Ted Kaczynski

The Infamous Unabomber

Ted Kaczynski

We have all heard of him. Some may not know exactly what he did (like me, admittedly, before I made this post), but he has definitely  made a name for himself that resonates through most Americans. I like to keep things interesting, so while Theodore Kaczynski was, technically, a serial killer since he killed at least three people, he is more well known as being a serial bomber, and a very intelligent one at that. His notorious title, the Unabomber, was derived by the FBI into a code from UNiverstiy and Airline BOMbings.

The Crimes

Beginning in 1978, Kaczynski left his first bomb at the University of Chicago, where a campus security officer unknowingly opened it, which left him with a few minor injuries. He then began targeting airlines with his bombs, and one went to the American Airlines president in 1980. Later, more university personnel sustained serious injuries from his bombings, and eventually he killed a local computer store owner with a bomb that was left for him. Two more individuals also had their lives taken from them as a result of Kaczynski’s bombings. The amazing thing is, despite having over 150 analysts and investigators working on the case, the FBI could not identify any types of patterns or forensic evidence. In total, the Unabomber successfully carried out 16 different bombings over a span of nearly 20 years.

The Psychological Profile

Young Ted Kaczynski

For a long time, the FBI had absolutely no leads in the case. All they knew about their perp was that he or she was an extremely intelligent individual. Each bomb was made out of scraps, and there was no forensic evidence that was left after the bombs exploded. The FBI later found out that the victims were all chosen at random, so the countless hours of interviewing victims and their families to try and discover a link was purposeless.

Finally, they caught their man, Ted Kaczynski. He was born and raised in Chicago and was extremely bright. He was able to skip two grades and graduate high school at the age of 16, but he was bullied a lot because of his intelligence and also because he was a lot smaller than other kids. He went straight to Harvard to study mathematics. There, he participated in a psychological research study where he had to endure some extensive verbal abuse. Some people speculate that this played a part in his actions later on, however in my opinion, since there had to have been many other participants in the same study and none of them turned out to be serial bombers, I don’t necessarily believe this had too much to do with his behavior. After he earned his doctoral degree from the University of Michigan, he became a professor at UC Berkeley, but he was not very successful in his job because he was socially awkward with his lectures and around his students.

He was caught because of…Cake?

Mugshot

In 1995, the Unabomber released a manifesto titled, “Industrial Society and its Future,” and threatened the Washington Post if they didn’t publish it, so they did with the FBI’s permission. Kaczynski’s sister-in-law and brother, David, read the manifesto and recognized the writing style and ideas as being just like Ted’s. So, they reported it to the FBI and they had their leading forensic linguist analyze his writings, since it was the only evidence they had. David Kaczynski also sent in other writings that Ted had written for forensic comparison. It was noted that in the Manifesto (which, like all of the Unabomber’s other letters, was signed “FC”), the author used the phrase, “you can’t eat your cake and have it, too” instead of the usual usage, “you can’t have your cake and eat it, too.” This same phrase in the same backwards order was found in some of the letters and documents that belonged to Ted Kaczynski. This was enough for a judge to grant an arrest warrent, where authorities ventured out to his secluded cabin in Montana’s woods. They searched and found journal entries and more bombs and materials. In court, Ted plead guilty to 13 counts of bombings in exchange for no death penalty. He continues to serve his sentence in a max security prison in Colorado.

An Aside-

Me with “the Fitz”

I had the amazing opportunity to meet the FBI Forensic Linguist who discovered the connection that I described above, James Fitzgerald. He came to Penn State last week and gave a presentation for the Alumni Association and I happened to hear about it and naturally I just HAD to see him (also, he’s a Penn State graduate, which it makes it even more interesting). He worked for the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit for many years (and not surprisingly, this is the unit I want to work for when I’m older). He was selling his books and I bought one, and he signed it. I was able to speak to him after and he gave me some pro-tips about the best route to perhaps get my dream job. There is a mini series on Netflix called Manhunt: Unabomber and the main character is based off of James Fitzgerald; he has the same name and everything!! Now that he has retired from the FBI, he also is an executive producer for Criminal Minds to ensure that their facts are correct. He is an incredibly successful man and I am so lucky that I was able to meet him. I just finished watching the mini series on Netflix and I HIGHLY recommend it. It is dramatized, but the names and events are factual so it was intriguing and informational at the same time! 🙂

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