April 12, 1996: Federal Agents Recover Draft of ‘Unabomber’ Manifesto in Montana Cabin

Federal agents announce that they have recovered what they believe is the master copy of the Unabomber “manifesto” from the Montana cabin of accused serial bomber Theodore “Ted” Kaczynski. Agents say that the 35,000-word manifesto, titled “Industrial Society and Its Future,” and whose publication in the Washington Post led to Kaczynski’s discovery and arrest (see September 19, 1995 and April 3, 1996), should conclusively prove that Kaczynski is in fact the Unabomber. One law enforcement official says that the evidence is so strong against Kaczynski with the discovery of the manuscript that “[i]f we lose this one, we’d better close up and go home.” Federal agents have been carefully combing every inch of Kaczynski’s cabin, X-raying boxes and meticulously examining items to ensure none of them are booby-trapped. Authorities have already found one live bomb; a senior official says, “They found a bomb, that’s a good reason to go slow.” They believe that Kaczynski laboriously typed out copy after copy of the document for the Post and the New York Times. Other documents in Kaczynski’s cabin name some of his bombing victims, as well as an apparent list of future intended targets, including a number of West Coast forestry officials. Notes found in the cabin also name a number of current and retired University of California-Berkeley professors and a department at the school. Kaczynski was once a professor at the school. They have also found chemicals and other materials used to make bombs similar to those Kaczynski is accused of sending to a number of targets over his 17-year run, and a partially constructed bomb in addition to the live device. They have found three manual typewriters in the cabin; one of them matches a letter sent to the Times threatening further bombings if the manifesto was not published (see April 24, 1995). [Washington Post, 4/13/1996; New York Times, 4/13/1996]