200 serious suspects
The FBI was offering a $1 million reward for information leading to the identification and conviction of the Unabomber. Founded in 1993, the company’s toll-free hotline, 1-800-701-BOMB, has received more than 50,000 tips. With all the new clues in the manifest, the picture of the mysterious bomber is becoming clearer. “The Unabomber’s ego may have led to his downfall,” Gul-Murthy told BBC Newsnight. “In addition to the ideas in the paper, we learned much more about the bomber’s academic background from letters to prominent scientists.” The FBI UNABOM task force compiled a list of 200 serious suspects. Five of them were under constant surveillance in Northern California, where detectives believed he was hiding.
A major development in the case came from an unlikely source: an American who was vacationing in France with her husband, David Kaczynski. Philosophy professor Linda Patrick was reading a series of articles about the Unabomber in the International Herald Tribune, an English-language newspaper published in Paris. She told the BBC in 2016: “Almost every other day, I would look at these articles and scratch my head and think, ‘Wow, this looks like Dave’s brother.'” One report mentioned the suspect’s carpentry skills. Some spoke of their aversion to technology. Others named the city where the bomb exploded, a place where she knew David’s brother lived or worked. Taken together, she says, this pattern can no longer be ignored. She had to ask him an awkward question. “I said, ‘Is it possible that your brother is the Unabomber?'”
Patrick said David did not believe this to be true, but when he read the manifesto he was appalled. “Dave was sitting there looking at his computer screen,” she said. “I could see him reading the first page and his expression changed dramatically.” It was a nightmare scenario, David told the BBC. “I was literally thinking about the possibility that my brother was a serial killer and the most wanted person in America and probably the entire world,” he said. The family’s dilemma was serious. If they remain silent, their inaction could lead to further carnage. However, if Ted is proven to be the Unabomber, he could face the death penalty. David said: “What would it be like to spend the rest of my life with my brother’s blood on my hands?”
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Source: BBC Culture – www.bbc.com
