Does anybody know how/why Frederick W. Hahneman was eliminated as a suspect??
I don't, and it is a good question. I was surprised at how difficult it was to find information on Hahneman - and all the copycats for that matter - when I was writing my book.
Need a FOIA on Frederick W. Hahneman...
There is scant information on this guy and nothing on WHY he was eliminated.. He was ex military and prior to hijacking, a radar technician working for Philco in Vietnam.. apparently Philco ran into problems and the Signal Corps had to redo their systems..
The more I pull the Hahneman thread the weirder it gets... so many similarities.. then the money was suddenly recovered with no details, no explanation.
WAS THERE A DEAL CUT? He served less than 12 years.. His cousin Roberto Martinez Ordoñez was a prominent politician in Honduras and later with the UN. His Liberal party was in a coalition which was getting pushed out, rumour is Hahneman wanted the money to fund a revolution? Hijacking was in May '72 and in June the (American backed) Honduran military launched a coup.
"
Aftermath: Hahneman was in custody but the money was not. He told authorities that he had deposited the ransom in "the Chinese Communist Bank in Hong Kong", via a mysterious Panamanian "contact".
On September 11, 1972, Hahneman waived his right to a jury trial and plead guilty to a charge of air piracy, kidnapping and extortion. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on September 29, 1972 in the US District Court in Alexandria, Va, and sent to the federal prison in Atlanta. As he left the federal building for prison, Hahneman was asked by a reporter what he'd done with the money. "None of your bloody business," he replied.
On May 8, 1973 the FBI announced they had recovered the $303,000 ransom. In the press release they said, "Upon recovery of the money a check was made of the National Crime Information Center, FBI Headquarters, Washington D.C., which determined the serial numbers tallied with the ransom money paid in connection with the hijacking.They provided no further details of how or where they recovered the money.
Bureau of Prisons records show Frederick Hahneman was paroled on March 13, 1984. On August 17, 1984 he was discharged. The Bureau has no further records of him."
(OCR text)
"Fridav, June 2, '72 DETROIT FREE PRESS I used to driver her down to the bank to cash the checks ha .sent her." The hijacker, who used the name of George Ames,
told crewmen that he was suffering from a terminal illness. A spokesman for the Ameri-cus Hotel in Allentown said a man registered as George Ames stayed at the hotel for three days prior to the hijacking. Hahneman attended Lafayette College briefly in 1947, according to college records. that he would allow his wife to riase those two kids by herself. They said he was
in the diplomatic corps and he sent her montly checks. He was home recently but only for a short while." Other neighbors said Mrs. Hahneman had been losng her eyesight for the past six years and now can only see light, making it impossible for her to leave the home alone. "She's a wonderful woman, never bitter about her sight," said Mrs. Mattes. "She never talked about her husband, but Hahneman was specifically charged with air piracy by use of a handgun and verbal threats, a crime punishable by death. He also was charged with intimidation and interference with flight crew members, assault with a dangerous weapon and with kidnaping of the crew. Kidnaping resulting in harm is punishable by death or by a maximum of life imprisonment if there are no' injuries. No injuries were reported on the hijacked flight. The
FBI said Hahneman and 194fl, as a radar operator and a flight crew man. The records noted Hahneman's father died in New Orleans. Passport office records also showed
Hahneman was born July 5, 1922, at Puerto Castilla, Honduras, and that hia occupation had been radio, electrical and communications engineer. Five of the Eastern crew members picked him out positively as the hijacker when shown Hahneman's photo-graph along with those of other white males. his wife, Mary, were married in 1948 and have two sons, Frederick William 3d, 20, and John Phillip, 17. A spokesman said
the suspect had traveled widely and lived in a number of foreign countries. His last known employment was with Philco in Vietnam. IN EASTON, neighbors said Hahneman visited his family for the first time in several years shortly before the hijacking. Mrs. Richard Mattes said: "I always thought it strange of
German extraction and was burie in New Orleans, that
his mother was Honduran and that he was employed by the Philco Corp. The
hijacker was said to have asked if the 727 was equipped with X-band radar and spoke knowledgeably of radar and aircraft as well as the geography of Central and South America. On the basis of this information, the
FBI found a Frederick William Hahneman who had served in the Army from April 19, 1943, to March 19, "
More interesting details in Snowmman's post on DZ..
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LoginImage of Hahneman (I only tinted the glasses he was wearing)
Latin appearance.
Turkey neck. Slightly Marcelled hair on sides in other pics. Hair parted on Left. Age 49.
