As an original exclusive premiere hour of 20/20 ON ID PRESENTS HOMICIDE, ABC News "Nightline" anchor Byron Pitts revisits the story of how Ted Kaczynski, more commonly known as the Unabomber, was brought to justice. Kaczynski evaded authorities for 18 years while his homemade bombs wreaked havoc on the U.S., leaving three dead and nearly two dozen people injured. A recluse and an anarchist, the Unabomber's untraceable reign of terror was brought to an end by an unlikely source: his own brother, David Kaczynski. For the first time ever, David's wife Linda speaks out about how it was she who first began to actually suspect that her husband's brother Ted might be the Unabomber. The interview airs as part of three original premiere hours of 20/20 ON ID PRESENTS HOMICIDE, premiering tonight, February 10 at 10/9c.
In this exclusive hour of
20/20 ON ID PRESENTS HOMICIDE, Linda and David recount the anguish they endured in trying to rule out Ted as a suspect, and when they couldn't, the delicate process of approaching the FBI while hoping to remain anonymous informants. Convinced his brother suffered from mental illness, David had hoped he wouldn't be turning his brother in just to see him executed, and he shares the details of how that outcome was narrowly avoided.
The episode also features Byron Pitts' compelling interview with the one of the lead FBI Special Agents at the time of Kaczynski's capture, Kathleen Puckett. In a candid conversation, Puckett walks us through the investigation, sharing the FBI missteps, red herrings, and the moments up to and including the capturing of Kaczynski in his rural Montana cabin. Additionally, one of Kaczynski's victim's, Gary Wright, revisits the parking lot where he unknowingly picked up a disguised bomb that nearly killed him. Wright and David Kaczynski would ultimately team up years later to speak to people about forgiveness and how they both are opponents of the death penalty.
Available now, Every Last Tie: The Story of the Unabomber and His Family, is David Kaczynski's highly personal and powerful memoir about his family, as well as a meditation on the possibilities for reconciliation and maintaining family bonds.
20/20 ON ID PRESENTS HOMICIDE is produced for
Investigation Discovery by ABC's Lincoln Square Productions. For ABC, David Perozzi is executive producer for Lincoln Square Productions. For Investigation Discovery, Keila Woodard is executive producer, Sara Kozak is SVP of production, Kevin Bennett is general manager and Henry Schleiff is Group President, Investigation Discovery, American Heroes Channel, and Destination America.
About Investigation Discovery:
Investigation Discovery (ID) is the leading mystery-and-suspense network on television. From harrowing crimes and salacious scandals to the in-depth investigations and heart-breaking mysteries that result, the "always revealing" network challenges our everyday understanding of culture, society and the human condition. One of our nation's fastest growing cable networks, ID delivers the highest-quality programming to nearly 86 million U.S. households and is available in both high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD). For more information, please visit InvestigationDiscovery.com, facebook.com/InvestigationDiscovery, or twitter.com/DiscoveryID.
Investigation Discovery is part of Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the world's #1 pay-TV programmer reaching nearly 3 billion cumulative subscribers in 220 countries and territories.
ABOUT LINCOLN SQUARE PRODUCTIONS: Lincoln Square Productions produces original content for broadcast, cable and digital distribution specializing in entertaining ways to tell fact based stories, including ABC's "What Would You Do?," ABC's award-winning true medicine series, the OSCAR Red Carpet Opening Ceremony,
ABC Family's "Next Step Realty," Investigation Discovery's "Barbara Walters Presents American Scandals," Travel Channel's "Watt's World," as well as documentary programming for a wide array of partners, including Discovery Communications and A & E Networks. Lincoln Square Productions is a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. The headquarters are located in New York City's Lincoln Square neighborhood.
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