What People Paid for the Unabomber's Stuff

Ted Kaczynski's personal effects fetched about $190,000 at auction

Ted Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber (apparently an FBI designation based on his targets: UNiversities and Airlines), sent 16 mail bombs to various people and institutions from 1978 to 1995. He killed three people and became the target of one of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's most wide-ranging and expensive investigations before his arrest, on a tip from his brother, in 1996. He is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for his terror campaign. He has said he wanted to spark a revolution against industry and technology, which he sees as corrosive to freedom.

In addition to his prison sentence, Kaczynski was ordered to pay $15 million in damages to his victims. But the man who lived for much of his life in a shack in rural Montana, eschewing modern society, doesn't have that kind of cash. Instead, the government auctioned off his possessions, raising about $190,000, according to the Associated Press, which pointed out that the sale used exactly the kind of technology Kazinsky dedicated his life of crime to eradicating. Here are some of the prices from the Unabomber's online auction:

Personal journals: $40,676

Handwritten manifesto: $20,053

Handwritten autobiography: $17,780

Smith Corona typewriter, used to write manifestos sent to newspapers: $22,003

Two other typewriters: $3,600

Famous hooded sweatshirt and aviator shades: $20,025

Black-and-white passport photos, hand-bowed wood saw, Hanson Model 1509 scale used in bomb-making (sold together to one bidder): $1,766