Kaczynski Has Schizophrenia, Defense Claims

In their first specific claim about his mental state, attorneys for Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski have told prosecutors that their client suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, according to court documents.

The contention came to light Tuesday in papers filed by prosecutors seeking to have their own psychiatrists examine Kaczynski, the Harvard-educated mathematician whose murder-by-bombing trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 12.

At issue, according to prosecutors, is “the government experts’ ability to evaluate the defendant’s contention that his alleged paranoid schizophrenia prevented him from acting with the requisite intent” to violate the law.

Special U.S. Atty. Robert Cleary, the lead prosecutor, also disputed a defense contention that government experts should not be allowed to question Kaczynski about his writings or his alleged criminal conduct.

“Asking them to do so would be akin to asking an orthopedist to assess a fracture without looking at the broken limb,” Cleary and other prosecutors declared.

The disclosure about paranoid schizophrenia was the latest twist in a battle over the conditions of a government mental exam of the 55-year-old Kaczynski. His attorneys previously indicated that they would provide information about a mental condition but did not spell out the disorder.

Paranoid schizophrenia is characterized by preoccupation with one or more delusions, or with frequent hallucinations related to a single theme. Nearly 3 million Americans will develop schizophrenia during the course of their lives, according to the National Institutes of Mental Health.

Kaczynski’s attorneys have opposed a prosecution bid to videotape the mental exam and to have two experts interview him over the course of about seven days. They have indicated that they are willing to have the exam last about 12 hours over four days, without videotaping. They could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

Kaczynski was indicted in 1996 by a federal grand jury, accusing him of two fatal blasts in Sacramento and two other bomb attacks that caused serious injuries. Kaczynski has pleaded not guilty.