Los Angeles to Director and field offices re Summers, Blair and Coffelt

LA0227 078430Z [illegible/scan artifact] RR HQ AX HI KC LV PD SE WF DE LA R 190430Z MAR 77

FM LOS A[guess: N]GELES (164-497) (13) (P) TO DIRECTOR (164-2111) ROUTINE ALEXA[guess: N]DRIA (164-72) ROUTINE HO[guess: N]OLULU (164-85) ROUTINE KA[guess: N]SAS CITY ROUTINE LAS VEGAS (164-60) ROUTINE PORTLA[guess: N]D (164-41) ROUTINE SEATTLE (164-31) ROUTINE WASHI[guess: N]GTO[guess: N] FIELD (164-169) ROUTINE BT

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NORJAK, OO: SEATTLE.

RE LOS A[guess: N]GELES AIRTEL TO BUREAU, JANUARY 24, 1977, WASHINGTON FIELD AIRTEL TO BUREAU, MARCH 2, 1977, AND HONOLULU AIRTEL TO BUFFALO, MARCH 10, 1977.

RE: UNSUB; [redacted box] SOURCE, [redacted box]

FOR I[guess: N]FORMATION OF BUREAU AND RECEIVING OFFICES, CLAIR BLAIR, MALIBU, CALIFORNIA, HAS VOLUNTEERED INFORMATION CONCERNI[guess: N]G SUSPECT JACK BRYANT COFFELT DURING EXTENSIVE INTERVIEW AT LOS A[guess: N]GELES.

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b6 b7C b7D [repeated lower on page] b6 b7C b7D

[handwritten numeral or code near arrow/pointer shape, approximately "869"]

[handwritten, partially illegible] "Sub 869" [guess] 164-81-7420 [illegible signature/initials]

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BLAIR RELATED THAT ABOUT ONE MONTH AGO, HE WAS ENGAGED BY UNIVERSAL STUDIOS TO INVESTIGATE VERACITY OF INFORMATION BEING FURNISHED UNIVERSAL STUDIOS BY SCREENWRITER DIRK SUMMERS INDICATING THAT COFFELT WAS POSSIBLY HIGHJACKER KNOWN AS D. B. COOPER. BLAIR STATES TRAVELED WIDELY IN U.S. FOR UNIVERSAL STUDIOS INTERVIEWING PAST ASSOCIATES OF COFFELT AND SPENT 12 HOURS INTERVIEWING JAMES H. BROWN AND [REDACTED] WHO WAS SOURCE OF INFORMATION PROVIDED BY SUMMERS.

BLAIR STATES, DURING INTERVIEW OF BROWN, IT WAS ASCERTAINED THAT NEITHER BROWN NOR [REDACTED] HAD EVER ACTUALLY SEEN A BUCKLE OR FASTENER ALLEGEDLY FROM PARACHUTE USED BY HIGHJACKER. BROWN STATED COFFELT HAD MADE CASUAL REFERENCE TO SOME BUCKLES BURIED SOMEWHERE.

BLAIR COVERED MANY FACETS OF HIS EFFORTS TO DETERMINE IF COFFELT HIGHJACKER, IN FACTUAL AND ORGANIZED MANNER. STATED HE REACHED CONCLUSION COFFELT WAS PROBABLY NOT HIGHJACKER BASED ON FOLLOWING FACTS:

DURING PERIOD OF HIGHJACKING, BRYANT COFFELT WAS SUFFERING FROM SEVERE ALCOHOLISM AND ON VERGE OF NERVOUS BREAKDOWN.

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BROWN HAD DISPLAYED LETTER DATED SEPTEMBER 27, 1976, TO HIM FROM COFFELT'S WIFE, "TAVE" COFFELT, AKA LORRAINE THOMPSON, 2463 KUHIO AVENUE W2, APARTMENT 1105, HONOLULU. IN LETTER, "TAVE" TOLD BROWN, JACK COFFELT COULD NOT BE HIGHJACKER AS AT TIME OF HIGHJACKING, COFFELT UNDER PSYCHIATRIC CARE OF WASHINGTON, D.C. DOCTOR AND DURING ENTIRE PERIOD, IT WAS WELL KNOWN FACT IN WASHINGTON, D.C. HE WAS SEVERE ALCOHOLIC.

BLAIR STATES HE INTERVIEWED SEVERAL ASSOCIATES OF COFFELT AND CONFIRMED ALCOHOLISM PROBLEM DURING LATE 1971, AND COFFELT WAS ON VERGE OF NERVOUS BREAKDOWN.

ALLUDING TO SERIOUS INJURIES TO LEG AND GROIN AREA WHICH SUMMERS THEORIZED WERE RECEIVED FROM JUMPING FROM AIRCRAFT, BLAIR STATES ASSOCIATES IN LAWRENCE, KANSAS, RECALLED COFFELT HAD OPERATION ON FOOT IN 1967, AND HAD TO HIRE CAB TO TRAVEL ONE BLOCK. ALSO DETERMINED [REDACTED] NORTHERN VIRGINIA DOCTORS HOSPITAL, DIAGNOSED COFFELT HAD SEVERE THROMBOPLEBITUS OF LEGS AND WAS ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL, JULY 19, 1973.

BLAIR STATES ALSO VERIFIED THAT DURING PERIOD OF HIGH-

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DB COOPER-55966