Ted Kaczynski

For nearly eighteen years, the Unabomber had operated without detection. In an anonymous letter to the New York Times in June 1993, Kaczynski explained his terrorist cause and demanded the Times, or another major newspaper, publish the manifesto he had written. He identified himself as a member of the "Freedom Club" and signed the letter "FC." The letter stated that if the newspaper agreed to publish his writings, the attacks would stop. If they did not agree to his demands, the attacks would intensify.

The FBI continued to search for the identity of the bomb maker. Their only breakthrough came when the letters "FC" were found carved on pieces of metal that had survived the blasts. Aside from the letters, the only other means of identifying the attacker was his consistent use of wood in making the bombs. The wood was an unusual touch since most pipe bombs usually use threaded metal ends that can be bought in any large hardware store.

With so little to go on the authorities agreed to the Unabomber's demands to publish the entire text of his 35,000-word manifesto. On September 19, 1995, the Washington Post and the New York Times both ran the piece entitled, "Industrial Society and Its Future." It became known as the "Unabomber Manifesto" and would ultimately be the clue needed to solve the case.

David Kaczynski read the manifesto and recognized his brother's writing style. Ted Kaczynski was arrested in April 1996 at his cabin in Montana. He was indicted in Sacramento and New Jersey for five Unabomber attacks, including the three deaths. Kaczynski was diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic (a severe mental disorder that can include delusions and hallucinations) but declared mentally competent to stand trial. He agreed to plead guilty on January 22, 1998, to avoid the death penalty. He received four life sentences plus thirty years in prison without the possibility of parole. Kaczynski is incarcerated in the supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, for his eighteen-year crime spree.