This weekend, Ted Kaczynski, better known as the “Unabomber”, was found dead in his prison cell.
The unexpected death of Ted Kaczynski
Kaczynski was found in his cell unresponsive. He was being held in Butner, North Carolina, and according to the Bureau of Prisons, he committed suicide at age 81. He was reportedly battling terminal cancer at the time of his death.
According to New York Times, his death is being investigated as a suicide and no foul play is anticipated. Kaczynski murdered three people and injured up to 23 others in a series of bombings from 1975 to 1995.
The Washington Post released his manifesto in 1995, leading to this arrest and ultimately charges. After more than a decade of terrorizing people, he was turned in by his own family.
Ted Kaczynski’s brother reported him
When the manifesto appeared in the newspapers, Kaczynski’s brother David and sister-in-law Linda Patrick immediately knew who had written it. They recognized phrases from the note and reported him to the authorities.
He was officially arrested in 1996 when police invaded his cabin deep in the woods of Lincoln, Montana. He was slapped with a litany of charges to which he eventually pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, which allowed him to avoid the death penalty.
Kaczynski died by suicide, and this is not the first time he has attempted suicide during his long stay in prison.
Ted Kaczynski tried to kill himself early on
The killer attempted suicide while awaiting trial. According to PEOPLE magazine, he attempted to hang himself with a pair of underwear. He was eventually locked up in a supermax prison in Florence, Colorado.
It is known as ‘the Alcatraz of the Rockies; over 20 years ago. In 2021, he was transferred to a medical facility in North Carolina while battling cancer. This is where he ended up committing suicide.
It has not been revealed that he committed suicide, but numerous publications confirm it. Believe it or not, Kaczynski was in the middle of an assistant professorship at UC Berkeley. He was in his second year when he left abruptly and started planting bombs which eventually did a lot of damage.
Ted Kaczynski had the longest manhunt
The FBI has never spent more money or longer on a search. It lasted almost several decades and it was enough to publish his manifesto for his family to recognize him. The amount of money spent on this research was not disclosed, but it was reportedly quite high.
Kaczynski was known for making his bombs and sending them to his victims. He wanted to dismantle modern society, technological advances and their impact on the environment. In his cabin, bomb parts were found.
About 40,000 newspaper pages incriminating the killer and a live bomb that FBI agents later reported were also ready to be dispatched.