Theodore John Kaczynski ( ; May 22, 1942 – June 10, 2023), also known as the Unabomber ( ), was an American mathematician and
domestic terrorist. He was a mathematics
prodigy, but abandoned his academic career in 1969 to pursue a
reclusive primitive lifestyle and
lone wolf terrorism campaign to further his political agenda.
Kaczynski murdered three people and injured 23 others between 1978 and 1995 in a nationwide
mail bombing campaign against people he believed to be advancing
modern technology and the destruction of the
natural environment
The natural environment or natural world encompasses all life, biotic and abiotic component, abiotic things occurring nature, naturally, meaning in this case not artificiality, artificial. The term is most often applied to Earth or some parts ...
. He authored a roughly 35,000-word
manifesto
A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...
and
social critique called ''
Industrial Society and Its Future'' which opposes all forms of technology, rejects
leftism and
fascism
Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...
, advocates cultural primitivism, and ultimately suggests violent
revolution
In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...
.
In 1971, Kaczynski moved to a remote cabin without
electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...
or
running water near
Lincoln, Montana
Lincoln is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lewis and Clark County, Montana, Lewis and Clark County, Montana, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the ...
, where he lived as a
recluse while learning
survival skills
Survival skills are techniques used to sustain life in any type of natural environment or built environment. These techniques are meant to provide basic necessities for human life, including water, food, and shelter. Survival skills also sup ...
to become
self-sufficient. After witnessing the destruction of the
wilderness
Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plurale tantum, plural) are Earth, Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human impact on the environment, human activity, or any urbanization, nonurbanized land not u ...
surrounding his cabin, he concluded that living in nature was becoming impossible and resolved to fight
industrialization
Industrialisation (British English, UK) American and British English spelling differences, or industrialization (American English, US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an i ...
and its destruction of nature through terrorism. In 1979, Kaczynski became the subject of what was, by the time of his arrest in 1996, the longest and most expensive investigation in the history of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
(FBI). The FBI used the case identifier UNABOM (University and Airline Bomber) before his identity was known, resulting in the media naming him the "Unabomber".
In 1995, Kaczynski sent a letter to ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' promising to "desist from terrorism" if the ''Times'' or ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' published his manifesto, in which he argued that his bombings were extreme but necessary in attracting attention to the erosion of human freedom and dignity by modern technologies.
The FBI and U.S.
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
Janet Reno
Janet Wood Reno (July 21, 1938 – November 7, 2016) was an American lawyer and public official who served as the 78th United States Attorney General, United States attorney general from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. A member of ...
pushed for the publication of the essay, which appeared in ''The Washington Post'' in September 1995. Upon reading it, Kaczynski's brother,
David
David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament.
The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...
, recognized the prose style and reported his suspicions to the FBI. After his arrest in 1996, Kaczynski—maintaining that he was sane—tried and failed to dismiss his
court-appointed lawyers because they wished him to
plead insanity to avoid the
death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
. He pleaded guilty to all charges in 1998 and was sentenced to several
consecutive life terms in prison without the possibility of
parole
Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...
. In 2021, he received a
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
diagnosis and stopped treatment in March 2023. Kaczynski hanged himself in prison in June 2023.
Early life
Childhood

Theodore John Kaczynski was born in Chicago on May 22, 1942, to working-class parents Wanda Theresa (''née'' Dombek) and Theodore Richard Kaczynski, a sausage maker. The two were
Polish Americans
Polish Americans () are Americans who either have total or partial Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 8.81 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing about 2.67% of the U.S. population, ...
who were raised as
Roman Catholics
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
but later became
atheists.
They married on April 11, 1939.
From first to fourth grade (ages six to nine), Kaczynski attended Sherman Elementary School in Chicago, where administrators described him as healthy and well-adjusted. In 1952, three years after his brother David was born, the family moved to suburban
Evergreen Park, Illinois, and Ted transferred to Evergreen Park Central Junior High School. After testing scored his
IQ at 167, he
skipped the sixth grade. Kaczynski later described this as a pivotal event: previously he had socialized with his peers and was even seen as a leader, but after skipping ahead of them he felt he did not fit in with the older children, who bullied him.
Neighbors in Evergreen Park later described the Kaczynski family as "civic-minded folks", one recalling the parents "sacrificed everything they had for their children".
Both Ted and David were intelligent, but Ted was exceptionally bright. Neighbors described him as a smart but lonely individual.
High school

Kaczynski attended
Evergreen Park Community High School, where he excelled academically. He played the trombone in the
marching band
A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who play while marching. Historically they were used in armed forces and many marching bands remain military bands. Others are still associated with military units or emulate a military sty ...
and was a member of the mathematics, biology, coin, and German clubs.
In 1996, a former classmate said: "He was never really seen as a person, as an individual personality... He was always regarded as a walking brain, so to speak."
During this period, Kaczynski became intensely interested in mathematics, spending hours studying and solving advanced problems. He became associated with a group of like-minded boys interested in science and mathematics, known as the "briefcase boys" due to their penchant for carrying briefcases.
Throughout high school, Kaczynski was ahead of his classmates academically. Placed in a more advanced mathematics class, he soon mastered the material. He skipped the eleventh grade, and, by attending summer school, he graduated at age 15. Kaczynski was one of his school's five
National Merit finalists and was encouraged to apply to
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
.
While still at age 15, he was accepted to Harvard and entered the university on a scholarship in 1958 at age 16. A high school classmate later said Kaczynski was emotionally unprepared: "They packed him up and sent him to Harvard before he was ready... He didn't even have a driver's license."
Harvard University

Kaczynski matriculated at
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...
as a mathematics prodigy. During his first year at the university, Kaczynski lived at 8 Prescott Street, which was intended to provide a small, intimate living space for the youngest, most precocious incoming students. For the following three years, he lived at
Eliot House. His housemates and other students at Harvard described Kaczynski as a very intelligent but socially reserved person.
He earned his
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree in mathematics from Harvard in 1962, finishing with a
GPA of 3.12.
Psychological study
In his second year at Harvard, Kaczynski participated in a study led by Harvard psychologist
Henry Murray. Subjects were told they would debate personal philosophy with a fellow student and were asked to write essays detailing their personal beliefs and aspirations. The essays were given to an anonymous individual who would confront and belittle the subject in what Murray himself called "vehement, sweeping, and personally abusive" attacks, using the content of the essays as ammunition.
Kaczynski spent 200 hours as part of the study.
Kaczynski's lawyers later attributed his hostility towards
mind control techniques to his participation in Murray's study.
Kaczynski stated he resented Murray and his co-workers, primarily because of the invasion of his privacy he perceived as a result of their experiments. Nevertheless, he said he was "quite confident that
isexperiences with Professor Murray had no significant effect on the course of
islife".
Mathematics career

In 1962, Kaczynski enrolled at the
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
, where he earned his
master's
A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
and
doctoral
A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...
degrees in mathematics in 1964 and 1967, respectively. Michigan was not his first choice for
postgraduate education
Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have ...
; he had applied to the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, and the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
, both of which accepted him but offered him no teaching position or financial aid. Michigan offered him an annual grant of $2,310 () and a teaching post.
At Michigan, Kaczynski specialized in
complex analysis
Complex analysis, traditionally known as the theory of functions of a complex variable, is the branch of mathematical analysis that investigates functions of complex numbers. It is helpful in many branches of mathematics, including algebraic ...
, specifically
geometric function theory. Professor
Peter Duren said of Kaczynski, "He was an unusual person. He was not like the other graduate students. He was much more focused about his work. He had a drive to discover mathematical truth."
George Piranian, another of his Michigan mathematics professors, said, "It is not enough to say he was smart."
Piranian taught Kaczynski
function theory and recalled, "he was very persistent in his work. If a problem was hard, he worked harder. He was easily the top student, or one of the top".
Professor
Allen Shields wrote about Kaczynski in a grade evaluation that he was the "best man I have seen". Kaczynski received one F, five B's and twelve A's in his eighteen courses at the university. In 2006, he said he had unpleasant memories of Michigan and felt the university had low standards for grading, considering his relatively high grades.
For a period of several weeks in 1966, Kaczynski experienced intense sexual fantasies of being female and decided to undergo
gender transition. He arranged to meet with a
psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...
but changed his mind in the waiting room and discussed other things instead, without disclosing his original reason for making the appointment. Afterward, enraged, he considered killing the psychiatrist and other people whom he hated. Kaczynski described this episode as a "major turning point" in his life.
He recalled: "I felt disgusted about what my uncontrolled sexual cravings had almost led me to do. And I felt humiliated, and I violently hated the psychiatrist. Just then there came a major turning point in my life. Like a
Phoenix, I burst from the ashes of my despair to a glorious new hope."
In 1967, Kaczynski's dissertation, ''Boundary Functions'',
won the
Sumner B. Myers Prize for Michigan's best mathematics dissertation of the year.
Allen Shields, his
doctoral advisor
A doctoral advisor (also dissertation director, dissertation advisor; or doctoral supervisor) is a member of a university faculty whose role is to guide graduate students who are candidates for a doctorate, helping them select coursework, as well ...
, called it "the best I have ever directed",
and Maxwell Reade, a member of his
dissertation committee
A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...
, said, "I would guess that maybe 10 or 12 men in the country understood or appreciated it."

In late 1967, the 25-year-old Kaczynski became an acting assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught mathematics. He assumed the position of the youngest assistant professor in the history of the university. By September 1968, Kaczynski was formally appointed to an assistant professorship, a sign that he was on track for
tenure
Tenure is a type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...
.
His teaching evaluations suggested he was not well-liked by his students—he seemed uncomfortable teaching, taught straight from the textbook, and refused to answer questions.
Without any explanation, Kaczynski resigned on June 30, 1969.
In a 1970 letter written by John W. Addison Jr., the chairman of the mathematics department, to Kaczynski's doctoral advisor Shields, Addison referred to the resignation as "quite out of the blue". He added that "Kaczynski seemed almost pathologically shy", and that, as far as he knew, Kaczynski made no close friends in the department, noting that efforts to bring him more into the "swing of things" had failed.
In 1996, reporters for the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' interviewed mathematicians about Kaczynski's work and concluded that Kaczynski's subfield effectively ceased to exist after the 1960s, as most of its conjectures had been proven. According to mathematician Donald Rung, if Kaczynski had continued to work in mathematics, he "probably would have gone on to some other area".
[
]
Life in Montana
After resigning from Berkeley, Kaczynski moved to his parents' home in Lombard, Illinois. Two years later, in 1971, he moved to a remote cabin he had built outside Lincoln, Montana
Lincoln is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lewis and Clark County, Montana, Lewis and Clark County, Montana, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the ...
, where he could live a simple life with little money and without electricity or running water, working odd jobs and receiving significant financial support from his family.
Kaczynski's original goal was to become self-sufficient so he could live autonomously. He used an old bicycle to get to town, and a volunteer at the local library said he visited frequently to read classic works in their original languages. Other Lincoln residents said later that such a lifestyle was typical in the area. Kaczynski's cabin was described by a census taker in the 1990 census as containing a bed, two chairs, storage trunks, a gas stove, and lots of books.[
Starting in 1975, Kaczynski performed acts of sabotage including arson and ]booby trap
A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or an animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap may b ...
ping against developments near his cabin. He also dedicated himself to reading about sociology
Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
and political philosophy
Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and Political legitimacy, legitimacy of political institutions, such as State (polity), states. This field investigates different ...
, including the works of Jacques Ellul. Kaczynski's brother David later stated that Ellul's book '' The Technological Society'' "became Ted's Bible". Kaczynski recounted in 1998, "When I read the book for the first time, I was delighted, because I thought, 'Here is someone who is saying what I have already been thinking.'"
In an interview after his arrest, Kaczynski recalled being shocked on a hike to one of his favorite wild spots:
During the 1980s and 1990s, Kaczynski's neighbors suspected him of attacking and poisoning their dogs on multiple occasions. After his arrest, the FBI found poisons in his cabin, and in later letters, he admitted to killing at least one dog.
Kaczynski was visited multiple times in Montana by his father, who was impressed by Ted's wilderness skills. Kaczynski's father was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 1990 and held a family meeting without Kaczynski later that year to map out their future.[ On October 2, 1990, Kaczynski's father shot and killed himself in his home.
]
Bombings
Between 1978 and 1995, Kaczynski mailed or hand-delivered a series of increasingly sophisticated bombs that cumulatively killed three people and injured 23 others. Sixteen bombs were attributed to Kaczynski. While the bombing devices varied widely through the years, many contained the initials "FC", which Kaczynski later said stood for "Freedom Club", inscribed on parts inside. He purposely left misleading clues in the devices and took extreme care in preparing them to avoid leaving fingerprints; fingerprints found on some of the devices did not match those found on letters attributed to Kaczynski.
{, class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
, + Bombings carried out by Kaczynski
, -
! scope="col" style="width:17.5%;" , Date
! scope="col" , State
! scope="col" style="width:40%;" , Location
! scope="col" style="width:10%;" , Detonation
! scope="col" , Victim(s)
! scope="col" , Occupation of victim(s)
! scope="col" style="width:60%;" , Injuries
, -
! scope="row" data-sort-value=1978-05-25 , May 25, 1978
, rowspan="4" , Illinois
, rowspan="2" ,
Northwestern University
Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
,
, Terry Marker
, University police officer
, Minor cuts and burns
, -
! scope="row" data-sort-value=1979-05-09 , May 9, 1979
,
, John Harris
, Graduate student
, Minor cuts and burns
, -
! scope="row" data-sort-value=1979-11-15 , November 15, 1979
,
American Airlines Flight 444 from Chicago to Washington, D.C. (explosion occurred midflight)
,
, Twelve passengers
, Multiple
, Non-lethal
smoke inhalation
Smoke inhalation is the breathing in of harmful fumes (produced as by-products of combusting substances) through the respiratory tract. This can cause smoke inhalation injury (a kind of acute inhalation injury) which is damage to the respirator ...
, -
! scope="row" data-sort-value=1980-06-10 , June 10, 1980
,
Lake Forest
,
,
Percy Wood
, style="white-space:nowrap;" , President of
United Airlines
United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...
, Severe cuts and burns over most of body and face
, -
! scope="row" data-sort-value=1981-10-08 , October 8, 1981
, Utah
,
University of Utah
The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...
,
,
,
,
, -
! scope="row" data-sort-value=1982-05-05 , May 5, 1982
, Tennessee
,
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...
,
, Janet Smith
, University secretary
, Severe burns to hands;
shrapnel wounds to body
, -
! scope="row" data-sort-value=1982-07-02 , July 2, 1982
, rowspan="2" , California
, rowspan="2" ,
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
,
,
Diogenes Angelakos
, Engineering professor
, Severe burns and shrapnel wounds to hand and face
, -
! scope="row" data-sort-value=1985-05-15 , May 15, 1985
,
, John Hauser
, Graduate student
, Loss of four fingers and severed artery in right arm; partial loss of vision in left eye
, -
! scope="row" data-sort-value=1985-06-13, June 13, 1985
, Washington
,
The Boeing Company
The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...
in
Auburn
,
,
,
,
, -
! scope="row" data-sort-value="1985-11-15" rowspan="2" , November 15, 1985
, rowspan="2" , Michigan
, rowspan="2" ,
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
,
,
James V. McConnell
, Psychology professor
, Temporary hearing loss
, -
,
, Nicklaus Suino
, Research assistant
, Burns and shrapnel wounds
, -
! scope="row" data-sort-value=1985-12-11 , December 11, 1985
, California
,
Sacramento
Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...
,
, Hugh Scrutton
, Computer store owner
, Death
, -
! scope="row" data-sort-value=1987-02-20 , February 20, 1987
, Utah
,
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
,
, Gary Wright
, Computer store owner
, Severe nerve damage to left arm
, -
! scope="row" data-sort-value=1993-06-22 , June 22, 1993
, California
,
Tiburon
,
,
Charles Epstein
, Geneticist
, Severe damage to both eardrums with partial hearing loss, loss of three fingers
, -
! scope="row" data-sort-value=1993-06-24 , June 24, 1993
, Connecticut
,
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
,
,
David Gelernter
, style="white-space:nowrap;" , Computer science professor
, Severe burns and shrapnel wounds, damage to right eye, loss of use of right hand
, -
! scope="row" data-sort-value=1994-12-10 , December 10, 1994
, New Jersey
,
North Caldwell
,
, Thomas J. Mosser
, Advertising executive at
Burson-Marsteller
, Death
, -
! scope="row" data-sort-value=1995-04-24 , April 24, 1995
, California
,
Sacramento
Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...
,
, style="white-space:nowrap;" , Gilbert Brent Murray
, President of the California Forestry Association
, Death
Initial bombings
Kaczynski's first mail bomb was directed at Buckley Crist, a professor of materials engineering
Materials science is an Interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field of researching and discovering materials. Materials engineering is an engineering field of finding uses for materials in other fields and industries.
The intellectual origi ...
at Northwestern University
Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
. On May 25, 1978, a package bearing Crist's return address was found in a parking lot at the University of Illinois at Chicago
The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...
. The package was "returned" to Crist, who was suspicious because he had not sent it, so he contacted campus police. Officer Terry Marker opened the package, which exploded and caused minor injuries. Kaczynski had returned to Chicago for the May 1978 bombing and stayed there for a time to work with his father and brother at a foam rubber factory. In August 1978, his brother fired him for writing insulting limericks about a female supervisor Ted had courted briefly. The supervisor later recalled Kaczynski as intelligent and quiet but remembered little of their acquaintanceship and firmly denied they had had any romantic relationship. Kaczynski's second bomb was sent nearly one year after the first one, again to Northwestern University. The bomb, concealed inside a cigar box and left on a table, caused minor injuries to graduate student John Harris when he opened it.
Airline bombing and clues
In 1979, a bomb was placed in the cargo hold of American Airlines Flight 444, a Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After the heavier Boeing 707, 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter ...
flying from Chicago to Washington, D.C. The bomb released smoke, which caused the pilots to carry out an emergency landing
An emergency landing is a premature landing made by an aircraft in response to an emergency involving an imminent or ongoing threat to the safety and operation of the aircraft, or involving a sudden need for a passenger or crew on board to term ...
. Authorities said it had enough power to "obliterate the plane" had it exploded. "Kaczynski had used a barometer-triggered device, and it had succeeded only in setting some mailbags on fire and forcing an emergency landing; in a letter written years later, the Unabomber expressed relief that the airline bomb had failed since its target had been too indiscriminate." Kaczynski sent his next bomb to the president of United Airlines
United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...
, Percy Wood. Wood received cuts and burns over most of his body.
Kaczynski left false clues in most bombs, which he intentionally made hard to find to make them appear more legitimate. Clues included metal plates stamped with the initials "FC" hidden somewhere (usually in the pipe end cap) in bombs, a note left in a bomb that did not detonate reading "Wu—It works! I told you it would—RV," and the Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...
one-dollar stamps often used as postage on his boxes. He sent one bomb embedded in a copy of Sloan Wilson
Sloan Wilson (May 8, 1920 – May 25, 2003) was an American writer.
Reporter
Sloan was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, the grandson of U.S. Navy officer and Arctic explorer John Wilson Danenhower. Wilson graduated from Harvard University in 1942. ...
's novel ''Ice Brothers''. The FBI theorized that Kaczynski's crimes involved a theme of nature, trees, and wood. He often included bits of a tree branch and bark in his bombs; his selected targets included Percy Wood and Leroy Wood. The crime writer Robert Graysmith noted his "obsession with wood" was "a large factor" in the bombings.
Later bombings
In 1981, a package bearing the return address of a Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...
professor of electrical engineering, LeRoy Wood Bearnson, was discovered in a hallway at the University of Utah
The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...
. It was brought to the campus police and was defused by a bomb squad. The following May, a bomb was sent to Patrick C. Fischer, a professor of computer science at Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...
. The package exploded when Fischer's secretary, Janet Smith, opened it, and Smith received injuries to her face and arms.
Kaczynski's next two bombs targeted people at the University of California, Berkeley. The first, in July 1982, caused serious injuries to engineering professor Diogenes Angelakos. Nearly three years later, in May 1985, John Hauser, a graduate student and captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
in the United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
, lost four fingers and the vision in one eye. Kaczynski handcrafted the bomb from wooden parts. A bomb sent to the Boeing Company
The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...
in Auburn, Washington
Auburn is a city in King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington, United States (with a small portion crossing into neighboring Pierce County, Washington, Pierce County). The population was 87,256 at the 2020 United States ...
, was defused by a bomb squad the following month. In November 1985, professor James V. McConnell and research assistant Nicklaus Suino were both severely injured after Suino opened a mail bomb addressed to McConnell.
In late 1985, a nail-and-splinter-loaded bomb in the parking lot of a computer store in Sacramento, California
Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...
, killed the 38-year-old owner of the store, Hugh Scrutton. On February 20, 1987, a bomb disguised as a piece of lumber injured Gary Wright in the parking lot of a computer store in Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
, Utah; nerves in Wright's left arm were severed, and at least 200 pieces of shrapnel entered his body. Kaczynski was spotted while planting the Salt Lake City bomb. This led to a widely distributed sketch of the suspect as a hooded man with a mustache and aviator sunglasses.
In 1993, after a six-year break, Kaczynski mailed a bomb to the home of Charles Epstein from the University of California, San Francisco
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...
. Epstein lost several fingers upon opening the package. On the same weekend, Kaczynski mailed a bomb to David Gelernter, a computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
professor at Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
. Gelernter lost sight in one eye, hearing in one ear, and a portion of his right hand.
In 1994, Burson-Marsteller executive Thomas J. Mosser was killed after opening a mail bomb sent to his home in New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
. In a letter to ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', Kaczynski wrote he had sent the bomb because of Mosser's work repairing the public image of Exxon
Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the largest direct successor of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, the modern company was form ...
after the ''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill. This was followed by the 1995 murder of Gilbert Brent Murray, president of the timber industry lobbying group California Forestry Association, by a mail bomb addressed to previous president William Dennison, who had retired. Geneticist Phillip Sharp at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
received a threatening letter shortly afterward.
Manifesto
In 1995, Kaczynski mailed several letters to media outlets outlining his goals and demanding a major newspaper print his 35,000-word essay ''Industrial Society and Its Future'' (dubbed the "Unabomber manifesto" by the FBI) verbatim. He stated he would "desist from terrorism" if this demand was met. There was controversy as to whether the essay should be published, but Attorney General Janet Reno
Janet Wood Reno (July 21, 1938 – November 7, 2016) was an American lawyer and public official who served as the 78th United States Attorney General, United States attorney general from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. A member of ...
and FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
Director Louis Freeh recommended its publication out of concern for public safety and in the hope that a reader could identify the author. Bob Guccione of '' Penthouse'' volunteered to publish it. Kaczynski replied ''Penthouse'' was less "respectable" than ''The New York Times'' and ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', and said that, "to increase our chances of getting our stuff published in some 'respectable' periodical", he would "reserve the right to plant one (and only one) bomb intended to kill, after our manuscript has been published" if ''Penthouse'' published the document instead of ''The Times'' or ''The Post''. ''The Washington Post'' published the essay on September 19, 1995.
Kaczynski used a typewriter to write his manuscript, capitalizing entire words for emphasis, in lieu of italics. He always referred to himself as either "we" or "FC" ("Freedom Club"), though there is no evidence that he worked with others. Donald Wayne Foster analyzed the writing at the request of Kaczynski's defense team in 1996 and noted that it contained irregular spelling and hyphenation, along with other linguistic idiosyncrasies. This led him to conclude that Kaczynski was its author.
Summary
''Industrial Society and Its Future'' begins with Kaczynski's assertion: "The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race."[Kaczynski, "Industrial Society and Its Future" (1995), paragraph 1.] He wrote that technology has had a destabilizing effect on society, has made life unfulfilling, and has caused widespread psychological suffering. Kaczynski argued that most people spend their time engaged in ultimately unfulfilling pursuits because of technological advances; he called these "surrogate activities", wherein people strive toward artificial goals, including scientific work, consumption of entertainment, political activism, and following sports teams. He states people do "surrogate activities" to satisfy the "power process" in which people strive to be independent and to achieve power over themselves. He predicted that technological advances would lead to extensive and ultimately oppressive forms of human control, including genetic engineering, and that human beings would be adjusted to meet the needs of social systems rather than ''vice versa''. Kaczynski stated that technological progress can be stopped, in contrast to the viewpoint of people who he said understand technology's negative effects yet passively accept technology as inevitable. He called for a revolution to force the collapse of the worldwide technological system, and held a life close to nature, in particular primitivist lifestyles, as an ultimate ideal. Kaczynski's critiques of civilization bore some similarities to anarcho-primitivism, but he rejected and criticized anarcho-primitivist views.
Kaczynski argued that the erosion of human freedom is a natural product of an industrial society because, in his words, "the system has to regulate human behavior closely in order to function", and that reform of the system is impossible. He said that the system has not yet fully achieved control over all human behavior and is in the midst of a struggle to gain that control. Kaczynski predicted that the system would break down if it could not achieve significant control and that it is likely this issue would be resolved within the next 40 to 100 years. He stated that the task of those who oppose industrial society is to promote stress within and upon the society and to propagate an anti-technology ideology, one that offers the counter-ideal of nature. Kaczynski added that a revolution would be possible only when industrial society is sufficiently unstable.[
A significant portion of the document is dedicated to discussing political leftism as a manifestation of related psychological types, with Kaczynski attributing the prevalence and intensity of leftism in society as both a negative symptom of psychological pressures induced by technological conditions as well as an obstacle to the formation of an effective anti-tech revolution.][ He defined leftists as "mainly socialists, Collectivist anarchism, collectivists, 'politically correct' types, feminists, LGBT social movements, gay and disability activists, animal rights activists and the like".] He believed that over-socialization and feelings of inferiority are primary drivers of leftism, and derided it as "one of the most widespread manifestations of the craziness of our world". Kaczynski added that the type of movement he envisioned must be anti-leftist and refrain from collaboration with leftists as, in his view, "leftism is in the long run inconsistent with wild nature, with human freedom and with the elimination of modern technology".
Although Kaczynski and his manifesto has been embraced by Ecofascism, ecofascists, he rejected fascism, including those whom he referred to as "the 'ecofascists, describing ecofascism as "an aberrant branch of leftism". In "Ecofascism: An Aberrant Branch of Leftism", he wrote: "The true anti-tech movement rejects every form of racism or ethnocentrism. This has nothing to do with 'Toleration, tolerance,' 'diversity,' 'Cultural pluralism, pluralism,' 'multiculturalism,' 'equality,' or 'social justice.' The rejection of racism and ethnocentrism ispurely and simplya cardinal point of strategy." Kaczynski wrote that he considered fascism a "kook ideology" and Nazism as "evil". Kaczynski never tried to align himself with the far-right at any point before or after his arrest. He also criticized conservatives, describing them as "fools who whine about the decay of traditional values, yet... enthusiastically support technological progress and economic growth"—things he argues have led to this decay.
Contemporary reception
James Q. Wilson, in a 1998 ''New York Times'' op-ed, wrote: "If it is the work of a madman, then the writings of many political philosophers—Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Paine, Karl Marx—are scarcely more sane." He added: "The Unabomber does not like socialization, technology, leftist political causes or conservative attitudes. Apart from his call for an (unspecified) revolution, his paper resembles something that a very good graduate student might have written."
Alston Chase, a fellow alumnus at Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, wrote in 2000 for ''The Atlantic'' that "it is true that many believed Kaczynski was insane because they needed to believe it. But the truly disturbing aspect of Kaczynski and his ideas is not that they are so foreign but that they are so familiar." He argued: "We need to see Kaczynski as exceptional—madman or genius—because the alternative is so much more frightening."
Other works
University of Michigan–Dearborn philosophy professor David Skrbina wrote the introduction to Kaczynski's 2010 anthology ''Technological Slavery'', which includes the original manifesto, letters from Kaczynski to Skrbina, and other essays. Two further editions have been published since 2010, one in 2019 and another in 2022. Kaczynski also wrote a second book in 2016 titled, ''Anti-Tech Revolution: Why and How,'' that does not include the manifesto, but delves deeply into an analysis of why technological society cannot be reformed and the dynamics of revolutionary movements.
According to a 2021 study, Kaczynski's manifesto "is a synthesis of ideas from three well-known academics: French philosopher Jacques Ellul, British zoologist Desmond Morris, and American psychologist Martin Seligman".
Investigation
Because of the material used to make the mail bombs, United States Postal Inspection Service, U.S. postal inspectors, who initially had responsibility for the case, labeled the suspect the "Junkyard Bomber". FBI Inspector Terry D. Turchie was appointed to run the UNABOM (University and Airline Bomber) investigation. In 1979, an FBI-led task force that included 125 agents from the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service was formed. The task force grew to more than 150 full-time personnel, but minute analysis of recovered components of the bombs and the investigation into the lives of the victims proved of little use in identifying the suspect, who built the bombs primarily from scrap materials available almost anywhere. Investigators later learned that the victims were chosen indiscriminately from library research.
In 1980, chief agent John E. Douglas, John Douglas, working with agents in the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, Behavioral Sciences Unit, issued a psychological Criminal profiler, profile of the unidentified bomber. It described the offender as a man with above-average intelligence and connections to academia. This profile was later refined to characterize the offender as a neo-Luddite holding an academic degree in the hard sciences, but this psychologically-based profile was discarded in 1983. FBI analysts developed an alternative theory that concentrated on the physical evidence in recovered bomb fragments. In this rival profile, the suspect was characterized as a blue-collar airplane mechanic. The UNABOM Task Force set up a 1-800, toll-free telephone hotline to take calls related to the investigation, with a $1 million (equivalent to approximately $ million in ) reward for anyone who could provide information leading to the Unabomber's capture.
Before the publication of ''Industrial Society and Its Future'', Kaczynski's brother, David, was encouraged by his wife to follow up on suspicions that Ted was the Unabomber. David was dismissive at first, but he took the likelihood more seriously after reading the manifesto a week after it was published in September 1995. He searched through old family papers and found letters dating to the 1970s that Ted had sent to newspapers to protest the abuses of technology using phrasing similar to that in the manifesto.
Before the manifesto's publication, the FBI held many press conferences asking the public to help identify the Unabomber. They were convinced that the bomber was from the Chicago area where he began his bombings, had worked in or had some connection to Salt Lake City, and by the 1990s had some association with the San Francisco Bay Area. This geographical information and the wording in excerpts from the manifesto that were released before the entire text of the manifesto was published persuaded David's wife to urge him to read it.
After publication
After the manifesto was published, the FBI received thousands of tips. While the FBI reviewed new leads, Kaczynski's brother, David, hired private investigator Susan Swanson in Chicago to investigate Ted's activities discreetly. David later hired Washington, D.C. attorney Tony Bisceglie to organize the evidence acquired by Swanson and contact the FBI, given the presumed difficulty of attracting the FBI's attention. Kaczynski's family wanted to protect him from the danger of an FBI raid, such as those at Ruby Ridge or Waco Siege, Waco, since they feared a violent outcome from any attempt by the FBI to contact Kaczynski.
In early 1996, an investigator working with Bisceglie contacted former FBI hostage negotiator and criminal profiler Clinton R. Van Zandt. Bisceglie asked him to compare the manifesto to typewritten copies of handwritten letters David had received from his brother. Van Zandt's initial analysis determined that there was better than a 60 percent chance that the same person had written the manifesto, which had been in public circulation for half a year. Van Zandt's second analytical team determined a higher likelihood. He recommended Bisceglie's client contact the FBI immediately.
In February 1996, Bisceglie gave a copy of the 1971 essay written by Kaczynski to Molly Flynn at the FBI. She forwarded the essay to the San Francisco-based task force. FBI profiler James R. Fitzgerald recognized similarities in the writings using stylometry, linguistic analysis and determined that the author of the essays and the manifesto was almost certainly the same person. Combined with facts gleaned from the bombings and Kaczynski's life, the analysis provided the basis for an affidavit signed by Terry Turchie, the head of the entire investigation, in support of the application for a search warrant.
Kaczynski's brother, David, had tried to remain anonymous, but he was soon identified. Within a few days, an FBI agent team was dispatched to interview David and his wife with their attorney in Washington, D.C. At this and subsequent meetings, David provided letters written by his brother in their original envelopes, allowing the FBI task force to use the postmark dates to add more detail to their timeline of Ted's activities.
David had once admired and emulated his older brother but had since left the survivalism, survivalist lifestyle behind. He had received assurances from the FBI that he would remain anonymous and that his brother would not learn who had turned him in, but his identity was leaked to CBS News in early April 1996. CBS anchorman Dan Rather called FBI director Louis Freeh, who requested 24 hours before CBS broke the story on the CBS Evening News, evening news. The FBI scrambled to finish the search warrant and have it issued by a federal judge in Montana; afterward, the FBI conducted an internal leak investigation, but the source of the leak was never identified.
FBI officials were not unanimous in identifying Ted as the author of the manifesto. The search warrant noted that several experts believed the manifesto had been written by another individual.
Arrest
FBI agents arrested an unkempt Kaczynski at his cabin on April 3, 1996. A search revealed a cache of bomb components, 40,000 hand-written journal pages that included bomb-making experiments, descriptions of the Unabomber crimes, improvised firearms, and one live bomb. They also found what appeared to be the original typed manuscript of ''Industrial Society and Its Future''. By this point, the Unabomber had been the target of the most expensive investigation in FBI history at the time. A 2000 report by the United States Commission on the Advancement of Federal Law Enforcement stated that the task force had spent over $50 million (equivalent to approximately $ million in ) on the investigation.
After his capture, theories emerged naming Kaczynski as the Zodiac Killer, who murdered five people in Northern California from 1968 to 1969. Among the links that raised suspicion were that Kaczynski lived in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1967 to 1969, that both individuals were highly intelligent with an interest in bombs and codes, and that both wrote letters to newspapers demanding the publication of their works with the threat of continued violence if the demand was not met. Kaczynski's whereabouts could not be verified for all of the killings. Since the gun and knife murders committed by the Zodiac Killer differed from Kaczynski's bombings, authorities did not pursue him as a suspect. Robert Graysmith, author of the 1986 book ''Zodiac (true crime book), Zodiac'', said the similarities are "fascinating" but purely coincidental.
At one point in 1993, investigators sought someone whose first name was "Nathan" because the name was imprinted on the envelope of a letter sent to the media.
Guilty plea
A federal grand jury indicted Kaczynski in June 1996 on ten counts of illegally transporting, mailing, and using bombs. Kaczynski's lawyers, headed by Montana federal public defenders Michael Donahoe and Judy Clarke, attempted to enter an insanity defense to avoid the death penalty, but Kaczynski rejected this strategy. On January 8, 1998, he asked to dismiss his lawyers and hire Tony Serra as his counsel; Serra had agreed not to use an insanity defense and instead promised to base a defense on Kaczynski's anti-technology views. After this request was unsuccessful, Kaczynski tried to kill himself on January 9. Sally Johnson, the psychiatrist who examined Kaczynski, concluded that he suffered from "paranoid" schizophrenia, though the validity of this diagnosis has been criticized.
Forensic psychiatrist Park Dietz said Kaczynski was not psychotic, but had a Schizoid personality disorder, schizoid or schizotypal personality disorder. In his 2010 book ''Technological Slavery'', Kaczynski said that two prison psychologists who visited him frequently for four years told him they saw no indication that he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and the diagnosis was "ridiculous" and a "political diagnosis". Some contemporary authors suggest that people (notably Kaczynski's brother and mother) purposely spread the image of Kaczynski as mentally ill intending to save his life.
On January 21, 1998, Kaczynski was declared competent to stand trial by federal prison psychiatrist Johnson "despite the psychiatric diagnoses" and prosecutors sought the death penalty. Kaczynski pleaded guilty to all charges on January 22, 1998, accepting life imprisonment in the United States, life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. He later tried to withdraw this plea, claiming the judge had coerced him, but Judge Garland Ellis Burrell Jr. denied his request and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld that denial.
In 2006, Burrell ordered that items from Kaczynski's cabin be sold at a "reasonably advertised Internet auction". Items considered to be bomb-making materials, such as diagrams and "recipes" for bombs, were excluded. The net proceeds went toward the $15 million (equivalent to approximately $ million in ) in restitution Burrell had awarded Kaczynski's victims. Kaczynski's correspondence and other personal papers were also auctioned. Burrell ordered the removal, before sale, of references in those documents to Kaczynski's victims; Kaczynski unsuccessfully challenged those redactions as a violation of his freedom of speech. The auction ran for two weeks in 2011, and raised over $232,000
(equivalent to approximately $ in ). Following Kaczynski's sentencing to life without parole, he gifted his cabin to Scharlette Holdman, an anti-death penalty activist and mitigation specialist who played a role in preventing him from receiving the death penalty. The U.S. government refused to allow Holdman to keep the shack.
Incarceration and death
Almost immediately after being convicted, Kaczynski began serving his back-to-back life sentences, life sentences without the possibility of parole at ADX Florence, a supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. Early in his imprisonment, Kaczynski befriended Ramzi Yousef and Timothy McVeigh, the perpetrators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, respectively; they discussed religion and politics and formed a friendship which lasted until McVeigh's execution in 2001. Kaczynski stated about Timothy McVeigh: "On a personal level I like McVeigh and I imagine that most people would like him," but also stated, "assuming that the Oklahoma City bombing was intended as a protest against the U.S. government in general and against the government's actions at Waco in particular, I will say that I think the bombing was a bad action because it was unnecessarily inhumane."
In October 2005, Kaczynski offered to donate two rare books to the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies at Northwestern University
Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
's campus in Evanston, Illinois, the location of his first two attacks. The library rejected the offer because it already had copies of the works. The Labadie Collection, part of the University of Michigan Library, University of Michigan's Special Collections Library, houses Kaczynski's correspondence with over 400 people since his arrest, including replies, legal documents, publications, and clippings in their own sub-collection titled, "Ted Kaczynski Papers, 1996–2014 (majority within 1996–2005)". His writings are among the most popular selections in the University of Michigan's special collections. The identity of most correspondents will remain sealed until 2049. In 2012, Kaczynski responded to the Harvard Alumni Association's directory inquiry for the fiftieth reunion of the class of 1962; he listed his occupation as "prisoner" and eight life sentences as "awards."
In 2011, Kaczynski was a person of interest in the Chicago Tylenol murders. Kaczynski was willing to provide a DNA sample to the FBI but later withheld it as a bargaining chip for his legal efforts against the FBI's private auction of his confiscated property. The U.S. government seized Kaczynski's cabin, which they put on display at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., until late 2019, when it was transferred to a nearby FBI museum.
In March 2021 Kaczynski was diagnosed with Colorectal cancer, rectal cancer. He complained of rectal bleeding in March 2021, and on December 14, 2021, he was transferred to FMC Butner, Federal Medical Center, Butner, in North Carolina.[ Kaczynski was receiving biweekly chemotherapy until March 2023, when he began to decline all treatment due to unpleasant side effects and his poor prognosis.] In May 2023, Kaczynski was noted by a prison oncology, oncologist to be "depressed" and was referred for a psychiatric evaluation.
At 12:23 a.m. on 10 June 2023, Kaczynski was found in his cell unresponsive, with no pulse, after hanging himself from a handicap rail with a shoelace. Prison employees immediately began resuscitation measures, including chest compressions. He was taken to Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina, where his blood pressure remained low until he was pronounced dead at 8:07 A.M. Eastern Time Zone, EDT.
Legacy
Kaczynski has been portrayed in and inspired artistic works in popular culture. These include the 1996 television film ''Unabomber: The True Story'', the 2011 play ''P.O. Box Unabomber'', the 2012 documentary ''Stemple Pass'', ''Manhunt: Unabomber'', the 2017 season of the television series ''Manhunt'', the 2020 miniseries ''Unabomber: In His Own Words'' and the 2021 film ''Ted K''. He was portrayed by Sharlto Copley and Paul Bettany in ''Ted K'' and ''Manhunt'' respectively. The moniker "Unabomber" was also applied to the Italian Unabomber, a terrorist who conducted attacks similar to Kaczynski's in Italy from 1994 to 2006. Prior to the 1996 United States presidential election, a campaign called "Unabomber for President" was launched with the goal of electing Kaczynski as president through write-in votes.
In his book ''The Age of Spiritual Machines'' (1999), futurist Ray Kurzweil quoted a passage from Kaczynski's manifesto ''Industrial Society and Its Future''. Kaczynski was referenced by Bill Joy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, in the 2000 ''Wired (magazine), Wired'' article "Why the Future Doesn't Need Us". Joy stated that Kaczynski "is clearly a Luddite, but simply saying this does not dismiss his argument". Professor Jean-Marie Apostolidès has raised questions surrounding the ethics of spreading Kaczynski's views. Various radical movements and extremists have been influenced by Kaczynski. People inspired by Kaczynski's ideas show up in unexpected places, from nihilist, anarchist, and eco-extremist movements to conservative intellectuals. Anders Behring Breivik, the far-right perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, published a manifesto which copied large portions from ''Industrial Society and Its Future'', with certain terms substituted (e.g., replacing "leftists" with "cultural Marxists" and "multiculturalists").
Over twenty years after Kaczynski's imprisonment, his views had inspired an online community of primitivists and neo-Luddites. One explanation for the renewal of interest in his views is the television series ''Manhunt: Unabomber'', which aired in 2017. Another explanation is that a new generation has adopted Kaczynski's anti-tech philosophy because they believe his reasoning is sound and his "observations about technology and the environment have proven to be prescient". Kaczynski is also frequently referred to by Ecofascism, ecofascists online. Although some militant fascist and neo-Nazi groups idolize him, Kaczynski described fascism in his manifesto as a "kook ideology" and Nazism as "evil". Merrick Garland, who would later serve as United States Attorney General, has cited the Unabomber case as among the most important cases he worked on.
Published works
Mathematical
* A proof of Wedderburn's little theorem in abstract algebra
* A challenge problem in abstract algebra
* Reprint and solution to "Advanced Problem 5210" (above)
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* Kaczynski's doctoral dissertation. Complete dissertation ''available for purchase'' from ProQuest, with publication number 6717790.
* A brief paper in number theory concerning the Numerical digit, digits of numbers
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* A challenge problem in geometry
* Reprint and solutions to "Problem 787" (above)
Philosophical
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See also
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Notes
References
Book sources
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External links
Industrial Society and its Future
– Manifesto sent out to newspapers
Ted Kaczynski
britannica.com
Kaczynski, Ted
encyclopedia.com
Unabomber (Profile)
The Canadian Encyclopedia
Unabomber—FBI
fbi.gov
Anarchist Library writings of Theodore Kaczynski
Kaczynski's Psychiatric Competency Report
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaczynski, Ted
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