Part 60, page 36
DB Cooper-24684Serials LA 164-497
Document date 23 September 1972
FBI 164-81, Vault Part 60 p. 36 (DB Cooper-24684), Teletype, dated 23 Sep 1972, serial LA 164-497-560 (as read from the transcript) — cooper.theunsolved.net/parts/Cooper-Part-60/pages/36
Transcript
The scan is the source; the transcript is machine-generated from it.
LA 164-497 PAGE TWO
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DEAR SIRS:
[REDACTED] IS DEAD. "D. B. COOPER" PASSED AWAY ON SEPTEMBER TWELFTH. TOGETHER WE BOTH PLANNED THE MOST SUCCESSFUL SKYJACKING TO DATE.
WHILE HE WAS ALIVE, [REDACTED] REFUSED TO LET ME TELL THE PUBLIC THAT HE WASN'T REALLY BAD. HE DIED WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THINKING HE WAS JUST ANOTHER 'SKYJACKER TERRORIST'. BUT HE WASN'T.
TO ME, AND THOSE OF YOU WHO KNEW HIM, HE WAS NOT "A RUTHLESS (sic) CRIMINAL". HE WAS A KIND AND GENTILE HUMAN BEING. HE LOVED LIFE AND EVERYTHING ABOUT IT. WHEN HE FOUND OUT THAT HE HAD BUT MONTHS TO LIVE, HE FACED THE NEWS VERY BRAVELY. TALKING DID NO GOOD. WHAT COULD I SAY? JUST TWO YEARS BEFORE, HE LOST HIS WIFE AND DAUGHTER. I COULD SENSE A CHANGE COMING OVER HIM. HE WAS FACED WITH DEATH. BUT SOMETHING ELSE WAS ON HIS MIND. WHEN HE FIRST TOLD ME ABOUT THE JOB, I THOUGHT HE WAS JOKING. HE WASN'T. AFTER ALL, HE HAD NOTHING TO LOSE AND PLENTY TO GAIN.
HOWEVER, MONEY WASN'T THE OBJECT. [REDACTED] KNEW THAT HE COULD DEMAND ALMOST ANY AMOUNT AND HE'D PROBABLY GET IT. IN FACT, WE GAVE ALMOST ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS OF THE RANSOM MONEY AWAY TO CHARITIES AND FAMILIES IN NEED. HE PAID OFF ALL [REDACTED] HOSPITAL BILLS AND GAVE [REDACTED]
[REDACTED] HE TOLD [REDACTED] WE MADE IT BIG UP IN CANADA LAST YEAR, BUT I'M
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DB Cooper-24684