The FBI is investigating whether
Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski rode the bus into
and out of Reno on his way to deliver bombs to Sacramento
and the Bay Area, Electric Nevada has learned. Several
Greyhound bus drivers operating on the route from Reno to
Sacramento say they recognized Kaczynski, by photo, as
one of their passengers, according to a supervisor at
Greyhound's Stevenson Street station in Reno. "I personally didn't see him, but some of
the drivers who go in to Sacramento say they recognize
him," said Laverne Watts, customer service
supervisor in Reno. He added that these were drivers who
make their runs out of Reno. "Of course, some of our customers
normally look like that," joked Watts, referring to
photos 
showing the bearded,
bristly-haired bombing suspect when first taken into FBI
custody. According to Greyhound and other bus-line
officials, there are two most-traveled bus routes to the
Sacramento area from Helena, Montana, where Kaczynski is
known to have boarded buses. One itinerary goes west out
of Helena on Interstate 90 to Spokane, Washington, and
Portland, Oregon, then south on Interstate 5 to
Sacramento. The other goes south on Interstate 15 through
Pocatello, Idaho to Salt Lake City and then west on
Interstate 80 through Reno. "They think that he went both of those
directions at one time" or another, a source in the
Trailways bus company told Electric Nevada. He said that
FBI agents had visited Trailways' Spokane, Washington
terminal about two weeks ago, asking bus personnel if
they might have recognized the alleged bomber. "Evidently .. some of those papers they
found [in Kaczynski's Montana cabin], mentioned something
about the federal courthouse here in Spokane and the bus
depot. So they figure he came through here," the
source said. It is also possible, bus industry personnel
say, that the bus-riding Kaczynski could have taken a
more covert third route to northern California. In that
case he would have traveled by Northwestern Stage Lines,
owned by Trailways, down from Spokane through Boise,
Idaho to Winnemucca, Nevada, where he would have
connected with Greyhound for Reno and then Sacramento. Thus two of the three main routes from Helena,
Montana to northern California would place the alleged
Unabomber, with his home-crafted bombs, in Reno. Electric
Nevada queried the Federal Bureau of Investigation about
the bus-riding Kaczynski's use of the Salt Lake
City-to-Reno route to northern California. Top of page
"That's what we're investigating
now," said George Grotz, press relations agent for
the FBI's San Francisco office. He refused, however, to
give any details.
U.S. News reported in mid-April that
investigators were searching for recipts or other records
to show Kaczynski "used Trailways and Greyhound
buses to transport some of the bombs before mailing them
from different locations."
In the 1980s, Salt Lake City, Utah was the
origin of several of the bomber's strikes. In the 1990s,
Sacramento and the Bay Area were sources from which four
bombs were mailed.
Sacramento was also the location of two of the
three Unabomb killings. On December 11, 1985, businessman
Hugh Scrutton was killed when a bomb exploded outside his
computer store, and on April 24, 1995, the president of
the California Forestry Association, Gilbert Murray, was
killed by a mail bomb in the associations Sacramento
headquarters.
At least 23 other individuals across the
country were wounded by Unabomber blasts. Altogether,
five bombings in Californa are attributed to the
Unabomber, so named by the FBI because of his early
university and airline targets.
Appeals already being pursued by Kaczynski's
court-appointed defense counsel have given the FBI extra
time to continue its investigations, FBI spokesman Grotz
told Electric Nevada.
"Under normal circumstances," said
Grotz, "under federal rules of criminal procedure,
the government has 30 days to take a case to court or to
file an indictment" after the initial filing of a
complaint.
In this case, however, he said, the defense
attorney had filed a motion in federal court in Helena,
arguing that government leaks to the media had made it
impossible for his client to get a fair trial.
"The district court judge there in Helena
denied the defense motion," he said, and then the
9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco denied it
again.
"At that point the defense appealed it
once again, to the Supreme Court," said Grotz,
adding that until the U.S. Supreme Court acts on the
appeal, the 30-day clock is stopped.
"So on this initial charge, there is no
requirement that the government move at this point unless
and until the Supreme Court acts."
"Now, simultaneously, we're of course
putting our case together," said Grotz. "We're
investigating the case and perhaps the worst-kept secret
is, we will eventually move for indictment, and that can
come at any time."