Interview re Staff Sergeant Brinkley as possible Cooper suspect (El Paso)

FD-302 (REV. 11-27-70)

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

1 Date of transcription January 3, 1974

[REDACTED b6/b7C/b7D], was contacted and advised of the identity of the interviewing Agent as well as the nature of the inquiry. Subsequent to this, he freely and voluntarily furnished the following information:

Prior to coming [REDACTED] he had been [REDACTED] [REDACTED] prior to and after a hijacking occurred in the northwest section of the United States, approximately 1½ years ago, in which a man known as D. B. COOPER is responsible for that hijacking. [REDACTED b6/b7C/b7D] advised that while stationed at [REDACTED] there was a Staff Sergeant BRINKLEY who was [REDACTED], and who prior to the hijacking in which D. B. COOPER is suspected of committing, was frequently without any type of finances. This man by the name of BRINKLEY drank frequently and was always borrowing money from other members of [REDACTED] stated that he is positive that this Staff Sergeant BRINKLEY went on leave just before this hijacking occurred and did not return to his unit at [REDACTED] until after the hijacking had occurred. When BRINKLEY did return to his unit, he had a sprained ankle and limped noticeably. Also after returning from leave, BRINKLEY bought a brand new pickup truck and camper and paid cash for both of these items. BRINKLEY also was not hesitant in lending money to other members of the unit which is something he had never done prior to going on leave. [REDACTED] remembers that he asked BRINKLEY what he was going to do when he went on leave and BRINKLEY laughingly told [REDACTED] that he was going to hijack a plane.

Interviewed on 12/27/73 at [REDACTED] File # El Paso 164-52 by SA EUGENE P. TURTLE, JR./psr Date dictated 1/2/74

[Handwritten upper right: Sub 705 / Sub Q] [Handwritten bottom: 164-81-[illegible] / Sub 705] [Stamp: FBI - SEATTLE]

This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI. It is the property of the FBI and is loaned to your agency; it and its contents are not to be distributed outside your agency.

DB COOPER-53651

EP 164-52 2

After returning from leave, Sergeant BRINKLEY continued to live in the barracks and [redacted] was told by some members of the unit, identities unrecalled, that they had seen a bank book in BRINKLEY's room and this bank book was in BRINKLEY's name and showed either $20,000 or $50,000 deposit in an unrecalled bank. After returning from leave, BRINKLEY bragged that he only bought items for cash and [redacted] stated that BRINKLEY had not recently re-enlisted where he would have come into some type of enlistment bonus.

Also after returning from leave, BRINKLEY frequently made weekend trips to visit [redacted] who live in [redacted], exact city unrecalled, and this again is something BRINKLEY never did prior to going on leave.

At the time the hijacking occurred, [redacted] advised that members of his unit were asked to go out and search rough terrain in the hope that they would locate the body or money from the hijacking, and these terrain searches proved negative. However, [redacted] did state that the hijacking was a favorite topic of conversation among members of his unit and BRINKLEY was always an active participant in this discussion. [redacted] advised that BRINKLEY seemed to derive pleasure and joy over the fact that this man named D. B. COOPER had been successful in what he had done and even after the interest in the matter died down, it was not unusual for BRINKLEY to bring up the topic of D. B. COOPER any chance he had the opportunity. In fact, [redacted] advised that BRINKLEY's nickname in the unit was "CHAMP" and it was not unusual for BRINKLEY to refer to D. B. COOPER as "The Champ". Additionally, [redacted] advised that in his opinion BRINKLEY's personality changed 360 degrees after he came back from leave as he was very easy going and friendly. Prior to going on leave, BRINKLEY was always giving everyone a hard time and constantly rode the lower enlisted men of the unit.

To the best of [redacted] knowledge, Staff Sergeant BRINKLEY is presently assigned to the 9th Infantry, Fort Lewis,

DB COOPER-53652

EP 164-52 3

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Washington, and [redacted] seems to recall that BRINKLEY is presently assigned to an infantry unit which is the first of the 13th and is their Acting First Sergeant. [redacted] has not seen BRINKLEY since August, 1973, when he left [redacted] and stated that he became initially suspicious regarding BRINKLEY when BRINKLEY continued to talk about the hijacking and how he seemed to get pride over the fact that D. B. COOPER successfully perpetrated a hijacking. He then began to think about the fact BRINKLEY did not have any money prior to going on leave, was on leave when the hijacking occurred, came back from leave with some type of sprained ankle, and also had money when he returned from leave. He stated that he then forgot about this matter until recently and then thought of the possibility that there might be a reward offered for information leading to the identity of the individual who is D. B. COOPER and this is why he desired to speak about the matter. He did request that this be kept as confidential as possible and that he was only doing this because he thought there might possibly be a reward issued for the identification of this D. B. COOPER.

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[redacted] described Staff Sergeant BRINKLEY as follows:

Race Caucasian Sex Male Age Approximately 35 Hair Light colored, more blond than brown Eyes Blue Height 6'3" to 6'6" Weight Over 200 pounds Build Husky, had very broad shoulders, big chest, and big legs Military Training [redacted] advised that BRINKLEY did receive Special Forces training and was therefore familiarized with parachute and airborn training

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b6 b7C b7D

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DB COOPER-53653

EP 164-52 4

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Scars or Tattoos Had some type of scar on his torso which came from a wound received in Vietnam; also had a scar at the bottom of his ribcage

Complexion Normal, except when on field maneuvers his face would occasionally become ruddy; [redacted] seemed to think that BRINKLEY's neck always had a ruddy complexion

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b6 b7C b7D

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DB COOPER-53654