Gerald Lambert

“Gerald Lambert” AKA “The Mad Gasser of Mattoon” (b. March 26, 1908 – June 7, 2005) was an injured postman who committed a series of revenge nerve gas attacks across the United States in the 1930s and 40s.

Description
Lambert grew up in Mattoon, Illinois during his childhood and was frequently ridiculed for his wheezy voice and weak stature. He had difficulty finding a way to stop his tormentors, so he looked to education as a teacher. He easily exceled in practical medicine, chemistry and biology but struggled to impress anyone. While walking home one day carrying his reading materials, he was ambushed. The children wrestled him into submission and destroyed all his books, while some of their older brothers beat him badly. He was found the next day crawling back to town, with a twisted ankle and broken wrist.

His family moved shortly after the incident and tried giving him more support for his education oriented goals, even though they were a farming family. His injuries were extensive enough to cause nerve damage to left his hand, breathing difficulties and anxiety attacks when surrounded by large groups of people. He became a postal worker in Virginia to support his studies but was fired because his injuries made him inefficient at work.

Now unemployed, Lambert used his knowledge for his own purpose. He experimented on creating a serum or paste that would heal his injuries and allow him to work again. He labored tirelessly for weeks until he found a formula. Similar to mineral oil in consistency, the liquid would help breathing and slowly repair damaged muscles when rubbed on the skin. Lambert applied his medicine daily and saw noticeable improvements within three months.

Then a development occurred. Lambert placed the liquid under heat from his radiator and it quickly turned into a vapor. It produced the opposite effects of the liquid, causing skin irritation, breathing difficulties and dizziness. Unsure of the total range of effects, he tested his “field gas” on the people of Botetourt County, Virginia. He sprayed at least ten homes in the span of three months to account for variables between the location, exposure time and health. He made note that it could also cause nausea, swelling, stinging and even temporary paralysis. A decade of intermittent research resulted in a new form, which would provide all the benefits without any of the downsides when in gaseous state. Strapped for cash, Lambert planned on turning his mixture, now called “Sweet Oil” for its distinct smell, into a profitable medicine.

He was going to market the product when disaster fell upon his family.

His parent’s home in Illinois, which they had spent their life savings on, had been burned down to the ground. With no income or home and in the midst of the Great Depression, they were forced to leave town, crisscrossing the country in search of work. Lambert was never able to locate them. When he received the notice, the Mattoon fire department said the probable cause of the fire was likely arson; an investigation was underway, but had no leads. He quickly shuffled across the states the scope out the damage and maybe the perpetrators for himself.

When he went to speak with the fire chief, he found that person was Marcus Willema, one of the boys that beat him as a kid. In fact, all the positions of power were now taken by his childhood tormentors. The local community had become unable to do anything, and their leaders would damage property without consequence. Fed up with the constant destruction they caused, Lambert took up arms to defend the people of his city.

He started his assault on his tormentors but then spread to their immediate families. He eventually kept gassing anyone who had helped the gang’s activities. Lambert was getting sloppy at this point, leaving footprints and evidence everywhere. Some of it was damage to his victim’s homes, others were small objects he left near the crime scenes to confuse police – he even dressed up as a woman on one occasion. Eventually, the Warehouse noticed these strange reports of a “gaseous spectral intruder”. They expected to find a missing artifact and instead discovered a brilliant and tainted mind. Agents subdued him and bronzed him September 28, 1944.

Reason for Incarceration
Causing multiple nerve gas attacks within the span of two decades. The gas, normally a healing liquid, would cause overwhelming sickness, skin irritation and paralysis in some cases.

Sentence
Gerald Lambert was sentenced for bronzing for a period of fifteen years. Afterwards, he went through five years of psychological rehabilitation. He proved positively responsive and was able to leave his past behind him. The Warehouse gave him a new name, Brian Greene, and he became a successful doctor. He retired in 1996 and become a bookstore owner. He passed away in 2005 of natural causes, healed of all of his previous injuries.