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'Covering Kaczynski': How MTN reported one of the biggest stories of the 20th century

Covering Kaczynski
Posted at 9:50 PM, Apr 03, 2021
and last updated 2021-04-03 23:50:03-04

BILLINGS — On April 3, 1996, the FBI arrested an unknown former college professor named Theodore Kaczynski - a man who would later admit to being the domestic terrorist known around the world as The Unabomber.

It was one of the longest manhunts in FBI history - 17+ years - that eventually ended at a remote cabin just south of Lincoln, Montana. In today's fully-connected world, it would be nearly impossible for anyone to hide in plain sight that long. But this was 1996, in a town with limited to no cell phone service. When CBS' Dan Rather and Jim Stewart broke the news early that afternoon, suddenly the country's biggest story had fallen onto the Montana Television Network's doorstep.

MTN's latest special report chronicles what the next 36 hours (and beyond) were like from the media's perspective: as one of the first cameras on scene; one of the closest shots of Kaczynski's first public appearance; and a family connection discovered years later to the story's true protagonist.

Watch 'Covering Kaczynski' above.