U.S. Marshals Auction Raises $232,246 for Victims of the Unabomber

WASHINGTON – A U.S. Marshals online auction of the personal effects of Ted Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber, ended Thursday, raising a total of $232,246. Those proceeds will be used to compensate Kaczynski’s victims. U.S. District Judge Garland Burrell of the Eastern District of California ordered the sale in August 2010.

The most expensive lot, which sold for $40,676 and had 21 bidders, consisted of approximately 20 personal journals, which describe in diary fashion Kaczynski’s thoughts and feelings about himself, society and living in the wilderness. They also include admissions to specific bombings and other crimes. Other sale prices were $22,003 for the typewriter on which Kaczynski typed his manifesto, $20,053 for the handwritten copy of his manifesto, $20,025 for the hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses that were depicted in the infamous FBI "wanted" sketch, and $17,780 for his handwritten autobiography.

The auction consisted of 58 lots, which included personal documents, such as driver’s licenses, birth certificates, deeds, checks, academic transcripts, photos, and his handwritten codes; typewriters; tools; clothing; watches; several hundred books; and more than 20,000 pages of written documents.

The final sale price for each lot can be found by going to www.gsaauctions.gov. Scroll down and click on “Other” in the left-side menu. Click on “Closed Auctions.” In the “Search within results” box, enter 41QSCI11279, click on “Search,” and the information will come up.

The U.S. Marshals Service occupies a uniquely central position in the federal justice system. It is the enforcement arm of the federal courts, involved in virtually every federal law enforcement initiative.