Easton, Pennsylvania Mail Bombs
On December 30, 1931, two young men approached the mail counter in the Easton, Pennsylvania, Post Office. Handing over six packages to the clerk, they set the stage for a horrific event.
The Explosions
At 8:30 a.m. two men who were described as “foreign, young, and nervous” approached Edward Werkheiser’s window at the Easton, Pennsylvania, Post Office. They handed him six packages that were all addressed to Italian diplomats or prominent members of the Italian-American press.
According to witnesses, they argued with Werkheiser for some time regarding the price, but eventually paid and left in a small coupe. Werkheiser was immediately concerned about the two men, expecting they were shipping illegal goods or alcohol.
The Explosions and Investigation
Werkheiser placed one of the packages on a scale to examine it, when the package exploded. Werkheiser was badly mangled. His fellow clerk, John House, was thrown several feet and was similarly injured. Both men ended up dying at the hospital shortly after. Several other postal employees who were close by were also badly injured but survived.
Postal authorities called in police and explosive expert Charles V. Weaver. Weaver ordered the other packages to be removed to an old quarry to investigate the remaining suspected bombs. While undergoing this process, another bomb exploded, killing Weaver and injuring two detectives.
Investigation
After news broke of the mail bombs in Easton, similar packages were reported by postal officials in Chicago, Detroit, and Ohio. Shortly after the bombings, two young Italian men were arrested. After questioning, they were released, then rearrested a few days later. However, there was no evidence to indict the men, and they were released again.
In 1936, two more bombs almost identical to the ones in Easton were discovered in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. J. Edgar Hoover investigated the bombs and any ties to the Easton bombs, but the head G-man himself found nothing. To this day, no one was ever identified or prosecuted for the Easton, Pennsylvania, mail bombs or the bomb scare that spread throughout the country during the 1930s.