The wife of a victim of the so-called Unabomber, Theodore Kaczynski, asked that he be imprisoned "closer to hell" as he received four life sentences for his murderous bombing campaign.
In a Sacramento courtroom yesterday, Kaczynski (55), a former university professor, complained that the government attorneys were "discrediting me personally" in papers filed last week setting out extracts from his journal which showed his cold-blooded approach.
He asked the public not to judge him until he had a chance to give his version.
But Ms Susan Mossner, widow of Thomas Mossner who was blown up in his kitchen near her and their children, urged Judge Garland Burrell not to listen. "Lock him so far down that when he dies he will be closer to hell," she said.
As part of a plea bargain last January, Kaczynski, accepted responsibility for all the 16 Unabomber attacks between 1978 and 1995.
They resulted in three deaths and 28 injuries and led to the most expensive FBI manhunt in history.
He was arrested in a mountain cabin in a remote part of Montana in April 1996 after his brother tipped off police that he could be the author of the 35,000-word "manifesto" which was published in leading newspapers in an effort to end his campaign.
In the document, Kaczynski said he was campaigning against the evils of modern technology.
However, in his journals he showed himself to be motivated by "personal revenge". He expressed frustration that some of his bombs were not causing fatal injuries.
In a brief statement in court the former mathematics professor said the government case against him was "clearly political" and he admitted to no guilt or remorse.
Prosecutors at first sought the death sentence for Kaczynski although his brother had asked that his life be spared when he give the vital information to the police which brought them to the hermit's cabin in the wilderness.
When his trial began, Kaczynski quarrelled with his defence lawyers who wanted to plead insanity to save him from the death sentence.
He later dismissed them but after an attempted suicide in his cell, he agreed to plead guilty in exchange for three consecutive life terms and 30 years.