The money was David's reward for turning in his brother, who was sentenced to four life terms after pleading guilty to 13 federal charges in January. All along, David has said he would give me entire sum after legal fees to the victims of Ted's 17-year bombing spree, which killed 3 people and injured 29. But his beneficence has been stymied by the very government that sent the check: Federal and state taxes on the award come to $428,000. When lawyers' fees are figured in, the victims and their families stand to get less than half the total. Now David, who is on leave from his job as a social worker in Upstate New York, is pushing for a federal bill to waive the taxes, with passage possible next year. He and wife Linda Patrik, 48, a professor, also may sell their story—again, to pay their lawyers and compensate the Unabomber's victims.
One of them, Gary Wright, 37, who was maimed when he picked up a bomb left near his Salt Lake City computer store in 1987, marvels at David's conduct. "In every other high-profile case, somebody has tried to make money or tried to twist the story," says Wright. "But David has been so kinds to the victims." At the same time, he has not turned his back on his brother, now 56, who is serving his time at a federal prison in Colorado. Both David and his mother, Wanda, 81, have sent Ted numerous letters. So far, though, the once-loquacious Unabomber has not responded. "We write," says David sadly, "and we've been met by silence."
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
