Seattle to Director re Mike Wallace claims and suspect Coffelt, NORJAK
Title revised to match the document’s own text.
Original title: Teletype Seattle to Director re Mike Wallace claims and suspect David Bryant Coffelt, NORJAK
Document date 15 May 1978
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Id: Cooper-Part-10:285-295
Subject: Cooper Files: Cooper-Part-10:285-295 Document: Teletype Seattle to Director re Mike Wallace claims and suspect Coffelt, NORJAK Id: Cooper-Part-10:285-295 Page: https://cooper.theunsolved.net/documents/Cooper-Part-10%3A285-295 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 10 pp. 285–295 (DB Cooper-1513–1523), Teletype, dated 15 May 1978 — cooper.theunsolved.net/documents/Cooper-Part-10%3A285-295
FM SEATTLE (164-81)(P) TO DIRECTOR (164-2111) IMMEDIATE BT UNCLAS SECTION I OF 2 ATTENTION: PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE; GENERAL INVESTIGATIVE DIVISION. NORJAK (A). OO: SEATTLE.
RE SEATTLE AIRTEL TO BUREAU, MAY 15, 1978; SEATTLE TEL TO BUREAU, JULY 22, 1977; LITTLE ROCK TEL TO BUREAU, JULY 20, 1977; DENVER TEL TO BUREAU, JULY 23, 1977; SEATTLE TEL TO BUREAU, JULY 19, 1977; ATLANTA AIRTEL TO BUREAU, MAY 13, 1977; WFO AIRTEL TO BUREAU, MARCH 2, 1977; LOS ANGELES AIRTEL TO BUREAU, JANUARY 24, 1977.
IT IS NOTED ABOVE REFERENCES ARE PERTINENT TO THE QUESTIONS RAISED BY MIKE WALLACE OF CBS "60 MINUTES" TO BUREAU OFFICIALS WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO PRINCIPALS INVOLVED.
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DB Cooper-1513
PAGE TWO SE 164-81 UNCLAS
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CONCERNING MIKE WALLACE'S CLAIM THAT [REDACTED]
[REDACTED] BUREAU REFER
TO LITTLE ROCK TELETYPE TO BUREAU, JULY 26, 1977, WHICH
[REDACTED] LITTLE ROCK AGENTS
CONCERNING [REDACTED]
[REDACTED] THIS TELETYPE
PARTIALLY STATES:
[REDACTED]
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[REDACTED - entire block]
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b6 b7C b7D
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DB Cooper-1514
PAGE THREE SE 164-81 UNCLAS
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SEATTLE FILE DOES NOT REFLECT ANY INSTANCE WHERE [REDACTED] [REDACTED] BY THE FBI. BECAUSE OF PASSAGE OF OVER SIX YEARS SINCE INCIDENT OCCURRED, LACK OF PHYSICAL RESEMBLANCE TO UNSUB AND BECAUSE OF OTHER REASONS SET FORTH HEREINAFTER.
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CONCERNING THE "DROP IN CABIN PRESSURE", SEE SEATTLE REPOR OF SA CHARLES E. FARRELL, FEBRUARY 16, 1972, EXPERIMENT WITH AIRSTAIRS, PAGES 228-235. THE CREW DID NOT NOTICE A DROP IN PRESSURE WHEN THE DOOR TO AIRSTAIRS WAS OPENED BUT NOTED AN INCREASE IN PRESSURE WHEN AIRSTAIRS CLOSED DUE TO AIR PRESSURE AGAINST THEM WHEN UNSUB JUMPED FROM THE STAIRS. THIS WAS DISCUSSED WITH [REDACTED] OF CBS DURING RECENT INTERVIEW AT SEATTLE.
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SEATTLE FILE REFLECTS THAT COFFELT HAS MADE NUMEROUS CLAIMS THAT HE KNEW PROMINENT PERSONS INCLUDING FORMER FBI DIRECTOR J. EDGAR HOOVER. THE CURRENT INDICATION THAT HE ALSO KNEW
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DB Cooper-1515
PAGE FOUR SE 134-31 UNCLAS
FORMER SEN. HUBERT HUMPHREY IS BRAND NEW. COFFELT'S ARREST RECORD AND BACKGROUND WOULD TEND TO DISCREDIT SUCH GRANDIOSE CLAIMS. THERE IS ALSO NO INDICATION IN SEATTLE FILE OF WHO VISITED COFFELT WHEN HE WAS IN PRISON. IN ATLANTA AND WALLACE'S ALLEGATION THAT SAC, ATLANTA WAS COFFELT'S ONLY VISITOR IS HIGHLY DOUBTFUL AND BORDERS ON THE LUDICROUS.
SEATTLE FILE DOES NOT REFLECT ANY FACT THAT WOULD
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[REDACTED — FOIA exemptions b6, b7C, b7D]
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COFFELT HAS BEEN PRINCIPALLY ELIMINATED AS A SUSPECT BECAUSE OF A NUMBER OF FACTORS: (1) [REDACTED] [REDACTED] WOULD PRECLUDE PARTICIPATION IN AN ACTIVITY SUCH AS NORJAK. [REDACTED]
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DB Cooper-1516
PAGE FIVE SE 184-81 UNCLAS
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[REDACTED] SEE WFO AIRTEL TO BUREA, JUNE 21, 1977.
[REDACTED] ADVISED
[REDACTED — large block, multiple lines]
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[REDACTED — large block, multiple lines]
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(3) ON DECEMBER 5, 1971, APPROXIMATELY 12 DAYS AFTER NORJAK, [REDACTED] [REDACTED] THIS IN SPITE OF [REDACTED] [REDACTED] ACCOUNT THAT [REDACTED]
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DB Cooper-1517
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b6 b7C b7D
PAGE SIX SE 164-81 UNCLAS THE PARACHUTE FALL THAT [REDACTED] [REDACTED]
(4) COFFELT'S FINGERPRINTS WERE COMPARED TO NORJAK PARTIALS WITH NEGATIVE RESULTS; AND (5) THERE IS NO INDICATION OF ANY PARACHUTE TRAINING IN COFFELT'S BACKGROUND.
OBSERVATIONS: THE INQUIRY BY "60 MINUTES" IS BASED ON
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[REDACTED — large block, approximately 12 lines obscured]
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[REDACTED] IT IS NOTED INSTRU- MENTATION OF THE NORJAK PLAN INDICATES UNSUB, EXITED FROM PLANE OVER SOUTHERN WASHINGTON WITH NO CHANCE OF LANDING IN OREGON. IN 1976, AFTER COFFELT'S DEATH, [REDACTED] [REDACTED] AT THAT TIME, [REDACTED]
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DB Cooper-1518
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PAGE SEVEN SE 164-81 UNCLAS
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[REDACTED — b6, b7C, b7D]
[REDACTED] MORE DETAILS ARE CONTAINED IN A REPORT BY [REDACTED] WHICH IS REFERRED TO LATER.
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BUREAU SHOULD NOTE THAT [REDACTED — b6, b7C, b7D]
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SINCE THAT TIME, [REDACTED — b6, b7C, b7D]
[REDACTED — b6, b7C, b7D]
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BT
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DB Cooper-1519
FM SEATTLE (164-31)(P) TO DIRECTOR (164-2111) IMMEDIATE BT UNCLAS SECTION 2 OF 2 ATTENTION: PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE; GENERAL INVESTIGATIVE DIVISION. NORJAK (A). OO: SEATTLE.
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DB Cooper-1520
PAGE EIGHT SE 164-61 UNCLAS APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN ALTERED TO MORE CLOSELY FIT KNOWN NORJAK FACTS.
[REDACTED]
[REDACTED]
POSSIBLY IN THE HOPE OF OBTAINING ADDITIONAL PERTINENT OR
[REDACTED]
[REDACTED] AS PREVIOUSLY NOTED, [REDACTED]
[REDACTED]
[REDACTED] IN ADDITION; [REDACTED]
[REDACTED]
SEATTLE CONSIDERS COFFELT A VERY POOR SUSPECT AND ALL
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DB Cooper-1521
PAGE NINE SE 164-81 UNCLAS
EVIDENCE TO DATE POINTS TO THE FACT THAT COFFELT IS NOT IDENTICAL WITH UNSUB.
IN A CASE SUCH AS THIS, THE BUREAU WILL RECOGNIZE IT IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO REFUTE CERTAIN STATEMENTS, PAR- TICULARLY CONCERNING PROMINENT DECEASED PERSONS. IT IS EQUALLY VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO POSITIVELY ELIMINATE MANY SUSPECTS AND INDEED SEATTLE HAS REOPENED SEVERAL PREVIOUSLY "ELIMINATED" SUSPECTS BECAUSE NEW EVIDENCE HAS COME TO LIGHT. AT THE PRESENT TIME WE HAVE INVESTIGATED A TOTAL OF 939 SUSPECTS WITH ONLY 13 STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION; HOWEVER, THIS FIGURE INCREASES AS THE ANNIVERSARY DATE IS APPROACHED EACH YEAR.
BY SEPARATE COMMUNICATION, SEATTLE IS FORWARDING A CONFIDENTIAL REPORT [REDACTED]
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[REDACTED — large boxed area with content withheld]
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[REDACTED] INFORMATION ALSO DEVELOPED THAT OTHER MAJOR NETWORKS AND STUDIOS HAVE TURNED THIS STORY DOWN FOR THE
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DB Cooper-1522
PAGE TEN SE 164-31 UNCLAS SAME REASON.
BUREAU SHOULD ALSO NOTE THAT THE QUESTIONS RAISED BY WALLACE ARE [REDACTED] [REDACTED] IT IS FELT CBS WILL CONTINUE TO RAISE MORE OF THESE SAME QUESTIONS IN AN ATTEMPT TO UPDATE THE SCRIPT BY OBTAINING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM THE BUREAU OR TO "MUDDY THE WATER" BY CLAIMING A "COVER UP" BY THE BUREAU AS TO COFFELT'S ALLEGED ASSOCIATION WITH THE FBI.
ARMED AND DANGEROUS.
BT
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DB Cooper-1523
Serials: 164-2111, 164-31, SE 134-31, SE 164-31, SE 164-81, SE 184-81