It took the FBI around 17 years to figure out who and convict, Ted Kaczynski (The Unabomber). Part of the problem was that the FBI was using the wrong profile. They thought he wasn't well educated, was around 30 years old, and was probably a mechanic because he could put the bombs together. They thought he might have a chip on his shoulder regarding people who were successful because the victims were generally white collar employees. Lastly, they thought he might be an activist for environmental groups.
Part of the reason they thought he might not be well educated was that he misspelled various words like "Wilfully," versus "Willfully," and some of the notes appeared to be gibberish. A FBI linguistic expert came in and told the task force that the bomber wasn't misspelling words, he was using a different dictionary from hundreds of years earlier. The word "realise," had been changed over the years to "realize." He said that the writing they thought was gibberish was actually code. What's funny is that when one of the notes was decoded it read: "U Suck." The FBI didn't like that.
If it weren't for Ted's brother and sister-in-law turning him in he might not have ever been caught. The FBI printed Ted's manifesto in the Washington Post and offered a one million dollar reward for anyone who recognized the writing and could provide them a solid lead. Ted and his wife gave the reward money to the victims of Ted's bombs (three had died and 23 injured).
The FBI couldn't have gotten it more wrong. He was in his 40's. Ted was a genius and entered Harvard when he was 16. He got a doctorate in mathematics and taught at UC Berkeley. He suddenly quit teaching and went to live in the woods of Lincoln, Montana (no running water or electricity). I don't have time to cover his manifesto titled: "The Industrial Society and Its Future," but some of it was brilliant and very prophetic. Basically it was a warning to be careful about what we create so that we don't become slaves to technology. Could you make it without your cellphone? How about your computer? Computers were just beginning to take off and his concern was that too many people would lose their jobs. He was afraid that if something happened to our country whether it be a war or an outbreak of some sort, that not enough people would be equipped to fend for themselves.
He was a sick man and eventually diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia. It was wrong of him to hurt people to try and get noticed. But at the end of the day, part of him was brilliant. He's now 77 years old and in prison in Chicago, Illinois where he grew up.
Part of the reason they thought he might not be well educated was that he misspelled various words like "Wilfully," versus "Willfully," and some of the notes appeared to be gibberish. A FBI linguistic expert came in and told the task force that the bomber wasn't misspelling words, he was using a different dictionary from hundreds of years earlier. The word "realise," had been changed over the years to "realize." He said that the writing they thought was gibberish was actually code. What's funny is that when one of the notes was decoded it read: "U Suck." The FBI didn't like that.
If it weren't for Ted's brother and sister-in-law turning him in he might not have ever been caught. The FBI printed Ted's manifesto in the Washington Post and offered a one million dollar reward for anyone who recognized the writing and could provide them a solid lead. Ted and his wife gave the reward money to the victims of Ted's bombs (three had died and 23 injured).
The FBI couldn't have gotten it more wrong. He was in his 40's. Ted was a genius and entered Harvard when he was 16. He got a doctorate in mathematics and taught at UC Berkeley. He suddenly quit teaching and went to live in the woods of Lincoln, Montana (no running water or electricity). I don't have time to cover his manifesto titled: "The Industrial Society and Its Future," but some of it was brilliant and very prophetic. Basically it was a warning to be careful about what we create so that we don't become slaves to technology. Could you make it without your cellphone? How about your computer? Computers were just beginning to take off and his concern was that too many people would lose their jobs. He was afraid that if something happened to our country whether it be a war or an outbreak of some sort, that not enough people would be equipped to fend for themselves.
He was a sick man and eventually diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia. It was wrong of him to hurt people to try and get noticed. But at the end of the day, part of him was brilliant. He's now 77 years old and in prison in Chicago, Illinois where he grew up.
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