Criminal complaint/affidavit of SA Charles E. Farrell, U.S. v. William John Lewis and Donald Sylvester Murphy, W.D. Wash. at Seattle
Document date February 1972
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Id: Cooper-Part-01:012-019
Subject: Cooper Files: Cooper-Part-01:012-019 Document: Criminal complaint/affidavit of SA Charles E. Farrell, U.S. v. William John Lewis and Donald Sylvester Murphy, W.D. Wash. at Seattle Id: Cooper-Part-01:012-019 Page: https://cooper.theunsolved.net/documents/Cooper-Part-01%3A012-019 What is wrong (title, date, type, which pages belong together, copies)? What does the scan show?
A person reads every report. Corrections are made by hand, to the data — titles, dates, names, which pages belong together — never to the scans, and they can take a while to appear.
FBI 164-81, Vault Part 1 pp. 12–19, Other, dated Feb 1972 — cooper.theunsolved.net/documents/Cooper-Part-01%3A012-019
1 STAN PITKIN United States Attorney 2 1012 United States Courthouse 3 Seattle, Washington 98104 4 (206) 442-7970
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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 9 10 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) ) 11 Plaintiff, ) COMPLAINT [FOR VI]OLATION ) OF U.S.C. [illegible] [illegible] 12 v. ) SECTIONS 37 [and] [illegible] ) 13 WILLIAM JOHN LEWIS, also known ) as JACK LEWIS and ) 14 DONALD SYLVESTER MURPHY ) ) 15 Defendants. )
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16 17 COUNT I 18 That beginning on or about the first day of 19 February 1972, and continuing to the date of this complaint, 20 in King County and Kitsap County in the West[ern District] 21 of Washington, William John Lewis, also known as J[ack] Le[wis] 22 and Donald Sylvester Murphy, the defendants t[herein] did 23 wilfully and unlawfully combine, conspire and [illegible] t[o] 24 to commit offenses against the United States, to wit, to 25 violate Section 2314, Title 18, United States Code, by 26 [illegible] and intending to devise a scheme fo[r obtaining money] 27 by means of false and fraudulent pret[enses and representations, causing] 28 Payne Fleming to travel in interstate commerce fro[m Los] 29 Angeles County, California to King County, Washington in 30 execution of the scheme to defraud said Karl Payne Fleming 31 of forty-five thousand dollars. The form and [guess: substance] [of] 32 the conspiracy was as follows:
MANNER AND MEANS
1 It was a part of the conspiracy that the defendant 2 William John Lewis, also known as Jack Lewis, responding 3 to an advertisement in the Seattle Times newspaper solicit[ing] 4 a contact from the alleged aircraft hi-jacker "D. B. Coo[per]" 5 called Karl Payne Fleming at his home in Los Angeles, 6 California on or about February 1, 1972 and stated that [the] 7 "Seth Thomas" (a fictitious name adopted by the de[fen]dant 8 Jack Lewis for the purposes of this scheme) had bee[n] in 9 touch with "D. B. Cooper", knew his true identity [and could] 10 arrange an interview.
12 It was further a part of the conspirac[y that the] 13 defendants William John Lewis, also known as Jack Lewis[,] 14 and Donald Sylvester Murphy arranged for Donald Sylvest[er] 15 Murphy to pose as the alleged aircraft hi-jacker "[D. B.] 16 Cooper". Jack Lewis photographed Donald Murphy wearing 17 a wig and glasses and otherwise appearing much like the 18 widely circulated "artist's conception" of "D. B. Cooper" 19 and delivered a print to Karl Fleming in support of the 20 scheme to defraud. Jack Lewis and Donald Murphy arrange[d] 21 to copy three twenty dollar bills with serial num[bers that] 22 from the ransom money list - superimposed - so as to app[ear] 23 to be copies of twenty dollar bills acquired by the alle[ged] 24 hi-jacker "D. B. Cooper" as ransom for the r[e]lease of 25 [passengers on] Northwest Orient Airlines Fli[ght 305] at 26 Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Novem[ber 2]4, 197[1]. 27 Jack Lewis furnished this fraudulent copy of the [three] 28 twenty dollar bills (copy attached hereto [as] Exhibit "A"[.] 29 Karl Fleming in support of the scheme to defraud.
31 It was further a part of the conspiracy that the 32 defendants William John Lewis, also known as Jack Lewis [and] Donald Sylvester Murphy falsely represented Donald Murp[hy]
1 to be the alleged hi-jacker "D. B. Cooper" when they met 2 with Karl Fleming at the Swept Wing Inn in King County, 3 Washington on or about February 16, 1972 and demanded th[at] 4 Karl Fleming produce forty-five thousand dollars i[n] retur[n] 5 for "D. B. Cooper's" story about the hi-jacking. [T]he 6 defendants agreed to accept thirty thousand dollar[s,] 7 fraudulently representing that the money would be h[eld in] 8 trust by Jack Lewis for the legal defense of "D. [B. Cooper]" 9 should he be apprehended. Jack Lewis signed t[he documents] 10 recording that payment, one signed as "Seth T[homas" and a copy] 11 wherein he signed his true name (copy attached h[ereto as] 12 Exhibit "B"). 13 It was further [a] part of the conspiracy t[hat] the 14 defendants William John Lewis, also known as [J]ack [Lewis] 15 and Donald Sylvester Murphy prepared Donald Murph[y to pose] 16 as the alleged hi-jacker "D. B. Cooper" by readin[g the] 17 published information about the hi-jacking of Fli[ght 305] 18 and the alleged hi-jacker "D. B. Cooper" and other[wise] 19 developing a plausible theory of the hi-jacking whi[ch began] 20 with a "confession" of the crime. Extraordinary ste[ps for] 21 the security of the alleged hi-jacker "D. B. Coop[er" such as] 22 requiring that the cameraman and audioman re[maining at the] 23 interview do so from an extreme distance whi[le wearing ear] 24 plugs, added credibili[t]y to the fraudulent s[cheme].
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25 OVERT ACTS
27 1. On or about February [1,] 1972 the defen[dant] 28 William John Lewis, also known as Jack Lewis call[ed Karl] 29 Payne Fleming in Los Angeles, California from his res[idence] 30 at Seavue Estates, Seabeck, Washington. 31 2. On or about February 13, 1972 the defendant 32 William John Lewis, also known as Jack Lewis called th[e]
1 Swept Wing Inn near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport 2 and made reservations for Karl Fleming for February 16, 3 1972, requesting a ground floor room. 4 3. On or about February 16, 1972 the defend[ant] 5 William John Lewis, also known as Jack Lewis met w[ith] 6 Karl Fleming at the Swept Wing Inn in King County, Washin[gton] 7 and used the fictitious name "Seth Thomas". 8 4. On or about February 16, 1972 the d[efendant] 9 Donald Sylvester Murphy met with Karl Fleming [at t]he Swep[t] 10 Wing Inn in King County, Washington and used the fictiti[ous] 11 name "D. B. Cooper". 12 5. On or about February 21, 197[2] the [def]en[dant] 13 William John Lewis, also known as Jack Lewis [received] 14 three hundred dollars from Karl Fleming for [expen]se money. 15 6. On or about February 12, 1972 the [defend]ant 16 William John Lewis, also known as Jack Lewis [recei]ved th[e] 17 thousand dollars from Karl Fleming and signed two [guess: documents] 18 recording the payment, one using his true name and one [u]s[ing] 19 the fictitious name "Seth Thomas". 20 7. On or about February 21, 1972 the [defendant] 21 William John Lewis, also known as Jack Lewis drove [K]arl 22 Fleming around King County, Washington looking for a sec[ret] 23 place to film the interview with "D. B. Cooper". 24 8. On or about February 22, 1972 and February 23, 25 1972 the defendant Donald Sylvester Murphy, posing as the 26 alleged aircraft hi-jacker "D. B. Cooper" [gave inter]views with Karl Fleming and fraudulently [con]fessed to 27 [illegible — likely continuation of line 26, scan artifact] 28 hi-jacking Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 on Nove[mber] 29 197[illegible]. 30 9. On or about February 23, 1972 the defendant 31 Donald Sylvester Murphy was photographed posing as the 32 alleged aircraft hi-jacker "D. B. Cooper" and displ[ayed]
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a copy of three twenty dollar bills in front of the camera.
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All in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. Section 371.
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COUNT II
1. The defendants William John Lewis, also known as Jack Lewis and Donald Sylvester Murphy devised [the scheme?] and artifice to obtain money from Karl Payne Fleming by fraudulently representing the defendant Donald Sylvester Murphy to be the alleged aircraft hi-jacker "D. B. Cooper" as more particularly alleged in Count 1 of this complaint. and all of the allegations of Count I are realleged and incorporated herein as if fully set out in Count [I].
2. On or about the 16th day and the 20th day of February, 1972 the defendants William John Lewis, also k[nown] as Jack Lewis and Donald Sylvester Murphy, having devised and having intended to devise the aforesaid scheme and artifice to defraud and to obtain money by means of fals[e] and fraudulent pretenses, representations and pro[mises] di[d] unlawfully and fraudulently induce Karl Payne Fle[m]ing to travel in interstate commerce from Los Angeles County, California to King County, Washington in execution of th[e] aforesaid scheme and artifice to defraud said Karl Payne Fleming of money in an amount exceeding five thousand dollars, that is, forty-five thousand dollars in cash.
All in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. Section 2314 [a]nd Section [illegible]
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[scanning artifact / ghosted overlay text - partially legible duplicate of main body text]
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1 The complainant states that this complaint is b[ased on] 2 the copy of three twenty dollar bills bearing serial numb[ers] 3 L54904730A, L33529797A, and L20168977A acquired from Karl 4 Fleming who states that the copy of the three bills [Fleming] 5 received (now in the custody of the F.B.I.) was del[ivered to] 6 him by Jack Lewis in support of the claim that Flem[ing] was 7 interviewing the real "D.B. Cooper," which copy is a[t]tach[ed] 8 hereto as exhibit "A". The original copy has been [e]xamine[d] 9 by the F.B.I. laboratory in Washington, D.C. and [de]termin[ed] 10 to be fraudulent in that the serial numbers, which [are mat]ch[ed] 11 three numbers from the ransom paid were superimposed on 12 twenty dollar bills prior to being copied. 13 Further, Jack Lewis executed the two receipts [for] 14 thirty thousand dollars attached hereto as exhibit "B" 15 (original in the custody of the F.B.I.) in the pres[ence] of 16 Karl Fleming and "D.B. Cooper". Fingerprints lifted from 17 these receipts by the F.B.I. laboratory in Washington, D[.C.] 18 have been identified as belonging to William John Lewis. 19 Further, movie film and an audio tape of the intervi[ew] 20 between Karl Fleming and Donald Murphy, posing as "D.B. C[ooper]" 21 which took place on the morning of February 23, 1972 on a 22 beach fronting Puget Sound in King County, Washington, ha[ve] 23 been viewed and heard by agents of the F.B.I. person[ally] 24 familiar with the defendants William John Lewis, also kno[wn] 25 as Jack Lewis and Donald Sylvester Murphy; Donald Murphy [is] 26 the person depicted on film as "D.B. Cooper." The inter- 27 view of February 23, 1972 was recorded on movie film and 28 audio tape taken by Neil Peter Reichline and William Bar[ry] 29 Kaplan, from a location remote from the point of intervi[ew] 30 at the request of Karl Fleming (originals of the tape 31 [blank] 32 [blank] -6-
[Ghost/artifact text — partial, illegible repetition of lines below; not primary content]
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1 recordings, movie film and audio tape are in the custody of 2 the F.B.I.). Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 3 familiar with William John Lewis and Donald Sylvester Murphy 4 have listened to tapes, made by Karl Fleming, of interviews 5 of "D.B. Cooper" and "Seth Thomas" and have identified the 6 voices appearing on the tapes as William John Lewis and 7 Donald Sylvester Murphy. 8 Complainant further states that Karl Fleming has been 9 interviewed by Special Agents of the F.B.I. and has related 10 the following: 11 That he, Karl Fleming, placed an advertisement 12 in the Seattle [guess: Times] newspaper, among others on the 13 West Coast, requesting that the alleged hi-jacker 14 "D.B. Cooper" contact him. Karl Fleming 15 was then a Contributing Editor of Newsweek magazine 16 stationed in Los Angeles and the advertisement listed 17 his home telephone number and indicated that he 18 represented a national news magazine. 19 On or about February 1, 1972 Karl Fleming 20 received two telephone calls from a "Seth Thomas," 21 who in subsequent personal contacts identified [him] 22 as Jack Lewis, the caller stating that he knew the 23 identity of "D.B. Cooper" and could arrange an 24 interview. 25 In response to this information Karl Fleming 26 flew from Los Angeles County, California to King 27 County, Washington on or about February 10, 1[972] 28 and checked into a ground floor room at the Swept-Wing 29 Inn which had been reserved for him by Jack Lewis, 30 alias "Seth Thomas." 31 Jack Lewis contacted him there and later 32 introduced him to "D.B. Cooper" who entered the 33 room through a sliding patio-type door. 34 [line break] 35 The individuals identifying themselves as "Seth 36 Thomas" and "D.B. Cooper" requested forty five 37 thousand dollars for the story and details of 38 the hi-jacking. The initial payment of fifteen 39 thousand dollars to be paid when Karl Fleming was 40 satisfied he was talking to the hi-jacker, a second 41 instalment in the same amount upon completion of 42 interviews, and a final payment upon publication of 43 the story.
[REDACTED] [REDACTED]
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1 "Seth Thomas" and "D.B. Cooper" agreed to have 2 "D.B. Cooper" submit to interviews which would be 3 taped and photographed after being advised by Karl Fleming that Newsweek magazine would not support the 4 undertaking but that a partner of Fleming's in Platypus Publications Incorporated would put up thirty thousand dollars.
5 On or about February 20, 1972 Karl Fleming 6 traveled from Los Angeles County, California to King County, Washington with thirty thousand dollar[s] in cash consisting of an unknown number of bills in 7 twenty, fifty, and one hundred dollar denomination[s]. He stayed at the Edgewater Inn, in Seattle, Washingt[on] 8 through February 23, 1972 and interviewed "D.B. Cooper" 9 on February 22 and 23.
10 Karl Fleming was furnished the xeroxed copy of the three twenty dollar bills, allegedly part of the 11 ransom paid to "D.B. Cooper" (Exhibit "A") and on or about February 21, 1972, paid the thirty thousand 12 dollars to Jack Lewis who signed a receipt (Exhibit "B"). Karl Fleming related that Jack Lewis used 13 the name "Seth Thomas" to sign[ing] the receipt and that "D.B. Cooper" appeared upset [at] Lewis' disclosure of his true name.
14 Karl Fleming also paid three hundred dollars to 15 Jack Lewis on or about February 21, 1972 for expense[s].
16 The complainant further states that he believes that 17 statements made by Karl Fleming to Special Agents of the 18 F.B.I. are accurate in that checks of motel, airline, rent[,] 19 car, and telephone toll records corroborate his story and 20 photographs of William John Lewis, also known as Jack Lewis, 21 and Donald Sylvester Murphy have been identified by Karl 22 Fleming, and other persons, as the individuals who called 23 themselves "Seth Thomas" and "D.B. Cooper" respectively.
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CHARLES E. FARRELL Special Agent Federal Bureau of Investigation
Sworn to before me, and subscribed in my presence
___________________, 1972.
United States Magistrate
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