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Author Topic: Suspects And Confessions  (Read 1511623 times)

Offline Shutter

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Re: Suspects And Confessions
« Reply #2190 on: February 05, 2018, 06:35:34 PM »
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If Cooper didn't pull right off the steps, a spin was certainly a possibility. Without a good visual horizon and heading reference, things could go to hell real fast.

That's what keeps me right in the middle of the fence. since everyone is different, nobody really knows how they will react under pressure. Evil Kenevil was experienced at what he did, but how many times did things go wrong, lots.

so many variables involved with him making, or not making the jump...could of been a piece o cake, or could of went horribly wrong...it's still a matter of where exactly he jumped, if we knew, I think it would be easy to determine a pull, or no pull...
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Offline 377

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Re: Suspects And Confessions
« Reply #2191 on: February 05, 2018, 07:13:22 PM »
My first jump training was good. Skydiving veteran Perry Stevens (who supplied McCoy's radio beacon tagged rigs) was my instructor. Perry taught us how panic can be your worst enemy during an emergency. He said the main chute malfunctions are easily recognized, the cutaway is a simple procedure and pulling your reserve ripcord is also dirt simple. But throw in panic and it gets all mixed up. You have to get the sequence right. If you deploy your reserve into a malfunctioning main before cutting away you may have two malfunctions and there is no third chute to save you.

When I had my first main chute malfunction I was really scared. I was going down FAST with a streaming C 9 that wasn't going to open. I had to consciously quell impending panic. When you see that messed up main canopy above you and the ground coming up fast below, your first instinct is to immediately pull the reserve ripcord which can be a fatal error. Fortunately, I stayed ahead (just barely, if the truth be told) of my rising panic and got the actions and sequence right.

A spin at night with no visual horizon or azimuth reference could panic even an experienced jumper. Panicked experienced jumpers have gone all the way in furiously tugging at a part of the rig that they thought was a ripcord handle but wasn't. Many of those accidents happened in bright daylight. Panic can blind and confuse even the most skilled.

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Offline 377

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Re: Suspects And Confessions
« Reply #2192 on: February 06, 2018, 06:02:55 PM »
Rackstraw resided in Stockton CA for a while where he kited checks and engaged in other criminal mischiefs. His Bekins storage lockers there were searched pursuant to a warrant. Someone on dropzone.com noticed that simultaneous with TJC's press release about Rackstraw and the DBC letter codes tied to his miltary units, federal agents armed with a search warrant raided the DZ at Lodi (right next to Stockton) and seized all sorts of evidence. The raided DZ is run by Bill Dause who many skydivers initially suspected was DB Cooper. I've known Bill for decades. He has had many dustups with the law, but he isn't DB Cooper. Too short. The guy has over 26,000 skydives!

Skydiver Nick Frey posted:  "FBI serve search warrant in Lodi
Lead story on CBS Sacramento tonight is about DB Cooper, they think it's some dude from Stockton named Robert Rackstraw.

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That's one hell of a coincidence! "

377
« Last Edit: February 06, 2018, 06:06:45 PM by 377 »
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Offline Lynn

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Re: Suspects And Confessions
« Reply #2193 on: February 06, 2018, 09:51:14 PM »
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anyone still saying the jump wasn't doable needs to give their head a shake. Several of the suspects could have pulled it off.

Just about anything can be done...we really don't know the experience Cooper had..it's not that hard to pull a ripcord, but lot's of things can happen..any fool can pull a trigger, but it doesn't make them a marksman..all the others made it, so the odds are in his favor..I'm very skeptical about things so I'm not sure either way to be honest..
Oh, you're absolutely correct. I think it's just hard to imagine after ALL THAT - thud. But it could have been thud.

To go to the other shoulder on the thud, though. The thing that kills me is that NOTHING turned up but the placard and a fraction of the loot. And there was a fair bit of stuff. The rest of the money, the chute, the reserve, the briefcase, his clothes and shoes, and possibly the contents of the sack mentioned by House and Mitchell. Animals would eat him - the ones that weren't hibernating, and once the storm was over - but they wouldn't have eaten the DB gear.

Of course, he could have gone splash instead of thud...

*sigh!*

Apart from the mechanics of the dive, of course, the DZ makes all the difference. I took a look at the Amboy/Ariel areas the other day on Google maps and it doesn't look all that daunting. But if that area was the DZ, then wherefore Tena Bar?

Bah. I will be an optimist and rail against the thud and the splash and the bear wiping his bum with D.B.'s cash...until proven cock-eyed. ;)
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Offline MEYDC

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Re: Suspects And Confessions
« Reply #2194 on: February 07, 2018, 01:20:26 PM »
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Rackstraw resided in Stockton CA for a while where he kited checks and engaged in other criminal mischiefs. His Bekins storage lockers there were searched pursuant to a warrant. Someone on dropzone.com noticed that simultaneous with TJC's press release about Rackstraw and the DBC letter codes tied to his miltary units, federal agents armed with a search warrant raided the DZ at Lodi (right next to Stockton) and seized all sorts of evidence. The raided DZ is run by Bill Dause who many skydivers initially suspected was DB Cooper. I've known Bill for decades. He has had many dustups with the law, but he isn't DB Cooper. Too short. The guy has over 26,000 skydives!

Skydiver Nick Frey posted:  "FBI serve search warrant in Lodi
Lead story on CBS Sacramento tonight is about DB Cooper, they think it's some dude from Stockton named Robert Rackstraw.

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That's one hell of a coincidence! "

377
When were Rackstraw's storage lockers raided? I am half way through The Last Master Outlaw. I just wanted to know if this was recent or something that I will probably read about in the book. Thanks
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Offline Shutter

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Re: Suspects And Confessions
« Reply #2195 on: February 07, 2018, 08:50:05 PM »
Response from Tom Colbert....

1978*  1/26     While serving a warrant on fugitive Rackstraw’s 8 Bekins storage units, the Stockton PD & SJCS Bomb Squad find 14 rifles & 150 lbs. of “concealed” Tovex dynamite, with “two rolls of primer cord…with serial numbers illegally removed.” It’s enough to level a city block.

Added: TJC with East Coast members (6) of the CCT, in front of FBI Headquarters -- 2/1/18
« Last Edit: February 07, 2018, 08:54:02 PM by Shutter »
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Offline MEYDC

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Re: Suspects And Confessions
« Reply #2196 on: February 07, 2018, 11:09:38 PM »
I just read it in Colbert's book. With Colbert's recent news about the decoded Cooper letters, it made me wonder if it was recent. Thanks for clarifying that Shutter. My thoughts about the decoded letters are that it doesn't prove that Rackstraw was Cooper even if he wrote the letters.
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Offline Shutter

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Re: Suspects And Confessions
« Reply #2197 on: February 08, 2018, 05:51:24 AM »
comments removed....
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Offline Check-Six

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Re: Suspects And Confessions
« Reply #2198 on: February 08, 2018, 12:45:10 PM »
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... that it doesn't prove that Rackstraw was Cooper even if he wrote the letters.
But - if proven - the letters are tantamont to an repeated and uncoerced confession, which would be VERY compelling to a jury.
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Offline Shutter

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Re: Suspects And Confessions
« Reply #2199 on: February 08, 2018, 02:00:00 PM »
What was "proven" was witnesses saying no to Rackstraw....this isn't a "could be" or "might be" scenario..his picture was shown years ago as well, if not mistaken...if he wore make-up, you couldn't post his photo next to the sketch..it wouldn't match. how does he wear make-up and still look like the sketch and not be identified?

I see a common pattern that appears....nobody has ever stepped forward to speak about any of these suspects, not one..some have gone to the witnesses and will get a "looks kind of like him" thingy...I believe several would step forward if the real photo popped up IMHO.
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Offline 377

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Re: Suspects And Confessions
« Reply #2200 on: February 08, 2018, 02:04:03 PM »
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... that it doesn't prove that Rackstraw was Cooper even if he wrote the letters.
But - if proven - the letters are tantamont to an repeated and uncoerced confession, which would be VERY compelling to a jury.

True. And admissible despite being hearsay under Federal Evidence Rule 804.

Statement Against Interest is an exception to rule that excludes hearsay.

Definition:

(A) a reasonable person in the declarant’s position would have made only if the person believed it to be true because, when made, it was so contrary to the declarant’s proprietary or pecuniary interest or had so great a tendency to invalidate the declarant’s claim against someone else or to expose the declarant to civil or criminal liability; and

(B) is supported by corroborating circumstances that clearly indicate its trustworthiness, if it is offered in a criminal case as one that tends to expose the declarant to criminal liability.

A good prosecutor could get those letters admitted into evidence if it could be proven that a defendant wrote them and there was corroborating evidence that put the defendant on the plane.

377
« Last Edit: February 08, 2018, 02:04:50 PM by 377 »
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Offline Shutter

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Re: Suspects And Confessions
« Reply #2201 on: February 08, 2018, 02:07:24 PM »
If proven, it would no longer be hearsay....
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Offline 377

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Re: Suspects And Confessions
« Reply #2202 on: February 08, 2018, 02:25:45 PM »
Technically it is still hearsay but becomes admissible hearsay as explained above.

Hearsay is the legal term for certain statements—offered as evidence during a trial or hearing for the purpose of attempting to prove the truth of the matter asserted in the statements—that were not made while testifying at the trial or hearing itself.

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Offline Shutter

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Re: Suspects And Confessions
« Reply #2203 on: February 08, 2018, 02:29:59 PM »
I understand that, but I'm going by what check-six stated by saying if they were proven to be written by Cooper...if that happened it would no longer be hearsay since it was proven prior to any court hearings...it would become evidence...
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Offline Bruce A. Smith

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Re: Suspects And Confessions
« Reply #2204 on: February 08, 2018, 03:41:42 PM »
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... that it doesn't prove that Rackstraw was Cooper even if he wrote the letters.
But - if proven - the letters are tantamont to an repeated and uncoerced confession, which would be VERY compelling to a jury.

What say you, Check-Six? Do you think the letters received by the Sacramento Bee, The Oregonian, the NY Times, et.al, are from the Norjak hijacker?

Plus do you think the letters were written by Rackstraw? If so, why didn't he include a $20 - after all, he felt he could spare a cool $50K that he dumped into Vancouver Lake, right?

Can you shed any light on the fact that the CCT is composed of many former FBI agents and LE and they are now linked by the recent Colbert press release to a public charge that the Bureau has been conducting a cover-up on Norjak for the past 40 years? Are they comfortable with that? Is William Baker, the former Asst. Director of the FBI really comfortable with that accusation against his former agency? I've asked him in an email, but he refuses to reply. It is hard to imagine ANY former FBI employee allowing their name to be attached to a formal declaration of cover-up.

Any insights you might be able to share about the nature of the CCT would be most welcome.
« Last Edit: February 08, 2018, 03:54:50 PM by Bruce A. Smith »
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