Part 78, page 116

Transcript

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

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

(Mount Clipping in Space Below)

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Alleged Hijacker Writes Papers

The Los Angeles Times SEATTLE — Several newspapers received a half-boastful, half-plaintive letter Monday from a person claiming to be the man who hijacked an airliner and parachuted out the back door with $200,000.

The Los Angeles Times received 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 Washington 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 typewritten letter, which was received in Los Angeles Monday, said 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 confounding authorities.

The letter, the latest of several received by various newspapers, was turned over to FBI agents. The FBI headquarters in Washington refused 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 themselves to situations of high risks," said the letter-writer.

"I am no modern-day Robin Hood. Unfortunately, I have only 14 months to live.

"My life has been one of hate, turmoil, hunger and more hate. This seemed to be the fastest and most profitable way to gain a few fast grains of peace of mind. I don't blame people for hating 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 obscure backwoods town," he said. "Neither am I a psychopathic killer. As a matter of fact, I've never even received a speeding ticket."

He typed at the bottom the name "D. B. Cooper," which was the name giver 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 letters: "7698 QA 2753." The Seattle Times letter had different numbers at the bottom.

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

The FBI has given no indication of whether it has any good leads on the whereabouts 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 10,000 series numbers are not in sequence.

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

2 St. Paul Pioneer Press St. Paul, Minn.

Date: Dec. 14, 1971 Edition: Morning Author: Editor: Donald J. O'Grady Title:

Character: or Classification: Submitting Office: Minneapolis

☐ Being Investigated

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164-73 -150 SEARCHED _____ INDEXED _____ SERIAL 27 6 FILED DEC 1 6 1971

b6 DB Cooper-33931 b7c