Notorious domestic terrorist Theodore “Ted” Kaczynski – the “Unabomber” – is found dead in a federal prison cell in North Carolina at the age of 81
- Notorious domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski, also known as “Unabomber,” has died in federal prison
- He was found dead in a federal prison in North Carolina around 8 a.m. A cause of death was not released
Notorious domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski, also known as “Unabomber,” has died in federal prison at the age of 81, a Bureau of Prisons spokesman said Saturday.
Kaczynski was found dead in a federal prison in North Carolina around 8 a.m. A cause of death was initially unknown.
After being disgraced by staging 16 bombings during his 17-year reign of terror, Kaczynski received a life sentence without the possibility of parole when he was finally caught in 1996.
Kaczynski was captured after a year-long manhunt led him to a primitive cabin in the woods of western Montana where he built the explosives he used to kill three people and injure 23 others between 1978 and 1995.
He had been transferred to the North Carolina federal prison’s medical facility after spending two decades in a supermax federal prison in Colorado.
Ted Kaczynski (pictured) was behind a 17-year string of mail bombs that killed three and wounded 23 others
The domestic terrorist had been transferred to the North Carolina federal prison’s medical facility after spending two decades in a supermax federal prison in Colorado
The 17-year manhunt for the killer was the longest in U.S. law enforcement history. Pictured: A wanted poster for the Unabomber
Kaczynski was a Harvard-educated mathematician who later retired to the Montana wilderness after believing that technology would spell the end of civilization.
He carried out a sinister plan to detonate explosives at universities and airports, which he often mailed to his victims.
Years before the 9/11 attacks and the anthrax shipments, the Unabomber’s deadly homemade bombs changed the way Americans shipped packages and boarded airplanes, and in July 1995 even virtually shut down West Coast air travel.
He published a 35,000-word manifesto entitled “Industrial Society and Its Future,” in which he asserted that modern society was plagued by the increasing role of technology in everyday life.
While the fear he fomented prompted the Washington Post and New York Times to make the painful decision to publish the manifesto in September 1995, it ultimately led to his downfall.
Kaczynski’s brother David and David’s wife Linda Patrik recognized the bizarre belief system in the tape and tipped off the FBI.
The tip led to the end of the country’s longest-running manhunt, and in April 1996, authorities found him in a 10-by-14-foot log cabin outside of Lincoln, Montana.
In April 1996, authorities found Kaczynski in a 10-by-14-foot log cabin outside of Lincoln, Montana
The Harvard-educated mathematician is escorted by US Marshals in 1996
Kaczynski is seen by many as a criminal mastermind plagued by mental illness and a resentment against society. He is considered one of the most prolific murderers in recent US history.
A psychiatrist who interviewed Kaczynski in prison diagnosed him as a paranoid schizophrenic.
‘Mister. “Kaczynski’s delusions are mostly haunting in nature,” wrote Sally Johnson in a 47-page report. “Central issues include his belief that he is vilified and harassed by family members and modern society.”
Rather than admitting insanity at his murder trial, Kaczynski famously fired his own defense team and pleaded guilty rather than allow his attorneys to claim he had lost his mind.
“I’m confident in my sanity,” Kaczynski told Time magazine in 1999. “I’m not delusional and stuff like that.”
The terrorist killed three and injured 23 by shipping explosives across America. Pictured: An FBI reproduction of one of Kaczynski’s bombs
Kaczynski was eventually captured and led a hermit life in the Montana wilderness after retiring to a lonely cabin
Before he lapsed into insanity, Kaczynski was a brilliant mathematician and scholar who, at the age of 16, skipped two grades to enter Harvard.
His explosives have been carefully tested and come in meticulously handcrafted wooden cases that have been sanded to remove any possible fingerprints. Later bombs were inscribed “FC” for “Freedom Club”.
He was nicknamed “Unabomber” by the FBI because his first targets were often universities and airlines.