madman in the woods life next door to the unabomber

As illustrated in the book’s opening pages, Gehring views Kaczynski as her friendly neighbor “Teddy,” who brought the then-4-year-old painted rocks. Gehring’s first and last encounter with Kaczynski could not be more different. The book contains stories of the Gehring family’s interactions with Kaczynski, from friendly family dinners and games of pinochle to more menacing revelations like Kaczynski pointing a rifle at Gehring’s little sister and poisoning their family’s dog.

He is currently serving eight life sentences without the possibility of parole. Kaczynski was arrested in 1996 after a search by the FBI that cost $50 million.

Between 19, Kaczynski would go on to kill three people and injure 23 more. Kaczynski, now 79, gave up his career as a math professor at the University of California, Berkeley to live a primitive life in his remote Lincoln cabin that did not have running water or electricity. In her new book, “Madman in the Woods: Life next door to the Unabomber,” released on April 19, Gehring recalls growing up next to Kaczynski, who built his cabin on 1.4 acres of land sold to him by Gehring’s father, Butch Gehring. “I said ‘hello,’ he said ‘hello,’ and I turned around to leave, and I walked at first, and as soon I thought I was out of eyesight, I just ran,” she said.Ībout one year later, Gehring would find out the neighbor that would bring her painted rocks and other trinkets was the country’s longest-running domestic terrorist.

“There had been times earlier in the ’90s when he would come by the house, and my parents weren’t there, and I would feel scared enough to hide in the closet until he was gone,” she said.īut the day at the rock quarry was the first time Gehring said she was “truly terrified” of him. As a teenager, Jamie Gehring would find solace at the rock quarry on her family’s sprawling Lincoln property, but on a summer day as a 15-year-old, a trip to the rock quarry would leave her feeling terrified - it was the last time she would see notorious serial killer Ted Kaczynski in person.

Madman in the woods life next door to the unabomber