Theodore “Ted” Kaczynski, otherwise known as the “Unabomber,” was found dead in his prison cell in North Carolina at 12:25 a.m. Saturday morning, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. An official cause of death was not immediately released. 

Kaczynski was serving four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to killing three people and injuring 23 others in 1998. 

Between 1978 and 1995, Kaczynski sent 16 homemade bombs to various locations — including Universities and Airlines — earning him the nickname “Unabomber” for the FBI case dedicated to him: UNABOM — University and Airline Bomber. 

Several documentaries have been filmed about the life of the Unabomber, solidifying Kaczynski’s influence on popular culture. 

Born in 1942, Kaczynski was raised in Chicago. He skipped the sixth and eleventh grades after testing highly on IQ tests, enabling him to graduate from high school at the age of 15. Upon his graduation, Kaczynski studied mathematics at Harvard University. 

Kaczynski went on to receive a masters and Ph. D. from the University of Michigan and accepted a teaching position at the University of California, Berkeley in 1967. He served in the teaching position for two years, resigning shortly after being appointed assistant professor of mathematics. 

In 1971, Kaczynski built a cabin near Lincoln, Montana on a plot of land with no heat, electricity or plumbing. He resided in the cabin until it was raided by the FBI in 1996.

Kaczynski believed that mass industrialization had negatively impacted human society and the environment. He wrote a 35,000-word manifesto, titled “Industrial Society and Its Future,” which was anonymously published in both the New York Times and the Washington Post. The text denounced industrialization and technology. 

After publication in 1995, the FBI received thousands of tips regarding the manifesto’s origin and motivations. Kaczynski’s brother, David, recognized Ted’s writing patterns in “Industrial Society and its Future” from their letter exchanges and alerted the FBI. 

Kaczynski was arrested by 40 FBI agents in April of 1996 in his cabin. During the resulting trial, lawyers suggested pleading insanity but Kaczynski rejected this idea. He pleaded guilty to all charges in 1998. 

At the time of investigation and arrest, over 150 FBI employees were assigned to his case. It was their longest and most expensive investigation at the time. 

Kaczynski was sentenced to a lifetime in prison and unsuccessfully attempted suicide before the ruling. His death on Saturday morning did not have an official cause, but sources familiar with the situation say it was death by suicide. 

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