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Is He The Unabomber?

A run-down shack stands on the edge of a wilderness five miles from Lincoln, Montana. There are no cars, no roads, no other buildings. It is a neighborhood with more grizzly bears than people.

It is a place where a man who didn't care for modern life or company would have plenty of time to be by himself. He could watch the ponderosa pines, hundreds of years old, hundreds of feet high, sway in the wind. He could listen to the rustle and hum of the forest.

What Theodore Kaczynski, the shack's lone resident, did not know was that for a few weeks in March, the trees were listening back.

Federal agents were all around Kaczynski's cabin. They were disguised as lumberjacks, postal workers and mountain men. They had placed microphones in the trees and used satellites to watch him. They wanted to see if they could catch Kaczynski, 53, committing a crime. On April 3, the agents raided the mountain cabin and arrested Kaczynski. He was charged with having materials to make bombs.

Pieces Of A Puzzle
For 18 years, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been on the trail of a terrorist known as the Unabomber. Since 1978, the bombs he made have killed three innocent people and injured 23 others in 16 places across the U.S. Many of the bombs were sent by mail. The FBI called him the Unabomber because his first targets were people at universities and airlines; most were involved with computers and technology. He soon became America's most wanted killer.

"An incredibly complicated jigsaw puzzle" is what a former FBI agent called the search. It was the longest, most expensive hunt for a killer in U.S. history. Although Kaczynski has not been charged in the Unabomber case, the pieces of the ugly puzzle are beginning to fit together.

The FBI spent years following dead-end leads and investigating about 200 suspects. What clues finally led them to target Kaczynski as the prime suspect?

It may have been the bomber's need to get attention. Last April, when other criminals bombed a federal building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the Unabomber acted jealously. It seemed he wanted the world to know that he was the most important bombmaker.

He began to write letters to newspapers. He promised he would end his killing spree if two major newspapers published a 35,000-word article he had written. Federal investigators and the heads of the newspapers agreed to print the long, rambling text in one of the papers. They hoped someone would recognize the bomber's ideas and writing style.

That someone turned out to be David Kaczynski, Theodore's younger brother. In January, when David realized his brother's writings were similar to those of the Unabomber, he contacted the FBI.

Friends agree that it was a difficult decision for David. His old friend Mary Ann Dunn says David told her, "I don't understand what he did. I love him, but I want to see that things are done right."

In the end, David knew he might save lives by turning in his brother. "It must have been the hardest decision of his life," says another family friend.

Gathering Evidence
When federal agents finally entered Theodore Kaczynski's cabin, they found a bomb factory. Housed in the small 10-foot by 12-foot shack were chemicals, wires and books on bombmaking and one live bomb. Agents also found three typewriters. They believe one of the typewriters was used to write the statement printed in the newspapers.

Now that Kaczynski is in jail, investigators must nail down the case against him. They must prove that he was in the right places at the right times to have sent the bombs. Their job: to find the missing puzzle pieces that show that Kaczynski is indeed the Unabomber.

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The Clues To The Case
Careful detective work is the key to catching and convicting a criminal. To prove that Ted Kaczynski is the Unabomber, the FBI will spend weeks examining evidence. According to reports, here's what they will look at.

BOMBS A raid on Ted Kaczynski's Montana cabin turned up bombmaking materials. Experts will look for the Unabomber's "signature" ingredients: handmade switches, polished wooden parts and old wire.
WRITINGS Kaczynski's old papers will be compared with the Unabomber's 35,000-word text printed in the Washington Post in 1995. Last Friday agents reportedly found the original text in the cabin.
TYPEWRITERS The FBI will reportedly examine typewriters found in the cabin. Experts will compare the letters produced by these machines to the letters in the Unabomber's statement. The wear and tear on keys make typewriters as unique as fingerprints.
STAMPS Scientists are expected to analyze DNA from saliva on stamps that the Unabomber sent to see if it matches Kaczynski's.
BUS ROUTES Agents are searching for bus-company records placing Kaczynski at the scenes of the bombings.
CLOTHING At the cabin, agents found sunglasses and a sweatshirt similar to those seen by a witness to a Unabomber attack.

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