Killer geeks! Watch your arse round the IT department — you never know when they’ll go postal.
TED KACZYNSKI
Nerdy beginnings: Aka the Unabomber, Kaczynski is a former assistant maths professor and social critic who carried out a calculated campaign of bombings over a 17-year period.
Kill time: Pissed off at progress, Kaczynski sent 16 bombs to targets including universities and airlines between 1978 and 1995, killing three people and injuring 23. In a 35,000-word manifesto, he argued that the bombings were extreme but necessary to attract attention to the erosion of human freedom due to modern technology. Or something.
End game: Busted after his brother tipped off authorities, Kaczynski is serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole.
TSUTOMU MIYAZAKI
Nerdy beginnings: Left with deformed hands as a result of premature birth, Miyazaki was a mild-mannered photographic print-shop employee who read manga comics and animated porn to escape from reality.
Kill time: Between 1988 and 1989, Miyazaki mutilated and killed four young girls before sexually molesting their corpses. He even ate portions of two of his victims, and tormented the families of his victims by sending them graphic letters detailing his crimes.
End game: After his 1989 arrest, psychiatrists concluded that Miyazaki (aka The Otaku Murderer or Dracula), suffered multiple-personality disorder and extreme schizophrenia. They also reckoned his killing spree was an extension of his whacked-out comic fantasy world. He was executed in Tokyo in June 2008.
HANS REISER
Nerdy beginnings: This self-described “computer nerd” founded the California-based international software company Namesys Inc and developed a revolutionary computer file system.
Kill time: Reiser was accused of killing his estranged wife Nina, who was last seen at his house in September 2006. Cops reckon Nina, reportedly selected from a Russian mail-order bride catalogue, never left the house alive.
End game: While direct physical evidence (such as an actual body or a crime scene) was limited, police came up with a heap of circumstantial stuff including two books on murder investigations that were found in his car. In April 2008, Reiser was convicted of first-degree murder, but later led police to the body in exchange for a reduced term.
Slideshows
Honeys of 2008
Naughty by Nature
