The Unabomber's Infamous Fellow Inmates On 'Bombers Row'

The man who gained notoriety as the Unabomber was apprehended in 1996 after a federal manhunt that took nearly 20 years (per FBI). After the bureau received a lengthy manifesto from the terrorist in 1995, justice department officials agreed to allow for its publication. Soon after The Washington Post printed what is now known as "The Unabomber Manifesto," the FBI began receiving tips as to this evasive criminal's identity. 

One tip was from David Kaczynski, a man who believed that his estranged brother might be behind the bombings. After providing material written by his brother, the feds were able to determine that David's brother, Ted Kaczynski, indeed matched the profile of the Unabomber as outlined in the manifesto. The evidence was enough to secure a warrant, leading agents to a remote cabin in the Montana wilderness. After a thorough search, authorities found bomb-making materials, thousands of journal pages detailing bomb experiments, and one more white-hot item that would help cement the case against him — a completed bomb, which the FBI claimed was "ready for mailing."

Throughout their lengthy investigation into Ted Kaczynski, the federal government was able to build an air-tight case against the man whose crimes had plagued the bureau for almost two decades. Perhaps knowing that there was no alternative, Kaczynski took a plea deal, landing him in a solitary prison cell inside the ADX supermax prison in Colorado (per Biography). During his time there, Kaczynski has gotten to know several other infamous figures whose fates have seemed to become intertwined.

But Timothy McVeigh wasn't the only supermax prisoner that Ted Kaczynski was getting to know. In some of the letters he has sent from his prison cell, Kaczynski has detailed becoming familiar with Ramzi Yousef, the convicted mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing that killed six people and injured 1,000 (per the Associated Press). Yousef was also tried and convicted of the bombing of a passenger plane leaving the Philippines in 1994. He was sentenced to life plus 240 years and ordered to serve his time in solitary confinement.

Yahoo News reports that Kaczynski held conversations with Yousef in the same way that he did with McVeigh, out in the yard during their daily recreation time. In letters sent from prison, Kaczynski remarked that Yousef had an interest in astrology, Kaczynski remarking that Yousef and a pen pal shared the same birthday. Per Yahoo News, this prompted Kaczynski to write, "I mentioned this to Ramzi, and he wants me to tell you that since your birthday is the same as his, you and he must have similar personalities." 

Like with McVeigh, Kaczynski seemed to speak very highly of Yousef in his letters to pen pals. Yousef is still incarcerated at the ADX supermax today, and based on the severity of his sentence, he won't be expecting a release for the rest of his life.

Along with Timothy McVeigh, the other villain in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing was sentenced to serve a hefty sentence at the ADX supermax prison. Terry Nichols was found guilty by a jury in 2004, almost a decade after the explosions at the Alfred P. Murrah federal building killed more than 150 innocent lives. Though prosecutors were vying for the death penalty, the jury was deadlocked on this harsh form of punishment. On the federal charges, Nichols was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison (per NBC News). Britannica tells us that he was given 161 life sentences without the possibility of parole.

CNN reports that Nichols has made waves while being held in the Colorado prison. In 2009, he filed a lawsuit against the facility, claiming that his diet violated his religious beliefs. In the suit, he demanded that he be served "100% whole-grain foods, fresh raw vegetables and fruit, a wheat bran supplement, and digestive bacteria and enzymes." A year later, Nichols went on a hunger strike to protest. The lawsuit was thrown out of court by a judge.

As recently as 2015, Nichols filed a motion in court for the return of his confiscated firearms. He argued that these be returned to his ex-wife so that she could sell them and use the money to support his family. In 2016, a court ruled that the firearms be destroyed and the value of the guns applied to the more than $14 million Nichols owed in court-ordered restitution for his crimes (per CNN).