Chicago Tribune, Sept 10

GAS SPRAYING PHANTOM HITS 2 MORE HOMES
Two Children Are Among Five Victims

By Charles Ballenger
[Chicago Tribune Press Service]
Mattoon, Ill. Sept. 10 -- After 24 hours of inactivity, Mattoon's gas spraying prowler struck at two homes tonight on the city's northwest side, which he has terrorized since Sept. 2. Five persons, including two children, were stricken by the nauseous, paralyzing vapor, but the phantom prowler did not gain entry.
Kenneth Fitzpatrick, 24, and his wife, Mary,20, were the first victims. The two were playing cards in the living room about 11 p.m. Their daughter, Sandra Jo, 2, was sleeping nearby. Mrs. Fitzpatrick went into the kitchen and was enveloped by the fumes, which burned her lips and nauseated her.
Feeling her strength ebbing, she screamed. Her husband ran to her assistance and also was partially overcome. The gas apparently was sprayed into the room thru a crack beneath an ill-fitting kitchen door, police said. The sleeping child was unaffected.

Two Girls Gassed

Shortly afterward, the prowler appeared at the home of John Grafton, six blocks away. His daughter, Mrs. Richard Daniels, whose husband is in the army, was alone with two small sisters, Joan Grafton, 12, and Evon, 8. The younger girl thought she heard a noise at the front door and the three entered the living room which seemed filled with the sweetish gas. All three were affected, Mrs. Daniels most seriously. Physicians ordered her to bed. Fifteen other alarms were answered by police during the night. Saturday night's lull was attributed to the presence of armed farmers who patrolled the city, especially the northwest side. Tension grew, however, as darkness approached and police acknowledged they were no nearer a solution.

Two Under Suspicion

Two local residents remain under suspicion and a thoro check of their movements during the last week of almost nightly attacks is being made, police said. In a special meeting this morning, Mayor E.E. Richardson, Police Commissioner Thomas Wright, and William Kidwell, state's attorney for Coles county, and Police Chief C.E. Cole made plans to call for aid from the state police or to appoint a special group of deputies to patrol the streets if the prowler continues his attacks. A pack of bloodhounds may also be used. -- Monday, September 11, page 12