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Sluggo- Great website, thanks for creating it and keeping it conspiracy free!

Jo, You will probably be better off exploring any potential links between Wolfgang Gossett's "judge" and the unions that are somehow connected to Duane outside of public (forum) scrutiny. Not that you can't specualte as you wish, but this line of theorizing travels in the same direction as the MLK assasination and probably won't do anything to prove the assertion that Duane Weber was Cooper. After you have read the Depoe article you will realize that the reference to the judge is not the focal point of the Gossett suspect's hijacker credentials.

Article in plain text format: DEPOE BAY — He was the soldier who became a skyjacker, the skyjacker who became a priest, and the priest who lived and died in Depoe Bay! A fantastic yarn? Not according to Galen Cook, a Spokane, Wash. lawyer who is one of the nation’s leading authorities on D.B. Cooper, the famous air pirate who skyjacked a Northwest Orient Boeing 727 from Seattle to Portland on the night of Nov. 24, 1971 and disappeared into popular history when he bailed-out with $200,000 in ransom money. In an exclusive interview with the Beacon, Cook revealed how he became convinced that former Depoe Bay mystery man Wolfgang Gossett was, in fact, the infamous skyjacker D.B. Cooper. Galen Cook has been on the trail of D.B. Cooper since the 1980s and has interviewed hundreds of people close to the case, including eyewitnesses on the ill-fated flight, airplane crewmembers, aviation and parachuting experts, FBI agents and even other suspects. The trail seemed to go cold at every turn until a break in the case in late 2007, thanks to the national radio show Coast-to-Coast AM, the popular late-night program for 2.5 million insomniacs and other night people founded by Art Bell and hosted now by George Noory and on Saturday nights by Ian Punnett. Punnett was interviewing Cook when a caller — Gossett’s son, Greg, a corrections officer and one of five children — said he believed his father was D.B. Cooper. Family members have helped the police solve thousands of important crimes such as the Unabomber case, so Galen Cook took the tip seriously and began a six-month investigation that brought him on at least four occasions to Depoe Bay where he interviewed people who knew “Wolf” Gossett intimately. Among the people he spoke with were Depoe Bay resident C.J. Winter, Gossett’s caretaker in the last years of his life, a Newport attorney who claimed to have known Gossett’s dark secret and even the editor of the Depoe Bay Beacon, Rick Beasley, who knew Gossett as a friend and wrote his obituary on the day he died, Sept. 1, 2003. Dozens of other people who knew Gossett including family members and ex-wives, people with whom he served in the military, co-workers in the court system and law enforcement officials who knew him as a private investigator cooperated and in many cases revealed their belief that Gossett carried an ominous secret that had something to do with the D.B. Cooper case. He often dropped hints about the skyjacking that some people took as merely a fascination for the topic. “He told his last wife, Elaine Hetschel, that he would write D.B. Cooper’s epitath,” Cook said. “There were others that said he always talked about D.B. Cooper. There was all this third-person narrative, but he never told the people closest to him, ‘I did the job.’” But Gossett did confess to at least two people, according to Cook. One is a retired Salt Lake City judge who was Gossett’s boss and close friend when he worked in the Salt Lake City public defender’s office. “Wolfgang and I were on very good terms,” the judge recalled in his interview with Galen Cook. “In 1977 he walked into my office and closed the door and said he thought he might be in some trouble, that he was involved in a hijacking in Portland and Seattle a few years ago and that he might have left prints behind. He said he was D.B. Cooper. I told him to keep his mouth shut and don’t do anything stupid, and not to bring it up again.” The other person who claims to have known Gossett’s secret is a retired Newport attorney who befriended Gossett and once took him on a mysterious trip to a Vancouver, B.C. bank where some of the ransom money may have been stashed in a lock box. “A lot of credible people in his past told me that Gossett could have been D.B. Cooper,” Cook said. “They believe he could have gotten away with it. He had the training, the motive and the opportunity, and the more I got into this case the more he started to become the most viable suspect ever. The circumstantial evidence is really strong. I feel we’ve got the right guy.” Cook spent time at the C.J. Winter home in Depoe Bay where he went through the belongings of Gossett and collected a bandana with a set of Airborne wings that Wolfgang wore at all times. The bandana contains hair strands that could provide conclusive DNA proof that Gossett was the hijacker. The only thing standing in the way is cooperation from the FBI, which claims to have a DNA sample from the clip-on tie that D.B. Cooper left aboard the airplane, as well as a partial print from a cocktail glass. The much-vaunted federal agency has been silent on the issue up to now, including a response to the full set of fingerprints provided to the G-men by Galen Cook. Cook’s relationship with the FBI is a little rocky; he once sued the agency under the Freedom of Information Act. Gossett’s personal history is eye-popping and could be ripped from the pages of a spy novel. Galen Cook’s research, documented by official records, revealed that he was born William Pratt Gossett in San Diego in 1930, the son of a Navy commander later stationed at Pearl Harbor. At the age of 11, Bill Gossett witnessed Japanese bombers attacking the base. In 1946 at age 16 Gossett joined the Army Air Force, then switched branches in 1954 to become a U.S. Marine. After 10 years in the Corps, he jumped to the U.S. Army, serving one tour in Korea and two tours in Vietnam, where he earned a Purple Heart for wounds and several awards for valor. Throughout his military career, he attended dozens of elite Armed Services schools where he learned military law, fluent French — he did a tour at the U.S. embassy in France — and became a skilled survivalist and combat parachutist with hundreds of high-altitude and night jumps. He finished his career as an ROTC instructor and retired from the Army at Ft. Lewis, Wash., in 1973, less than two years after the notorious skyjacking. Gossett returned to Utah, where he had inaugurated the ROTC program at Weber State College, and became a private detective specializing in money fraud, cults and missing persons. His biggest moment came when he assisted the FBI in rescuing a woman from the Bhagwan Rajneesh’s compound in Antelope, Ore. Among the documents Galen Cook found among Gossett’s personal belongings at the Depoe Bay home of C.J. Winter was a letter of commendation from the FBI, which still has an investigator assigned to the D.B. Cooper case. Gossett also worked for the public defender’s office in Salt Lake City, where he was well-known and respected by police and court officials including the police chief of Ogden, Utah, who said Gossett “could eat bullets and call it a meal.” In another amazing twist to Gossett’s life, he officially changed his name to “Wolfgang” and became a priest in the Old Catholic Church, SLC Diocese, in 1988 — a move that answered, according to family members, a spiritual calling that he’d always heard. Finally, in 1994, Gossett moved to Newport where he worked for attorney Dan Poling, a Depoe Bay resident who died several years ago. Gossett retired to Depoe Bay and became known as a man about town who had many friends, often won on the gaming machines at Gracie’s Sea Hag and spoke-out at City Council meetings. What many people didn’t know is that Gossett had a dark side, including four failed marriages, five children and money troubles from gambling. Cook’s research places Gossett in Ogden, Utah, around the time of the skyjacking. He was an ROTC instructor making $15,000 per year, and newly separated from his wife. Galen Cook said that Gossett chose the date for the heist because he had a week off from his duties. “Opportunity, and a brilliant plan, was the key to the whole D.B. Cooper thing,” Cook said. “He didn’t have to be at work or at home. He had the level of skills and ability to plan the entire thing with military precision, and to not only parachute from the plane but to survive.” According to Cook, Gossett took a flight from Ogden to San Francisco where he donned his Dan Cooper disguise. The name ‘Dan’ was Gossett’s inside joke. He had a brother, now deceased, named Danny. Growing up, he would always blame Danny whenever he got into trouble by declaring, “Danny did it!” The name Cooper appears to be randomly picked. Portland police mistakenly came up with the initials “D.B.” during their investigation, and the name stuck. “My research indicates that the reason he avoided detection on the night of the jump and the following days was because searchers were looking in the wrong state,” Cook said. “D.B. Cooper cleared the Columbia River and landed in Oregon, where he made his way back to the airport and returned to Utah. It took him three days, in and out.” Galen Cook has tied-up many of the loose threads of the case, such as the mystery over some of the ransom money that was discovered on a Columbia River bar in 1980. He also explains how D.B. Cooper selected the one parachute among the three brought to the aircraft that actually worked. But those details, and others, will have to simmer until the publication of his book. Cook left for Alaska on May 1, where he will sequester himself at his father’s home for three months to write the last chapter on the D.B. Cooper caper. “It’s an incredible story,” he said. “The air pirate who became a priest and marries and buries people when he’s not out helping the FBI solve criminal cases. And in later life he becomes civic-minded by attending City Council meetings in Depoe Bay and becomes a late-life jogger who runs around town wearing his military parachute badge on his headband to remind himself of who he really is. This story is going to be a blockbuster.” For more information on Galen Cook and his investigation, go to coasttocoastam.com. For more on D.B. Cooper, got to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper on the internet. Author Name Rick Beasley - news@depoebaybeacon.com

The News Times, Newport, OR Sept. 5, 2003 William "Wolfgang" Gossett William Pratt "Wolfgang" Gossett, 73, of Depoe Bay died Sept. 1, 2003, at Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital in Lincoln City, following a stroke. He was born July 29, 1930 in San Jose, Calif. He served with the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps, and was an administrative clerk and physical training instructor in Okinawa, Japan, at the end of World War II. He served with a U.S. Naval advisory group in South Korea from 1957 to 1959 as an administrative personnel chief and law specialist. From 1959 to 1964, he served with the Marine Corps in California, then worked for the U.S. Army Judge Advocate's office in New York City. He served with the Judge Advocate General in France from 1965 to 1966; then was in Vietnam as a military law specialist from May 1966 to October 1967, and received the Purple Heart. From 1967 to 1968, he was an administrative and legal supervisor with the 3rd BCT Brigade, Ford Ord, Calif. He was an instructor at reserve training centers and a military law professor at Weber State College, now Weber State University, Utah. He also worked as a correctional officer and administrative director of a confinement facility at the Davis County Sheriff's Office, Farmington, Utah, and for the public defender's office in Utah. In 1976, he was commissioned as an officer in the Utah National Guard. He was a radio talk show host for KCGL Radio from 1981 to 1983. He also worked as a school teacher and assistant principal at Bryant Intermediate School in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1988, he was ordained as a priest in the Old Roman Catholic Diocese in Salt Lake City. He worked as a freelance civil and criminal investigator from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, and owned and directed an agency specializing in investigation of investment fraud, cult and occult fraud, and missing persons cases. He moved to Newport in 1994, where he worked as a legal assistant to attorney Dan Poling. From 1998 to 2002, he worked with the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians. He was a marathon runner, and enjoyed distance walking. He enjoyed storytelling and his dog, Skye. Survivors include three sons, Steven Gossett of California, Gregory Gossett of Utah, and Kirk Gossett of Arizona; a daughter, Doris Lee Gilliam of Delaware; two brothers, Danny Gossett of California and Orien Gossett of Utah; and two sisters, Nancy Easler and Libby Lee, both of California; and his wife, Marilyn Smith of Sherwood. A memorial service will be held Monday at Willamette National Cemetery, Portland.

Excellent observation... too bad he didn't tell the pilots something like..."but when I worked on the Boeing engineering team you could...oops!"

OK boys and girls... we have some info on the "new" DB Cooper suspect (Wolfgang)... Although we have to wait for many months to "buy" the book, I would think that Ckret can start the lab running down this guys old gray hairs and prints, comparing them to the archived evidence. I really hate to go here, but WHAT IF this guy's 4 ex wives get in on this forum and help guide us through the coinicidences and stuff... (just kidding, Jo) I'll be the first to jump out and say that the photographic resemblance is the best that I have seen, from a non-scientific aspect. How about it Ckret? Is Wolfy our boy? Keep us informed... this is becoming a real nail biter... to be continued...

Thanks -- to me, any DNA obtained from the tie is suspect because of the high likelihood of outside contamination and the very minimal contact of a clip on tie to the skin/body -- certainly would not warrant a conviction in my opinion. Wouldn't it be a kick if that tie was actually left in the seating area by a prior passenger and has NOTHING to do with the Cooper case!!

Ckret, since we're still "tied" to this case... how was the DNA found on the tie?? I just don't get it??

Let's hope Ckret can help rule this guy in or out -- I wondered whatever happened to him since the radio talk show many months ago.

Like I said... we're rehashing the same stuff again, and speculating toward conclusions that cannot be confirmed or denied without PROOF... My money is still on Duane Weber (based on suspects that have been identified at this point), but I find it doubtful that we will prove it without NEW evidence... WHATEVER HAPPENED to the mystery suspect ID'd on that "coast to coast" radio show??? Was that just a hoax or what??

Seems like we are in recycle mode again... the DB Cooper case might very well stall without any NEW leads or evidence. I think Ckret's mission by reaching out to the public in late '07 was to shake loose anything "new". Today's question to Ckret: Have there been any (valid) NEW leads on the case since January 1st? If not, unless another confession emerges, this looks like it will go down as an unsolved mystery.

Ckret: This might have been answered before, but HOW was DNA extracted from a clip on neck tie for testing? Thanks!!

Looks like the forum has quieted down... wish somebody would find an old parachute or something...

OK guys... check this out... I think I may have found a new suspect for us to speculate about while we await the picture of the "money bag" that could propel the DB Cooper mystery to resolution. SUSPECT: White male, born in 1920 (would have been just a little older than late 40's in 1971), had been successful in entertainment business until his show went off the air in 1970 -- JUST A YEAR BEFORE THE HIJACKING!! - was known to wear cheap clip on ties, smoked like a railroad train --AND-- was familiar with law enforcement procedures!!!! This person died in 1982 (JUST 2 YEARS AFTER THE KID DUG UP THOSE MOLDY $20 BILLS!!!!)... mysteriously from a heart attack... could have been from the stress associated with hopping out of that 727 in cold weather, landing in the river, losing some of the cash, etc. THE KICKER: This person served aboard a B-26 in the Army Air Corp during WWII !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He knew about airplanes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am revealing now, for the first time, a photo of my new suspect... photo is attached... can ANYONE identify this person??????

I agree that deathbed confessions are often flawed. Here is another way to put this into perspective. If Duane Weber wanted his wife to "think" he was DB Cooper, for the Walter Mitty ("I'm somebody famous") aspect, I believe he would have sprung this on her during the marriage, and gotten some mileage out of it. INSTEAD, he actually did wait until on his deathbed and had nothing to gain by doing so. Everyone, including the FBI, is entitled to their opinion on this and I agree that hard evidence is always the preferred media in making determinations of guilt. Sometimes, however, we need to think this through from just a "common sense" standpoint... and in doing so I do not find any other yet identified suspect that has the circumstantial evidence pointing to him as much as Duane Weber does.

After 37 years... good luck! The eruption of Mt. St. Helens could/would have covered up the remains forever if the FBI theory (Cooper screwed himself into the earth) is true. If this crime were committed TODAY, the search for clues would have yielded the suspect or his body -- unfortuntely infrared detection, GPS navigation, etc was not yet available.

Not sure if there were any unsolved crimes in those areas, but I think after seeing the tax return info we are closer to solving THE crime we are all interested in. I seriously believe that the FBI is blowing off Duane Weber as a suspect due to "issues" that are classified. There are far too many coincidences in the data that Jo Weber is providing [REMEMBER: She has no direct motive in trying to prove her deceased husband was DB Cooper] I still can't say it's 100% for me, but I think he (Weber) would be in the FBI's sights if not for the annoying fact he is linked to something that the FBI cannot open up. Do not be surprised if the FBI declares "DB Cooper died jumping from the 727 - case closed" and actually puts the lid on this before long. I know that Ckret will be upset if I do not bulletize my evidence to support this statement, so here it is: >> It's a hunch that I have... that's all. If we dissect the pieces of the puzzle provided by Jo Weber, if Duane was not DB Cooper, he sure as heck should have been!!

Now, who wears clip-on ties (in 1971)? ADD: Life Insurance Debit Salesman

Ckret, I have these questions I'd like to ask about - thank you for any light you can shed: Q: What is contained in the missing communication (radio) logs that would warrant their non-release?? Q: Have never understood how DNA was extracted from a clip on tie -- from the metal clip contacting body?? From a stain on the tie?? Q: Jo Weber alleged that the tie had been taken and shown to a third party (McCoy family) -- is that true, and if so doesn't that taint the evidence because of it being handled?? Q: Did the witnesses description include Cooper wearing a hat when boarding, and if so was it found?? Q: RE: The most recent parachute "find" that was false, was there any authentication besides the Crossley (sic?) guy, and any theories on why a chute would have been buried there (were prior land owners questioned, etc.) ?? Is this still being investigated?? Q: The money -- if I had a Cooper $20 bill and spent it at Wal*Mart today (an example...) is it realistic to assume bells & sirens would go off?? My point of asking is to determine how likely it is that none of the $$ was ever spent. THANK YOU for your help!

Stupid question... What does "LE Surprise Party" refer to??? thanks

Good points... IN FACT nobody actually knows what Cooper was wearing, how he was rigged or anything else, at the time of exiting the 727...

Interesting... not sure if I can visualize that being a motive - here's why: > No mention of this to anyone on board, I think someone seeking such vengeance would have been vocal about it, and probably off balance. > I think this type of extortionist would have opted for a getaway car w/ full tank of gas -vs- the jump. > Probably would have asked for a few more dollars (even though we know in '71 the $200K was like a million dollars today) Even if it is a stretch, it re-opens the question of motive. Was this just a cash grab? Possibly a thrill crime? Did Cooper have debts to settle?

Observations after having perused this forum for some time... sorry that this crosses into speculation, but that is how we can collectively get to the bottom of this. These thoughts are wide open for comment, but represent how I feel: > Cooper: Doubtful that this was his first jump, and his knowledge of parachuting was more advanced than the FBI wanted/wants to believe. While the weather conditions were not ideal, they did not make this impossible either. To determine that he died during the jump with nothing concrete to substantiate that is just a convenient way to explain the fact they botched this one. Sorry ckret, that's how I see it. BIG THING TO CONSIDER: Cooper, whoever he really was, took control of this hijacking in a non-violent manner (have seen nothing saying he yelled, etc.), from what I have researched, maintained his composure throughout and pulled this off with no casualties. If I were profiling him, I would be researching 1950's-1960's bank robbery criminals. I am convinced this was not his first (or even his last) crime. > Cooper died during jump (NOT): I don't care if Cooper was single, married, etc. - S-O-M-E-B-O-D-Y would have eventually missed him enough to say something. In the early 1970's a missing person was not an everyday occurrence as today. The fact that he did not board the flight looking like a street person proves he had some access to $$. > Investigation: Because the FBI actually believed they would find their man (this being the first such chute jump hijacking), the crime scene was not processed as would be the case today. There was most likely evidence that was not collected. DNA had not been introduced yet, etc. > Interviews with flight crew: Without access to actual transcripts, and just reading bits and pieces, it's hard to imagine what type of questions were asked of the stewardess. For example, was she asked: Q: When Cooper was in the lavatory, did he close the door completely? What sounds did you hear? Did his appearance change after exiting? and on... and on... **RELEASE of this data can be crucial to fresh clues from different eyes... how about it FBI??** > Duane Weber: I sympathize with Jo Weber, because she believes that her husband had involvement in this, and I think there is enough circumstantial evidence to agree that this is an avenue that should be investigated until exhausted. Why do I think the FBI has no interest? Because Duane has passed away. Prosecution in absentia is worthless. Were he still alive, they most certainly would have treated him more as a suspect provided the data we have today was available. I doubt, however, that Jo would have wanted any attention to this if Duane was still with us -- I wouldn't. Another theory I have puts Mr. Weber in some status that prevents the FBI from getting too close (does the acronym CIA ring a bell??). Not trying to revise conspiracy theories but it sounds likely. Regardless of whether Duane was Cooper or not, Jo deserves to know more about him. > Mystery suspect: Would like to know more about the most recent "suspect" revealed on the coast to coast radio show. Has anybody ID'd this guy yet? He is the closest match to the sketches that I have seen so far. What do we know????