Case overview
Theodore John Kaczynski ( kə-ZIN-skee; May 22, 1942 – June 10, 2023), also known as the Unabomber ( YOO-nə-bom-ər), was an American mathematician and domestic terrorist. In 1979, Kaczynski became the subject of what was, by the time of his arrest in 1996, the longest and most expensive investigation in the history of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). [1]
He authored a roughly 35,000-word manifesto and social critique, Industrial Society and Its Future (1995), which opposes all forms of technology, rejects leftism, advocates cultural primitivism, and ultimately suggests violent revolution. After his arrest in 1996, Kaczynski—maintaining that he was sane—tried and failed to dismiss his court-appointed lawyers because they wished him to plead insanity to avoid the death penalty. The UNABOM Task Force set up a toll-free telephone hotline to take calls related to the investigation, with a $1 million (equivalent to approximately $2.23 million in 2025) reward for anyone who could provide information leading to the Unabomber's capture. [2]
