Ted Kaczynski
The Unabomber wants to make it clear - he is not that creep who is sending letters to journalists agreeing to be interviewed.
'Some creep in Santa Barbara, California, has been sending letters in my name to various journalists, requesting an interview and expressing what he pretends are my opinions,' the Unabomber, also known by his real name Ted Kaczynski, 74, wrote to a reporter at BuzzFeed.
The reporter's name is Andrew Kaczynski, no relation to Ted.
The Unabomber is ticked off because of a letter that was sent to New Yorker staff writer Lawrence Wright in May. The sender claimed to be Kaczynski, and offered an interview to whichever journalist would affirm that he is not mentally ill.
It read: 'I am 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.'
'I am only granting one interview to one person. In order to determine who will get the interview, I am asking you to write me back affirming that you understand that I am NOT mentally ill, as my brother Dave, would have you believe.'
Wright then tweeted a snapshot of the letter with the snarky reply, 'Thanks, Ted, you're not nuts at all'.
Kaczynski, who was spared the death penalty after it was determined he suffered from schizophrenia, may indeed be mentally ill, however, he wants everyone to know he's not the person who wrote those letters.
At least one other journalist, Bryan Denson, formerly of the Oregonian, also received the same letter.
'I'm not going to give any interviews,' wrote the real Kaczynski from his Colorado prison cell. 'And I do not necessarily share the opinions expressed in that creep's letters.'
He then went on to scold journalists who bought that the letter was from him without doing any fact checking.
'Competent journalists would look at the post marks from the letters they receive. If a letter has been postmarked from California, then obviously I could not have sent it. Moreover, competent journalists would have checked the handwriting on that creep's letters against the samples of my handwriting that are readily available on the Internet.
'But many journalists are too stupid or lazy to take such precautions so they've been duped by the aforesaid creep.'
It's unclear how Kaczynski knew the original letters were postmarked from Santa Barbara. Kaczynski is serving his life sentence at the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Florence, Colorado.
This time the letter has the hallmarks of being legitimate.
'The letter is post-marked from Colorado, yes. It also has to be him because we mailed the letter to him at prison so it makes sense that he responded,' Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed wrote to the DailyMail.com.
The Unabomber killed three and injured 23 people over the course of an 18-year bombing campaign that often targeted universities and airlines.
His brother, David, helped investigators identify Kaczynski, and recently wrote a book detailing stories about his brother as well as his personal struggle turning him in.
Kaczynski was arrested in April 1996 and avoided capital punishment after he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to four life terms instead.
The fake Kaczynski's handwritten letter, which is dated April 4, 2016, was posted on Wright's twitter feed in May.
It read: 'I am 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.
'I am only granting one interview to one person. In order to determine who will get the interview, I am asking you to write me back affirming that you understand that I am NOT mentally ill, as my brother Dave, would have you believe.'
It also urged Wright to introduce himself and explain why he should be trusted.
The Unabomber’s trail of destruction had baffled the FBI from its barbaric outset in 1978, when he sent his first bomb to the University of Illinois at Chicago which exploded and injured a security guard.
The bomber set off another device in the cargo hold of an American Airlines flight in 1979, injuring 12 and forcing it to make an emergency landing.
He killed computer store owner Hugh Scrutton near his shop in Sacramento in 1985 and murdered advertising executive Thomas Mosser with a bomb sent to his home in North Caldwell, New Jersey in 1994.
The bomber also killed California Forestry Association president Gilbert Murray in 1995 with a package bomb sent to his Sacramento office.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3651477/Unabomber-writes-journalist-saying-earlier-letters-claiming-HOAX-creep-Santa-Barbara.html
Unabomber writes to journalist saying earlier letters claiming to be him were a HOAX and from 'some creep in Santa Barbara'
Ted Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber, says he is not the man who wrote to journalists in May claiming to be him
The real Unabomber has written to BuzzFeed saying that the media was victim of a hoax and he never wrote letters to journalists
He carried out 18-year bombing through mail, targeting airlines and universities, killing three and injuring 23
Brother David recognized his writing style in Unabomber's 35,000-word manifesto and tipped investigators
Kaczynski was arrested in 1996, diagnosed with schizophrenia and sentenced to four life sentences
The 'fake' Ted recently penned a letter to New Yorker writer Lawrence Wright saying he was not mentally ill
By KIRI BLAKELEY and OLLIE GILLMAN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 18:06 EST, 20 June 2016 | UPDATED: 21:20 EST, 20 June 2016
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