Unabomber Suspect May Be Sent to California Soon

A hearing intended to clear the way for Unabomber suspect Theodore J. Kaczynski to be moved here--possibly this weekend--has been set for Friday in Helena, Mont.

A federal grand jury in Sacramento on Tuesday returned a 10-count indictment against Kaczynski, blaming the former UC Berkeley math professor in the bombing deaths of a Capitol lobbyist and a Sacramento computer store owner and of injuring a UC San Francisco geneticist and a Yale University computer scientist.

On Wednesday, federal prosecutors filed a one-page order requesting that Kaczynski be removed from the Lewis and Clark County Jail, where he has been in custody since early April.

Montana U.S. District Judge Charles C. Lovell scheduled the hearing to determine whether Kaczynski has received and understands the charges against him and whether he is, in fact, the person charged in a 10-count indictment filed n Tuesday.

Sherry Matteucci, U.S. attorney for Montana, said defendants typically waive their rights to such hearings. But Kaczynski’s lawyer, Anthony Gallagher, declined to disclose whether he will oppose the motion to move his client.

The indictment came 11 weeks after federal agents raided Kaczynski’s cabin in central Montana.

They have collected boxes of evidence that they contend show that Kaczynski is responsible for the 17-year reign of terror that killed three people and injured 23.

Federal authorities in Sacramento are preparing to bring Kaczynski to California for an arraignment. On Wednesday, U.S. Marshal Jerry Enomoto said that once Lovell signs off on the request to move Kaczynski, “it’s possible he might be flown here as early as this weekend.”

Enomoto said Kaczynski is to be held at the Sacramento County Jail.