Ted Kaczynski (The Unabomber) Part 2

On April 3rd, 1996, three men approached a secluded cabin in Lincoln, Montana. The owner, 53-year-old Ted Kaczynski, opened the door and was quickly apprehended by the FBI. The agents celebrated the fact they’d finally caught him. They’d finally caught the Unabomber, the subject of the largest manhunt in the history of the United States.

It was estimated to cost approximately 50 million dollars. He was a man who’d terrorized the United States beginning in 1978. Through 17 years, Kaczynski had mailed or placed 16 bombs, injuring 23 people, and killing 3. He was finally caught when his own brother noted similarities in his Kaczynski’s letters to him and the manifesto that the Unabomber had published by The Washington Post.

Kaczynski became a cultural icon, with people wearing his suspect sketch printed on t-shirts. Many people agreed with his theories and ideas regarding technology’s toxic effect on society. After being caught, Kaczynski said that he wanted revenge, to get back at the system. Still, no one could understand what made a man murder three people and attempt the murder of countless others. Was he insane or was he simply a man who feared the death of society and wanted to get his ideas heard?

For Part one, click here!

The Unabomber

On December 10th, 1994, Thomas Mosser, an advertising executive, opened a package he received at his home in North Caldwell, New Jersey.

The package exploded and the Unabomber claimed it’s second victim. Mosser’s wife and child had just left the house, barely escaping the blast. The package had been mailed from San Francisco, California just a week earlier.

On April 24th, 1995, the president of the California Forestry Association, Gilbert Murray, opened a package that had been sent to the association’s office and addressed to his predecessor, William Dennison. It exploded when he opened it, killing Murray. It had been mailed four days earlier. Murray would be the Unabomber’s third and final murder victim.

Threats

In April of ‘95, another letter was sent to the NY Times, taking credit for the murder of Mosser. The letter was verified as being from the Unabomber. He threatened to continue his murders unless major publications printed his manifesto. He said the full written document will be sent to them shortly. In his letter, he called the FBI a joke. In June, he typed 5 copies of his manifesto on his typewriter using carbon paper. He mailed it to multiple publications, including the Washington Post, the NY Times, and Penthouse. Nobody knew what to do. Do they publish it and possibly perpetuate a terrorist? Or do they risk more lives by ignoring his demand? The FBI director and the Attorney General assigned the leader of the Unabomb Task Force with making a decision on what to do. Everybody was initially in disagreement, but they ultimately came to the decision NOT to publish the manifesto. As the press conference was starting, the task force changed their decision at the last second. They felt that if they published it, there was a high likelihood that someone would recognize the document, the writing style, or the ideas. The Washington Post printed the 35,000 word document.

On June 28th, 1995, a letter was sent to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper. In this letter, the Unabomber threatened that he might place a bomb on an airplane at LAX and blow up the plane within six days. Security was obviously heightened significantly, and for a period of time, flights were stopped. After Fourth of July weekend passed with no bombs and no more threats, security was loosened and travel commenced like normal.

Nobody knew what to think about this empty threat. The Unabomber continued to be unpredictable, which made it impossible for the FBI to predict where he might strike next. The task force was putting a lot of hope and confidence into the publication of the manifesto, hoping that someone might be able to lead them to the Unabomber before he killed someone else.

As the FBI continued to exhaust their resources in hopes of finding the person behind the bombings, people across the country were reading the Unabomber’s manifesto. Titled “Industrial Society and Its Future,” the very long document expressed the Unabomber’s thoughts on the current society and technology’s toxic effect on it. He basically stated that society’s use of technology suppressed human’s ability to make decisions and function how they were meant to. He writes about the government, politics, environmental issues, and how there should be a revolution.

Linda Patrik was living in Schenectady, New York at the time and had been reading the almost daily articles in the newspaper about the Unabomber. She recognized his theories and interests, his statements about how people should go back to the natural way of life, without machines. She had a weird feeling about the articles. After trying to suppress this feeling, Linda decided she needed to speak up. She approached her husband, David Kaczynski and told him that something was wrong. Nervously, David asked her what it was. Linda told him that she felt like the descriptions she’d read of the Unabomber sounded very much like David’s brother, Ted. David remembered laughing with relief at finding out this was what was bothering his wife. There was no way his brother was the Unabomber. Linda had never met Ted, never talked to him, but he despised her. Ted had written a scathing letter to David about how he shouldn’t marry her and how she was turning him into something he wasn’t. Everything Linda knew about her brother-in-law was through stories from David or from letters Ted had written to his brother.

Meanwhile, everyone in the United States and their mother was calling in tips to the FBI. They were being sent countless writing examples from people who thought that this person or that person was the Unabomber, that they wrote the manifesto. There was so much information to sift through. Most things got a quick glance and then were tossed aside if nothing stuck out.

In mid-October, David had promised Linda that he’d go get a copy of the published manifesto. Linda was still adamant that she felt there might’ve been a connection between Ted and the writing. There were only six copies at their local newspaper shops and all had been sold. The college library carried a copy, but it had also been checked out. Linda was like, hey, what about the internet. David was like WHAT?? He called it “newfangled technology”. (He is a precious gem) The college library had internet access and David sat down to read the manifesto, Linda sitting next to him. She remembered watching his jaw drop as he read the first few lines. After finishing it, David admitted that some parts did sound like Ted, but there’s only like a 1 in 1000 chance it’s him. Linda was like, uhhh DAVE, 1 in 1000 is SOMETHING.

Linda was able to talk Dave into consulting a professional who could analyze the similarities between the manifesto and Ted’s letters. Susan Swanson, a close friend of Linda’s, and a professional PI felt there was similar verbiage in the documents. Her next step was the try to connect the locations of the universities he attended with the locations of mailed or placed bombs. As they read through Ted’s letters and the bombing timeline, Dave was hoping they’d find contradictions, but unfortunately, they didn’t. Ted was currently still living on a large plot of land in the isolated town of Lincoln, Montana, in a small cabin that he and his brother had built. Dave knew that Ted would sometimes hitch a ride to Helena, then take a bus to the San Francisco Bay area. Their PI contacted the bus company who said that there was no way that someone could take a Greyhound bus from Helena to San Fran without going through and stopping in Salt Lake City. (FUCKKKKK)

Dave was so torn. He obviously didn’t want anyone else to get hurt, but he was also facing the realization that if Ted was guilty, he would probably get the death penalty. He didn’t want to have his own brother’s blood on his hands. Linda, on the other hand, didn’t give a shit. She was ready to turn his ass in. Dave finally said that if they were able to stop the violence, they should. He asked their PI to contact the FBI. Two to three weeks went by and Dave heard nothing. Unknown to him, the FBI was still combing through mountains of tips. Reading through Ted’s letters, enough of the wording was similar that he was put on the suspect list. 2,417 people had been designated as formal suspects. Ted was number 2,416.

Soon after, Dave and Ted’s mother got sick while in Chicago. Dave traveled to Illinois to be with her and went by himself to her home. Inside, he found that she had saved a bunch of letters that Ted had written to her before he cut ties with his family. He also found a 23-page essay. Reading through it, Dave recognized that the essay was the essence of the manifesto boiled down to 23 pages. Without hesitation, Dave had their lawyer get in touch with the FBI. FBI agent Molly Flynn was in the Washington field office and received the paper that Dave had found. She called the San Francisco office and asked for someone on the task force. She reached Joel A. Moss. Flynn said that she felt the essay was remarkably similar to the manifesto and wanted to make sure that someone from the task force read it before throwing it into a pile. Moss read the paper and concluded that the writer of the essay and the writer of the manifesto were the same person.

The Unabomber aka Ted Kaczynski

The task force felt like this was their big break. Ted Kaczynski was very likely the man who was behind the 16 bombings and three murders. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any concrete evidence to arrest him. They had tied him to the manifesto based on linguistic analysis, but they needed more. Their primary goal was to get inside of his cabin. Lots of FBI agents were dispatched to Lincoln, but they had to be careful not to alert him. The FBI consulted one of Ted’s neighbors who also lived in the wooded area. The neighbor, Butch, was asked if he could record the terrain outside of Ted’s cabin. Butch agreed and carried his video camera down by his hip and walked around the area. With the video recording, the FBI was able to have a clear vision of the area around Ted’s cabin and prepare for apprehending him. They wanted to plan, prepare, and execute everything safely. Unfortunately, the news found out about their suspect. There was bound to be news cameras bombarding the area soon, so the FBI was forced to push their plan ahead.

On April, 3rd, 1996, three men headed down the hill towards Ted’s secluded cabin. One called out, “Is anyone home?” Ted looked out from his door and the men said that they were from the Nordic Drilling Company. Ted turned to put his shoes on, but before he could, one of the men grabbed him and pulled him out of the cabin, placing him in handcuffs. (I couldn’t find exactly how they were able to do this. I’m not sure if it’s because he might’ve stepped right outside the door or if they finally obtained a warrant? It seemed like they just kind of did it since the news was coming) Ted looked absolutely insane. His hair was wild and his entire body was caked in dirt, and his clothes were torn. He was apprehended without any problem. Neighbors of Ted watched as the FBI agents cheered and high-fived, relieved that the suspected Unabomber was in custody.

On the news that evening, Dave watched as the newscaster showed a video of Ted walking, flanked by police. The newscaster stated that the man had been arrested after he was “fingered by relatives”. (I have so many problems with this phrasing) Dave and Linda were very upset by this. The FBI had promised them that they wouldn’t reveal their names and that they’d notify them before they arrested him. They did not. Not surprisingly, news crews flooded Dave and Linda’s front yard and street. Dave’s mother was at the house with them. They refused to speak to the press. Ted, now in custody, refused to be interviewed.

The Cabin

Investigators were finally able to search through Ted’s cabin. It was full of junk, books, and more junk. Underneath his bed, one of the agents pulled out a cardboard box. Inside was a plastic bag. Inside the plastic bag was a smaller box wrapped entirely in tin foil. The agent said that suddenly a lightbulb went off in all of their heads. He quietly placed the box on the floor and they all backed out of the cabin. The bomb squad arrived and found that the tin foil box was indeed a bomb, ready to go. They believed that as soon as the weather cleared, Ted was planning to deliver it. When Dave found out about this bomb, he felt relieved and thankful that they did what they did.

Ted was transferred to Sacramento where he would be held and tried, after being charged with three counts of murder. Though thankful that they had stopped Ted from hurting anyone else, his family was still worried that he might get the death penalty.

Who The Fuck Was This Asshole?

Law enforcement, defense attorneys, and prosecutors began to dig into Ted’s past. There was so much that his family, the FBI, and the public didn’t understand about what he’d done and why. What they found though, was that his personality and demeanor began to change at an early age.

As a child, Dave had once asked his mother what was wrong with Ted. Ted didn’t have any friends and Dave didn’t understand why people didn’t like his brother, especially since Dave was so fond of him. His mother told him about something she feared had changed Ted when he was just a baby. His mother said that he was a happy baby, always moving and laughing. However, at nine-months-old, Ted fell sick. He had a rash all over his body and his parents couldn’t figure out what was wrong, so they brought him to the hospital. He ended up being in the hospital for nine days. The staff would only let his parents in twice a week for two hours. After he was discharged and they brought him home, Ted had changed. He wasn’t laughing or acting like himself, and he wouldn’t make eye contact with them. It took several weeks for them to earn back his trust. His mother told Dave not to ever abandon his brother, that that’s what Ted feared most.

The defense attorneys strongly believed that the experiment that Ted participated in while at Harvard greatly affected his behavior and his life. They were able to obtain original recordings from the 1960 sessions, where Dr. Murray berated Ted and demeaned him and his ideas after months of building up his confidence and befriending him. Professionals said if those experiments had taken place in present time, they would be considered entirely inappropriate and unethical. At the time, Murray was working with the Office of Strategic Services, and was suspected to have ties with the CIA in developing interrogation techniques. Former CIA members said that interrogation techniques were directly derived from the experiments that Murray was conducting in the late 50’s and early 60’s. Ted said they had no damaging effect on him. Admittedly though, he said that when he left Harvard, that’s when he truly decided that he was against technology. Dave said this is when he felt his brother drastically changed. Once very close, Ted became demeaning and dismissive of Dave’s ideas.

In a journal of Ted’s found by investigators, they found many disturbing entries. He wrote about his awkwardness and how he had a difficult time fitting in and finding friends. He also was clearly very uncomfortable around females. He wrote about a time where he spoke with a girl in the school library and that he wanted to spend more time talking to her. He believed her to be available and wanted to ask her out. At the last minute, he wasn’t able to. Instead, he journaled derogatory remarks about her, and about women in general. He wrote about having dreams about being a woman and experiencing things as a woman. He even wrote that he was planning on having a sex change. He made an appointment with a school psychologist to talk to her about the sex change, but ultimately decided not to tell her. After the appointment, he began having dreams about killing people, particularly about killing his psychologist. He seemed to have extreme anger towards her. He described leaving the appointment as a turning point. He wrote that he knew he would kill someone, but would attempt to go about it undetected so he could continue to do it. This showed Ted was not only violent, but calculating.

A more recent journal was found that was written in numerical code. Specialists in the FBI were able to decipher the code. The journal documented each of his bombings and his thoughts on each one. After one of the first bombings, he wrote “I had hoped that the victim would have been blinded or have his hands blown off, or be otherwise maimed. Well, live and learn. I wish I knew how to get a hold of some dynamite.” (THANK GODDD he didn’t) After the failed bombing of Flight 444, he wrote, “Unfortunately plane not destroyed, bomb too weak.” He discussed how his bombs needed to be stronger and diffuse properly. After his bomb killed his first victim, he wrote, “Excellent. Humane way to eliminate somebody. He probably never felt a thing.” The FBI also found a note that was titled “How to Hit an Exxon Exec” with a detailed plan on how he could reach them with a bomb.

After a 20 hour exam by a psychiatrist, Ted was found to competent to stand trial, to represent himself, and to receive the death penalty. Just before the trial began, Ted was informed that his defense team had mounted his entire defense on him being mentally ill and were going for the insanity plea. Ted was not happy. They had his cabin transported from Montana to California to portray how mentally ill he was, that a normal human could not live the way he did. Ted was insistent that he was not crazy and refused to be portrayed that way. More frightening to Ted than the possibility of life in prison or the death penalty was being perceived as insane and having a mockery made out of his work. On January 22, 1998, Ted stopped the trial before any evidence or arguments were presented. He told the judge that didn’t know his attorneys were going to use the insanity plea and that he wanted to fire them. The judge said it would take too long to find new attorneys for him and for them to prepare. Ted said he would represent himself. The judge denied his request. That night, Ted attempted to hang himself. He thought that everything he had worked for would now be attributed to mental illness. He basically had two choices: be made out to be a mad man or accept a plea bargain. Ted pled guilty to murder in exchange for life in prison without the possibility of parole. He is currently imprisoned at the only supermax prison facility in the United States, located in Florence Colorado. ADX Florence is also known as “The Alcatraz of the Rockies”. Ted spends 22 hours of his day in a 12×7 cell. Unlike his cabin in Montana, he now has running water and electricity, along with a small television, toilet, and shower. He is able to order from an extensive library and has options for his three daily meals. He receives freshly laundered linens and uniforms three times a week. A former warden of the facility has said that Ted was a model inmate. He seems to consider himself a revolutionist. In one of the only interviews that Ted has ever granted, he said, “The main thing is to get rid of the industrial system by whatever means may be necessary.”