U.S. v Kaczynski

From tests, interviews with Kaczynski and those who knew him, and studying Kaczynski's journals which document over 40 years of his life, Johnson concluded in a January 1998 report that the Unabomber had characteristic signs of schizophrenia, but also said he was competent to stand trial.

These signs included "an almost total absence of interpersonal relationships," and "delusional thinking involving being controlled by modern technology."

[ Full text of Johnson 's report. ]

The report said his lack of ability to get along with women haunted him from the age of 15, when he was told by an older woman that he was a "beautiful boy." According to Johnson, Kaczynski could not reconcile his attractive self-image and his inability to have sustained relationships with women. This lasted for 30 years, until he asked another woman about his appearance and she told him he was "run of the mill."

Johnson also cited Kaczynski's desire that his lawyers not pursue a mental illness defense which portrayed him as a schizophrenic. Kaczynski eventually pleaded guilty to 13 counts of bombing and murder and is now serving several consecutive life sentences.

In his own journals, some pages of which are in Spanish and others in code, Kaczynski repeatedly addressed two significant events in his life as being highly significant and triggering episodes of depression.

The first was when he skipped directly from the fifth grade to the seventh, after which he "remembers not fitting in with the older children and being the subject of considerable verbal abuse and teasing from them."

He said his only notoriety in high school came when he constructed a pipe bomb in chemistry class. But he continued to excel academically, and entered Harvard at the age of 16. This also contributed to his isolation.

The second pivotal incident came when he was 25, in his fifth year of graduate study at the University of Michigan. Kaczynski sought psychiatric help after "experiencing several weeks of intense and persistent sexual excitement involving fantasies of being a female."

He intended to discuss a referral for a sex change operation with the psychiatrist, but changed his mind in the waiting room and spoke only about anxiety at the prospect of being sent to Vietnam.

The report states: "Mr. Kaczynski describes leaving the office and feeling rage, shame, and humiliation over this attempt to seek evaluation. He references this as a significant turning point in his life."

As Kaczynski withdrew from society, his illness progressed and he began to believe that science and technology were his enemy. This is clearly documented in his essay response to the Jacques Ellul book, "The Technological Society."

In the essay, wrote Johnson, Kaczynski "describes that the power of society to control the individual was rapidly expanding and references issues such as...direct physical control of emotions via electrodes and 'chemitrodes,' genetic engineering, development of super human computers with intellectual capacities beyond anything humans are capable of and electronic devices for surveillance."

In his second autobiographical journal, which ends in 1979, Kaczynski explained that one reason for his writings is that "he intended to start killing people and that when caught, he was concerned people would perceive him to be a 'sickie.'"

Relationships with his family also became more bizarre, although he kept in contact with them. Kaczynski felt his parents emotionally abused him and constantly sought an apology, but none of their apologies were "viewed as sincere or acceptable."

Despite accepting a life sentence to avoid the death penalty, Kaczynski maintained that prosecutors had lied about him.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that the psychiatric report should be made public in order to provide a better understanding of the Unabomber's motivations.

-Kim Khan