Copyright 1995 Star Tribune
Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
April 26, 1995, Metro Edition
SECTION: News; Pg. 2A
LENGTH: 439 words
HEADLINE: Unabomber sends several letters; One says he'll stop attacks if national publication prints article SOURCE: News Services
DATELINE: San Francisco, Calif.
BODY:
Federal officials said Tuesday that the mysterious serial bomber in the Unabom case sent several letters that were delivered Monday, shortly before a package-bomb explosion killed an executive of a California timber trade group.
Two were sent to victims of past bombings and a third went to the New York Times, which released the letter in early editions of today's paper.
In it, the Unabomber claimed he belonged to a group that advocates breaking down society into small, autonomous units. Investigators, however, have said they believe he is acting alone.
He offered to stop the terror campaign if the Times, Newsweek, Time magazine or other national medial organizations publish a 37,000-word article he said his group is writing. And he wants the right to rebut any criticism once a year for three years.
His group's immediate goal, the Unabomber said, is "the destruction of the worldwide industrial system."
"Through our bombings we hope to promote social instability in industrial society, propagate anti-industrial ideas and give encouragement to those who hate the industrial system."
The letter also discussed the December killing of advertising executive Thomas Mosser in New Jersey, saying his former public relations firm, Burson-Marstellar, had represented Exxon in the Exxon Valdez disaster. The Times said, however, that the accusation was not true.
Jim Freeman, head of the FBI office in San Francisco, refused to discuss the letters at a news conference Tuesday. He said all three were apparently sent from Oakland.
The bomber's latest victim was Gilbert B. Murray, president of the California Forestry Association, who was killed when the bomb went off in his Sacramento office. The package was addressed to his predecessor, William Dennison, who left the job a year ago. Wrapped in brown paper and held together with "nylon filament tape," it weighed 5 to 6 pounds, Freeman said.
Murray, 47, was the third person to die in 16 attacks attributed to the Unabomber since 1978; 23 people have been injured.
Only once before had the bomber written a letter - in June 1993 to the New York Times in which he claimed to be part of a group and espoused an anarchistic philosophy. Agents said they doubt he belongs to a group and called that letter a "trial balloon."
The Unabomber got the name because he initially targeted university and airline officials.
A composite drawing of the bomber was distributed after he was spotted dropping off a package in Salt Lake City in 1987. Investigators believe he is a white male, probably in his early 40s.
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