‘Unabomber’ Ted Kaczynski Was Depressed, Had Rectal Cancer Before Death

Ted Kaczynski, the late domestic terrorist known as the “Unabomber” who died by suicide last year while imprisoned, had recently been diagnosed with rectal cancer and was depressed around the time of his death, according to an autopsy report obtained by NBC News via a Freedom of Information Act request Wednesday. Kaczynski, 81, carried out a headline-grabbing, decade-long fatal bombing spree across the United States in furtherance of an anarchist vision for society laid out in his manifesto, titled Industrial Society and Its Future. After his arrest in 1996, he was convicted and sentenced to eight consecutive life sentences. Kaczynski’s autopsy report says he “was noted to be depressed and sent for psychiatric evaluation” before his death last June. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of North Carolina recorded his cause of death as hanging, and confirmed that he used a shoelace as the ligature, according to NBC News. Kaczynski died at Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina.

If you or a loved one are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing or texting 988.