Journalists get sent a lot of weird stuff: DIY hummus-making kits, balloons shaped like vaginas, Advent Calendars filled purely with condoms, letters from The Unabomber.
Yep, 20 years after Ted Kaczynski – the convicted terrorist responsible for making and sending deadly bombs via US domestic mail – has stepped back into the spotlight after reaching out to several high-profile media outlets, including the New Yorker and Huffington Post, to offer an interview.
Kaczynski is currently languishing in federal prison in Florence, Colorado, serving eight consecutive life sentences for killing three people and injuring 23 others with 16 bombs detonated over a 17-year-period but is apparently keen to share his side of the story.
New Yorker writer Lawrence Wright posted a photo of a letter allegedly sent to him from Kaczynski, dated April 4, 2016, that states he’s “ready to speak to someone from the media regarding my brother’s recent comments and to discuss how they are being used to torment me.”
The Unabomber reached out. Thanks, Ted, you’re not nuts at all. pic.twitter.com/enTCOO02MI
— Lawrence Wright (@lawrence_wright) May 22, 2016
Kaczynski’s brother David was essentially responsible for his arrest after sharing with the FBI suspicions he was the Unabomber; in February, he released a memoir called ‘Every Last Tie: The Story of the Unabomber and His Family’, which is likely what the letter refers to.
But there’s a condition to his offer of 1x “exclusive” interview: that the media outlet agrees to refute David’s claims he’s mentally ill.
Righto, mate.
Photo: Getty / Stephen J. Dubner.
