On Discovery's new miniseries Manhunt: Unabomber, Sam Worthington plays Jim Fitzgerald, an ahead-of-his-time FBI profiler credited with cracking the Unabomber case that enraptured the country from 1978 to 1995. The character, of course, is based on the man who helped solve it IRL, and photos of the real James "Fitz" Fitzgerald show his life two decades after closing the career-making investigation. In the end, former professor Ted Kaczynski pled guilty to 16 bombings and was sentenced to life in prison, while Fitzgerald's groundbreaking reliance on language analysis in identifying Kaczynski turned him into an FBI legend.
In the 20 years since, Fitzgerald has gone on to work on some of the most infamous cases of the last century, including JonBenét Ramsey’s 1996 murder, the 2001 anthrax investigation, and the Beltway sniper attacks of 2002. During his time in the bureau, he founded the Communicated Threat Assessment Database (CTAD), the most exhaustive archive for all written threats and other “criminally oriented communications” the FBI has ever received. And though he retired in 2007, he continues to assist with forensic linguistic investigations. He also consults on TV shows including Criminal Minds and A&E’s Killer Profile, and recently published the third book in his four-part memoir, A Journey to the Center of the Mind, Book III: The First Ten FBI Years, 1987-1997.
See what else he's been up to below.
He Recently Returned To The Scene Of The Crime
In a recent photo shared by Fitzgerald via Twitter, he returned to the Montana cabin where Kaczynski was found, now located in an exhibit at Washington D.C.'s Newseum.
He Works On Manhunt: Unabomber
In addition to being portrayed on the show, Fitzgerald is a consulting producer.
He Hangs Out With TV Stars
Fitzgerald isn't just active behind the scenes: he hangs out with the casts, too, as pictured in this snapshot of him with the Criminal Minds team.
Needless to say, Fitzgerald has had an exhaustive career, and the few photos of him lurking around the internet only begin to skim the surface of his utterly fascinating life.
