Poll

Do you believe Cooper lived or died. the option are below to cast a vote...

0% Cooper lived
6 (9.5%)
25% Cooper lived
4 (6.3%)
35% Cooper lived.
2 (3.2%)
50% Cooper lived
14 (22.2%)
75% Cooper lived
14 (22.2%)
100 Cooper lived
23 (36.5%)

Total Members Voted: 58

Author Topic: Clues, Documents And Evidence About The Case  (Read 1388998 times)

Offline Robert99

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Re: Clues, Documents And Evidence About The Case
« Reply #7905 on: July 02, 2022, 03:44:38 PM »
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For reference in the discussion, I believe most have seen these, but figured I would post them anyway.  These are from the WSHM.  For the reserve -- I circled what look like clips, are these what would be used to connect to the D-Rings ?  Also R99, is this the parachute you are saying looks too bulky to be the 26 foot conical ?

Those snaps that you have circled are the elastic snaps that pull one part of the reserve pack cover back when the ripcord is pulled.  There are other such snaps that are not shown in the picture.  The snaps that attach to the main parachute's D rings are under the pack and not shown in the picture.  The snaps for the D rings are heavy metal just as the D rings are.  You can also see the elastic snaps on the backpack container. 

I haven't seen this particular backpack picture before as far as I can remember, but there are pictures around that Bruce Smith and others have taken of the Hayden backpack that is now in the WSHM.  Based on those pictures, the WSHM parachute is too bulky to be a 26-foot conical.

Take a look at the pictures of a genuine 26-foot conical backpack that are on Sluggo's site and you should be able to tell the difference.
« Last Edit: July 02, 2022, 03:54:24 PM by Robert99 »
 
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Offline JimmyCalhoun1991

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Re: Clues, Documents And Evidence About The Case
« Reply #7906 on: July 02, 2022, 07:13:23 PM »
Howdy, unrelated to the current parachute debate (popular topic, very ensuring) I wanted to share a fascinating article that I recently uncovered digging through old Canadian newspapers. Please note the denomination demanded by the hijack suspect. This was a mere two weeks before our friend gave a salute to NWOA.
 

Offline JAG

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Re: Clues, Documents And Evidence About The Case
« Reply #7907 on: July 02, 2022, 11:26:32 PM »
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If you look at the reverse picture on the pink chute photo's Tom has you can see the large clips to attach the reserve. what you have circled connects to the container..

..


Thanks, the 4:15 to 4:30 minute mark explains it really nicely.
 

Offline Bruce A. Smith

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Re: Clues, Documents And Evidence About The Case
« Reply #7908 on: July 03, 2022, 09:10:31 AM »
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Bruce.  Did they ever catch whoever murdered Cossey?  Or learn why?  Who robs a parachute company? For what?


Nope. Not as far as I know. The last I heard was that the Cossey homicide had been bumped to the Major Case Squad of the King County Sheriff's Office. Nor has the motivation for the murder been uncovered.

As for robbing a parachute company, I don't know what you are referring to.
 

Offline dudeman17

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Re: Clues, Documents And Evidence About The Case
« Reply #7909 on: July 03, 2022, 11:27:12 PM »
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...unrelated to the current parachute debate...

Haha, actually you started the whole debate when you mentioned Cooper's 'poor choice' of chutes, and I pointed out that if the two he had to choose from were Hayden's two rigs, then there wouldn't be much if any difference between them.
 

Offline JAG

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Re: Clues, Documents And Evidence About The Case
« Reply #7910 on: July 03, 2022, 11:33:59 PM »
I have been trying to learn a little bit about Benzedrine based on the report that Cooper had offered
it to the flight crew. What is Benzedrine ? What was it used for ?  When was it used ? What can it tell us, if anything, about him ?

Below is just a summary of what a quick internet search yielded in my own words, it's not definitive of-course.

Benzedrine is part of the Amphetamine family of drugs.  These drugs are a central nervous system stimulant.  Amphetamine was discovered ~1887.  It came into use around ~1932 as a decongestant.  It is habit forming and has negative long term health effects.

After learning that the Nazis were using amphetamines (Pervitin) during WW2 to remain alert and focused during long bombing missions,
the Allied forces tested Benzadrine and began issuing it to troops by 1942.  They also found that it changed the mood and
the way that the soldiers fought, it made troops less fearful, more purposeful and confident.  While it wasn't issued exclusively
to one branch of military, it did seem to be initially issued to pilots on long missions.

After WW2, Benzadrine began to be used for weight loss, depression and other maladies (many house wives of the time were apparently
on it for weight loss). Early on, a prescription wasn't necessary, but by the 1960s, due to the dangers of drug, a prescription was
required.

While Benzedrine was in wide use from the early 1930s through the 1970 time frame, it seems as though it is mostly
tied to military use during WW2.  Different and more powerful amphetamines were developed and (dextroamphetamine) in use during
Vietnam. I have not found much in regards to it's use in the Korean War.

Does Cooper having Benzedrine tell us anything about him or his background ?

It tells us that he was a aware of it, had prior exposure to it, and thought it would be useful for this mission--he anticipated the
need for it.  Therefore, it is another indication that Cooper put some tactical planning into this, it wasn't just an impulsive, poorly thought out
act.  I tend to think it reinforces the military connection and more likely a connection to WW2 or maybe the Korean War rather
than Vietnam.

All caveats apply...speculating, looking at one thing in a vacum...
 

Offline dudeman17

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Re: Clues, Documents And Evidence About The Case
« Reply #7911 on: July 04, 2022, 02:57:26 AM »
Perhaps that supports the theory that he really did want to go to Mexico, anticipating a longer flight?
 

Offline JAG

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Re: Clues, Documents And Evidence About The Case
« Reply #7912 on: July 04, 2022, 08:37:07 AM »
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Perhaps that supports the theory that he really did want to go to Mexico, anticipating a longer flight?

Certainly possible, could also be that:
- he was ready for a long standoff in case the FBI went that route.
- he knew he would be hoofing it out from where ever he might land and needed to be alert for a long period of time in order to get out of dodge.
 

Offline Robert99

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Re: Clues, Documents And Evidence About The Case
« Reply #7913 on: July 04, 2022, 02:49:44 PM »
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Perhaps that supports the theory that he really did want to go to Mexico, anticipating a longer flight?

Certainly possible, could also be that:
- he was ready for a long standoff in case the FBI went that route.
- he knew he would be hoofing it out from where ever he might land and needed to be alert for a long period of time in order to get out of dodge.

In my opinion, this does indicate that Cooper had a strong military connection or such at some point in his past.  In the past decade or two, I have seen videos of fighter pilots with small pill bottles attached to the collar of their flight suits as they discussed long ferry flights (17 hours or so non-stop) between the US and the Middle East.  The USAF would not have issued such pills to pilots of single-seat aircraft unless they had been thoroughly tested and each pilot's tolerance to the pill was known.
 

Offline JAG

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Re: Clues, Documents And Evidence About The Case
« Reply #7914 on: July 06, 2022, 02:25:56 PM »
Part 72 is available:
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Offline Bruce A. Smith

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Re: Clues, Documents And Evidence About The Case
« Reply #7915 on: July 06, 2022, 04:16:56 PM »
Review of the Netflix Documentary

The Seattle Times just posted online its review of Netflix's "DB Cooper - Where Are You?"

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Offline JAG

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Re: Clues, Documents And Evidence About The Case
« Reply #7916 on: July 08, 2022, 11:13:33 PM »
Is the consensus that Cooper did not specify the size/denomination of the money?

In part 72, one of the stewardess's says he asked for the money in "small" bills, was wondering if this is anything new or already known.
 

Offline Bruce A. Smith

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Re: Clues, Documents And Evidence About The Case
« Reply #7917 on: July 09, 2022, 03:40:24 PM »
I hadn't seen "in small bills" before. This 302 sounds like it comes from Tina's debrief in Philly in early December 1971. The phrase "$200,000 in cash" has been discussed before, particularly in reference to the phrase "negotiable American currency," which is the wording used by the cockpit crew on their telex to NWO HQ.
 
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Offline JAG

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Re: Clues, Documents And Evidence About The Case
« Reply #7918 on: July 10, 2022, 08:38:17 AM »
Thanks Bruce, in some of the past dialogues, Cooper not specifying the denomination was used as a knock against him or his planning, that it was kind of a clue that he didn't fully think it through.  Not sure if this dispels that point fully.   But if it is accurate, maybe it shows that Cooper did kind of cover that base so to speak of the ransom denomination.  This 302 starts on page 20/21 of part 72 for anyone who is interested.

But what exactly did he mean by "small" bills in 1971 ?  Surely, he could not have meant $1s or $5s ?  If they gave him the money in $10s, that would have been a problem size wise also.  $50s and $100s would have been more difficult to pass as they would draw a little more attention.  It seems as though $20 bills was the most practical for the hijacking....so maybe he still did get a little lucky after all to get it in $20s without specifically requesting it.
 

Offline Parrotheadvol

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Re: Clues, Documents And Evidence About The Case
« Reply #7919 on: July 10, 2022, 10:19:51 AM »
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Thanks Bruce, in some of the past dialogues, Cooper not specifying the denomination was used as a knock against him or his planning, that it was kind of a clue that he didn't fully think it through.

It has also been speculated that Cooper knew about the money that was put aside for such an occasion. It's possible he knew about the money being put aside for a ransom, but didn't know the denomination of the money. Therefore knowing that cash could be accessed quickly, didn't specify a denomination that would cause them to have to turn elsewhere for the cash. Just my thoughts.
 
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