Prosecutor Named to Head Team in Unabomber Probe

The No. 2 prosecutor in the New Jersey U.S. attorney’s office was named Thursday to lead the Unabomber “suspect team,” but Justice Department officials emphasized this did not signal that the case would be tried there.

In picking Robert J. Cleary, 40, to head the investigation of Unabomber suspect Theodore J. Kaczynski, Deputy Atty. Gen. Jamie S. Gorelick chose a veteran prosecutor known for his handling of complex white-collar crime cases in Manhattan before becoming first assistant U.S. attorney in New Jersey in 1994.

The six-man team also includes Stephen P. Freccero, 37, an assistant U.S. attorney since 1989 in San Francisco, where the FBI’s Unabom task force is based, and Robert Steven Lapham, 43, an assistant U.S. attorney in Sacramento since 1984.

Two of the three deaths resulting from the Unabomber’s nearly 18 years of terror occurred in Sacramento, including the most recent--last April 24. The other death occurred in New Jersey in 1994. Thus, those two locales are considered the most likely sites for charges to be brought.

Federal anti-terrorism charges carrying the death penalty could be sought in either location. But a Justice Department spokesman said no decision had been made on a location of a Unabomber case.

And the department used the unusual term of “suspect team” to describe the attorneys named to the high-profile case because no decision has been made on additional charges against Kaczynski beyond the criminal complaint lodged against him last week for possessing an unregistered explosive device.

In Montana, meanwhile, the FBI disclosed on Thursday that investigators expect to make “multiple” searches of Kaczynski’s mountain cabin, where he was arrested last week. After evidence obtained in the initial search is analyzed, investigators said they expect to return “to ensure that every relevant wire and nail” related to bomb-making “will be retrieved.”

For this reason, the FBI sought--and was granted--a 30-day court order preventing anyone from entering Kaczynski’s 1.4-acre property.

U.S. District Judge Charles C. Lovell accepted the request in “good faith” and added, “It also appears to the court that it is possible there may still be explosive devices on the premises and the general public should be protected by preventing its access” to Kaczynski’s property, located near the small town of Lincoln.

Terry D. Turchie, special FBI supervisory agent for the federal Unabom task force, told the judge it was “common to conduct multiple searches of the same premises” after all evidence collected in the first sweep is subjected to laboratory analysis.

“Multiple searches are used, particularly in bombing cases, due to the complexity of the devices and the time needed to identify component materials,” he said in an affidavit.

As for Kaczynski, the FBI agent said: “Unlike routine, local cases, the current case involves events that occurred in locations around the country and has generated numerous leads nationwide. Evidence retrieved at an initial search may require additional investigation across the country. Pursuit of leads in these various locations may, in turn, lead investigators back to the original search site for additional evidence and corroboration.”

This was the second time this week that the FBI has gone to court to extend the time necessary to conduct its investigation. Earlier, the government obtained an extension until Monday midnight to conclude its initial search of the property and Kaczynski’s 10-by-12-foot cabin.

So far, authorities have not revealed officially what they have found, except one completed bomb, a partially constructed pipe bomb and other bomb-making materials. Investigators also unofficially have disclosed finding books, typewriters, clothing and written materials, at least some of which are said to tie the 53-year-old suspect to the Unabomber’s “series of crimes occurring over an 18-year period, including 16 bombings and three murders.”

Because Kaczynski’s cabin is in a remote area and because of the national focus on the investigation, the FBI said the risk of trespass was high.

The “suspect team” of attorneys, named by Gorelick after conferring with Atty. Gen. Janet Reno, also consists of Bernard F. Hubley, a former FBI agent who is an assistant U.S. attorney in Montana; E. Thomas Roberts, 46, a senior trial attorney in the department’s terrorism and violent crime section, and J. Douglas Wilson, 39, an attorney in the criminal division’s appellate section for eight years.

Ostrow reported from Washington, Balzar from Helena.