On FD-350: 'Cooper a hero or crook?' (Daily News, 2/14/80)
Document date 14 February 1980
Also filed at: Part 63 p. 32
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Id: Cooper-Part-43:272-273
Subject: Cooper Files: Cooper-Part-43:272-273 Document: Clipping on FD-350: 'Cooper a hero or crook?' (Daily News, 2/14/80) Id: Cooper-Part-43:272-273 Page: https://cooper.theunsolved.net/documents/Cooper-Part-43%3A272-273 What is wrong (title, date, type, which pages belong together, copies)? What does the scan show?
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FBI 164-81, Vault Part 43 pp. 272–273 (DB Cooper-17494–17495), News clipping, dated 14 Feb 1980 — cooper.theunsolved.net/documents/Cooper-Part-43%3A272-273
FD-350 (Rev. 12-5-78)
(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.) p. B1 Daily News Longview, Wa.
Date: 2/14/80 Edition: Final
Title:
Character: or Classification: Submitting Office: Seattle
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Cooper a hero or crook?
By Bud May The Daily News
If they ever create a hall of fame for lawbreakers, D.B. Cooper will certainly have an honored spot as the perpetrator of America's only unsolved skyjacking. But does that make him a hero, or just a criminal pictured by some as a Robin Hood character who stymied the establishment? The legendary man had few admirers among people whose opinions were solicited by The Daily News today. An exception is Dave Fisher, who operates the [guess: 7] Store and Tavern along [illegible] his wife, Laurel. "I'll admit he's a crook, like most of the people here, I hope he got away and on the loose. People here [illegible] he put Ariel on the map, [guess: and] we're kind of rooting for him!" Fisher said. Gordon Connell, a Kelso hardware store owner, disagrees. "I think D.B. Cooper is a long way from being a hero. He is or was a common crook who stole someone else's money; and if he's found alive, he should be punished fully. "I also think it's asinine that people form D.B. Cooper clubs, hold D.B. Cooper parties, print D.B. Cooper T-shirts and find other ways to glorify him," Connell said. Conrad Bankson, principal at the Mint Valley School in Longview, has similar views. "What he did was sensational, but keep in mind that kidnapping and demanding ransom are serious crimes. If he's ever found alive, which I doubt, he should get the full penalty of the law." Pausing, Bankson added, "If he's dead, perhaps nature provided the ultimate penalty."
John Hayes, operator of a service station in Kelso, had nothing good to say about the man sought since bailing out of a Northwest Orient Airlines jet over the Lewis River area on Nov. 24, 1971. "D.B. Cooper broke the law, and he sure doesn't deserve sympathy. I give him credit for being smart, but I still think he's a damn crook, and I hope he's brought to justice," Hayes commented. A Castle Rock housewife, Margaret Kotera, considers Cooper a man who risked the lives of innocent persons for personal gain. "I don't admire him. When you take the law into your own hands and endanger other people's lives you are no hero," she said.
Some citizens polled concede Cooper was a lawbreaker, but credit him with being a one-of-a-kind crook who made a lot of people scratch their heads. Norma Sewell of Kelso, a deputy clerk at the County Clerk's Office, characterized the skyjacker in that manner. "He's an out and out crook, but he carried out his crime spectacularly, and he's baffled some very good police minds for nearly nine years," she said. Dick Wilson, plant manager at Longview Ice and Cold Storage, sees Cooper as a criminal whose crime brought him endless publicity. "There's no doubt he was a crook, but he sure got a lot of advertising. Not everyone has a name on T-shirts," Wilson said. Whatever his detractors say, Cooper still has some fans. Minutes after Tuesday's announcement that some of the ransom money had been found, a Portland parking garage attendant told this reporter, "I sure hope this doesn't mean he's dead. I've always hoped he got away."
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[illegible date stamp] 1-9258 SEARCHED......INDEXED...... SERIALIZED.....FILED...... FEB [guess: 25] 1980 FBI - SEATTLE
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[illegible handwritten text]
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FBI/DOJ
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DB Cooper-17494
FD-350 (Rev. 12-5-78)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
(Indicate page, name of paper, city and state.) p.B1 Daily News Longview, Wa.
Date: 2/14/80 Edition: Final
Title:
Character: or Classification: Submitting Office: Seattle
---
Cooper a hero or crook?
By Bud May The Daily News
If they ever create a hall of fame for lawbreakers, D.B. Cooper will certainly have an honored spot as the perpetrator of America's only unsolved skyjacking.
But does that make him a hero, or just a criminal pictured by some as a Robin Hood character who stymied the establishment?
The legendary man had few admirers among people whose opinions were solicited by The Daily News today.
An exception is Dave Fisher, who operates the Ariel Store and Tavern along with his wife, Laurel.
"I'll admit he's a crook, but like most of the people up here, I hope he got away and is on the loose. People here feel he put Ariel on the map, and we're kind of rooting for him." Fisher said.
Gordon Connell, a Kelso hardware store owner, disagrees.
"I think D.B. Cooper is a long way from being a hero. He is or was a common crook who stole someone else's money; and if he's found alive, he should be punished fully.
"I also think it's asinine that people form D.B. Cooper clubs, hold D.B. Cooper parties, print D.B. Cooper T-shirts and find other ways to glorify him," Connell said.
Conrad Bankson, principal at the Mint Valley School in Longview, has similar views.
"What he did was sensational, but keep in mind that kidnapping and demanding ransom are serious crimes. If he's ever found alive, which I doubt, he should get the full penalty of the law."
Pausing, Bankson added, "If he's dead, perhaps nature provided the ultimate penalty."
John Hayes, operator of a service station in Kelso, had nothing good to say about the man sought since bailing out of a Northwest Orient Airlines jet over the Lewis River area on Nov. 24, 1971.
"D.B. Cooper broke the law, and he sure doesn't deserve sympathy. I give him credit for being smart, but I still think he's a damn crook, and I hope he's brought to justice," Hayes commented.
A Castle Rock housewife, Margaret Kotera, considers Cooper a man who risked the lives of innocent persons for personal gain.
"I don't admire him. When you take the law into your own hands and endanger other people's lives you are no hero," she said.
Some citizens polled concede Cooper was a lawbreaker, but credit him with being a one-of-a-kind crook who made a lot of people scratch their heads.
Norma Sewell of Kelso, a deputy clerk at the County Clerk's Office, characterized the skyjacker in that manner.
"He's an out and out crook, but he carried out his crime spectacularly, and he's baffled some very good police minds for nearly nine years," she said.
Dick Wilson, plant manager at Longview Ice and Cold Storage, sees Cooper as a criminal whose crime brought him endless publicity.
"There's no doubt he was a crook, but he sure got a lot of advertising. Not everyone has a name on T-shirts," Wilson said.
Whatever his detractors say, Cooper still has some fans.
Minutes after Tuesday's announcement that some of the ransom money had been found, a Portland parking garage attendant told this reporter, "I sure hope this doesn't mean he's dead. I've always hoped he got away."
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[handwritten] b4-51-5425[illegible] SEARCHED......INDEXED...... SERIALIZED.....FILED....... FEB 25 1980 FBI - SEATTLE
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SUB: B
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DB Cooper-17495
Serials: 1-9258, 17495, [guess: b4-51-54258]