Zodiackiller.com Message Board: Other Suspects: What Reason would Kaczynski have had to Commit the Zodiac Crimes?

In carryover from the "Signature" thread, I must agree with Doug in that both Z's correspondences and the Unabomber correspondences are the same in tone. Taunting, sarcastic, knowledgeable, proving; these are aspects of the content in letters of both. As far as what Ted may have done to alleviate this rage he had inside him, I offer this as a possible explanation:

In reading some of the excerpts of material written about Ted Kaczynski and by Ted, himself, I honestly believe that he wanted to be a decent, person, one who wanted to meet his goals in life through education, successful living, the love of a woman and raising a family. He wanted desperately to be able to communicate with people but no matter how he tried, his lack of interpersonal skills prevented him from connecting:

1. Growing up, instead of playing with other kids, he read, played music or studied in his room. He had skipped grades in school, so he had no appropriately-aged social connections with the other students he shared classes with; his form of communication and possible acceptance would stem from playing jokes on other kids such as making stink bombs, putting dead animals in lockers, etc. Before too long, he found himself in college with a goal of working toward his degree in mathematics.

2. In college, again, being only 16 and thrust into an environment where independence and social skills are flourishing, he had to feel out-of-place. Ted was once again out of his peerage and his communication skills to socially fit in to a group were already limited. He was probably too young and awkward to have the college girls be attracted to him; the boys probably found him too young, academically nerdy and not in their social class to include him with their outside activities (according to Ted, the boys in his dorm were loud, rude and disgusting; they held wild parties, used foul language, etc); his safe harbor appeared to be trying to study and working hard toward graduation. Ted was at the age where he wanted and desired a personal relationship with a girl, but was evidently not successful in any attempt/s he would make. He had nightmares and dreams and in 1966, he became so frustrated with his social life that he even, though momentarily, considered a sex change to alleviate his sexual desires. This is when he visited a psychiatrist to see if he would be a candidate. Angry at himself for even considering this, he walked away, disgusted at what he had been about to do in order to satisfy his sexual needs. It was at this time, Ted declared to himself that he "…really felt he could kill someone…" such as the psychiatrist or "…anyone else whom I hate…"

3. In the latter part of 1966, Ted secured his job as an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Berkley. His knowledge and abilities in math were excellent; however, according to reports of some of his students, he lacked the ability to be an effective teacher due to his inability to communicate and interpret for them his knowledge. Students gave very low marks in their evaluations of him. On a social level, Ted could still not connect. His brother, David, also reported that Ted had even once advertised for a date in a local newspaper (although the outcome was never revealed).

Suddenly, in 1969, Ted submitted his resignation effective at the end of the spring semester with no explanation. It was at this time that Ted had decided he wanted to be away, by himself, and alone. As we know, Ted then started to develop a campaign against technology and the disruption of the environment. A very interesting part of his Manifesto, published first during his reign of terror as the Unabomber, includes a "Diagram of Symptoms Resulting from Distruption of the Power Process." The Power Process is what Kaczynski describes as a human beings need for something "…closely related to power but not quite the same thing." He describes this process as having four elements: Goal, effort, attainment of goal and autonomy. In his Manifesto, Ted describes:

34. Consider the hypothetical case of a man who can have anything he wants just by wishing for it. Such a man has power, but he will develop serious psychological problems. At first he will have a lot of fun, but by and by he will become acutely bored and demoralized. Eventually he may become clinically depressed. History shows that leisured aristocracies tend to become decadent. This is not true of fighting aristocracies that have to struggle to maintain their power. But leisured, secure aristocracies that have no need to exert themselves usually become bored, hedonistic and demoralized, even though they have power. This shows that power is not enough. One must have goals toward which to exercise one's power.

35. Everyone has goals; if nothing else, to obtain the physical necessities of life: food, water and whatever clothing and shelter are made necessary by the climate. But the leisured aristocrat obtains these things without effort. Hence his boredom and demoralization.

36. Nonattainment of important goals results in death if the goals are physical necessities, and in frustration if nonattainment of the goals is compatible with survival. Consistent failure to attain goals throughout life results in defeatism, low self-esteem or depression.

37. Thus, in order to avoid serious psychological problems, a human being needs goals whose attainment requires effort, and he must have a reasonable rate of success in attaining his goals.
Surrogate Activities

38. But not every leisured aristocrat becomes bored and demoralized. For example, the emperor Hirohito, instead of sinking into decadent hedonism, devoted himself to marine biology, a field in which he became distinguished. When people do not have to exert themselves to satisfy their physical needs they often set up artificial goals for themselves. In many cases they then pursue these goals with the same energy and emotional involvement that they otherwise would have put into the search for physical necessities. Thus the aristocrats of the Roman Empire had their literary pretensions; many European aristocrats a few centuries ago invested tremendous time and energy in hunting, though they certainly didn't need the meat; other aristocracies have competed for status through elaborate displays of wealth; and a few aristocrats, like Hirohito, have turned to science.

39. We use the term "surrogate activity" to designate an activity that is directed toward an artificial goal that people set up for themselves merely in order to have some goal to work toward, or let us say, merely for the sake of the "fulfillment" that they get from pursuing the goal. Here is a rule of thumb for the identification of surrogate activities. Given a person who devotes much time and energy to the pursuit of goal X, ask yourself this: If he had to devote most of his time and energy to satisfying his biological needs, and if that effort required him to use his physical and mental faculties in a varied and interesting way, would he feel seriously deprived because he did not attain goal X? If the answer is no, then the person's pursuit of goal X is a surrogate activity. Hirohito's studies in marine biology clearly constituted a surrogate activity, since it is pretty certain that if Hirohito had had to spend his time working at interesting non-scientific tasks in order to obtain the necessities of life, he would not have felt deprived because he didn't know all about the anatomy and life-cycles of marine animals. On the other hand the pursuit of sex and love (for example) is not a surrogate activity, because most people, even if their existence were otherwise satisfactory, would feel deprived if they passed their lives without ever having a relationship with a member of the opposite sex. (But pursuit of an excessive amount of sex, more than one really needs, can be a surrogate activity.)

The "Diagram" that Ted included in his Manifesto describing the Power Process reads, as follows (there is no link to the diagram through the internet and I have no scanner to be able to duplicate it for you DOUG, IF YOU CAN SCAN THIS DIAGRAM IN, I THINK IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO BE ABLE TO SEE - THANKS!)

LACK OF GOALS WHOSE ATTAINMENT REQUIRES EFFORT leads to
· Boredom
· Boredom leads to Excessive pleasure-seeking OR Tendency to Depression*
· Excessive pleasure-seeking leading to
. Instiable hedonism, sexual perverson or Overeating

FAILURE TO ATTAIN GOALS leads to
· Low Self-Esteem
· Frustration
· Frustration can lead to anger
· Anger can lead to Abuse
· Frustration can lead to Tendency to Depression*

*Tendency to Depression can lead to
· Eating disorders
· Sleep disorders
· Guilt
· Anxiety
· Low Self-Esteem

It's my feeling that these passages from Ted's manifesto are written from the "personal experiences" of Ted himself. Ted's goal of maintaining relationships was clearly unattainable (to him) due to a lack of social skills. After reading as much as I have been able to about the Unabomber, I have great sympathy for him in the fact that he felt so alone and unable to communicate his feelings or be accepted because of his lack of skills in socializing with others.

If, in fact, Ted led the short-lived existence of Zodiac and was the author of all known correspondences, cryptograms and perpetrator of the Z crimes, it is my opinion that he clearly knew these acts were morally wrong. In order to put these deeds (clearly the act of a sick person) out of his mind, he decided to quit his job, leave the area and re-focus his attentions towards other goals. By finding a location where he could lead a life of peace and quiet, build a home for himself, and live from the gifts of mother earth, he would be able to disassociate from the society to which he felt had failed him.

The above message is a follow-up from the "New linguistic analysis at Unabomber/Zodiac website" thread and NOT the "Signature" thread. Sorry about that!

Linda!

I had to get rid of the Free-For-All section due to circumstances I won't get into here, so feel free to start a new thread about signature.

Linda--The chart you referenced can be seen by clicking here.

Thanks for a very introspective analysis. Additionally, people who might be confused about Kaczynski's motivations will want to consider the following entry in his journals for the year 1978:

"But this affair with [redacted] has done strange things to me. In the first place, it aroused in me hope -- a hope for something worthwhile. Perhaps foolishly, I did hope that I might win, if not her love, then at least a reasonable amount of affection -- physical sex too, of course, but it would have been more important to me to have her care for me than to have physical sex with her. I could get by with just holding her hand, if necessary, if I thought she really cared for me. Of course, kissing her was immensely pleasurable, and ...."

The [redacted] in the paragraph was, of course, Ellen Tarmichael, the woman whom Kaczynski dated for approximately two weeks in 1978, and who abruptly broke off their relationship, leaving him in a state of rage that led to his own brother firing him from his job. The key word in the entire paragraph is "worthwhile." A hope for something "worthwhile." A cozy relationship with a woman undoubtedly would have trumped every philosophical belief held by Kaczynski at the time. It would have suffused him with "hope" -- the hope without which suicides and mass murderers inevitably yield to despair and commit their acts of madness.

Tom wrote:
"I had to get rid of the Free-For-All section due to circumstances I won't get into here, so feel free to start a new thread about signature."

Thanks for the good times, Tom. It was a two weeks we'll never forget! Free-flowing forties, full-frontal nudity, and wacky Germans.

Spencer

Oh my God, he killed Kenny!

There was a report last night about a 41 yr. old man who killed his 76 yr. old step Dad, then after a police chase shot himself. Couldn't help thinking it must've been Kenny.

Oh my God, Kenny killed himself!

Kenny's off the hook; that fellow was named Perry (with an "e").

Roger,

You were right! Sometimes I just have problems with the nuances in English names, LOL.

How does that get Kenny off the hook? Other than the obvious? "Kenny Kilgore" was a psedonym.

Linda:

Very interesting and compelling analysis as far as TK goes, but only up to the point where you opine that he may have quit his job to try to put his Z episode behind him. According to your chronology, he made that decision "suddenly, in 1969". When, exactly in 1969 did he make this decision? As of Spring 1969, 3 of the 4 Z attacks had yet to be committed. Even assuming you meant "effective in the Spring semester" of 1970, significant Z activity took place after that, and certainly after any time in 1969 when he made this decision. COuld you clarify your chronology and your reasoning for any Z activity after his resignation decision?

Guys, Kenny and all of his posts are long gone. (Including the entire "Free For All" section.) I had to delete them for reasons I don't want to get into.
Anyway, future readers won't know who the hell "Kenny" is, so keep that in mind...

Peter:
Exactly one month after the Jenson/Farraday murders, Ted forwarded his written resignation (dated January 20, 1969) to Professor Addison, "This is to inform you that I am resigning at the end of this academic year. Thus I will not be returning in the fall." Professor Allen Shields, a former advisor of Ted's from Anne Arbor, Michigan, wrote to inquire about Kaczynski in 1970. Professor Addison responded, "Kaczynski did indeed resign effective June 30, 1969. He submitted his resignation last year quite out of the blue. At my request he came in and let Cal Moore (our Vice Chairman for Junior Faculty) and me talk to him about his decision. He said he was going to give up mathematics and wasn't sure what he was going to do. He was very calm and relaxed about it on the outside. We tried to persuade him to reconsider, but our presentation had no apparent effect. Kaczynski seemed almost pathologically shy and as far as I know he made no close friends in the department. Efforts to bring him more into the swing of things had failed."

There was only one known Zodiac incident (Jensen/Farraday Murders) just prior to Ted's decision to resign from Berkley; however, I still feel that IF Ted was the infamous Z, this initial event helped to trigger his decision to depart from Berkley, to try to get away from what he had done, which he knew was morally wrong. It's important to note that from December 20, 68 until July 4, 1969 (only five days after Ted's last day at Berkley) there was no additional Z activity. Then, on July 4, 1969, the attack on Mageau/Ferrin occurred. What could have triggered this action by Ted (IF he was Z) and if he knew it was morally wrong (we do know that Zodiac, in his correspondence to Belli later that year, appeared to beg for help as he was "drownding"). Twenty-seven (27) days went by after the July 4th incident and on July 31, 1969 the three letters to the Chronicle, Examiner and Times-Herald were received. This period of time coincides with the general knowledge that after his resignation from Berkley, he and his brother, David, traveled to Canada together in search of land.

Ted's whereabouts during the next two years (Summer of 1969-1971) are known as the "missing" or "lost" years. There are only generalized (non-specific) dates of events given for Ted Kaczynski during this time. Again, we know that he and his David traveled together to Canada. We know he, at some point during the end of the summer returned to his family home in Illinois where finally that winter, he received notice that his application had been denied. During this time, it is said that he worked as a gardener, used the library and retreated to the woods. It was noted in interviews with his mother that Ted would, on a number of occasions, leave home for extended periods of time without telling anyone where he was going.

These lost years are the key periods of the Zodiac crimes and correspondences. With only "general" information known as to TK's whereabouts, combined with the knowledge that Ted would often disappear for extended periods, there is no definitive alibi for him.

Quoting from Robert Graysmith's, "Unabomber, A Desire to Kill," Chapter 2 (The Missing Years),
"The Harvard Directory had placed him at Number 788 Banchat Pesh, Khadar Kheb, in Afghanistan during these lost years, 1969-1971. But the Professor's passport showed no record of such an excursion. During 1970 he paid no taxes, had no photos of himself taken, had lost himself entirely. Even his practical jokes were about changes of identity and sleight of hand. Just after he'd resigned from UC Berkeley, he'd forged a letter to one professor supposedly from another and brought if off in a highly convincing manner."

Of course, all of this is sheer speculation as to what may have prompted TK (again, IF he was the Zodiac). However, with the numerous similarities between the two (especially as it relates to hand-printing, letter-writing, style of writing, phraseology, punctuation, code writing and bomb threats), and the lack of proof of whereabouts on known Zodiac occurrences, TK should be a likely, prominent suspect in this unsolved mystery.

Linda, so far as Ted's whereabouts for the 1969-1971 period are concerned, don't forget that according to the Psych Report he took a trip to Alaska somewhere around the spring of 1970, looking for other parcels of land. This consequently places him in the western U.S. during a period of Zodiac activity. Then, early in 1971, he left his parents' house in Lombard, Illinois to move permanently to Montana, where he intended to buy land and build a dwelling. His was absent for approximately three weeks during that time, showing up at his brother's Montana apartment in "early spring" 1971. This places him once again in the western U.S. during a period of known Zodiac activity.

Douglas:

Might as well say he was in the Western Hemisphere during periods of Z activity.

Linda:

TK may be a good suspect based on these last few criteria you mention, but the timing of his resignation simply does not jibe with your previous speculation that he left Berkeley to leave the Z episode behind him. It seems more likely that he left Berkeley for the opposite reason: to become Z. With the possible exception of the choice of victims, 100% of Z's personation occurred after TK's notice of resignation, in fact after the end of the semester. (Who knows when TK made the actual decision to resign?).

Regardless of Z's actual identity, the timing of the first attacks and the development of personation is as if Jensen/Farraday gave him the inspiration, and he developed the Z persona as a response. He didn't abandon the Z persona until more than four years later, by which time TK was supposedly firmly ensconced in the wilderness, and as much as 3 years into the Unabomb persona.

Peter, the Unabomb persona didn't develop until 1978. That was the year he was obliged to leave his grand project of living in the woods and go back home to his parents, a full-time job, and the short-lived search for "something worthwhile." When that failed, he returned to the woods for good.

Say what you will, the fact that he was domiciled in Illinois and heading out toward the west coast during two key periods is far more suspicious than if he had been domiciled near the event scenes at the time.

Both moves involved extended periods of time during which his exact whereabouts were unaccounted for.

Douglas about the quotes from Teds journals for 1978. Its not so out of the ordinary for any individual to fill despair losing at love. He is expressing his capacity to love a woman. He wants to be loved and would not mind having sex with a woman he could love. This is not the kind of emotions we should expect from the Zodiac.

Zoe, all other things being equal, that's no doubt so. But so far as love was concerned, Kaczynski was the supreme loser. In 1969 Kaczynski was 27 years old and had never had a relationship to speak of, although he desperately desired one, and even considered a sex-change operation as a desperate, last-ditch measure (1966).

Killers of Zodiac's sort, or Kaczynski's sort, are generally losers who feel that life has dealt them a bum hand and who create sometimes-elaborate rationalizations in order to protect their egos--to give themselves an excuse, if you will, as to why they're losers. Since the focal point of Kaczynski's failures was sexual, it makes great sense to see him as lashing out against the class of people who represented the fulfillment that he couldn't attain.

One can almost hear Zodiac's unspoken rationalization: "These people are enjoying love and sexual happiness, but it's all a sham--the girl is a slut and the guy some worthless jock who is using his jock-status to screw as many sluts as he can find. I could do the same thing if I wanted to, but I've got too much respect for women to take advantage of them in that way."

Or, Kaczynski: "Sure, these scientists and engineers have great jobs, social status, publicity, and the admiration that comes from creating innovative things for the benefit of the human race. Sure, I live in a little cabin with no running water, no heat, and I crap into a bucket. But I know something they don't know--namely, that all this technology is destroying the human race, and that the only true happiness can be found by living exactly the way I live."

This is simplifying it somewhat, but I think you get my drift. By glorifying their own failure and dismissing others' successes, both Zodiac and Kaczynski created world-views in which they could justify killing those who represented the happiness they desired, but could never possess.

Douglas , Certainly I get your your drift. Your post prove only that you are a dynamic , concise
even eloquent writer. Package Kaczynski as you will , yet we should see more deviant expressions from Zodiac. Such as the recent reports posted on Allen.

Even though Kaczynski's significant math and science contributions may remain buried,we should take notice of his more recent success. He has after all gained world wide influence and a Martyr status in a movement to save mother earth.
His "army" has grown more rapidly with this influence then it could have without publicity, of his arrest.

What would seem like a strange lifestyle to many is only a demonstration of green, to an environmentalist mind set.

Being unlucky at love does not equate a loser,
there are many individuals that contribute to society with the inability to establish a love confection .

Zoe, he certainly did achieve success of a sort--but only after pursuing his murdering career.

Remember, Kaczynski wasn't only a loser in love; he was a loser in every other aspect, because he wasn't able to function socially. His early ambition was to be an engineer; a course which he changed during his first year at Harvard. He was never able to regain the notoriety he had known in high school, where he was celebrated for his "brains." For quitting his job at Berkeley he became a disgrace in the eyes of his parents, who had struggled hard to see him through his education and who had formerly bragged to their friends of his achievements.

To qualify as a "loser," one has to have had something of significance to lose. Kaczynski wasn't a loser in the same sense as, say, some low-life redneck who has never advanced past the sixth grade. He fell from a lofty height. His ego felt it, and all the other affronts that accompanied it, most keenly.

By the way, Zoe, we see lots of "deviance" in Kaczynski. As I've mentioned before, he committed many acts of armed burglary, arson, vandalism and (according to FBI agents who spoke with his neighbor Chris Waites) voyeurism. Burglary in itself is one of the primary precursors to rape. And of course there's Kaczynski's month-long episode of constant sexual arousal in which he fancied himself a woman and sought a sex-change operation--dedicating himself to a life of murder when he couldn't face the humilitation of what his perverse sexual imaginings had wrought.

Douglas, It is difficult to find many redeeming qualities in Kaczynski. We would expect a martyr,to have redeeming qualities to have any effect as such. Unless the target is a fraction of a diversely fragmented society.
"Kaczyski is just another mad bomber" is liken to
"aids is only a threat to the homosexual community".
Kaczynski would have reasons to commit the Zodiac crimes, but they run a little deeper than what has yet been presented. His life mission is to save mother earth. He is aware of a clear and present danger to mother earth from mans pollution.

Kaczynski's life's mission was most definitely not to save mother earth. It was to save Ted Kaczynski's ego.

A small quote from Kaczynski:

---

Quote:

Whereas I don't even believe in the cult of nature-worshipers or wilderness-worshipers. (I am perfectly ready to litter in parts of the woods that are of no use to me--I often throw cans in logged-over areas or in places much frequented by people; I don't find wilderness particularly healthy physically; I don't hesitate to poach.)

---

Kaczynski appears to have liked nature only insofar as it provided him with sanctuary from the rest of society.

Kaczynski certainly seems to express disdain for the earth loving cults, perhaps with good reason. Throwing a few cans in the path of those one hates would hardly cause irreparable damage to the earth. One could imagine Kaczyskis weighted concern might be more along the lines of prolonged orange decay. Heavy -duty technology.

My take on Kacyznski's views against technology lean towards the "personal" damage that technology is handing the individual. See quotes from his Manifesto in the first message I posted on this thread and ALSO a copy of the chart within the Manifesto that Doug provided at http://home.att.net/~mignarda/chart.gif

If you read all you can about Kaczynski (books others have written, newspaper/magazine articles, his Manifesto, other papers he's written, including excerpts from his personal diary which have been made available), you will find that he was in personal anguish from the realization that he was socially inept. He still blames his family (especially Mother) for many of the problems that befell him. I think this is strongly reflected in his views against technology. I think he put all of this in writing, his only strength or hope of communication to others, hoping that it might save some other child from becoming something that he, himself had become. If you read between the lines from Ted's manifesto, I feel Ted was writing directly from his OWN experience.

That is very interesting Linda, you know, I've at times wondered whether Ted was born with Ausperger's syndrome. This, as you probably know is where the brain can be ultra intelligent but the social skills are severely lacking. It is social autism actually. One of my brother's boys shocked us all by reading at two and doing double digit multiplication at 3, at 4 he was doing square roots and geometry, by 5 he'd mastered advanced algebra. Emotionally and socially he was sorely lacking though, with an inability to make friends or join in a group. Pride soon turned to anxiety when they realized there was no place in a typical school for him. He's now 8 and does ad. calculus easily. But he's also been diagnosed with this syndrome. Luckily for him they have special schools for these super genious but socially handicapped children. Have you any idea whether Ted was ever tested for this??
Seems to me he could have been greatly helped nowadays.

Sylvie,

Your post interested me, and I found this site.

Just FYI:
http://www.ummed.edu/pub/o/ozbayrak/asperger.html

Tom F

I just love the way y'all swallow the FBI line on Ted as if it were Gospel. Personally, I think the FC case was a little more complex than that. As far as the Zodiac goes, I doubt that Sylvie's "Ausberger Syndrome" has much to do with it, but amateur psychoanalysis is funnier than the so-called "professional" version, so carry on, by all means.

I don't think you have to get all exotic on the Zodiac: histrionic, grandiose, narcissistic, and occasionally infantile seem adequate. He could have been suffering from Capgras' Syndrome or they could have been engaged in a Folie a Deux, but it's probably much simpler and more common than that.

Sylvie... Your post on Ausberger's is interesting and thanks to the Fife for the link to information on the syndrome. Actually, if I remember correctly, Ted's Mother indicated at some point when Ted was young she did think that he had some form of Autism but for some reason, did not have Ted examined. I'm sure Doug would be able to give us more information in this regard; I know I read this in one of the books on the Unabomber (or it could have been one of the interview articles on Ted), but I just can't find the reference at this time.

It's really sad when you think about a child so intelligent that he almost does not fit in anywhere (too smart to join his age-appropriate peers but too young to fit in socially with those to whom he has an educated connection).

Boojum: All the information about Kaczynski didn't come directly from the FBI. There are other sources that give us information on Ted...including Ted, himself. And...I wasn't getting exotic about the Zodiac... I was specifically talking about Ted Kaczynski... whether he happened to transform himself into the Zodiac during a more youthful period of his life (before undertaking his Unabomber persona) remains to be seen, but it's important to understand as much about any suspect's entire history as possible.

Yes, Boojum I agree with you about Zodiac, I think in the end we will (probably) all find out it was a whole lot less complicated than we all have concocted. You know how foreplay is usually better than -- uh oh--I won't go there.
I remember the terror that Son of Sam wreaked. When David Berkowitz was apprehended it was quite a let down for some who has overmystified the killer. But I was just speaking of Ted K who I personally do not think was Z, but who unquestionably shared some common traits with.

Linda: thanx for the info. I'm sur Ted K's mother was right but as you know back then these things were very misunderstood.
Tom F.: many thanx for relating this very enlightning site on Aspergers.

I recall reading about Ausperger's Syndrome a while back, but to the best of my knowledge Ted didn't meet all of the criteria. Interestingly, both his mother and brother recall certain episodes wherein Ted would simply cut of all contact with the outside world and remain unresponsive to any outside stimuli. They called these his "shut-down" periods.