Part 60, page 174

Transcript

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

FD-350 (Rev. 7-16-63)

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2 Convicted in D. B. Cooper Fraud Case

BY DARYL LEMBKE Times Staff Writer

SEATTLE — Two men were convicted in federal court here Wednesday of fraudulently selling a story of how "D. B. Cooper" hijacked an airliner, with one of them impersonating the hijacker.

A jury of three women and nine men deliberated five hours Tuesday night and Wednesday before finding William J. (Jack) Lewis, 33, and Donald Sylvester Murphy, 50, guilty of all charges.

Both were found guilty of two counts of inducing former Newsweek contributing editor Karl Fleming, 45, to travel across state lines for the purpose of defrauding him and of a third count of conspiring to defraud him.

Lewis was also convicted of a fourth count of using a wire (in this case, the telephone) to defraud.

Possible Sentences

U.S. Dist. Judge Walter T. McGovern set Jan. 19 for probation hearing and sentencing. Lewis could receive up to 30 years in federal prison or $31,000 in fines or both. Murphy could receive a maximum sentence of 25 years or $30,000 in fines or both.

Jury foreman George Wittrock, a planner for the Boeing Co., said the deciding factor was the replaying in the jury room of tapes recorded when Lewis, acting as the go-between, phoned Fleming in Los Angeles last Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 and other tapes recorded in Seattle when Fleming interviewed Murphy. Fleming testified in the eight-day trial that the two Bremerton, Wash., real estate men had flimflammed him into believing that he was interviewing the real "D. B. Cooper" when he questioned Murphy at length on tape and film.

The defendants claimed that he knew all along that Murphy was playing the role of "D. B. Cooper" but went along with it to obtain an exciting story.

Wittrock said the jury believed the tapes proved conclusively that Fleming thought he was dealing with the real hijacker.

1971 Hijacking

A man giving the name "D. B. Cooper" hijacked a 727 jet airliner Nov. 23, 1971, demanded and got $200,000 and parachuted out on a flight from Seattle to Reno.

No trace has ever been found of the man or the money.

Fleming placed an ad in Seattle newspapers last Dec. 23, urging "D. B. Cooper" to contact him and tell his story "to an absolutely discreet and trustworthy writer for responsible national magazine, without jeopardizing your safety in any way."

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

I-8 Los Angeles Times Los Angeles, Calif.

Date: 12/21/72 Edition: Thursday final Author: Daryl Lembke Editor: William F. Thomas Title:

Character: or Classification: Submitting Office: Los Angeles ☐ Being Investigated

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SEARCHED......INDEXED...... SERIALIZED......FILED...... DEC 21 1972 b6 b7C

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DB Cooper-24852