Living Next to a Monster: My Childhood Beside the Unabomber
Introduction Imagine growing up in the peaceful solitude of the Montana wilderness, only to later discover that your quiet, reclusive neighbor was one of the most infamous domestic terrorists in history. This was the chilling reality for Jaime Gehring, who spent her childhood living next door to Theodore Ted” Kaczynski, better known as the Unabomber. Between 1978 and 1995, Kaczynski’s homemade bombs killed three people and injured 23 others. But before the world knew him as a serial killer, Jaime knew him as the odd, unkempt man who would sometimes gift her painted rocks.
Gehring recounts her eerie childhood in her memoir Madman in the Woods, sharing memories that, in hindsight, are more terrifying than she could have ever imagined as a child.
A Gift-Giving Madman?
Kaczynski, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, had a bizarre duality. On one hand, he was a calculated, cold-blooded killer. On the other, he was the strange but seemingly harmless neighbor who would occasionally offer small handmade trinkets.
“It was one of the hardest things to reconcile as an adult,” Gehring says. “One moment, he was painting a rock for me; the next, he was constructing a bomb to kill someone.” Even his own brother, David Kaczynski, described him as having two completely different personalities.
Gehring’s father, disturbed by the implications of keeping such mementos, eventually buried the painted rocks deep in the family’s property—where they remain to this day.
The Chilling Presence Next Door
For much of her early childhood, Gehring didn’t fear Ted. But as she grew older and his appearance became more unsettling—his clothes tattered, his face covered in soot, his nails caked with dirt—she began to sense something was deeply wrong.
“There were times he’d knock on our door just to ask for the time,” she recalls. “I would hide in the closet until he left.”
Her family had questions about their mysterious neighbor. “What is Ted doing? Why is he here? Who is he?” But because he always dodged personal inquiries and kept to himself, they simply assumed he had a troubled past and left him alone. They had no idea they were living next to a man waging a deadly war against modern society.
The Unseen Threat
Years later, as details of Kaczynski’s life and crimes emerged, Gehring learned about the terrifying moments that could have turned her family into victims. She now believes Kaczynski poisoned her dog, Wiley, and was horrified to discover that he once pointed a gun at her stepmother and younger sister in the woods—something they never even knew about until his journals were released.
“There were nights writing this book where I would just break down in tears,” she admits. “Reading how he referred to his victims as ‘experiments’ was chilling. He was full of hate, driven by revenge. And when I realized how indiscriminate his targets were, I knew we were lucky.”
When Suspicion Turned Into Certainty
As the FBI closed in on Kaczynski, pieces of the puzzle began falling into place for Gehring’s father. Just a month before the arrest, the FBI approached him, initially asking about threatening letters Kaczynski had written. Soon after, they revealed their suspicion that his neighbor was, in fact, the Unabomber.
“My dad was shocked. He just kept saying, ‘No way! That’s just Teddy. He’s odd, but he couldn’t be the Unabomber.’” But as the investigation intensified, the truth became undeniable.
The FBI asked Gehring’s father to remain silent—even from his own wife. He was even instructed to videotape the area around Kaczynski’s shack in preparation for his arrest. “I never thought about how terrifying that must have been for my dad,” she says. “The FBI asked him to keep living normally next to a homicidal maniac.”
The Fascination with True Crime
Gehring acknowledges that true crime is often consumed as entertainment, but for her, it was real life. Despite that, she understands why people are drawn to the minds of killers like Kaczynski.
“I think people want to understand what makes these murderers tick. For me, the more I understood, the more at peace I felt.”
As for how her experience shaped her worldview? “I still believe in the good in people, but I trust my gut. As a child, I sometimes felt something was off, but adults dismissed it as an overactive imagination. Now, I know—trust your instincts. And trust kids when they say something feels wrong.”
Conclusion
Looking back, Jaime Gehring realizes how close her family came to unimaginable horror. Living next to one of history’s most notorious domestic terrorists was an experience that left an indelible mark on her life. Yet, her story serves as a powerful reminder: evil can live right next door, disguised as nothing more than an eccentric recluse. And sometimes, our instincts are the only warning we get.
