Revisiting North Caldwell 1994 Unabomber attack

Photo Courtesy of Public Domain

After being arrested in 1996, Ted Kaczynski had his mugshot taken.

Prior to becoming the infamous Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, was a math professor and prodigy for many years. However, he left his career in 1969 and started to live a quiet life in the mountains of Montana, secluded from civilization. The Unabomber, named after the FBI case to investigate Kaczynski titled “UNABOM,” first appeared on the FBI’s radar in 1978. For the next seventeen years, he mailed and hand-delivered explosives, killing three people and injuring 23 more, eventually pleading guilty in the late ‘90s, according to the FBI’s website. This story was a significant headline throughout the world and had been happening for almost two decades. 

A big revelation in the case came when the Unabomber sent a 35,000-word essay explaining his motives for the bombings and his outrage in modern society. The FBI published this story so someone could potentially identify the author. The manifesto appeared in The Washington Post. Thousands of people suggested possible suspects, with one of them being Ted Kaczynski’s brother, David Kaczynski, who described his brother as being a possible suspect. After further investigation, the FBI determined that they had enough evidence against Ted Kaczynski to get a search warrant. Investigators arrested him and found bomb components, a handwritten journal and one live bomb ready to be mailed.  

Thomas Mosser, a Unabomber victim and North Caldwell citizen, was an advertising executive who was killed on Dec. 10, 1994. According to a New York Daily News Newspaper article from 1994, Mosser opened a package in his kitchen at around 10:45 a.m. His wife and children, who were 15 months and 13-years-old at the time, remained unharmed. His 13-year-old daughter’s friend, Robin Sommese, was staying over for the night and was also in the house with the Mossers and their daughters when the explosion occurred.

Responders attempted to resuscitate Mosser, though they failed, ashe died almost immediately from the incident. His death was the second fatal bombing from the Unabomber. According to a New York Times article from 1994, residents claim that Mosser’s wife signed for the package but left it unopened.  It was discovered later that Mosser had been misidentified by an environmental newsletter as an executive connected to the Exxon Valdez incident, a major oil spill and environmental disaster, causing him to be chosen as a victim. Mosser was actually an executive at an advertising agency and was promoted to general manager at Young & Rubicam the previous Monday and had been with the company for over 20 years. Mosser was described by friends and colleagues as a low-key, thoughtful and deliberate man. At the time, this bombing was very shocking to North Calwell citizens and people around the world and it was only until later that it was known that the Unabomber was involved, according to the Daily News.