How did Ted Kaczynski get away with it?

[stickythighs]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kaczynski

"In the summer of 1969, Kaczynski moved to his parents' small residence in Lombard, Illinois. Two years later, in 1971, he moved into a remote cabin he built himself in Lincoln, Montana, where he lived a simple life on very little money, with no electricity and no running water, feeding himself as a hunter-gatherer. Kaczynski also worked odd jobs and received financial support from his family (including purchasing his land and, without their knowledge, funding his bombing campaign)." Kaczynski lived in this cabin with no electricity and no running water until he was arrested for murder in 1996.

Why didn't the authorities with code compliance in Lincoln, Montana evict or arrest Ted Kaczysnki for living in a cabin that didn't have electricity or running water?

 

[mgb_phys]

Montana is:
Rather large
Covered in forest / mountains etc
Inhabitants have a certain 'robust' attitude to their idea of freedom

I'm guessing the local zoning authorities generally have more sense than to go off into the mountains looking for code violations.

 

[stickythighs]

Montana is:
Rather large
Covered in forest / mountains etc
Inhabitants have a certain 'robust' attitude to their idea of freedom

I'm guessing the local zoning authorities generally have more sense than to go off into the mountains looking for code violations.

On my other thread, hypatia wrote the following: "Unless you buy 10,000 acres and build your cabin in the middle of it, they will find you. The one thing about rural communities, and the small towns near by, is that the people know pretty much know everything that's going on in what they consider their homeland. A stranger buys land...secretly builds a cabin, comes to town to buy gas{generator} and supplies, why the whole town would be talking about you in a matter of days."

 

[JimmyJockstrap]

Was this a big issued for law enforcement in those years?

he could have had people paid off as well.

 

[stickythighs]

Was this a big issued for law enforcement in those years?

he could have had people paid off as well.

Kaczysnki had to delay making bombs for months at a time several times because he didn't have the money to buy the parts for bombs or the money to buy bus tickets. These bomb parts were relatively inexpensive. We're talking a delay of months for, say, $500.

Kaczynski didn't have the money to bribe people.

 

[Evo]

How did Ted get away with it?

Population per square mile in Montana, 2006 census

6.2 people per square mile

Population in Greene County, MO, 2006 census

356.1 people per square mile

Go figure...

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/30000.html

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/29/29077.html

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

The Amish don't hook up.

 

[mgb_phys]

why the whole town would be talking about you in a matter of days."

Yes, but they wouldn't tell the 'revenoo' men from the big city!
There are lots of books by people who have done this in Alaska/Yukon, I imagine the local authorities have the good sense, or lack the resources, to go treking miles into the woods to check you used the correct grade of timber in your cabin' roof trusses.

 

[hypatia]

I went to collage in Colorado, started in 1973. I would take weeks off with some friends and hike into the wilderness and never see a soul.
In 2001, I went back for a visit. Hiked out with a small pack, 3 days hike into the wilderness I hear a loud voice. It says, "You are on private property, you must leave at once". I mean their is no one around, I start looking for signs of life, even looked up{I don't know at this point it might of been God}. But with in a hour, armed men showed up and escorted me the 2 day hike back to public land.
Nobody wants a Ted Kaczynski living in their backyard. Time has made a lot of difference, tho you might be able to find pockets in rural areas willing to put up with a hobo/survivalist, but the first time something goes amiss, they will come looking for you.

 

[lisab]

There are wide variations in local culture about what is acceptable and what isn't.

I used to live in Alaska where there was a live-and-let-live attitude, especially outside of the main city (Anchorage). As long as you weren't bothering anyone, no one would bother you.

Want to go live off the land and not worry about regulations (or even laws, to some extent)? Tons of people - easily thousands - do it up there.

Be prepared to live a hard life, including the hardest winters you can image, though.

 

[rewebster]

I went to collage in Colorado, started in 1973. I would take weeks off with some friends and hike into the wilderness and never see a soul. In 2001, I went back for a visit. Hiked out with a small pack, 3 days hike into the wilderness I hear a loud voice. It says, "You are on private property, you must leave at once". I mean their is no one around, I start looking for signs of life, even looked up{I don't know at this point it might of been God}. But with in a hour, armed men showed up and escorted me the 2 day hike back to public land.
Nobody wants a Ted Kaczynski living in their backyard. Time has made a lot of difference, tho you might be able to find pockets in rural areas willing to put up with a hobo/survivalist, but the first time something goes amiss, they will come looking for you.

the good old days

 

[tribdog]

Actually he is sitting in jail right now. He didn't get away with it. The system works.

 

[hypatia]

OMG Ted Kaczynski brought tribdog back!

 

[Moonbear]

1969 isn't 2008. It's really that simple.

 

[Averagesupernova]

Stickythighs, move to Montana and spend some time there and you will understand. You can build an outbuilding w/o electricity or water and live in it. They really cannot stop you. What can they do? Kick you out and force you to live without shelter? Get real. Sometimes I think people on this forum think remote means no public roads for only a mile or 2.

 

[turbo]

Stickythighs, move to Montana and spend some time there and you will understand. You can build an outbuilding w/o electricity or water and live in it. They really cannot stop you. What can they do? Kick you out and force you to live without shelter? Get real. Sometimes I think people on this forum think remote means no public roads for only a mile or 2.

Thank you! You can do the same thing in unincorporated townships in Maine until you are caught, and then you have to pay up, same as anybody else. There are places here when you can hike for 7-8 hours a day and STILL not be really remote (as we residents might define that slippery word). I knew rangers and their families that I'd have to hike at least a couple of hours to visit. Getting deeper into forest would have required more.

 

[GCT]

Actually he is sitting in jail right now. He didn't get away with it. The system works.

He lived in that sad state for a couple of years and eventually disclosed his manifesto in the New York Times his brother recongized his manifesto and ratted him out ; he would have have not gotten caught without the help of the brother because the FBI had no leads on the case whatsoever until then including an adequate physical description of the suspect .