D B Cooper Unsolved Skyjacking

[Ckret 0]

The clasp was on the tie when it was recovered.

The tie and clasp were stored in evidence as separate items.

The tie clasp is basically an alligator clip with the same tension as a normal alligator clip.

There are shoeshiners in every airport, I just have not found any interviews of shoeshiners in the Cooper case files. Jo, can you be a bit more specific?

[SafecrackingPLF 0]

Ckret, I'd like to add that Shaffner spent at least 20 minutes sitting next to the guy.

This is not a case of quick events preventing accuracy.

What I was referring to (and I know it wasn't what you were responding to) was poor photo-line ups. Everyone always goes to Florence with a picture and asks "is that him? is that him?" this is a horrible way to do a photo line-up. I'm not saying you can't trust it, just it's very poor procedure and after 36 yrs, I would listen to what she says, but I wouldn't give it the weight it would deserve if it were 1973.

You mentioned Tina joking around with Cooper. I swear I read in Tusow's book that Cooper had relaxed so much once he got the money that he actually offered some to Tina. This must be false... I must have been hallucinating when I read that book because I doubt it's in there.

[Ckret 0]

When Tina brought the money to Cooper, Cooper started talking excitedly about it (Flo's assessment about him being child like). He talked about how heavy it was and had Flo hold the bag so she could feel the weight. Tina then joked with Cooper about it being a lot of money and could she have some. Cooper reached into the bag and gave her a bundle of money. Tina then said to him she was just joking and that she could not accept gratuities and handed the bundle back to Cooper.

[skyjack71 0]

Quote

When Tina brought the money to Cooper, Cooper started talking excitedly about it (Flo's assessment about him being child like). He talked about how heavy it was and had Flo hold the bag so she could feel the weight. Tina then joked with Cooper about it being a lot of money and could she have some. Cooper reached into the bag and gave her a bundle of money. Tina then said to him she was just joking and that she could not accept gratuities and handed the bundle back to Cooper.

In another post you stated:

"They described the situation as calm and Cooper as calm, quiet and polite. In fact, Tina described joking with Cooper towards the end of the flight and Schaffner described him as child like. In other words no trauma that would taint the description"

_________________________________________________
Talk to ANYONE who knew Duane and they will tell you that this is his demeanor. The description of his excitement - childlike - would have been demonstrated with a smile - a smile that is so memorable that no one could forget it. I do not have a photo of that smile - but you can see it faintly in the photo that his brother provided me (Duane appears to be about 20 in that photo). We do not know his actual age for that photo.

also told me Duane had been "instructed" not to smile. This man has only seen pictures of Duane that have been on line. It was another part of his story that was on target.

Duane could get angry - I have a photo of him taken when caught him by surprise (this expression is the closest I have to visualizing him angry). No one has said that they saw him express anger - but, I wanted to mention that I have this photo - it is one never published I wanted to show the stewardess.

witnesses gave their description to the artist who did the revised composite - they tried to describe a specific characteristic. When I was told this by Doug Pasternac who interviewed the artist - I told Doug what it was - he did not get a chance to tell me before I blurted this out. How could I pick one characteristic that had never been made public (and still has not been made public to this day that I am aware of). It may be in some of the files you are now making public. I am unable to download them or read them with my dial-up connection. I have mentioned this "unknown characteristic" many times since 2000 and it is therefore documented....and also in Doug's notes.

If you want to know more about the Shoeshine man you will have to call me. When I called - you didn't have time to talk to me nor have you answered my questions that I asked in the email I sent. I will also tell you about Oakdale and WHY it is so important.

I know what I know and what I know tells me that Duane was Cooper.

PS: To everyone - anyone have anything on Pyramid Lake?????

Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013, 2014, 2015 by Jo Weber

[skyjack71 0]

The FBI Fingerprint System:

It was my understanding in 1967 that even though a central system had been established in Washington for the storage of Prints that the existing computer system in use now was not operational until the 1970's.

In 1967 not all of the states and prisons had complied - and it was the 70's before this would happen. The operational central system in place for the print cards in Washington was a manual one in 1967 the last time Duane was incarcerated When the computer system started there were errors and to this day not all of the prints in the manual system have been checked against those in the computer system.

I have maintained that more than one prisoner in the Jefferson system managed to get his prints changed in the system through the corruption at Jefferson. This would mean that the print card sent to the FBI central system would not be the correct prints of that individual. The prints used by the computers system were the last known prints for that individual.

Old print cards from Folsom, SanQuentin, McNeil, Canon City and Columbia along with military prints need to be checked against the prints in the current system for Duane Weber.

Military prints? You guys out there who served in WW II - were you fingerprinted ?????? In the 40's.

All of this useless information being provided by the FBI in the media is not helping to find out who Cooper was. If they are going to disqualify an individual then it needs to be precise and backed up with data based not only on the physical evidence but on the history of that evidence.

The FBI never revealed, but denied Duane's criminal background - and told me that Duane had never been in McNeil and SanQuentin and Folsom. The research of a jounalist and myself produced the papers to prove his prison record. I feel all of the current media is a smoke screen - the FBI and CIA and others know who Cooper was - otherwise they would have made a more concerted effort regarding Duane's past criminal history.

Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013, 2014, 2015 by Jo Weber

[Ckret 0]

In order to reach the conclusions you have you must have evidence and or documentation to suport them. The reason to go public with all of the information the FBI has collected in regard to this case, is to boast individual investigative efforts by those like you and in return for those like you to assist by sharing your information with the FBI. The information you have could be of value, however, you must provide supporting documentation and or evidence.

How do you come to the conclusion that your husband changed his fingerprints? May I have documents or evidence that reveals this.

What documents do you have that point to corruption at Jefferson Correctional? May I have them.

The research that you and the journalist conducted that points to your husband's criminal history being different then what is on record, do you have that for review?

Thanks for any help.

[skyjack71 0]

Quote

How do you come to the conclusion that your husband changed his fingerprints? May I have documents or evidence that reveals this.

------------------------------------------------------
he was arrested three times after 1971 and twice he had a gun in his possession. A felon in possession of a gun? Obviously the system did not work in these instances.

What I do have is some information regarding the success of another resident changing his prints. Several others were changed at the same time and the authorities thought they caught all of them. My sources who I have spoke with over the yrs also told me that this incident did indeed happen at Jefferson.
__________________________________________________

Quote

What documents do you have that point to corruption at Jefferson Correctional? May I have them.

---------------------------------------------------------
Why would I have these documents regarding Jefferson - is that not the job of the FBI and /or the government? The corruption in Jefferson was common knowledge and I have researched the prison history as best I could as a layman. It was in all of the media of the time - Jefferson was a hell hole - there was a crack-down and the warden was relieved of his duties. I read a lot of the articles, but did not have a reason to make copies of them... Since several yrs. have past I would not know how much has been retained in the archives.
__________________________________________________

Quote

The research that you and the journalist conducted that points to your husband's criminal history being different then what is on record, do you have that for review?

------------------------------------------------------------
I have not said that the criminal history of Duane L. Weber aka John C. Collins is different than what is on record. What I have said is that the FBI agent of record told me that Duane was never in McNeil and yet we were able to get written documentation that he was indeed a resident at McNeil.

This same agent also made other statements that we were able to refute with written documentation - such as his military records.

WHY? Folsom, San Quentin, Canon City and McNeil trained inmates in forestry and one of the above also trained firejumpers.


I have made it thur 3 ft of the 12 plus ft of research and was waiting until I had the time and energy to make it thru the other files to find everything you requested. I do not have the ability to search these thru the computer - but. most of it has been backed-up with CD's. 4 yrs of my search was manual with nothing, but a phone and pen and paper and huge telephone bills.

Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013, 2014, 2015 by Jo Weber

[SafecrackingPLF 0]

Ckret,

Was there anything in any of the eyewitness testimony that would indicate whether Cooper was right handed or not? Were the questions and reports of the witnesses that detailed? I'd be curious to know which hand Cooper used to smoke, drink, and open the brief case.

Back to the tie for a moment, if I understand you correctly, you mentioned multiple male donors, is this correct?

Ckret, In about two weeks I will visit the regional library near the Cooper landing area. I will look at some maps & if I can, I wil attempt to find where that Tena (or Tina) bar. As I stated earlier, I will post anything of interest.

I will also look at a topography map and use the landing area (blip that occured at 8:11 pm) to check for streams/creeks/rivers that might feed into the Columbia from there. I'm hoping they'll have the resources for this.

Am I safe to assume the crew noted two distinct times, one when their ears popped (stairs lowered) and the other a blip, presumably from recoil of the stairs?

[Ckret 0]

Yes there were mutiple male donors on the tie.

One pressure bump caused when the airstairs pushed back up into the aircraft.

No mention of whether he was right or left handed.

[skyjack71 0]

Quote

No mention of whether he was right or left handed.

Duane was left handed and one of his prison files noted the scar on his right hand. He told me he had a scar, but I could not see it. He did not call this scar to my attention until a couple of yrs before he died....why at such a late date other than looking back on his life?

I had not seen these files until Doug was able to acquire them and did not absorb every detail - until you told me to send you copies. This is when I read the detailed description regarding that scar and other descriptive notes.

The investigation into Coffelt was short lived - and Brown kept insisting that Coffelt was a FBI informant? I have tried to find out when Coffelt was in Jefferson, but that information is not available to me. Was it during the time Duane was in Jefferson?

Why did Duane revive the John Collins ID in 1990? I cannot explain that. Could it be he needed a photo ID to retrieve the items that I saw in 1990 from a safe deposit box? It was a friend of mine who came up with this as it had always been a puzzle to me --- Duane need that photo ID so bad we was willing to risk getting that drivers license.

Are you aware of the story about Duane loosing the Highway patrol in 1990 after he tried to get a license in one county, but then was successful in another county? This was a sick man on dialysis who had no reason to obtain a false ID - so what was his motive? He spent 72 hours in observation and not jail when they caught him. The Doctor and I made a plea that he was under stress due to his illness - he was also in possession a new 38 pistol. It appeared to be new - maybe it had been in a safe deposit box for yrs.

Would a gun have a date on it ? The gun was loaded with split bullets - why would he have done that....why did he need a gun period?

Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013, 2014, 2015 by Jo Weber

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

Would a gun have a date on it ? The gun was loaded with split bullets - why would he have done that....why did he need a gun period?

The gun would possibly have the date of manufacture on it. But some manufacturers just code that into the serial number, cross referenced with their production records.

I'm not sure what you mean by "split bullets". Some bullets have cuts in the tip to help them fragment when they hit something, to cause more damage. Used for hunting and self defense, but not target shooting.

Everyone could use a gun for self defense. Whether wanted by the law, or not.

[skyjack71 0]

The Shaffner Composite of 1988 - no description of Cooper ever mentioned a widows peak. From my own experience I know how the TV programs use what they want to use and the man doing the composite is probably not an FBI artist. We also need to remember that when Florence did the attached composite that several yrs had lapsed.

The Ace Photo - I have been holding and waiting for just the right time. Since it is a prison photo this is not going to make the FBI look very good. Ignore the widows peak and remember that Duane has a prison hair-cut (very close with no sideburns).

If you wish image a very small piece of duct tape rolled up and placed behind his ears - Ouch!

NOW WHAT DO YOU HAVE?

I have waited a LONG time to do this. I was unable to examine this sketch until the Mayfield issue came up ----I saw it right away and WAITED to see what would develop.

Then came the NorthWest employee - who again had a close resemblance to Mayfield and the Shaffner composite - EXCEPT no other reports indicated a Widows Peak.

The composite in the Avatra and pic of Duane - have already been run thru the Las Vegas ID program. Perhaps the FBI needs to re-examine their stand. The American public is not stupid, but them maybe I am.

Consistently I have told the FBI what Doug Pasternak was told by the artist who did the FBI composite - I have been ignored. What that artisit told Doug and I blurted out before he could tell me is depicted in both this composite and the 1960 photo of Duane Weber.

Drop Zone - Thank You for letting me post here and helping me to bring closure to the 12 yrs of my life that I have dedicated to the truth. Now I can finally get on with my life....

The FBI has never really listened to me, but folks you did. The FBI never really investigated Duane nor his past (if they had done so this could already have been over yrs ago). Instead they have consistently said Duane was never here or there, the prints don't match and the DNA (of which there are multiple donor) doesn't match. I have repeatedly told them about the prints and I have tried to tell them about all of the strange things that linked hand-in-hand after his death and my discoveries through-out the yrs.

My emails were ignored and I finally gave up and chose other ways to find the truth - communication with the FBI was futile. I feel I have done a very good job - I convinced the most skeptical person in the world - myself....I did not want to believe it, but my heart told me he was Duane L. Weber was none other than D.B. Cooper.

Watch - the FBI will take credit for what I and others have done or they will keep right on with their fantasy and/or pretending to do their job. If they wanted to solve this 36 yr old case - all they had to do was hire a bunch of OLD women.HaHaHa. It has been right in front of them all of the time!

Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013, 2014, 2015 by Jo Weber

[SafecrackingPLF 0]

OMG!

I'm in shock.

I had read someplace where one of the captains (not Scott, the other one) not sure whether to believe the bomb threat, went back and sat next to Cooper. He apparently described Cooper's eyes, even though he was wearing shades at the time. According to what I had read somewhere, the captain looked at his piercing eyes through the tinted shades and immediately took him seriously. I'm not sure if that story is true or not, but still...

Those eyes in that picture... put it this way, I wouldn't want to mess with that guy!

I also find the similarities between that sketch and the photo un-nerving. I know Cooper didn't have a widow's peak, but the rest of it, from the cheeks to the nose & mouth, holy smokes!

I'm feeling a bit motivated. Wow.

[NickDG 23]

First time I've seen any of the gear . . . and I think
Ckret agent man too

Click on the video.

http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_110107INK_cooper_chute_KS.1cbb87e02.html

NickD

[1969912 0]

I couldn't get the video to open, so here's another source in case others have a similar problem.


http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=93d_1193988589

"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG

[SafecrackingPLF 0]

Thanks for posting.

That is one of about 4 news clips released. I believe the Seattle PI has put out maybe 2 additional ones. The clip you posted features the Home Team, newscasters familiar to those in Seattle.

As Ckret has confirmed on this message board, Cooper cut up that pink chest chute and then jumped with the dummy chute. It was after these news broadcasts that Ckret posted to the forum. I for one am glad he's here. There's been so much myth and misinformation handed down over the years, it's certainly nice to have someone who can verify or correct these.

[NickDG 23]

I think the theory that Cooper wore the dummy reserve is wrong. Any reserve container would have impeded his tying the money sack to his chest area. He may have reasoned the money sack would have been in the way of the reserve (making it useless) anyway so he threw the dummy chute out the door and just went with the main and the money. I've made plenty of jumps like that – only without any money . . .

Plus, he needed the suspension lines from the good reserve to tie up the money. If we concede that Cooper was a desperate man as only such a man would contemplate a scheme like this, then jumping without the reserve would have been just one more small step in a plan already jam-packed with risk.

NickD

[Ckret 0]

No one from the cockpit ever left it until they reached Reno.

We may never know whether he jumped with the dummy chute or not. But if he went through the bother of throwing out the dummy, why not the second back chute and the one he took apart. The statements made by the witnesses indicate he tied the money to his waist.

[SafecrackingPLF 0]

NickD,

Good takes. I can buy into it. I've also heard that he may have tried to cut open the chest pack inorder to use it to hold the money (I personally don't believe this). I had also heard that because the chest pack was a dummy chute, that somehow it wouldn't attach properly to the good chute (I also don't necessarily believe this, though I don't know enough to dispute it). Finally, I've also heard the theory that he didn't strap the money bag to his chest, that he actually cinched it to his waist and let it drag onto the floor, once the chute deployed, it would hang beneath his feet. Would this hinder his landing? Especially say he did something like a plf type of land?

Maybe you're right. If so, this would likely mean that he 1. Harnessed up, strapped the cash to his chest 2. Worked to lower the stairs, needed some help, then got it okay 3. once the stairs were lowered, he grabbed the remaining chest pack, but not the remaining primary pack, and threw it off the stairs before he lept.

I don't see why he grabs the chest pack and throws it, but then again, that doesn't mean it didn't happen.

[NickDG 23]

>>I had also heard that because the chest pack was a dummy chute, that somehow it wouldn't attach properly to the good chute (I also don't necessarily believe this, though I don't know enough to dispute it).
A dummy reserve would have the hooks on it to attach to the main harness or else, for its intended purpose of practicing emergency procedures, what good would it be?

Also in the early 70s reserve parachutes were hung very low on the main harness (hence the term "belly" reserve) so a witness saying he tied the money to his "waist" is a bit suspect. The money sack would need to be higher up on his chest (above the reserve container) but that's not a good idea either as it could interfere with the main ripcord.

On using a drag line. That would tie into someone with military paratrooper training, but certainly he couldn't let it drag behind him as he jumped as it would have trailed above him in freefall and would be a factor in fouling his main deployment.

On letting it drop down after opening, I doubt he'd take a chance of letting go, and maybe losing the money, after all he went through to get it. You'd also not want to hit trees going sideways in a wind with anything hanging below you.

And here's a wild guess: Maybe he threw out the dummy reserve just to get some idea of the speed of the relative wind (the slipstream) he was jumping into . . .

NickD

[Ckret 0]

The rigger removed the D rings from the back packs, there was nothing for Cooper to clip the reserve to.

[SafecrackingPLF 0]

Quote

And here's a wild guess: Maybe he threw out the dummy reserve just to get some idea of the speed of the relative wind (the slipstream) he was jumping into . . .

I had that same thought as to why he might throw something off like that, but then, not having experience of my own, I thought maybe this would be unnecessary.

I enjoyed your analysis of the dragging bag. I'm thinking he probably makes his initial jump holding onto the bag. Maybe it's not needed, but that's what I'd do (but I have no experience). Still, if that bag gets above him during the fall, that would certainly be problematic, and as you mentioned below him when he lands, that also would be problematic.

[SafecrackingPLF 0]

Thanks. this explains what I must have read somewhere about the front chute not being able to attach properly.

You realize though, this means NickD's idea of Cooper throwing the front chute to guage the cross wind becomes much more realistic than Cooper thinking he had a safe reserve to wear.

[Ckret 0]

Cooper made an inspection of the chutes when Tina was present. As well as the money and the bag the money came in. He made his concerns clear to Tina about the money bag. He checked the money and made statements about that. He stated several times, "no funny stuff," providing nonfunctioning equipment would be funy stuff. Reason dictates that if he new the reserve was a dummy he would have said something about that as well.

I doubt that Cooper would have been able to gain any information about the wind conditions by throwing a chute off the air stairs. It was dark, the chute would have instantly disappeared from his sight the moment he let go of it.

Of course almost anything is possible, but the evidence points to him jumping with it, not that he did, it just points in that direction.

[NickDG 23]

>>It was dark, the chute would have instantly disappeared from his sight the moment he let go of it.
You're making an assumption as even on the darkest nights you can see a jumper for a bit of time after they exit, and Nov 24th, 1971 wasn't exactly a pitch dark night . . .

NickD