Urgent teletype Portland to Director, San Diego and Seattle re Arvidis Julius Kiperts and NORJAK

[handwritten, partially illegible]

---

NR 004 PD PLAIN 1:58 PM URGENT 11/10/73 GEO TO: DIRECTOR SAN DIEGO (91-5068) SEATTLE FROM: PORTLAND (91-5424) (P) 5 PAGES

ARVIDIS JULIUS KIPERTS, AKA - FUGITIVE; FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF OREGON, CARLTON BRANCH, CARLTON, OREGON, 6/11/73; ET AL. BR OO: PORTLAND.

RE SAN DIEGO TELETYPE 11/9/73. CONSIDERABLE MEDIA ATTENTION WAS GIVEN CAPTIONED MATTER 11/9/73 SPECULATING THAT SUBJECT KIPERTS MIGHT BE D. B. COOPER OR IN SOME MANNER INVOLVED IN THE NORTHWEST AIRLINES PLANE HIJACKING WHICH OCCURRED 11/24/71. THE SEQUENCE OF THIS MEDIA PUBLICITY IS RECONSTRUCTED SUBSTANTIALLY AS FOLLOWS: IN THE COURSE OF INTENDED SEARCH OF KIPERTS' RESIDENCE IN VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON, 11/3/73, IT WAS NECESSARY TO JUSTIFY THE SEIZING OF HANDWRITTEN MATERIAL KNOWN TO BE IN HIS HOME. THE ONLY JUSTIFICATION WAS THREE SAVINGS DEPOSIT SLIPS CONTAINING END PAGE ONE

---

[handwritten] 164-81- 5032

---

[handwritten] copy in 91-4037

---

[stamp, partially legible] NOV 1 0 197[3] DB Cooper-12075

PD 91-5424 PAGE TWO

---

HANDWRITING AND HAND PRINTING OF THE ROBBER OF THE WILSONVILLE BRANCH, BANK OF OREGON, 12/10/71. KIPERTS IS SUSPECT IN THAT ROBBERY. ONE OF THE DEPOSIT SLIPS HAD THE NAME D. B. COOPER HAND PRINTED THEREON. THE AFFIDAVIT FOR SEARCH WARRANT CONTAINED THIS SPECIFICATION.

[REDACTED] FOR THE OREGON JOURNAL, A PORTLAND DAILY NEWSPAPERN APPARENTLY REVIEWED THE AFFIDAVIT AFTER IT WAS FILED AND AFTER IT WAS PUBLIC RECORD. IN A STORY APPEARING IN THE NOVEMBER 7TH EDITION OF THE OREGON JOURNAL HEADLINED "INVESTIGATION OF BANK ROBBERIES DISCLOSES D. B. COOPER LINK", [REDACTED] "THE NAME D. B. COOPER, MADE NOTORIOUS BY THE INDIVIDUAL WHO TOUCHED OFF A ROUND OF AIRPLANE HIJACKINGS,... HAS CROPPED UP IN THE INVESTIGATION HERE OF A MAN SUSPECTED OF A SERIES OF PORTLAND AREA BANK ROBBERIES. INFORMA- TION SUPPORTING THE COMPLAINT RESULTING IN THE ARREST TUESDAY OF ARVIDIS JULIUS KIPERTS, 41, VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON, SUGGESTS A MAN OF HIS DISCRIPTION HAND PRINTED THE NAME D. B. COOPER ON A BANK DEPOSIT SLIP MOMENTS BEFORE ROBBING THE WILSONVILLE BRANCH OF THE OREGON BANK IN DECEMBER, 1971." THIS STORY APPEARED TO AROUSE LITTLE ATTENTION IN THE PORTLAND AREA.

END PAGE TWO

---

b6 b7C

---

DB Cooper-12076

PD 91-5424 PAGE THREE

---

ON 11/8/73, A TELEPHONE CALL WAS RECEIVED FROM A REPORTER FOR A SAN DIEGO NEWSPAPER, NAME IS NOT RECALLED. THE REPORTER SAID HE HAD INFORMATION INDICATING THAT KIPERTS MIGHT HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THE NORTHWEST AIRLINES HIJACKING AND REQUESTED DETAILS. I TOLD HIM THAT WE KNEW OF NO SUCH CONNECTION AND THAT IF HIS SPECULATION WAS PROMPTED BY A STORY PRINTED IN THE OREGON JOURNAL, 11/6/73, I COULD RELATE THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF HOW THE NAME D.B. COOPER AROSE IN THE CASE. I THEN ADVISED THE REPORTER THAT WHILE IT IS NOT KNOWN THAT KIPERTS ROBBED THE WILSONVILLE BANK, HE IS CONSIDERED SUSPECT. I RELATED THAT THE ROBBER OF THAT BANK WHEN HE ENTERED THE LOBBY, NOTICED THAT THE TARGET TELLER WAS OCCUPIED WITH A CUSTOMER. THE ROBBER WALKED TO A WALL DESK TABLE AND THERE SIMULATED NORMAL ACTIVITY BY WRITING OR SCRIBBLING ON DEPOSIT SLIPS. WHEN THE CUSTOMER LEFT THE TARGET TELLER WINDOW, THE ROBBER IMMEDIATELY TURNED FROM THE TABLE, ACCOSTED THE TELLER AND COMPLETED THE ROBBERY. LATER IN THE COURSE OF INVESTIGATION, THE VICTIM TELLER REMEMBERED THE ROBBERY HAD BEEN OCCUPIED AT THE WALL TABLE DESK. THREE SAVINGS WITHDRAWAL SLIPS WERE RECOVERED, BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN THE PRODUCT OF THE ROBBER'S SCRIBBLING THE NAME D. B. COOPER HAD END PAGE THREE

---

DB Cooper-12077

PD 91-5424 PAGE FOUR

BEEN HAND PRINTED ON ONE OF THE SLIPS. IT WAS POINTED OUT THAT THIS BANK ROBBERY TOOK PLACE APPROXIMATELY SEVENTEEN DAYS AFTER THE HIJACKING WHEN THE NAME D. B. COOPER WAS IN PROMINENT ATTENTION. THE REPORTER WAS TOLD THAT THIS IS THE ONLY MANNER IN WHICH THE NAME D. B. COOPER IS INVOLVED AS RELATES TO KIPERTS, EMPHASIZING IT IS NOT PROVEN THAT KIPERTS ROBBED THE BANK AND IT IS NOT CERTAIN THAT THE ROBBER WROTE THE NOTE.

ON 11/9/73, PORTLAND OFFICE BEGAN RECEIVING A DELUGE OF PHONE CALLS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY INQUIRING WHETHER IT WAS TRUE THAT D. B. COOPER WAS IN JAIL IN SAN DIEGO ON CHARGES OF BANK ROBBERY. THE CALLS WERE SO PERSISTENT IT DID NOT SUFFICE TO STATE THAT KIPERTS WAS NOT BELIEVED TO BE D. B. COOPER. ACCORDINGLY, CALLING PARTIES WERE ADVISED THAT A STATEMENT WOULD BE MADE BY THE END OF THE DAY RELATIVE TO THE QUESTION. IN THE MEANTIME, INTENSIVE EFFORT WAS MADE INVESTIGATIVELY TO ATTEMPT TO ELIMINATE KIPERST AS A SUSPECT IN THE NORJAK CASE. ALSO IN THE MEANTIME, THE MEDIA, IN PARTICULAR TV AND RADIO, WERE BROADCASTING THAT KIPERTS, WHO IS IN JAIL IN SAN DIEGO, MIGHT BE D. B. COOPER, AND THAT THE FBI IS EXPECTED TO MAKE A STATEMENT REGARDING THIS POSSIBILITY BY THE END OF THE DAY.

---

DB Cooper-12078

FD 91-5424 PAGE FIVE

---

WITH THE INVESTIGATIVE ASSISTANCE OF THE SEATTLE OFFICE, KIPERTS' ENTRIES IN A DIARY FOR THE DATES 11/24 THROUGH 11/29/71 RELATIVE TO HIS WHEREABOUTS WERE SUBSTANTIALLY CONFIRMED. A PHOTOGRAPH OF A GOOD LIKENESS OF KIPERTS WAS SHOWN TO NORJAK WITNESSES WITH OTHER SHOWDOWNS WITH COMPLETELY NEGATIVE RESULTS. THESE RESULTS, TOGETHER WITH THE SUBSTANTIAL DISSIMILARITY IN PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION BETWEEN KIPERTS AND THE HIJACKER, ENABLED DEFINITE ELIMINATION OF KIPERTS AS A NORJAK SUSPECT.

---

BETWEEN 4:30 AND 5:00 P.M., PACIFIC STANDARD TIME, MEDIA CALLING FOR THE PROMISED STATEMENT WERE ADVISED THAT KIPERTS HAD BEEN ELIMINATED AS A SUSPECT IN THE NORTHWEST AIRLINE HIJACKING. THIS APPEARED TO KILL THE SPECULATION AND ALL INQUIRY IMMEDIATELY SUBSIDED.

---

THE EVENTS DESCRIBED IN THE FOREGOING WERE REPORTED TO THE PRESS OFFICE, FBI HEADQUARTERS, EARLY INTHE DAY, 11/9/73. END CAB FBI SE CLR

---

DB Cooper-12079