By: Jeffrey Wu
Ted Kaczynski, better known as Unabomber, was a vexing man for the F.B.I; he killed and injured many with untraceable explosives, deceived investigators with false clues, and lived in seclusion to protect his anonymity -- becoming one of America’s most feared individuals. His arrest in 1996 placed him in federal prison for eight life sentences. On June 10, 2023, he committed suicide at the age of 81.
Theodore John Kaczynski was born on May 22, 1942, and grew up in Evergreen Park, Illinois. His parents quickly realized Ted’s brilliance and attempted to nurture it. He skipped two grades, and originally, he interacted with peers and was a leader, whereas afterward, he was bullied for not fitting in. However, his brilliance remained. His high school teacher said he was probably the brightest student he had ever seen.
He was admitted to Harvard on a full scholarship. In his second year, he participated in a physiological study, where they were told that they would debate with another student and had to write essays on their beliefs and aspirations. This was not the case. The essay was given to an anonymous person to verbally abuse and humiliate them. This caused mental scars and instability to many of the students that were studied, including Ted Kaczynski, according to the Washington Post.
As a young man, he began to develop a strong hatred for technological advancements, writing that they would take human freedom and dignity away.
In 1967, he obtained his doctorate in mathematics and was thereafter hired at UC Berkeley as an assistant professor.
During his time at UC Berkeley, he craved sexual fantasies of being a woman. But as he was in the waiting room, about to meet with a psychiatrist, he changed his mind.
He later wrote, "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," according to the Washington Post. He wanted to express his rage by killing others. He hated his family.
Two years later, he unexpectedly resigned from UC Berkeley.
In 1971, he then began secretly making bombs in the cabin he constructed on land shared with his brother, located three miles away from Lincoln, Montana, and stayed there for 25 years.
The moniker Unabomber originates from what Kaczynski first targeted, the “un” for universities and the “a” for airlines, which was coined as a code name by the F.B.I. In total, he made 16 bombs, either mailing or hand-delivering them to his targets, resulting in 3 deaths and 23 injuries.
In 1995, Kaczynski wrote to the F.B.I., stating that he would cease killings if the New York Times or the Washington Post published his unedited 35,000-word essay on the dehumanizing influence of technology. The manifesto opened with the words: “The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.”
Soon after, his manifesto was published in the Washington Post, and many people began to suggest suspects. David Kaczynski’s, however, suggestion stood out.
David Kaczynski saw many unique phrases, such as “cool-headed logicians” used in Ted Kaczynski’s letters that were also used in the manifesto. David also realized that the places Unabomber bombed had all been places Ted knew.
After further investigation, the FBI determined 600 distinctive words used both in the letters David gave and the manifesto. Subsequently, Ted Kaczynski was arrested on April 3, 1996. For 18 years, he had eluded the F.B.I.
Kaczynski pled guilty in January of 1998 and was placed in a “Supermax” prison in Colorado, committing suicide at age 81, serving more than 25 years of the life sentence.
Sources:
https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/unabomber
https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2023-06-10/ted-kaczynski-dies-unabomber-eluded-fbi-for-years
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/unabomber-cause-death-rcna88737
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1998/09/12/gender-confusion-sex-change-idea-fueled-kaczynskis-rage-report-says/eb33b946-8595-427d-af4c-9ccaada45935/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2003/03/02/a-dangerous-mind/b003b569-3159-47da-bf95-17bef527f8bb/