Indictment of Unabomber Suspect Expected Tuesday

Unabomber suspect Theodore J. Kaczynski is to be indicted here Tuesday on charges growing out of the 17-year bombing rampage that killed three people and injured 23 others, sources close to federal law enforcement officials said Friday.

A decision on whether to seek the death penalty has not yet been made and will not be part of the initial indictment, said one source who asked not to be identified.

But the source said federal law provides that prosecutors can add the death penalty provision to the charges against the former UC Berkeley math professor before the start of the trial, which is likely to begin next year.

Two of the Unabomber’s three fatal bomb attacks occurred in Sacramento in 1985 and 1995. The third fatal bombing was in New Jersey in 1994.

Federal sources indicated that Kaczynski, 54, is unlikely to be charged with the New Jersey crime as part of the Sacramento indictment.

Although there has been talk of consolidated charges, that approach--among other things--fails to provide a backstop for the government if a jury in Sacramento fails to make a conviction.

The decision to seek an indictment in federal court--rather than state court--in Sacramento also shows a certain level of confidence in the evidence that has been amassed against Kaczynski. If the case was tried and failed in state court, federal charges could still be filed in the matter. But if the federal case fails, California’s double-jeopardy protections prevent the matter from being raised again in state court.

After being indicted in federal court, Kaczynski would probably face a hearing in Montana that would allow federal officials to transfer him to Sacramento.

So far, Kaczynski has been represented by federal public defenders in Montana, and it is possible they could remain on the case as part of a defense team in Sacramento.

Attorney Quin Denvir, who recently became the federal public defender in Sacramento, said “there is a good chance” his office will be appointed to represent Kaczynski. However, Denvir cautioned that he has not been given any official notice that an indictment is at hand.

So far, Kaczynski has not been charged with any Unabomber-related offenses but is being held in the Lewis and Clark County Jail in Helena, Mont., on charges of possession of bomb-making materials. The Harvard-educated mathematician has been jailed since his arrest April 3 at the remote cabin where he led a solitary life for many years.

On Thursday, court documents were unsealed in Montana showing that even before Kaczynski’s cabin was searched federal agents had established a series of links between him and the nationwide trail of Unabomber explosions. Among those ties is a probable DNA match using saliva from two canceled postage stamps.

That was disclosed in the application for a warrant to search the cabin and a 104-page support affidavit. Another new detail spelled out in the information was a complete accounting of nearly $17,000 that Kaczynski’s family sent him over the years--money that investigators believe helped him finance his bombing rampage.

The Unabomber’s first fatal attack was in Sacramento in 1985 when a businessman was killed after finding a bomb near his computer store. Then, in April 1995, a forestry association executive was killed while opening a letter in the group’s Sacramento headquarters.

Desk clerks at a hotel a few blocks from the state Capitol also say Kaczynski stayed there several times starting in 1992. In addition, packages containing two of the bombs and a recent Unabomber mailing had Sacramento postmarks.

Weinstein reported from Los Angeles and Gladstone from Sacramento.