SACRAMENTO, Jan. 22 -- Calif. Gov. Pete Wilson says a jury should have been allowed to hear the evidence against convicted UNABOMber Theodore Kaczynski and determine if he deserves the death penalty. Wilson issued a statement today saying the U.S. Justice Department's decision to give him life in prison in return for guilty pleas 'is a miscarriage of justice.'
The governor says California juries have meted out the death penalty in similar cases involving defendants with troubled mental histories who had murdered people. In Kaczynski's case, Wilson said he 'murdered two Californians, altered forever the lives of their families, injured numerous others and terrorized the entire state.' But Connie Murray, the widow of UNABOMber victim Gilbert Murray, told reporters through a police chaplain, 'We respect the prosecution for its decision.' She said the end of what she described only 'as a death penalty case' closes a chapter in her family's life, and she is relieved to know Kaczynski 'will never kill again.' David Kaczynski, the man whose tip led authorities to his older brother, said with his mother, Wanda, standing beside him at the Sacramento courthouse: 'Our reaction is one of deep relief. It is a just and civilized end, and we wish to re-state to surviving victims our deep regret.' Family attorney Tony Bisceglie added: 'David called two years ago. He said he wanted it stopped. It stopped without losing the life of his brother. David Kaczynski has achieved his goal.' ---
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