Unabomber’s Personal Belongings Set For Auction
When the FBI raided Ted Kaczynski‘s remote cabin in the woods of Lincoln, Montana back in 1996, they found “a wealth of bomb components, 40,000 handwritten journal pages that included bomb-making experiments and descriptions of the Unabomber crimes; and one live bomb, ready for mailing.” Since then, Kaczynski has resided at ADX Florence, a supermax…
When the FBI raided Ted Kaczynski‘s remote cabin in the woods of Lincoln, Montana back in 1996, they found “a wealth of bomb components, 40,000 handwritten journal pages that included bomb-making experiments and descriptions of the Unabomber crimes; and one live bomb, ready for mailing.” Since then, Kaczynski has resided at ADX Florence, a supermax prison in Colorado. On May 18, however, the FBI will auction Kaczynski’s personal belongings, and the proceeds will benefit the victims of his crimes (he killed three people; injured 23). Among the items on the auction block are a collection of the sunglasses made famous by Jeanne Boylan’s forensic sketch, and 60 other items.
WASHINGTON – The personal effects of Ted Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber, will be sold via an online auction by the U.S. Marshals beginning May 18, 2011. U.S. District Judge Garland Burrell of the Eastern District of California ordered the sale in August 2010. Proceeds from the auction will be used to compensate Kaczynski’s victims.
The auction will run from May 18 to June 2, 2011. The online catalog, which will include approximately 60 lots of property, will be on the Web atwww.gsaauctions.gov beginning May 18.
“The U.S. Marshals Service has been given a unique opportunity to help the victims of Theodore Kaczynski’s horrific crimes,” said U.S. Marshal Albert Nájera of the Eastern District of California. “We will use the technology that Kaczynski railed against in his various manifestos to sell artifacts of his life. The proceeds will go to his victims and, in a very small way, offset some of the hardships they have suffered.”
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Pictured above: This is the L3 Smith-Corona portable manual typewriter that Kaczynski used to type most of his UNABOM documents, including the “UNABOM Manifesto.” This typewriter was seized by the FBI during the search of his cabin in April 1996.
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Pictured above: Despite his hatred of psychologists and psychiatrists, Kaczynski was acutely aware of his own unhappiness and on at least a couple of occasions sought professional assistance to deal with it. Much of his unhappiness he attributed to his social ineptness, especially regarding women and his lifelong inability to achieve a satisfying romantic relationship. This lot includes letters written by Theodore Kaczynski in regards to seeing a therapist and treating his anxiety and other issues.
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Pictured above: This was one of Kaczynski’s home-made “tool kits.” Kaczynski kept small tools in several make-shift containers, including tools in the Tide box. Kaczynski’s construction of UNABOM explosive devices was all done by hand, without assistance of power tools, and using where possible wood and metal scraps obtained from trash. He went to great lengths to create necessary parts himself, with the general exception of screws and nails. He cast some metal parts (including aluminum) by melting metal scraps on his cabin’s wood burning stove. Parts he had to purchase, Kaczynski took pains to buy far away from home, sometimes while wearing disguises. He also made some of his own hand tools. These efforts were detailed in his writings.
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Pictured above: Collection of Kaczynski’s sunglasses seized by the FBI during the search of his cabin in April 1996. 
