In Fits And Starts

Kaczynski throws the Unabom trial into disarray. Is he a master manipulator or just desperately confused?

There are many ways, some gruesome, some graceful, to kill yourself once you set your mind to it. Ted Kaczynski's attempt to hang himself with his underwear in his jail cell last week seemed a clumsy gesture compared with the convoluted strategy he has been employing in court. First he threatened to fire his lawyers if they kept insisting on portraying him as mentally ill. Then he argued that he wanted to defend himself. And that, lawyers observed, would probably ensure that he would wind up dead after all.

America's legal system is laced with protections for people who are too...

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