Part 54, page 116

Transcript

The scan is the source; the transcript is machine-generated from it.

Many people believe that the five-year feder- al statute of limitations on Cooper ran out yes- terday, and that he can now emerge to spend the loot of 10,000 $20 bills.

The indictment of Cooper was returned just hours before the statute of limitations ran out.

Justice Department of- fi[guess: c]ials in Washington, D.C., noted that their at- tempt earlier this year to prosecute New Jersey Teamster leader Antho- ny Provenzano for a 1961 kidnap-slaying was thrown out of court by a federal judge who ruled that the statute of limi- tation had expired a decade ago.

But Stan Pitkin, who recently resigned as U.S. Attorney for West- ern Washington, claims the case against Cooper is very much alive.

Pitkin argues that air piracy with threat of bodily harm is a capital offense. He says federal capital cases can re- main "active" forever, or until a suspect is brought to trial and guilt is decided.

Pitkin also claims there is a federal tax case to be made against Cooper — the $20 bills, their serial numbers carefully recorded, have never been spent. The statute of limitations on tax cases is six years.

But while FBI agents combed nearby wood- lands, the tiny town of Ariel, near Lake Mer- win, planned a Saturday night party observing the fifth anniversary of Cooper's jump.

Mrs. Germaine Trico- la, owner of the Ariel Store, said she is spon- soring the party because "... It's pretty quiet around here this time of year."

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FBI AGENT Dick Dyer of Vancouver, Wash., left, and Sheriff Gene Cotton of Clark County examine a pair of pants found in a tree about 25 feet off the ground in southwest Washington. The pants might have been worn by history's first, and only successful, parachute skyjacker, D. B. Cooper. — AP Photo.

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