Ted Kaczynski's publication in the NYTimes and Washington Post led to his capture. His estranged brother recognized the language, the arguments. David loved his brother, but after a time of soul searching, went to the FBI. 

   They arrested him at his cabin in April, 1996. Inside, they found bomb-making materials, a live bomb ready for mailing, his original manuscript, and 40,000 pages of journals. 

   His demeanor in court was polite, attentive, calm - like a professor. 

Unabomber has electricity, indoor plumbing,

free food and lodging,

wide readership and respect

   The trial never began. His court-appointed lawyers wanted him to plead insanity, to avoid the death penalty. Kaczynski would not have it. 

   He preferred risking execution so he could make his case. 

   A psychiatric evaluation diagnosed him as paranoid schizophrenic. The judge denied his request to represent himself. 

   Kaczynski pleaded guilty rather than hear himself represented as insane.

   The author of Smithsonian's article thinks nobody in power wanted to hear his political message. His lawyers, prosecutors who questioned their own penalty, and the judge who didn't want his courtroom to become Kaczynski's soapbox - all avoided the outcomes they feared by allowing him to plead guilty. 

   

   Kaczynski, now 75, lives in a supermax prison in    Colorado. He writes, corresponds in longhand with      hundreds of people, and produces essays and books. 

   Most Amazon customers of Technological Slavery give it five stars. In a report for the 50th reunion of his Harvard class, he lists his occupation as "prisoner." His awards: "four life sentences." 

Smithsonian

      Jimmy