Kaczynski Indicted For '94 Mail Bomb

Former Eliot House resident Theodore Kaczynski '62 was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury for the 1994 mail bomb attack that killed an advertising executive in New Jersey.

The indictment means the former math professor is now charged with all three deaths attributed to the Unabomber.

The grand jury in Newark, N.J. named Kaczynski on three counts, two of which carry a possible death penalty.

U.S. Justice Department officials said they will hold off on pursuing this case until Kaczynski's ongoing trial in California is completed.

Kaczynski, who spent 10 years as a hermit in rural Montana before federal officials nabbed him earlier this year, pleaded innocent in June to a similar indictment in Sacramento, Calif. that involved four bombings which killed a computer store owner and a timber industry lobbyist and maimed two professors.

Reached last night, Kaczynski's Sacramento attorney Quin Denvir told The Crimson that the developments in New Jersey came as no surprise.

"It was not unexpected," Denvir said. "We just didn't know how long it would take."

Denvir said he plans to argue that the trials in New Jersey and California should be combined.

"They said they plan to put the evidence from New Jersey in front of the Sacramento jury," he said. "Why have the expense of two trials? Why make Mr. Kaczynski defend himself twice?"

In New Jersey, Kaczynski is charged with transporting the bomb that killed Thomas J. Mosser from Montana to San Francisco, then mailing it to Mosser's home in North Caldwell, N.J., where it exploded upon opening.

The count of transporting an explosive with intent to kill and the count of mailing an explosive device with intent to kill carry the death penalty as a possible sentence. The third count, using a destructive device in a crime of violence, carries a mandatory 30-year prison sentence.

According to Sara Campbell, secretary to the U.S. Attorney for eastern California, the trial there will move forward Nov. 22, when both sides meet to discuss possible motions and pre-trial orders.

In addition to arguing for the trials to be combined, Denvir said he will appeal for a change in venue. Holding the trial in Sacramento, he said, would be unfair to his client.

"All the FBI leaks have produced a lot of publicity," he said.

Denvir, who is handling a high-profile case for the first time, refused to discuss details of his planned defense.

While he said he has met with his client recently, Denvir also declined to speak in great length about Kaczynski's reaction to the new indictment or his condition in a Sacramento prison.

"He's doing okay," said Denvir.

The attorney said the California trial will most likely begin next fall. The government has said its case will last three to four months.

Kaczynski is now charged with eight Unabomber attacks in six states.

University officials did not comment on the substance of the case. Spokesperson Joe Wrinn said Harvard was marginally involved when the investigation began, but has remained out of the picture since.

"We've had no comment," Wrinn said. "We just confirm that an alum went here and provide a class year--the kind of information that appears in a directory."