Re NORJAK conference, San Francisco, April 8-9, 1976

OPTIONAL FORM NO. 10 MAY 1962 EDITION GSA FPMR (41 CFR) 101-11.6 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT Memorandum

TO : [REDACTED] DATE: 4/20/76

FROM : [REDACTED]

SUBJECT: NORJAK

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[Assoc. Dir.] Dep. AD [illegible] Dep. [illegible] Asst. Dir.: Admin. Comp. Syst. Ext. Affairs Files & Com. Gen. Inv. ___ Ident. ___ Inspection ___ b7C Intell. ___ Laboratory ___ Legal Coun. ___ Plan. & Eval. ___ Spec. Inv. ___ Training ___ Telephone Rm. ___ Director Sec'y ___

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PURPOSE: To report observations and recommendations resulting from the Norjak conference held at San Francisco, California, 4/8-9/76, with representatives from FBIHQ, Seattle, Portland, Las Vegas, and San Francisco in attendance.

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SYNOPSIS: A conference was held at San Francisco, California, 4/8-9/76, to determine present status (both prosecutive and investigative) of captioned case and in an effort to develop new ideas assisting in the identification and location of subject of captioned case, also known as Dan Cooper, D. B. Cooper. The feasibility of reinstituting a terrain search was discussed and eliminated due to the ruggedness of the terrain, the dollar cost anticipated, and the extremely large amount of manpower which would be necessary. The investigation to date was gone over step by step and determined to be, by all attendees, full and complete. An idea to reinitiate a reward offer by a source outside of the Bureau, such as Northwest Orient Airlines, for the location and turn-in of any one of the bills making up the ransom package was made and believed to be our best opportunity to create public interest in the possible solution of this case. This idea is written out in depth in the details of this memorandum and a recommendation to initiate this idea is set out in the recommendation paragraph.

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RECOMMENDATION: That a publicity campaign be set up in detail for release in early November, 1976, widely publicizing a reward (exact amount yet to be determined) for any twenty dollar bill turned in from the ransom list published in various media, periodicals, and possibly local newspapers. If approved, General Investigative Division, Special Crimes Unit, will immediately take steps to initiate this publicity effort.

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APPROVED: ___ Comp. Syst.___ Laboratory.___ Assoc. Dir.___ Ext. Affairs___ Legal Coun.___ Dep. AD Adm.___ Gen. Inv. [checked] Plan. & Eval.___ Pur. Dep. AD In[vestigations] Ident.___ Rec. Mgmt.___ Asst. Dir.: ___ Inspection.___ Spec. Inv.___ Admin.___ Intell.___ Training.___ CONTINUED -OVER

GLP:ics (12) [initials]

Buy U.S. Savings Bonds Regularly on the Payroll Savings Plan

DB Cooper-19823

Memo [REDACTED] RE: NORJAK

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DETAILS: A conference was held at San Francisco, California, on 4/8-9/76, with the following individuals in attendance:

FBIHQ - Supervisor SA [REDACTED] b6 Las Vegas - SA [REDACTED] b7C Los Angeles - SA [REDACTED] Portland - SA [REDACTED] Seattle - SA [REDACTED] (Case Agent) San Francisco - SAC Charles W. Bates ASAC [REDACTED] Supervisor SA [REDACTED] SA [REDACTED] SA [REDACTED] SA [REDACTED] SA [REDACTED] SA [REDACTED]

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This conference was set up to establish the feasibility of obtaining a John Doe indictment and to determine the value of redoing any basic investigation, the reviewing of investigation previously conducted, and to study possible new approaches that would result in the positive identification and subsequent location of the subject and/or the ransom money.

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It was determined that at the present time, we had no good suspects outstanding and the amount of hard physical evidence was extremely limited (tie and tie tack, straps of material from one of the parachutes, papers from around subject's seat area, eight cigarette butts, two hair samples and approximately 66 unidentified latent fingerprints). To date, not one of the ransom twenty dollar bills (10,000 in all) has been located. A discussion ensued as to the present strength of eyewitness identification to which Case Agent [REDACTED] responded that it was b6 weak. It was noted that these witnesses (10 in number) b7C remain very cooperative, even though it has been four and one half years since the hijacking and several differing composites have been made.

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Concerning present status of prosecution, the attendees felt that if Cooper was to surrender to authorities now or in the near future, it would be extremely difficult to "make the case" if he was uncooperative, but if he gave a signed statement they felt they could verify whether this was in fact the true hijacker. The Seattle and Portland Agents in attendance felt the accurate story concerning the incident had never appeared in its correct form in any publications they had read; therefore,

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Memo [REDACTED] RE: NORJAK

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b6 b7C

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they felt they could identify positively a cooperative Cooper. All attendees were in agreement, however, that a John Doe indictment at this time would be difficult to obtain due to the lack of positive identifying or even somewhat limiting data concerning Cooper, and that if someone came forth after November, 1976, it might possibly be more harmful in the successful prosecution of this case if the John Doe indictment was issued and then thrown out.

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A review was made of investigation conducted to date and the possibility of redoing any of same. Reinterview of witnesses at this time was considered to be unproductive as this has been continuous upon various displays and it was felt that at this time they were now relying on the artist's conceptions rather than individual memory. Discussion took place concerning the possibility of reinstituting a terrain search of the calculated drop area. It was determined that this would be extremely impractical due to several significant facts. First, it was stated by the attendees that have previously participated in a search of the area, that if Agents walked hand in hand through that area, because of the heavy thickets, they could still walk right by a person or a briefcase without seeing it. Next it was mentioned that in addition, at this time, we have over four years of leaves and brush to contend with. The expense involved, as well as man power necessary, ruled out, as far as the attendees were concerned, any feasibility of conducting additional terrain searches.

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The next phase discussed was the possibility of utilizing a reward for the missing twenty dollar bills (10,000 of them in all). It was felt that a nationwide campaign of offering $5,000 for the first one or first five twenty dollar bills turned over to Northwest Orient Airlines, would attract national publicity and would serve to provide us information as to whether the ransom money ever got into circulation. If one of these bills was turned in, it would tell us one of two things, either Cooper was successful in his jump and managed to escape the wooded area with or without the assistance of an accomplice, or the money was found by someone else and that person put it into circulation. It was felt that Northwest Orient Airlines may desire to offer this reward, since the claiming of this reward might enhance their chances of securing a recovery of the $200,000 extorted from their airlines. It was recommended that we feed the reward offer to every type of media to afford the reward widespread publicity. A condition to the return of the money could be an offer of immunity from prosecution for receiving stolen property.

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DB Cooper-19825

Memo [REDACTED] RE: NORJAK

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b6 b7C

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It was felt that this reward offer could be run as a nationwide treasure hunt, thus receiving widespread publicity and therefore, hopefully getting a major portion of the United States population checking all twenty dollar bills coming into their possession. We would provide lists of the serial numbers to selected coin magazines and numismatic publications and ask for their assistance in publishing portions of the list at their discretion of course. It was also determined that timing of this publicity, if approved, would be all important; therefore, a recommendation was made that we initiate this publicity in November, 1976, due to the fact that this is when this case will be receiving publicity. The publicity, if we can judge same by past Novembers, AP and UPI releases will state that D. B. Cooper is now a free man, that the Statute of Limitations regarding this crime has run. Department of Justice's stand at this time is that the Statute of Limitations has tolled due to the fact that at the time offense was committed (11/24/71), it was a crime punishable by death, therefore, the Statute of Limitations would not apply. This would be the ideal time to initiate a program of this type. The only other factor considered regarding this publicity campaign was that of cost to the Bureau. The only cost anticipated was the cost of reproduction of the ransom money list and the cost of Agents' time throughout the country distributing their list to appropriate media personnel with an appropriate press release from the Director. A prior check would be made with leading newspapers in major cities to determine the most appropriate and convenient form in which to supply the serial numbers of the 10,000 twenty dollar bills in an effort to enlist their full participation in this treasure hunt. It is surely realized that this is a long- shot chance at attempting to secure leads regarding this matter, but it is felt that at this point in the investigation, our choices of alternatives are extremely limited.

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All attendees contributed significantly in an attempt to insure all investigative aspects of this case have been fully completed and that every effort has been made to identify and locate subject of this matter.

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DB Cooper-19826