President of the California Forestry Association and final Unabomber victim
Profile
Gilbert Brent Murray was born on June 18, 1948, and raised in Southern California. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Forestry from the University of California, Berkeley, he served as a Marine in Vietnam, returning home to build a career in the timber industry [1].
Murray spent more than 16 years working for Collins Pine Company in Chester, a small town in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Plumas County, California. He and his wife Connie were deeply respected in the community, known by people on both sides of the contentious forest policy debates of the era. Eventually the Murrays moved to Sacramento, where Gilbert joined the California Forestry Association as vice president of private land resources. In April 1994, he was promoted to president of the association, a timber industry lobbying group with offices just four blocks from the state Capitol
On April 24, 1995, a package arrived at the California Forestry Association office addressed to Murray's predecessor, William Dennison. When Murray attempted to help a colleague open the parcel, it exploded, killing him instantly. He was 47 years old and became the third and final person killed by the Unabomber [3].
In the aftermath, his widow Connie showed remarkable dignity. At Ted Kaczynski's sentencing hearing, she "resolutely marched out rather than listen to a word from the murderer." The Murray family refused to become celebrity victims or allow Gilbert's death to be exploited for political purposes. They planted a tree at the state Capitol in his honor. The family's response became a model of quiet grace in the face of senseless violence [4].
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