Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, Died in Prison in 2023
The notorious domestic terrorist, who carried out a decades-long bombing campaign, died at age 81.
Ted Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber, died by suicide in prison in June 2023. He was 81 years old.
Kaczynski had been serving a life sentence for a series of bombings that killed three people and injured 23 others between the 1970s and 1990s. He was apprehended in 1996 after a 17-year manhunt. The Netflix film "Unabomber" explores the timeline of his crimes and eventual capture.
Following his conviction in 1998, Kaczynski spent over 25 years in a maximum-security prison in Florence, Colorado. In 2021, he was diagnosed with late-stage rectal cancer and transferred to a medical facility in North Carolina. He underwent chemotherapy until March 2023, when he stopped treatment due to negative side effects and his prognosis, according to reports.
An autopsy report obtained by NBC News indicated Kaczynski had been depressed prior to his death and had undergone a psychological evaluation. His cause of death was listed as hanging, with shoelaces used as a ligature, in his solitary cell. He was found unresponsive around midnight on June 10, 2023, and resuscitation efforts were initiated.
The Unabomber's decades-long campaign of terror began with homemade bombs sent through the mail. The FBI's investigation, aided by linguistic analysis of the Unabomber's manifesto and a tip from Kaczynski's brother, David, ultimately led to his capture. The Netflix film depicts both Kaczynski's early life, including his time at Harvard and participation in psychology experiments, and the latter stages of the FBI's investigation that culminated in his arrest.