JAGdb

that's right, at the time of the post I had forgotten about the podcasts he had done, thx !

Weber dies March 1995 and allegedly confesses... Gunther dies June 1998... So I guess she had a 3 year window to process the confession, study the hijacking, read Gunther's book and make contact with him....I suppose it's possible based on her reputation, I'm still a little skeptical. Would be nice if there was some proof of those conversations like the Christmas card that Dr. Edwards just referenced. In the HBO special, I believe there was that guy who was Joe's friend/care taker/assistant, did he inherit or does he have access to any of Joe's "research" ?

None of the eye witnesses, primarily the stewardesses, have ever corroborated or indicated the foul language that RH is asserting. Other than some statements that at times the hijacker was suspicious and showing signs of frustration due to the time it was taking to secure the chutes, money and refuel the air plane, they seem to have testified to his generally polite or courteous nature. I guess he also showed some irritation over the whole knapsack vs bank bag debacle as well. My opinion is that RH was trying to play to the psychology of the hijacker to bait him into making a mistake with making public statements that he was a rotten and foul criminal who didn't know what he was doing and was probably dead. Or...I guess there is always the possibility that they aren't sharing everything that was said or done on the plane.

Regarding suspect James E. Klansnic, not sure if anyone has seen his obituary. It's a nice write up, seems like he was a pretty cool guy. Key take away, "steel blue eyes"...also some additional pictures I had not seen before. https://www.flintofts.com/obituaries/James-Edward-Klansnic?obId=2008525

Ok, your sketch B does seem to me to have the KK5-1 flavor with a more long or slender face and the nose/mouth structure and crease.

I don't know, for me, I just don't see any resemblance between the KK5-1 picture and the final sketch B. I'm not disputing what has been explained about how KK5-1 was the starting point or original base line for what became sketch B. KK5-1 reminds me of the actor Chelsie Ross, he played the veteran pitched "Eddie Harris" in the movie Major League. Sketch B looks like a Latin/Italian dude....but, it's all somewhat subjective.

Regarding the stained fingers testimony, it doesn't specify which hand -- does that mean both hands were stained ?

Yeah, I've been meaning to ask/suggest him as a possible guest for a while given he has been one of the major sources for the shards. Maybe he has tried already and didn't work out, we'll see.

I've kind of been in the camp that the money could have been passed undetected if: - Time was allowed to lapse before passing them, i.e. waiting a few years. - Being careful where to pass it, not in the pacific north west, not in major banks and their branches, not in large sums, possibly in casinos. - The money was altered. Some techniques have been discussed about making slight/subtle modifications to SNs. This is a surface level take by me, other than listening to the Numismatist podcast from Darren's podcast a few years back, I haven't done any hard research. It's more me being skeptical that bank tellers or other employees would spend any meaningful time cross referencing $20 bill SNs with the list....kind of the "needle in a haystack" problem. So data like the story in this newspaper article, at surface level, kind of lends credence to the take that the money would have showed up if the hijacker spent it. But, then again, it doesn't look like the person allowed any time to pass and he decided to spend it in the area that the crime was committed where the awareness and alertness of local banks would have been heightened. So, I guess I am still 50/50 on this. TGIF !

This has been a pretty good back and forth, a good exploration so to speak on the different possibilities with different perspectives and inputs on this anomaly in the letter. I wasn't married to the Dolores option, was just positing the idea since the "Gunther" part of the Copper story has been linked to the WJS suspect and it was part of the discussion. But, as Math and Fly pointed out, certainly could be other options. After this discussion, I tend to lean to maybe just a simple typo, after all the D is in close enough proximity to the C on the keyboard and nobody is perfect, may have just been a misguided finger strike. Now, as Fly mentioned, that he was going to check some of the other typed "Cooper" letters, that would be something if any could be linked to the Gunther letter.

Sure, that's also a possibility.

Interesting, just playing this hypothetical out, Do as in Dolores ? Does that explain why the "o" or whatever the letter is, is offset to the right a little ? i.e. it's the 2nd letter of a word following the first letter D ?

A lower case "u" seems most logical. But when you look at the the other lower case "u's" in the that same letter, it starts to lose a little credibility as the right "leg" of the "u" doesn't seem to go completely up to the same level/height as the left "leg" of the "u". Also, there doesn't seem to be a "tail" or "hook" visible in that "Dx" spot.

Dr. Edwards, I just wanted to thank you for always sharing the PDF searchable FBI documents.

Did the Pioneer left behind have any steerability ? More so than what Cossey had described for the chute he said Cooper took? i.e. old military style

What color and material was the back chute (Hayden's) that the hijacker actually used and can we trace 302s where a chute with those characteristics were rejected ? This also completely nullifies the assertion that the hijacker had a customized/modified chute with a difficult to reach rip chord correct ?

Did the stewardesses, by any chance, note or observe which hand he used to hold the pocket knife when he was cutting up the shroud lines in order to wrap and make a handle for the money bag--were they even asked? In my opinion, it's a high probability he used his dominant hand for that action.

Thanks, I figured something like that. Next question would have been, if multiple witnesses saw him writing -- what hand did he use ?

Witnesses observed unsub writing with a felt tip pen ? Well, I learned something new today. Is there any more information around what the circumstance was that he was writing things down ? It couldn't have been to give his demands as he was conveying that all via the stewardesses or over the inter phone.

I don't work in business or finance, is "negotiable currency" or "negotiable American currency" a valid or frequently used term ? Doing quick internet searches doesn't return too much. I see "negotiable instruments" in most of the search returns where things like checks, money orders are listed as examples. But why would he want something like that ? Is there any benefit in terms of easier redemption ? I would think that those items are easier to trace. If the hijacker used the word negotiable, it wouldn't seem incidental. There would have been some intent behind it, maybe it applies more if you are leaving the country...I don't know. The phrase "circulated currency" seems more logical as it would help passing the money a little easier or conversely make spotting the bills more difficult for those searching for them.

Isn't Tina working on a movie ? Perhaps the dialogue within will clear this all up. . . (holding breadth)

Agreed, can't really conclude either way. This could have been cleared up in 1971 and pretty much any point in time from then to possibly even today as both key witnesses are still alive. A simple follow up question to Tina or Flow, " Did the hijacker say negotiable/circulated American currency or did he just ask for $200k in cash?" Even if they both said, not sure/can't remember, we'd at least be where we are today lol.

Could there have been a special modified 727 made for the CIA that had the capability to open/close from the cockpit ? Maybe for HALO drops ?

I am guessing that the "owner" referenced in this 302 below is Hayden. This is dated 2/3/1972, which is really early in the investigation. What I still can't quite comprehend in the parachute analysis is that if the FBI have Hayden asking for his chutes back as early as 3 months after the hijacking, how is it that they continued to either think or allow Cossey to think and discuss that the back chutes were his, how did this information not get relayed, clarified or straightened out early on? It's just hard to understand...it seems to me that it's the type of detail that a premiere law enforcement organization should not mess up.

Yes he was. Here is a link to a nice write up on him when he died back in 1993. http://www.timefadesaway.co.uk/spc_history/pages/1960s/6569/lyle.htm There are some pics in the article as well, born 1931 so that makes him 40 in 1971.