Mathematician And Murderer Ted Kaczynski, Better Known As The Unabomber, Dead At 81

Ted Kaczynski, the man known as the Unabomber who terrorized the nation from a remote cabin in the Montana wilderness, has died in prison at the age of 81.

The notorious killer was found in his prison cell at a federal prison medical center in North Carolina around 8 a.m. Saturday. Kaczynski had been moved there in 2021 due to failing health. He had previously spent decades in a supermax prison in Colorado.

Staff tended to Kaczynski and moved him to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Between 1978 and 1995, Kaczynski killed 3 people and wounded 23 by mailing bombs to his victims, most of whom worked for universities or airlines.

That's where the nickname the Unabomber comes from.-- UNiversity and Airline Bomber

It was a stretch. Back then the focus was on tracking down the culprit, not coming up with a name that makes sense.

Before committing a series of mail bombings, Ted Kaczynski was a gifted mathematician. (Getty Images)

Kaczynski Was Brilliant Mathematician Before Turning To Murder

Kaczynski possessed a genius-level IQ and before going — as clinical psychologists would say — "coo-coo bananas," he was a gifted mathematician. He graduated from Harvard and went on to teach at UC Berkeley, where he was the youngest professor ever hired.

He resigned after two years because even a serial killer can't stomach more than two years there, and moved back in with his parents. Eventually, he moved into his infamous cabin in Montana.

There, Kaczynski went about constructing his bombs. At the same time, he penned a lengthy manifesto about the dangers of technology, titled "Industrial Society and Its Future."

At 35,000 words it was pretty wordy. Although, is it surprising that a sociopathic math wiz who mailed bombs to people and hated technology didn't have a penchant for succinctness?

That manifesto also led to his undoing. Kaczynski's brother recognized the ideas and style of the writing and helped to point investigators in his direction.

He pleaded not guilty in 1996, however, a jury disagreed and Kaczynski was sentenced to life without parole.

Over the years, Kaczynski and his crimes have become the subject of numerous books and documentaries.

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