New Guy: Jason Langenfelder
A new guy, a former cop, has asked for assistance in having his commentaries posted here at the Forum. I'm not sure why he has been unable to register successfully, and I've asked for Shut's input but so far Shutter has been quiet. I trust he is okay.
In the meantime, I offered to Jason to post his stuff. Below is his most recent email to me, in which he begins by discussing the possibility of conducting a trial here on Norjak, such as presenting the evidence and examining suspects. I had also asked him about certain subjects, which are highlighted in "bold" below and followed by Jason's answers.
On 3/24/2017 1:54 PM, Jason Langenfelder wrote:
Sorry for the delay. This may be an email. I'm in a writing mood today and want to give you my thoughts on your questions.
I don't mean put actual suspects on a mock trial...I mean put the whole investigation on trial. Ie...how would you attempt to try a theoretical suspect or even evidence if that makes sense?
I will keep that in mind if I have anything halfway intelligent to come up with. I'm in the process of reading the posts in the forum and I really don't want to unknowingly bring up topics that have been discussed before without having a new idea. I truly appreciate all of the insight and help.
The Metal Particles
As far as the titanium and rare earth metals? I'm not really sure. I'd say its unique and has potential but realistically, where can you go from that now? I would think one would have to determine what those metals could be used for then cross reference that with corporations that would use that material in the late 60's, early 70's then start from there.
The tough part though is can you honestly say that those material came from that specific time period? In theory, the metals are on the tie, the tie was on the place, it's "tied" together. However, we are talking about:
A. a horrendous chain of custody
B. a violation of FBI rules pertaining to the evidence (wearing the tie as a joke, etc...)
C. the tie being handled by however many different people
D. the tie being located in the northwest for the past almost 50 years. Its been well pointed out that those materials are made in aircraft manufacturing. Well, where is Boeing located? The northwest. Where are other aeronautical companies located? The northwest. Where are computer companies located? The northwest. What I am getting at is my dad used to tell me stories about my grandmother going outside on the weekends and beating the rugs from the house with a broom to try and get the dust off of them that was in the air from Bethlehem Steel in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. So my issue would be transfer contact.
The particles are interesting however in reality, it has the potential to be a ruse. Hell, I still kind of think that the tie was left behind on purpose.
The FBI and Norjak
Honestly, they fucked it up. Like royally fucked it up. I do not believe they tried to bumble it, I think it was one of those things that just kind of happened. We call it the "swiss cheese model." Basically the theory is that if you order a pound of swiss cheese from the deli, all the holes should not initially line up so that you can see right through. However when you start making mistakes and not paying attention, all the holes eventually line up then you have a bad end result.
So here are the holes:
1. Holiday weekend
2. Multiple FBI jurisdictions over three states
3. Hoover's solving case bonuses to agents (this equals not sharing information)
4. In-experience with this type of investigation
5. The shock factor (is this really happening? oh shit this is happening! Oh hell! This just happened!)
6. Miscommunication
7. Lazy evidence collection
8. Lastly, attempting to save face
I will say that even know they bumbled it up, things happen. Sometimes investigations go to crap. Sometimes the villain wins. When I was a detective I worked a cold case homicide. The damn thing happened 10 years prior when it got dumped into my lap. I did my research, started from the beginning, reviewed the case files, and found a damn good suspect. Everything says the bad dude did it! Everything including his neighbor willing to testify that the victim was wrapped up in plastic under his trailer and quickly moved just before investigators arrived with a search warrant. Hell, I had cadaver dogs alert on his property. Twice. I found bones on his property. I just could not get it to the point where I felt I had enough to secure a conviction.
Do I think the FBI has more suspects then what they released? Yes. Do I think the FBI relatively believes they know who it did it? Yes. Do I think that they felt like that if they brought the suspect to a court of law would they have enough physical evidence to secure a conviction? No. Well, potentially.
Closing the case
I think its reached the end of the line. Realistically, is investigating this case worth taking away the time of case agents? What would you get out of it? A 20-year old sentence on an 80+ year-old? The satisfaction of getting the last laugh? The scenario I pose to you is this: Say for instance that imagine your friend or your loved one is a victim of a crime and instead of putting all effort into solving the case, they divert an agent and attention towards a 40-plus year old unsolved case. I agree that there were and still are victims of the skyjacking but you have to weigh both sides of the argument. Or maybe they know who it is and the man is dead now.
Cigarette Butts and Redaction
I think the butts are still out there, in storage somewhere. Mislabeled or something. Some intern will be cleaning out a file room and come across them one day. The redactions? Who knows? There does seem to be a lot of them. Maybe its the FBI trying to save face or hell, maybe they have a redaction policy.
Cossey
I think he liked the attention. I think he liked that people thought of him as the FBI's go to guy pertaining to the parachutes. Remember he was one of the few people that were intimately directed to the skyjacking. Ralph, Carr, and Eng were reactive when it came to the case...only Cossey was proactive. That carries a lot of weight sometimes.
As far as his murder. I honestly do not believe that it was connected however, I will tell you I really don't know too many details about it. What would be the point of it if it was?
My thoughts on Cooper
I believe that Cooper was a CIA guy with extensive experience. I just think there are too many coincidences there and I have always been taught never to believe in coincidences. The dude knew more about the plane then the freaking airlines and was way too calm to be an amateur. Every step was calculated. Personally, I think he survived. I think he had help on the ground. I do not think it was about the money. I am iffy if it was an actual CIA mission (thinking more of a Seal Team Red or Red Cell and less MKULTRA) but that sort of lines up.
If he freelanced, I feel that the seats and a lot of the other evidence wound up at the CIA because they wanted to know who exactly did this. They probably had an idea from the start that he was CIA but just who they were unsure of. I think the mailed letters are bullshit and fake. I firmly believe the money was a plant however, I can't figure out why. I'm just calling it a gut feeling.
Lastly, I had this uber weird thought one day that he survived and continued his CIA career and was killed in a later mission. That's one of the reasons we never heard from him. And in a bit of irony, his "fake" life is better remembered by a few hours on a November evening while his true life will forever be remembered by a small 2 1/4 inch by 2 1/4 inch star in the wall of the lobby of a non-descript government building in Langley, Virginia.
