Part 53, page 47
DB Cooper-22385Serials SE 164-81
Document date 18 July 1972
FBI 164-81, Vault Part 53 p. 47 (DB Cooper-22385), News clipping, dated 18 Jul 1972 — cooper.theunsolved.net/parts/Cooper-Part-53/pages/47
Transcript
The scan is the source; the transcript is machine-generated from it.
FD-350 (Rev. 7-16-63)
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Conspiracy charged in 'Cooper interview' case
The federal government has added a conspiracy count to earlier charges filed against two Kitsap County men accused of setting up a phony interview with "D. B. Cooper," who hijacked an airplane here last November.
Four additional counts were filed here yesterday by United States Attorney Stan Pitkin against William John Lewis, also known as Jack Lewis, and Donald Sylvester Murphy.
The conspiracy count in yesterday's information charges that Lewis and Murphy conspired together and with other unknown persons to defraud Karl Fleming of Newsweek Magazine and Platypus Publications, Inc., of Los Angeles, of more than $5,000.
The charge also says that as a part of the conspiracy Lewis demanded $45,000 for the bogus interview.
In an additional count, the federal government charges the two men with transmitting messages by wire and telephone communications in interstate commerce between Seattle and Los Angeles to defraud.
Lewis, 32, of Seabeck, and Murphy, 49, of Bremerton, were charged originally in May. Lewis posted $50,000 bail, and Murphy posted $5,000 bail.
They were charged with trying to swindle Fleming, a former contributing editor of
Newsweek, by convincing him Murphy was D. B. Cooper.
Pitkin filed the added charges yesterday after the defendants waived their rights to go before the federal grand jury which could indict them.
Lewis and Murphy asked for and were granted a delay so they could review government evidence, including tapes and films.
"D. B. Cooper" was the name used by the man who
hijacked a Northwest Airlines flight between Portland and Seattle last Thanksgiving eve and parachuted out enroute to Reno after extorting $200,000 from the airline. No trace of Cooper or the money has been found.
Two additional counts in the new charges deal with the dates from February 1, 1972, continuing to May 2, 1972, in which the defendants are accused of devising their scheme to defraud, knowing their information was false.
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(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.)
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p.A4 Seattle Times Seattle, Wash.
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Date: 7/18/72 Edition: Final Author: Editor: Henry McLeod Title: NORJAK
Character: or Classification: 164-81 Submitting Office: Seattle
☐ Being Investigated
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COPY SENT TO BUREAU
SEARCHED ............INDEXED ............ SERIALIZED ...........FILED ............... JUL 1 7 1972 FBI—SEATTLE
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DB Cooper-22385