Charges Expected In Unabomber Case

WASHINGTON (Reuter) — The White House said a former university professor was expected to be charged later Thursday in connection with the Unabomber investigation in which a serial killer launched a nationwide bombing spree.

News the man could soon face charges cames as FBI agents sifted through evidence taken during a search of the cabin in Montana where Theodore Kaczynski was arrested Wednesday.

“We believe that at some point later today in Montana there will be court proceedings in which an individual likely will be charged with some allegations of breaking federal law,” White House spokesman Mike McCurry said.

FBI and Justice Department officials said the charge expected to be filed against Kaczynski would enable the authorities to keep the former mathematics professor in custody.

However, they would not formally accuse him of being the elusive and serial mail bomber known as the Unabomber.

“He’s not going to walk,” a federal law enforcement official said, explaining why authorities suddenly decided to bring at least one charge against Kaczynski, who could not continue to be held in jail without being accused of a crime.

The officials said the FBI and prosecutors were not yet ready to charge Kaczynski with a series of crimes connected to the Unabomber — 16 explosions that killed three’ people and injured 23 in bombings across the country since 1978.

The alleged killer was dubbed the Unabomber because his first targets were universities and airlines. The most recent attack occurred on April 24, 1995, when a timber industry lobbyist was killed in Sacramento, California.

“We need to be absolutely certain before making any definitive announcement,” the official said. “You can charge someone without saying they are definitely the Unabomber.”

FBI agents took Kaczynski into custody for Questioning Wednesday as they began searching his remote cabin near Lincoln, Montana. Officials said the cabin search continued, and they already had found bomb-making components.

The 1962 Harvard University graduate, who once taught mathematics at the University of California at Berkeley, became a prime suspect after a tip to the FB1 from his brother. He was then put under surveillance.

After one of the longest and most intense manhunts in FBI history, federal agents believe Kaczynski was the person responsible for bombings. “We are very optimistic at this point,” one official said.

Chris Gehring, a neighbor, described Kaczynski as a loner who had lived in the small cabin for years, sometimes rode his bicycle to the library but was never seen driving a car. “He kept to himself. We always wondered about him,” she said.

Over the years, the Unabomber — who claimed in his writings to be an anarchist bent on sparking a revolution against America’s high-tech society — created meticulously crafted bombs that became more advanced, compact and deadly.

For years, investigators were haunted by the now-famous black-and-white sketch of a hooded suspect that came from a witness to the Unabomber’s 12^th attack, outside a Salt Lake City, Utah, computer store in 1987.

Once prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Montana are prepared to charge Kaczynski, he then would have an initial appearance before a federal judge in Helena.

The FBI’s investigation of the case was one of the longest and most extensive in its history. It included massive computer searches and hundreds of agents conducting numerous interviews over the years.