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[Shutter]

Mark Em Didn't Norton disappear on a trans Pacific ferry flight (CA to HI?) of a light twin? Some pegged Norton as DB Cooper but I don't think he matches the witness descriptions.

Dick Hale
Dick Hale Lost a Piper Navajo in the Pacific. The pic above was takin in 1977, 7 years after DB Cooper hijacking. Norton would have been in his early 20's then, Cooper was about 40

Shirley Ujeste
Shirley Ujeste Also, Norton didn't even start jumping until the early 1970's. And he didn't look a thing like D. B. Cooper. That's just silly.


Dick Hale Norton ran for the USPA BOD in 1972. Organizational Skills, President of HELLS ANGLES OAKLAND. Ran against Paul Tag, Organizational Skills, President of Inter Mountain Aviation, Marana, Az. Wholly owned subsidiary of the CIA. How could we lose

[FLYJACK]

Shutter-The most users online ever used to be around 76 back in April of 2017, but on October 15th, last Monday, there were 81.  Did something big happen that I missed, or is a spike normal this time of year?

Yes, China. they have been attacking for several weeks now trying to get in...

I read that if you use Tiananmen Square (六四事件) in keywords and links your site gets blocked in China... not sure if it works..

 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989

[377]

Dick Hale: "Norton ran for the USPA BOD in 1972. Organizational Skills, President of HELLS ANGLES OAKLAND. Ran against Paul Tag, Organizational Skills, President of Inter Mountain Aviation, Marana, Az. Wholly owned subsidiary of the CIA. How could we lose"

What I love about skydiving. Diversity, but not exactly the PC kind. What other sport has cops showing up at the playing field with warrants? It's usually not too serious, failure to appear, late child support etc, but once in a while its a serious deal. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

As I recall Dick Hale got perma banned from Livermore, (my home DZ in the late 60s early 70s). He took an RW formation down to a ridiculously low altitude before pulling. Dick was a very resourceful guy and just started a competing DZ at Santa Nella.

There is a lot of inaccurate info posted about Norton Thomas.

He was NOT a lawyer, I researched the hell out of this. Someone said he was a "road lawyer" for the Hells Angels, whatever that means.
He was NOT a dead ringer for the FBI DBC sketch, blonde, fair complexion, stocky linebacker build.
He was NOT ferrying a Beech D 18 (a fairly large acft) to HI from CA. The acft was a Piper Navajo, a light twin.

Norton Thomas's disappearance raised a lot of suspicions. Most skydivers thought the ocean crash was faked. Sounds kinda like Rackstraw's fake crash into Monterey Bay. Rackstraw at least tossed some punctured oil cans overboard to create a credible slick.

I note some moderation lately in the EU Snow conflict. I'd ask Rodney King ("can't we all just get along?") to intervene but he's dead. I am pleased Snow is posting here and really hope he stays.

I know Snow and like him a lot. In person he isn't belligerent at all and in fact is a warm and generous person. He is an amazing researcher. At times we would pursue the same information. Every single time he would find highly relevant things I missed and miss nothing that I found. I like EU too, his generosity in hosting the upcoming event in Portland is remarkable.

I like Sheridan as well, but I am on his shit list lately. I told him he should enjoy the DBC limelight, maybe even monetize it, and that he had zero risk if he were factually innocent. He disagrees and sees "great harm" coming to him from the rekindled interest in him as a Cooper suspect. He is convinced it could get him evicted from his apartment, an opinion I do not share. I told him I'd represent him for free in any eviction or prosecution.

As for Sheridan's claim that he posted his novel for sale on Lulu "by accident" and that its removal was "done by Amazon", who among us finds that even remotely credible?

And what about his claim that the FBI exonerated him based on DNA? He claims that info was given to him by MJF but she denies it.

We can't ignore evidence that point towards innocence, however. Why would the real DBC voluntarily give the FBI a DNA swab? Sheridan wasn't under arrest nor was he threatened with arrest if he refused to provide a sample. Sheridan is quite intelligent. He would know that the FBI must have Cooper's DNA if they were requesting a sample from suspects. If he were DBC why would he willingly give them a sample of his own DNA? That points towards innocence and cannot be ignored.

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[EU]

We can't ignore evidence that point towards innocence, however. Why would the real DBC voluntarily give the FBI a DNA swab? Sheridan wasn't under arrest nor was he threatened with arrest if he refused to provide a sample. Sheridan is quite intelligent. He would know that the FBI must have Cooper's DNA if they were requesting a sample from suspects. If he were DBC why would he willingly give them a sample of his own DNA? That points towards innocence and cannot be ignored.

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The DNA is fascinating and critical at once.

I specifically asked Sheridan why he gave the DNA sample. He told me that initially he objected stating it infringed upon his civil rights. Of course, this is not true because the FBI is entitled to ask anyone to volunteer a sample of their DNA (they did not have a warrant). Eventually he relented because he thought he would be arrested on the spot and taken in. He told me he could visualize the horror of being escorted down from his apartment in handcuffs. This is from Sheridan himself. Obviously this is not what would have happened but it's the way he interpreted the situation.

What is equally interesting is that he stated that after a few days Fryar came back to his place and assured him that his DNA wasn't a match. My question is why would he be waiting for an assurance that his DNA didn't match? If he's not Cooper he wouldn't need the FBI to tell him this...right?

Here's the kicker though. During our phone conversation I mentioned that we all know he's been cleared by virtue of his DNA (this was before I determined that he actually HADN'T been cleared by virtue of his DNA) and he said to me, "well sometimes the DNA tests aren't always accurate"--or something very close to that. I was immediately struck with the thought of what the hell that's supposed to mean. Later, of course, I determined he was not cleared.

Next, I contacted the FBI in Seattle and stated that I have been unable to find anything that indicates Sheridan's DNA did not match the Cooper sample. Furthermore, I noted that the FBI had publicly stated that Weber and LD had both come back negative. Therefore, with an established precedent, will the FBI verify that Sheridan's DNA didn't match also? The FBI responded that because of privacy matters they couldn't answer my question. What? You clear two dead guys who presumably couldn't give a damn whether they were cleared, yet a man who is still alive you're unwilling to clear because of privacy matters. Doesn't pass the smell test.

Of course, I also verified with Fryar that she did not tell Sheridan that his DNA cleared him. She may have mentioned that she was unaware of a match--which would be true--but she did not tell him the comparison came back negative.

[377]

If Sheridan was DBC, wouldn't he have fled as soon as MJF left with the swab?

The fact that he stayed put argues against guilt.

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[EU]

If Sheridan was DBC, wouldn't he have fled as soon as MJF left with the swab?

The fact that he stayed put argues against guilt.

377

Where's he going to go? Seventy-seven years old, in poor health and in need of regular healthcare. I presume he figured that if it came back as a match that he'd cross that bridge at that time. Of course, we know that the case is essentially impossible to prosecute in any case--your fine legal defense skills notwithstanding.

[EU]

The other thing that I found interesting was Sheridan stated that in the wake of his initial FBI interview, when they took his DNA swab, he waited for more than a week to tell anyone. He eventually told his son. It struck me that Sheridan was uneasy about the entire episode and that it weighed on his mind. This, of course, is my interpretation.

[snowmman]

In the Feb 11, 2010 phone interview with Mary Jean Fryar that Bruce Smith did and posted on DZ.com Feb 11, 2010.

Bruce quoted MJ as saying
"Mary Jean said that she sent the DNA swab to Quantico, and that later "received a cover" informing her that the findings were negative."

Bruce we need you to chime in her.

This is in contradiction to what EU says MJ says now.

Bruce's interview was the first time I believe MJ was contacted about the Sheridan interview. She's been contacted by multiple people since then.
Who knows if she's changed her story, or been tainted or whether Bruce's notes aren't accurate or Bruce misunderstood.

Bruce can you chime in about something that happened 8 years ago?

Heh. This isn't the first time Bruce has been first on the scene (Hayden for instance. Bruce was the first to contact him in terms of the hijacking, outside of FBI etc, I believe..in all those years!!)

I think one problem we have is all these "interviewers" tainting the witness over time, especially if they're too leading in their questioning. Or obviously pushing a point of view.

[snowmman]

Just coincidental, but I thought Bruce's interview with MJ said that Sheridan did move after the interview.

from Bruce's post in 2010 at DZ.com
Mary Jean said that "If Petey was DB Cooper he sure wasn't living high on the hog, now" or words to that effect. She also said that it was her understanding that Petey moved out of the facility shortly after her investigation.


Interesting, I wonder how she found out he moved "after her investigation". Was she still tracking him?

If Sheridan was DBC, wouldn't he have fled as soon as MJF left with the swab?

The fact that he stayed put argues against guilt.

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[EU]

In the Feb 11, 2010 phone interview with Mary Jean Fryar that Bruce Smith did and posted on DZ.com Feb 11, 2010.

Bruce quoted MJ as saying
"Mary Jean said that she sent the DNA swab to Quantico, and that later "received a cover" informing her that the findings were negative."

Bruce we need you to chime in her.

This is in contradiction to what EU says MJ says now.

Bruce's interview was the first time I believe MJ was contacted about the Sheridan interview. She's been contacted by multiple people since then.
Who knows if she's changed her story, or been tainted or whether Bruce's notes aren't accurate or Bruce misunderstood.

Bruce can you chime in about something that happened 8 years ago?

Heh. This isn't the first time Bruce has been first on the scene (Hayden for instance. Bruce was the first to contact him in terms of the hijacking, outside of FBI etc, I believe..in all those years!!)

I think one problem we have is all these "interviewers" tainting the witness over time, especially if they're too leading in their questioning. Or obviously pushing a point of view.

I am aware of this and in my report I discuss contacting her specifically about Bruce's comments. She stated that there must have been a misunderstanding. In fact, she told me that the procedure involved her getting the DNA swab and submitting it to Quantico "RUC"--which means Returned Upon Completion--thus ending her involvement in the matter. She told me she is unaware whether Sheridan's DNA was ever compared with DBC's to begin with.

[377]

Sheridan was certainly capable of fleeing south at that age and could easily done so before an arrest warrant was issued. Just a couple of years ago he was seriously considering a move to Central America to "flee Trump fascism".

From Mexico, he could have gone to many other obscure places, some without extradition treaties. He was pretty good at staying low. The FBI couldn't locate him for years.

Not all evidence about Sheridan points towards guilt. This failure to flee after providing a DNA sample points towards innocence in my opinion. It would feature prominently in any lawyer's defense strategy. Flight, name changes, appearance alterations etc are facts from which jurors can infer guilt. The opposite is also true.

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[EU]

Just coincidental, but I thought Bruce's interview with MJ said that Sheridan did move after the interview.

from Bruce's post in 2010 at DZ.com
Mary Jean said that "If Petey was DB Cooper he sure wasn't living high on the hog, now" or words to that effect. She also said that it was her understanding that Petey moved out of the facility shortly after her investigation.


Interesting, I wonder how she found out he moved "after her investigation". Was she still tracking him?

If Sheridan was DBC, wouldn't he have fled as soon as MJF left with the swab?

The fact that he stayed put argues against guilt.

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This is a very good point which I forgot about. I presume he didn't leave within days, nonetheless he didn't move far. The important takeaway is how MJF knew this.

[snowmman]

While EU has some interesting thoughts, I hate hearing him going on and on about his report and spending 10 years investigating.

When someone claims "length of time" to bolster their case, you know they've got an agenda besides reporting the facts.

I still don't understand what EU's agenda is. He seems to want to justify wasting 10 years of his life or something.

[EU]

While EU has some interesting thoughts, I hate hearing him going on and on about his report and spending 10 years investigating.

When someone claims "length of time" to bolster their case, you know they've got an agenda besides reporting the facts.

I still don't understand what EU's agenda is. He seems to want to justify wasting 10 years of his life or something.

The reason I mentioned this is because you have my report.

[377]

He may have moved after the DNA sample but not very far and his whereabouts were easily discoverable.

The kind of 'flight" I'd expect DBC to have made after the DNA sample would have been a LOT farther away.

Sheridan is frequently in tussles with landlords. The move could have been related to that recurring issue.

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