‘Unabomber’ Ted Kaczynski found dead in US prison cell
‘Unabomber’ Ted Kaczynski – who waged a 17-year bombing campaign before evading capture for two decades – has been found dead in his prison cell.
The 81-year-old was given the name by the FBI after his actions caused the death of three people and injured 23 others.
Kaczynski died at the federal prison medical center in Butner, North Carolina, Kristie Breshears, a spokesperson for the federal Bureau of Prisons, told the AP news agency.
He was found unresponsive in his cell early Saturday morning and was pronounced dead around 8am. The cause of death was not immediately known.
Theodore “Ted” Kaczynski was a Harvard-educated mathematician who retreated to a dingy shack in the Montana wilderness and ran a 17-year bombing campaign that killed three people and injured 23 others.
He has been incarcerated since May 1998, when he was sentenced to four life sentences, plus 30 years for the campaign of terror that set universities nationwide on edge.
He admitted to commiting16 bombings from 1978 and 1995, permanently maiming several of his victims.
Read more:
Unabombers shock at 9/11 attacks
How do you catch a serial bomber?
A history of violence: Letter bomb campaigns in the US
Years before the September 11 attacks, the deadly homemade bombs changed the way Americans posted packages and boarded airplanes, even virtually shutting down air travel on the west coast in July 1995.
Brother’s suspicions led to his downfall
In 1995, The Washington Post, in conjunction with The New York Times, published his 35,000-word manifesto, which claimed modern society and technology were leading to a sense of powerlessness and alienation.
But it was this that led to his undoing.
Kaczynski’s brother David and David’s wife, Linda Patrik, recognised the treatise’s tone and tipped off the FBI.
The hunt for the Unabomber had been the nation’s longest and costliest manhunt.
Authorities in April 1996 found him in a 10ft by 14ft plywood and tarpaper cabin outside Lincoln, Montana, which was filled with journals, a coded diary, explosive ingredients and two completed bombs.
Kaczynski was only arrested after his brother became suspicious
Even in his later years, he remained strongly opposed to technology and was not allowed access to the internet.
Handwritten letters by Kaczynski showed he fell in love with one of his pen pals, Joy Richards, and suggest that they discussed the idea of getting married.
Ms Richards died of cancer in 2006, and some of the most anguished letters describe the pain Kaczynksi felt at her illness, Yahoo reported.
Dozens of supporters were outside court as the man accused of fatally shooting the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare made his first appearance.
Luigi Mangione has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of murder following the 4 December killing of Brian Thompson, 50, outside a midtown Manhattan hotel.
The 26-year-old is accused of ambushing and shooting the executive as he walked to an investor conference.
Luigi Mangione supporters stand outside the Supreme Court. Pic: AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah
Dozens of people who showed up in court to support the suspect including former army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning who was jailed for stealing classified diplomatic cables.
Dozens more queued in the hallway.
Mangione is also facing federal charges that could carry the possibility of the death penalty.
The judge set a deadline of 9 April to submit pre-trial motions.
Luigi Mangione is accused of fatally shooting Brian Thompson. Pic: Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP
In addition to the New York cases, Mr Mangione also faces charges of forgery, carrying firearms without a licence, and other counts in Pennsylvania, where authorities arrested him at a McDonald’s.
Police say he was in possession of a gun, bullets, multiple fake IDs and a handwritten document that expressed “ill will” towards corporate America.
He is being held in a Brooklyn jail alongside several other high-profile defendants, including music mogul and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, and disgraced crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried.
The killing prompted some to voice their resentment at US health insurers, with Mangione attracting a cult following.
A poll taken in the wake of the shooting showed most Americans believe health insurance profits and coverage denials were partly to blame for the incident.
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