I recently published a blog post about an upcoming auction of some of John Wayne Gacy’s paintings, with the proceeds from the sale being donated to charities intended to benefit the victims of his crimes.  Now, the U.S. Marshals will be auctioning off many of Ted Kaczynski’s personal items as a way of compensating some of his victims.

Most of you are more familiar with Kaczynski as “The Unabomber,” the man who killed three people and injured twenty-three others from 1978 to 1995.  His twisted mission was to protest against technology and the destruction of wilderness.  The original targets of his violence were people associated with UNiversities and Airlines, causing the FBI to develop the nickname of “UNAbomber.”  He was arrested after his 35,000-word manifesto was published in both The New York Times and The Washington Post and his brother provided other letters that were proven to be a linguistic match.

The auction was approved by the courts two years ago, but Kaczynski held up its progress with the challenge that he had not had the opportunity to quality check the personal documents that were set to be included in the sale.  Also, there had to be care given to protect the privacy of the victims, including detailed writings about the injuries they sustained.

The auction runs from May 18 to June 2, so if you have always wanted to own the Unabomber’s birth certificate or one of his typewriters, now is your chance.

Several of his victims are still owed a total of $15 million in compensation and hope that this auction will lead to those payments finally being made.  At least, in this instance, perhaps some good and some closure can come from a horrible situation.