Part 73, page 72

Transcript

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

FD-302 (REV. 3-8-77)

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

SUF. 987, 4 1

Date of transcription 6/30/80

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Richard A. Armstrong, Bickel Trailor Court, who being made aware of the identity of the interviewing agent and the nature of the interview, advised as follows:

Armstrong stated that he has had a continuing interest in the D. B. Cooper affair since its occurrence because of the newsmedia conjecture that Cooper possibily was a parachutist and that he had been a paratrooper. He said that the fact of his being a former paratrooper and his resemblance to the artist conception of Cooper has brought comments from fellow construction workers, such as, "Armstrong, are you sure you are not Cooper?". When the interviewing agent advised Armstrong that he was there as a result of an anonymous phone caller, Armstrong said, "oh, the caller was probably my ex-mother-in-law!".

Armstrong commented about a recent article in the Parkersburg Newspaper which told of pieces of the extortion money being found. He said it was probably placed there as a "decoy". He asked the interviewing agent if the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had obtained fingerprints of Cooper and if the FBI were certain that Cooper had actually parachuted, instead of hiding himself on the plane. Also, when the mechanics of the alleged jump were discussed, Armstrong stated that the jump was certainly possible, that the speed of the plane and the altitude of it would be no factor. He said that he, as a United States Army Paratrooper, had made 30 jumps; one jump, according to him, was made from a plane flying at 300 miles per hour.

Armstrong advised, when he was told by the interviewing agent of his similarity to Cooper, that he is not Cooper and that he had been no farther West than Iowa. He did admit, however, to considerable travel, including flying to various places, but mostly, he said, East of the Mississippi. He said that he once had a passport to Newfoundland, , and; more recently, he said he made an application for a passport to Saudi Arabia.

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Investigation on 6/24/80 at Parkersburg, WV File # [redacted]-93 by SA [redacted] Date dictated 6/24/80

This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI. It is the property of the FBI and is loaned to your agency; it and its contents are not to be distributed outside your agency.

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DB Cooper-31385