Ted Kaczynski dead: Details revealed after Harvard-trained math professor dies in his cell at Federal Medical Center

Ted Kaczynski, the Harvard-trained mathematics professor who ran a deadly bombing campaign from a dingy shack in Montana that took the lives of three people and injured several, has passed away at the age of 81. He died on Saturday, June 10.

As per the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Kaczynski was found unresponsive on Saturday morning in his cell at around 12:25 a.m. at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina. The agency said:

“Responding staff immediately initiated life-saving measures. Staff requested emergency medical services (EMS) and life-saving efforts continued. Mr. Kaczynski was transported by EMS to a local hospital and subsequently pronounced deceased by hospital personnel.”

As of writing, the cause of death is not known. The deceased was previously placed in Colorado's maximum security before moving to Butner in December 2021 due to his ailing health.

Ted Kaczynski, who spent almost 20 years without being arrested until being caught in 1996, was regarded as America's most prolific bomber.

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Ted Kaczynski was called "Unabomber" because he targeted universities and airlines

According to the police, Ted Kaczynski planted or shipped 16 bombs between 1978 and 1995, killing three individuals and injuring a dozen more.

Before he was revealed as the Unabomber in 1995, he demanded that the media publish a lengthy book he had penned down, claiming that otherwise, the murders would continue. Later that year, the Washington Post and the New York Times published his writings after the FBI director and the U.S. Attorney General recommended them to do so.

As per the official website of the FBI, the agency spent almost 20 years trying to trace his location as he was making untraceable explosives and sending them to random targets. His first attack was in 1978 at a Chicago-based university.

In 1979, the FBI put together a task group to look into the "UNABOM" case, which is an anagram made up of the words university, airplane, and bombing. Over time, the number of full-time agents on the team grew to more than 150.

However, Ted Kaczynski would not have been caught if it were not for his brother and sister-in-law getting suspicious of his activities. Linda Patrik, who is married to Kaczynski, was one of the first people to figure out that Kaczynski was the Unabomber by reading Ted's writings. In 1996, Kaczynski was caught in a small house in rural western Montana.

In his personal journals, Kaczynski was portrayed not as a dedicated revolutionary, but rather as a resentful recluse motivated by little resentments. On April 6, 1971, he wrote:

“I certainly don’t claim to be an altruist or to be acting for the ‘good’ (whatever that is) of the human race. I act merely from a desire for revenge.”

Sally Johnson, a psychiatrist who spoke to Ted Kaczynski while he was in prison, diagnosed him as schizophrenic.

“Mr. Kaczynski’s delusions are mostly persecutory in nature. The central themes involve his belief that he is being maligned and harassed by family members and modern society.”

Kaczynski vehemently opposed the idea of being perceived as mentally unstable and made an attempt to dismiss his lawyers when they sought to present an insanity defense. In a desperate attempt to end his life, he resorted to using his underwear as a makeshift noose. However, this proved unsuccessful.

At the age of 16, Ted Kaczynski joined Harvard University after skipping two grades and even published papers in famed math journals. All his bombs were delivered in wooden boxes to remove fingerprints, and the later were had his signature "FC," known as Freedom Club engraved on them.

Dubbed the "Unabomber" by the FBI, he initially targeted universities and airlines. In 1979, a bomb that was triggered by altitude was mailed by him. The bomb went off as intended while on an American Airlines flight, causing a dozen individuals on board to suffer from smoke inhalation.