had been
sending simulated bombs around the city the past few months. Rude. Yeah. During his arraignment on November 7th, the
prosecution alleged that Frederick had sent a package to Edwin Jennings, the head of personnel at Coned, which
contained what Jennings believed was another pipe bomb. But when they inspected it, the pipe contained nothing
more than white sugar. Oh. According to company records, Frederick was fired by Coned in 1948 for quote stealing
material and was tried and ultimately acquitted. Following his acquitt, Frederick sued
Coned for $75,000 in damages, alleging false arrest, and the case was still pending trial at the time. Despite him
being a very strong suspect, his wife loudly protested his arrest and was very against him be admitted to Belleview for
AD evaluation, saying, quote, "This arrest is an outrage. He never sent those things. He couldn't hurt a fly."
Oh. If the NYPD hoped Frederick's arrest would put an end to the bomb threats of
the recent months, they were very disappointed very quickly. So, were they scapegoating him a bit? Just a few days
after Frederick's arrest was announced in the papers, the bomb squad received an anonymous call reporting that bombs
had been planted at the Capitol Theater on Broadway and a Roman Catholic church on East 28th Street. Oh no. While the
bomb squad found no bombs in either location, later that evening, a pipe bomb was detonated at the subway station
in Union Square, sending shrapnel through a row of metal lockers. Once again, no one was hurt.
This is bizarre, isn't it? It's incredible. Wonderfully bizarre that no one's getting hurt here, but like
bizarre. Yeah. Wild. And FP, he wasted no time claiming credit. sending a letter to the editor of the Herald
Tribune. He said, "To Herald Tribune editors, have you noticed the bombs in your city? If you are worried, I am
sorry. And also, if anyone is injured, but it cannot be helped, for justice will be served. I am not well, and for
this I will make the Con Edison sorry. Yes, they will regret their dastardly deeds. I will bring them before the bar
of justice. Public opinion will condemn them. For beware, I will place more units under theater seats in the near
future." Oh. It was clear from the recent bombings that Frederick Eberhard was not the
bomber. And on May 15th, 1952, a court dismissed the charges against him, which forced the NYPD to admit that there was
still very much a serial bomber loose somewhere in the city. Mhm. So, the bomber struck three times in 1952. Once
in a phone booth at the Port Authority bus terminal and twice at the Lexington Theater. That at the Lexington Theater,
it was bombs left under random seats. It was in the second bombing at the Lexington on December 8th that someone
was finally injured. Oh no. A woman sitting in the same row where the bombs were placed during a showing of
everything I have is yours was struck by flying shards of metal shrapnel and it caused several laugh lacerations on her
feet and legs. Oh. Uh but she did live. That's good. But like what a horrible thing to happen. You're just sitting in
a movie theater. Yeah. During this period, the NYPD and the investigators on the bomb squad were releasing little
if any information to the public about the bombings. So, which it's like maybe they should have and maybe people
wouldn't have gone to the movies. Exactly. So, the details of the bombings between 1952 and 1954 are kind of
limited. Okay. On March 10th, 1953, smack dab in the middle, a bomb was planted in one of the seat cushions in
the 16 6,000 seat Radio City Music Hall. Oh [ __ ] Ever heard of it? Yeah, Paige
and Hannah sold that [ __ ] out, [ __ ] Yeah, the same one. The spectators were about halfway through the movie when the
bomb went off. Oh my. Causing panic and chaos among this very large crowd. At the request of the NYPD, the incident
was minimized by the press the following day with several papers ignoring it altogether. Uh, Radio City Musical. The
[ __ ] How do you ignore that? The Herald Tribune, who had received many of the bombers letters, referred to the bomb as
quote, "the work of a psychopath." Fair. While others used like very dismissive language to kind of minimize the danger.
Uh, I would say that was pretty [ __ ] dangerous. A few months later, when a bomb exploded in a luggage locker at
Grand Central Station in early May, a police spokesperson was similarly dismissive, telling the press, quote,
"The culprit was a mental case in search of publicity." It's like, yeah, but bombs keep going off in various
locations, so maybe we should do something and find that person. It's like, my friends, I'm not here debating
what's happening in his noggin. Yeah. I'm here saying that like he's setting off bombs around the city, so like maybe
just stop that, right? Instead of just being like, he's just a nut. He's just cry cry. Yeah, he's he's a [ __ ]
brilliant nut who's making scary, dangerous bombs that have hurt at least one person, right? And it's shocking
that they haven't hurt anybody else. The minimal press coverage was an offense to
the bomber, too. And it's like they should have thought of that this guy is looking for attention clearly. And I
know that it's like it's a hard line to walk. That's the thing. It's kind of like, you know, Zodiac and, you know,
Jack the Ripper. It's like when they're looking for the attention, you don't want to give it to them. But you also
don't want to set it off anymore. So it's like I can't say that I would know how to handle this, you know, as like an
investigator and what to tell the press and especially again during this time period. Exactly. This is a very new type
of mind they're dealing with. Exactly. And he so he started sending outraged letters to the editorial departments of
the city's major papers. That's scary. In a letter to the editor and staff of New York Herald Tribune, "Unless sloppy
or no reporting is corrected about bombings, public will get information by way of Moscow." Get this into your
heads. The Consolidated Edison Company will be brought to justice. All of my physical, mental, and financial
sufferings will be paid for in full. You know that bombs are getting bigger. So far, the hand of God has spared everyone
from death or serious injury. Believe me, I know. In the press now and then I am called a bad name. Just what name
fits you people who denied me the purchase of space to tell my story? You who are too yellow to print the facts
which concern the safety of so many. I'm bewildered by your attitude. I can only
respond with more and larger bombs. Every day that passes means a day closer to another bomb. Yikes.
He's scary. It's very scary. And upping the ante. and again is not telling anyone what the [ __ ] happened and how
they can fix it. Yeah. And he's literally saying like the hand of God has spared people from not getting hurt.
That wasn't my intention, right? Which like he was kind of alluding not to that before, but now he's just being like,
"Oh, that's that's just happen stance." Yeah. Which is scary. And it almost sounds like he like he went to them and
tried to get his story about what happened at at the con place out and they said no. Yeah. Which is like
strange cuz I'm like what the [ __ ] Do we find out what happened to him? We find out the So we'll find we'll we'll
find out more in part two. We're actually going to stop there because if there's going to be buttad after that
that uh letter to the New York uh Tribune there, the Herald Tribune, it's another year that passes without any new
bombs. Interesting. Yeah. And then it does return. Oh no. So we're going to talk about that in part two. All right.
Yeah. in this is an interesting case. I've never heard anything about this one before. Yeah, this is a very very
interesting. It's strange and yeah, it's so strange like and it's like it almost
seems like the plot of a movie instead of like a real thing that happened. But I I really am curious if like any of you
are from New York or like you know have are like native New Yorkers who have like family that were around at this
time. I'd be curious to hear if they they'll tell you like what it was like Yeah. to be around because it's like my
mom was like living in Boston with girlfriends when the Boston strangler was tooting around like an apartment
together like on his route and they had like things in place. I think we talked about it in the episode too him like tin
cans like aluminum cans on top of each other in front of the door so that if it opened it would fall over and alert them
cuz their apartment door she said you could open with like a credit card. Credit card. Yeah. It was like that
janky. It's crazy. So, I'd be I'm curious to see if any of you can get any like cool stories out of family members.
Let us know. Yeah. And um if you want to write them in, we would love to share them. So, just let us know if we have
permission. Yeah, definitely. Um wow. I'm very interested to hear part two. Very interesting story. So, with that
being said, we hope you keep listening and we hope you keep it weird. But that's weird that you don't write in
your stories if you have them because now I'm so into Asante. Do it. Bye bye. [Music]
[Music] [Music]

In the fall of 1940, an employ of the Consolidated Edison Company in Manhattan discovered a bomb in the company’s main offices, along with a note that read “Con Edison crooks – this is for you.” The bomb was discovered before it detonated and no one was harmed, but a year later the company received a second bomb, followed by a note to NYPD in which the bomber announced he would make no bombs for the duration of WWII, but would begin again as the war ended.

As promised, a new series of bombings began across New York in the winter of 1951, beginning with an explosion at Grand Central Station. In the five years that followed, “The Mad Bomber,” as he would come to be known, would place explosives at some of New York’s most iconic locations including Radio City Music Hall, Penn Station, and the New York Public Library. The bombs were often followed by cryptic letters sent to the press, usually referencing the Consolidated Edison Company.

Th Mad Bomber’s reign of terror finally came to an end with his capture in 1957, and neither the suspect nor his motives made much sense to the New Yorkers who’d lived in fear for five years.

Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!

References Associated Press. 1955. "The 'Mad Bomber' threatens Macy's." Buffalo News, May 5: 47.

—. 1957. "'Bomber' sick but innocent, sisters say." Newsday, Janaury 22: 3.

Baird, John, and Harry Schlegal. 1956. "Mad Bomber blast in B'klyn movie; 6 hurt." Daily News, December 3: 2.

Berger, Meyer. 1957. "Bomber is booked; sent to Bellevue for mental tests." New York Times, January 23: 1.

Demeusy, Gerald. 1981. "'Bomber' says life all broken dreams." Hartford Courant, November 16: 15.

Greenburg, Michael M. 2011. The Mad Bomber of New York: The Extraordinary True Story of the Manhunt That Paralyzed a City. New York, NY: Union Square Press.

Kaufman, Michael. 1973. "'Mad Bomber,' now 70, goes free." New York Times, December 13: 1.

New York Times. 1957. "2d 'Bomber' note cites old injury." New York Times, January 16: 25.

—. 1953. "A homemade bomb rips station locker." New York Times, May 7: 28.

—. 1951. "Bomb blast in terminal: Homemade device explodes in Grand Central--no one is hurt." New York Times, March 30: 24.

—. 1954. "Bomb in music hall injures 4 in crowd." New York Times, November 8: 1.

—. 1951. "Bomb laid to prankster." New York Times, September 13: 33.

—. 1957. "'Bomber' ordered to state hospital." New York Times, April 19: 44.

—. 1957. "'Bomber' presses threat on utility." New York Times, January 11: 16.

—. 1951. "Ex-Edison worker held in bomb case." New York Times, November 7: 32.

—. 1966. "'Mad Bomber' to get hearing on sanity." New York Times, April 29: 17.

—. 1957. "Metesky indicted on bomb charges." New York Times, January 31: 29.

—. 1955. "Penn Station bomb blast is ignored by commuters." New York Times, Janaury 12: 11.

—. 1951. "Police find bomb in Paramount Lounge; note spurs search for one at Penn Station." New York Times, October 23: 30.

—. 1957. "Suspect is held as 'Mad Bomber'; he admits role." New York Times, January 22: 1.

—. 1956. "The Mad Bomber." New York Times, December 30: B2.

O'Kane, Lawrence. 1955. "Bomb left in Roxy; linked to 22 others." New York Times, August 12: 1.

Parke, Richard. 1957. "Sisters shocked, loyal to brother." New York Times, January 23: 20.

Sheridan, Mike. 1977. "Former Mad Bomber now a homebody." Hartford Courant, May 1: 22.

Connect with Wondery http://wondery.com/shows http://facebook.com/WonderyMedia http://twitter.com/WonderyMedia http://instagram.com/WonderyMedia

Brief Summary

Ash and Elena discuss the Mad Bomber of New York, detailing his bombings from 1940 to the 1950s and the public's fear surrounding the events.

Key points

The Mad Bomber of New York. A story about a series of bomb threats in New York during the 1940s.
A Bomb Discovered. An employee finds a bomb at the ConEd building, leading to panic and investigation.
Bizarre Bomb Components. Investigators find a cough drop in the bomb, leaving them puzzled.
FP's War Decision. FP vows to stop making bombs during the war, promising justice later.
Grand Central Bombing. An explosive device detonates at Grand Central Station during rush hour, but miraculously no one is injured.
The Letter of Intent. FP sends a letter declaring his intent to continue bombing until justice is served.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This is a wild one. This is the mad bomber of New York.

Ash introduces the topic of the episode, setting the tone for a thrilling story.

4:50WatchJun 5, 2025

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

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