Part 54, page 63

Transcript

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

(Mount Clipping in Space Below)

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D.B. Cooper not heroic, letter says

LA Times-Washington Post Service

SEATTLE — Several newspapers received a half- boastful, half-plaintive letter Monday from a person claiming to be the man who hijacked an airliner and par- achuted out the back door with 200,000 dollars.

The Los Angeles Times re- ceived a copy of the letter, postmarked in Seattle last Saturday, as did the Seattle Times. Copies also went to the New York Times and the Washington Post, the letter- writer indicated. The Wash- ington Post had not received such a letter as of Monday night.

The Northwest Orient 727 airliner was hijacked on the night before Thanksgiving on a flight from Portland, Ore., to Seattle.

The writer of the typewrit- ten letter, which was re- ceived in Los Angeles Mon- day, said that he "knew from the start" that he wouldn't be caught because he wore a disguise, left no fingerprints and used other, unspecified means of con- founding authorities.

The letter, the latest of several received by various newspapers, was turned over by the Los Angeles Times to FBI agents. The FBI head- quarters in Washington re- fused to comment.

"I didn't rob Northwest Orient because I thought it would be romantic, heroic or any of the other euphemisms that seem to attach them- selves to situations of high risks," said the letter-writer.

"I am no modern-day Rob- in Hood. Unfortunately, I have only [illegible] to live.

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"My life has been one of hate, turmoil, hunger and more hate. This seemed to be the fastest and most prof- itable way to gain a few fast grains of peace of mind. I don't blame people for hat- ing me for what I've done nor do I blame anybody for wanting me to be caught and punished, though this can never happen."

He said he wore a toupee and putty makeup which would make it impossible for anyone to recognize him from a composite picture distributed by the FBI.

"I've come and gone on several airline flights and am not holed up in some ob- scure backwoods town," he said. "Neither am I a psy- chopathic killer. As a matter of fact, I've never even re- ceived a speeding ticket."

He typed at the bottom the name "D.B. Cooper," which was the name given by the hijacker when he bought a ticket to Seattle at Portland. Underneath the name on the copy of the letter sent to the Los Angeles Times was this sequence of numbers and let- ters: "7698 QA 2753." The Se- attle Times letter had differ- ent numbers at the bottom.

Airline crew members who saw the hijacker before he bailed out between Seattle and Reno said he was be- tween 40 and 50 years old, was about six feet tall and weighed about 175 pounds. They said he had a receding hairline.

The FBI has given no indi- cation of whether it has any good leads on the where- abouts of the hijacker, but did announce Friday that it has released to banks and department stores the serial numbers of the bills he took. The entire $200,000 was in $20 bills. Identification will be difficult because the ten thousand series numbers are not in sequence.

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(Indicate page, name of newspaper, city and state.)

/8

THE OREGONIAN PORTLAND, OREGON

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Date: /2-/4-7/ Edition: Author: Editor: Title:

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Character: or Classification: Submitting Officer:

☐ Being Investigated

/64-4/S [illegible] /

SEARCHED _____ [illegible] SERIALIZED _____ FILED [illegible]

DE [illegible] FBI—POR[illegible]

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DB Cooper-22989