‘Unabomber’ Ted Kaczynski had late-stage rectal cancer and was ‘depressed’ before prison suicide, autopsy says

Ted Kaczynski, the imprisoned domestic terrorist known as the “Unabomber,” was diagnosed with rectal cancer in March 2021, and a month before killing himself in June 2023“was depressed and sent for psychiatric evaluation,” according to the autopsy report obtained by NBC News.

Kaczynski was 81 years old and a senior law enforcement officer said at the time that he had been diagnosed with cancer, although its type and severity were unclear.

Now, 10 months after Kaczynski’s death and NBC News first filed a Freedom of Information Act request related to his case, his autopsy report offers new details about the health and final months of a man who, for two decades, waged a wave of deadly bombings that killed three people and injured 23 others. It ended with his capture in the Montana wilderness in 1996; he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner lists the cause of death as hanging, with a shoelace used as a ligature, in Kaczynski’s solitary cell at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, northeast of Durham.

Kaczynski’s death by suicide raises questions about whether it was preventable and why he had access to a shoelace, said Jack Donson, a retired case manager for the Federal Bureau of Prisons and executive director of the Federal Prison Education and Reform Alliance, a nonprofit organization. profitable.

It’s unclear whether Kaczynski’s depression resulted in suicide watch, which Donson said would include 24/7 direct supervision and removal of objects that could allow inmates to harm themselves. “It is virtually impossible to stop anyone from harming themselves other than someone on formal suicide watch,” he added.

But, he said, given Kaczynski’s status within the BOP, “it is somewhat surprising that a high-profile inmate, coming out of maximum security, was able to obtain shoelaces in a hospital setting to kill himself — especially him.”

The 2019 suicide of wealthy financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in his New York BOP cell resulted in an investigation which found monitoring failure and other lapses, including ensuring he had a cellmate as recommended.

In response to Kaczynski’s death and the question of whether it was preventable, BOP officials declined to comment specifically on his case or the conditions of his confinement for “security reasons.” In general, the agency said, in cases of homicide or suicide deaths, the BOP follows a protocol to preserve and document evidence “necessary to support subsequent investigations,” and there are also guidelines for suicide prevention and training at each facility.

O policy notes that inmates in detention or disciplinary segregation “may often be at greater risk for suicidal behavior” and are “monitored for signs of potential suicide risk.” It is unclear whether Kaczynski was ever monitored for suicide risk during his time at Butner.

A Department of Justice inspector general report for February concluded that the BOP was unable to prevent the deaths of 187 inmates who died by suicide over eight years, with “numerous operational and management deficiencies” creating unsafe conditions. The report focused on deaths that seemed likely preventable and not those involving inmates who had more complex medical care issues.

In addition to Kaczynski’s rectal cancer diagnosis, which medical examiners said was stage 4, his autopsy reveals he had a history of mental health disorders and was feeling depressed about a month before his death.

“Around midnight on June 10, 2023, he was found hanging from a handicap rail in his room with shoe laces,” the report says. “He was initially pulseless and resuscitation was initiated.”

There was a “return of spontaneous circulation” before he was transferred to Duke University Hospital in Durham, where his blood pressure remained low, according to the report. He was pronounced dead at 8:07 a.m.

“The deceased was not taking any prescribed medications and had no previous suicidal ideations or attempts,” the report added. “The Federal Police were not concerned about crime.”

The autopsy also found that there was “extensive damage” to Kaczynski’s rib cage due to chest compressions and that rectal cancer had spread to his liver and both lungs. He suffered “massive blood loss” as chest compressions caused “lacerations to his seriously ill liver”, but the report said this was only caused by “his own actions in inciting hanging and therefore the manner is appropriately suicidal ”.

Kaczynski, a Harvard-educated mathematician who has criticized the technology, planted pipe bombs — targeting universities, an American Airlines flight and others — in a campaign from 1978 to 1995 that included three deaths and multiple mutilations, federal prosecutors said. His notoriety as the “Unabomber” came from an FBI code name derived from his bombing targets at universities and airlines.

Kaczynski provoked authorities with an incoherent manifesto and was captured after one of the longest FBI manhunts in history. In 1998, while awaiting trial, authorities said Kaczynski attempted to hang himself with his underwear and was placed on 24-hour suicide watch in prison. He insisted, however, that he was not mentally ill, despite being diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic.

To avoid the death penalty, Kaczynski pleaded guilty to his crimes and was placed in the Supermax federal prison in Florence, Colorado, a maximum security facility that once housed some of the country’s most wanted criminals. terrorists It is crime bosses.

In March 2021, Kaczynski complained of rectal bleeding. He was transferred that fall from Florence to Federal Medical Center in Butner for cancer treatment, medical examiners said. He began biweekly chemotherapy until March 2023, “when he refused any further treatment due to negative side effects and his poor prognosis,” they added.

An oncologist noted that he “seemed depressed” about a month before his death.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.

This article was originally published in NBCNews. with