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The Mad Gasser of Mattoon

From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.

From late August to early September of 1944, Mattoon, Illinois was plagued by a series of alleged attacks by a mysterious figure local newspapers dubbed The Anesthetic Prowler, The Mad Anesthetist or The Mad Gasser. All of the attacks followed a similar pattern: late at night, homeowners would notice a curious sweet odor, strong enough to wake them, followed by nausea, dizziness, headaches, breathing difficulty, or a feeling of paralysis. Some reported a buzzing sound or a blue vapor. Several homeowners reported a tall figure dressed in black fleeing from their property.

After sensational newspaper reports of the first few incidents, the panicked citizens talked of little else. Additional police and citizen patrols were organized. Residents were torn between closing their windows to stop the Gasser and opening them to make the late summer heat more bearable. After reaching a crescendo of 15 attacks between September 5th and 10th, the incidents abruptly ceased after a final attack on the 13th. Despite the involvement of state and federal law enforcement agencies, no suspects were ever apprehended. Ultimately, authorities dismissed the incidents as mass hysteria. Although many of the victims were male, the phenomenon was often attributed to the anxieties of women living alone during World War II.

There are three primary theories about the Mad Gasser incident: mass hysteria, industrial pollution, or an actual physical assailant. Mass hysteria is the most popular explanation.

Dr. Donald Johnson, at the time a student in psychology at the University of Illinois and later a psychology professor, wrote a seminal article attributing the incident to mass hysteria, and the Mad Gasser has been cited as a textbook example ever since. A very similar series of widely-publicized assaults involving strange fumes occurred in Virginia in 1933, which supports the mass hysteria explanation. The sheer number of reported incidents at the height of the panic suggests hysteria is the best explanation for at least some "attacks."

Mattoon was the site of several busy factories and industrial plants, leading to speculation about the role of pollutants or toxic waste. But this cannot explain the localized, house-by-house nature of the attacks.

The most recent theory, suggested by former area resident Scott Maruna, blames a local named Farley Llewellyn. An outstanding chemistry student at the University of Illinois, Llewellyn had both the means and the motivation to commit the attacks. Shortly before the first attack, Llewellyn's home chemistry lab was rocked by an explosion. Llewellyn was ostracized by the local community as a suspected homosexual, and was bitter toward the townsfolk. The first several victims were high school classmates of Llewellyn's, and most of the attacks occurred near the Llewellyn home. Maruna believes Farley Llewyllen was attempting to make bombs using nitromethane, an explosive, sweet-smelling compound which, when inhaled, can produce symptoms not unlike those reported by the victims. One objection to this explanation is the lack of explosions or fires accompanying the attacks or physical evidence of any explosive device. Another possible flaw is that Llewyllen was the only suspect at the time and was placed under constant surveillance at the height of the attacks. Maruna suggests Llewellyn's sisters conducted several additional gassings in an attempt to exonerate him. This would explain why the victims of the final attack on the 13th described the gasser as a woman in men's clothing, and prints from high-heeled shoes were found the next day.

Shortly after the attacks ended, Farley Llewellyn's family had him committed to a mental institution, where he remained for the rest of his life.

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Reference books

Coleman, Loren, Mysterious America : the Revised Edition, Paraview Press, ©2004 (first pub. ), New York, LC Control Number: 2004102093, ISBN 1931044848
Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds, The Mad Gasser of Bessledorf Street (Fic.), Atheneum, ©1983, New York, LC Control Number: 83006430, ISBN 0689313756

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