Fly, take it easy, I like what you're doing with Hahneman. I think Shutter's half right about there being no new evidence, but half wrong to assume or be "sure" that the FBI investigated him properly. Keep us posted if you find more.

The reason I disagree with that statement is the time frame of the hijacking. I think they showed his photo to the stews as well. when you look at the files you see them addressing every call, letter etc. about someone looking like Cooper. they didn't do anything but look like the sketch. this guy hijack the same type of plane for ransom shortly after Cooper.....

I've told Fly to keep going. I'm still going to tell you what I think until I see the "WOW" factor. just because I disagree doesn't mean everyone has too...

Actually, you are mixing me up with Snow's comments I believe...I think he's the one who said no new evidence?

Reca was a CIA wannabe. Of course he would make up stories after being rejected in '63

from You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Walter made a formal application to the CIA and submitted himself for a background check. Then, he waited. In September of 1963,  Walt received disappointing news. “Operating Officials of the Agency have made a careful analysis of your background and experiences,” the letter read. However, “we cannot at this time utilize the qualifications which you have made available to us.”

Laurin’s $17.95 book is called, “D.B. Cooper & Me: A Criminal, a Spy, My Best Friend.”

In an interview with The Washington Post, Laurin said he’d long suspected Reca was involved. “It feels like something he would do,” he said. When Reca finally acknowledged it, “I wasn’t surprised.”

“He didn’t know what kind of airplane it was,” Laurin said, adding that Reca said he’d tried to parachute out the side exit door. One airline attendant (Mucklow) apparently told him, “Why don’t you use this one in the back. And he said, ‘Okay. I will.’ ”


Yabidi Yabidi Yabidi Yabidi - thats all folks!

Honestly, you'd think people peddling a suspect would at least read the FBI docs. That conversation never happened per Mucklow and would absolutely have been remembered and mentioned if it had. It flies (yuk yuk) in the face of Mucklow's statements. Easy scratch.

Re: Hahnemann, my main objections remain that his voice doesn't match witness accounts of Cooper's, and more importantly he did every major thing in his  hijacking wrong that DBC did right - DBC kept the passengers in the dark, stayed out of the cockpit, communicated only through the FAs and kept his temper even under stress - the opposite of violent, boorish thug Hahnemann. But it never hurts to investigate. If there's a smoking gun there, it needs to be seen to be believed.

Gossett is an interesting subject - btw, whatever happened to Galen? - and of course there's my fave who I won't name again lest a certain someone blow out the vein in his sphincter that comes close to erupting anytime anyone rejects the CLEARLY NOT COOPER suspect KC.

where did you read about his voice not matching?



Galen has taken a backseat with Cooper for sometime now..don't know if it was work or bored with the case..

Oh, it was ages ago, on the forum here. Someone quoting a witness to the Hahnemann copycat mentioned a NY accent, which would hardly match Cooper's non-regional one. I'll try to dig for it tonight, it was months ago, part of some long account.

 Too bad about Galen. He may have simply not wanted to make a public case unless he could cross all the t's. Though honestly, I've always found Gossett one of the more interesting Cooper suspects. Even without the Cooper connnection, he's interesting.

Thanks, I don't recall it but I didn't pay a lot of attention to most of the comments about him.

It was a NY Times article Flyjack posted back in the spring, here it is. It does mention several witnesses giving the suspect a NY accent. Which is fake-able, of course, but that seems unlikely.  Along with an almost completely different m.o. and demeanour, that pretty much scratches Hahneman for me. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

It appears to be more than one who said he had a New York accent...

Persons interviewed by F.B.I. agents said afterward that they had been told the hijacker had bought his ticket in New York City. Other passengers said the man had a “New York accent.”

I'm sure it could be verified where he bought the ticket...

Galen has taken a backseat with Cooper for sometime now..don't know if it was work or bored with the case..

Galen has had competing interests. First, elderly parents - it's what took him to Alaska - and now they have passed. Then a woman entered the picture, and as much as I push for details (ie: the juicy stuff) Galen only gives me enough to want more... Then there's the money/career issue, and Galen is busy developing a medical malpractice specialty. Lastly, there is Cooper. He still maintains his relationship with the hydrologists working in Portland on T-Bar and he continues to look for Cooper twenties in Vancouver, BC banks, but his passion has shifted over the past few years. One reason, I think, is that Galen has been focused on solving the case and has explored suspects intensely, but that avenue is proving problematic. Getting a confession, as with Gossett, is clearly not enough.

He and I chat periodically, and email regularly.

Met up with an old timer from the Pacific NW last weekend at the DZ. This well-connected jumper/pilot knew Teddy Mayfield really well and said it's 100% certain he was DB Cooper. Mayfield reportedly confessed to two other people prior to his death, but never to the guy I spoke with. He said Mayfield made the call to Himmelsbach after he landed. He knew he would be a suspect and wanted to "get off the list" from the outset.

I pointed out that Mayfield wasn't a good match to witness descriptions, but he replied "imagine a skinnier Teddy back then".

No proof, just hearsay.

377