Document date 23 September 1972AIDates: machine-written — generated by an AI model from the transcripts, and it can be wrong. The scan is the source; the transcript is machine-generated from it.
Another copy of this document is the primary, most legible copy: read it.
FBI 164-81, Vault Part 73 p. 283 (DB Cooper-31636), Teletype, dated 23 Sep 1972, serial SE 164-81-3930 (as read from the transcript) — cooper.theunsolved.net/parts/Cooper-Part-73/pages/283
The scan is the source; the transcript is machine-generated from it.
LA 164-497
PAGE TWO
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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
CRIMINAL". HE WAS A KIND AND GENTILE (SIC) 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]
HE TOLD [REDACTED] WE MADE IT BIG UP IN CANADA LAST YEAR, BUT I'M