Brother of Unabomber talks to students about ethical struggles

Published: 2004-10-27

ROME, N.Y. (CNS) -- A painful journey for David Kaczynski and his family began with a question from his wife in August 1995: "Do you think there is a remote possibility that your brother, Ted, is the Unabomber?" That question would also end Ted Kaczynski's 17-year siege of sending pipe bombs to innocent victims. In an address to high school students in Rome, David Kaczynski, executive director of New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty, spoke not about his views regarding the death penalty, but about the moral and ethical dilemmas he and his wife, Linda, faced when deciding whether to turn in his brother to the FBI. "I'm not here looking for validation or to convince you I did the right thing," he told 10th-, 11th- and 12th-graders at Rome Catholic Junior-Senior High School. "You have to make your own decisions." Kaczynski's initial reaction to his wife's question was one of anger and defensiveness. The Unabomber's actions had killed three people and injured two dozen others. But when he read the "manifesto" sent by the Unabomber to The Washington Post, "I ... was disturbed that I couldn't tell my wife she was wrong," said Kaczynski. "I felt chilled."

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