smokin99

Blevins Said: Here's where you lose folks: You say that Gossett's picture looks nothing like the official sketch of Cooper. (The sketch, I might add, that was made from eye-witness testimony). The same eye witness testimony, I might add, that you deride when it comes to things like eye color, height, and hair - or lack thereof for Kenny. You can't have it both ways. Additionally - there you go again with the revisionist history. You did make a big deal out of the hairy arms as well as his weight gain. It was pointed out to you that the hijacker's arms (hairy or otherwise) were covered, and, as such, were never in the equation... AND….as far as I know - no one ever posited in earnest, that he put on weight to disguise himself (get real). It was pointed out, however, that it takes a heck of lot less time than 18 months to gain or lose significant weight. Pictures are subjective. For example. There are pictures of Gossett that resemble the sketch to me. On the other hand there is also a picture of Kenny that favors the sketch; however, I do not think the one of him that you believe was taken in late 71, early 72 bears a great resemblance. It is the other one - the one of him in the plane. BTW...I don't think anyone has ever answered the question that I asked - when was it taken? And which picture was shown to Flo? Blevins also said... Show me where you were laughed off at suggesting that Cook get Gossett's duty records. (And I'm not talking about your running feuds). I don't think that is a bad idea at all and I'll bet others here feel the same - My only question is - since We don't really hear from Cook on these matters - how do you know that he hasn't already checked this? Blevins said... Who gives this credibility? What people? Read the thread - I'll wager that you will find MANY more posts that challenge Gossett than accept. You make the false assumption that because people challenge Kenny, that they automatically believe everything else. Cook doesn't get as much attention because, like Geoff Gray, he decided (for some weird and strange reason) not to preview all his stuff on this thread. I'm sure if he were here posting his 25 reasons in perpetuity, he'd get challenged pretty quickly. As it is we'll just have to wait for his book. Lol...It'll be better for you if you just face your demons head on. Twelve steps and all that. Face it - you're addicted and, even worse, you want your guy to be the last one left standing. Nothing wrong with that - but when one puts their 95% on one guy - combined with a rather inflated sense of self - well let's just say that you're flying right about where the missile is aimed.

In reality, she was a minor rock star, a successful stand up comedianne in San Francisco, and once wrote a song for The Tubes. Finally, she became a traffic copter reporter for a radio station in New York. One helicopter crash later into a river, (she and the pilot survived by swimming to shore), and she was back out in the skies again in another copter. Then THIS happened...(*insert theme music from Twilight Zone here*) She wasn't lucky a second time. Jeez Blevins...the way you set that up with the twilight zone line, I thought it was a joke. I guess immortality is when people get a vicarious thrill out of listening to your last moments. Talk about sucking the air out of a room. Not sure why you posted that? That was just sad. but....A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.....Winston Churchill

I must be channeling Jo. I thought I was quoting my own post and I think I ended up editing it and deleting some of it. As in..it went poof.... Oh well, probably not worth repeating... except for...Does anyone know the approx date of the picture of KC on the plane? Also I might point out that you can't discount that Kenny might have had a side gig with nefarious activities relating to his purser duties (customs & immigration, handling money on flights, coming back from trips with all sorts of gifts) Not saying that Kenny was a thief, mind you........oh wait......I forgot.....that's exactly what you want him to be. Never mind.

Sorry..Either you edited the post after I read it or I just missed this one about Kenny's money...been connecting from my iphone. So you say that Kenny spent in CASH $23,310 in 1972. That would be $15,000 (house), $5,000 (loan to alleged accomplice's sister), and the two lots, one behind the Safeway ($1,800) and the adjoining lot to his house. ($10 plus paying off mortgage of $1,500). Are these CASH outlays proven by historical documents? Were there good faith efforts to try to find alternate sources of the 23,310? (Inheritance, land sold, coin sold, stamps sold, under the table jobs, a spare gold mine or two, drugs, smuggling, etc.). You know you have a bad habit of just taking something and running with it without really checking to make sure it actually happened........ Unfortunately, for your guy, tax returns don't always tell the whole story. Bank statements might help - or maybe not -- since Kenny apparently buried money all over his property or stashed it in the ceiling. And possibly without giving Geestman his fair share I might add....what's up with that??

Before you came on the scene I remember reading the article about Kenny that Geoff wrote. I always thought that kenny's features kind of favored the composite. But then I had a hard time reconciling certain elements from the FBI files - like height, hair, and eye color. Whether we like it or not, surely some credence has to be given to the totality of witness statements from the day AND specific statements from individuals who spent the most time in direct contact with DB. But when it comes down to casual remembrances of things that happened 40 years ago - Just saying - it's not proof of anything. Are there documents to back up any of these witness statements? Are there documents to show that Kenny came into money in 1971- 72? If so, was there a legitimate effort made to trace the funds? It's the same with everyone that has a pet theory. It's not enough to just put whatever evidence you have out there to let it stand on it's own - everything has to be skewed and slithered to try and get the square peg in the round hole. Let's see how many dots I can connect to make my guy the winner. You know...like now we're bringing in the testimony of the granddaughter of Bernie's ex-wife's sister. (Ok - I might have exaggerated that one - but you know what I'm getting at)

Just so you don't get a grade of "incomplete",

I have nothing against them questioning witnesses - I just don't think you can totally disregard witness statements from the day - especially Tina's - who did see him standing up, had a good frame of reference, and saw him for an extended length of time. The other problem is you want to disregard witness statements from 1971 that don't back your ascertains while, at the same time, claiming that YOUR witness statements regarding various things that happened 40 years ago are PROOF. Do you really think that your witnesses are more immune to wanting to be part of the DB Cooper phenom than everyone else? Do grits boil at a different temperature on their stoves? For all your "evidence", a great deal of it is conjecture based on witnesses who might or might not have their own agendas. Might be true, might not be true. We don't know and neither do you. Should the FBI at least run the fingerprints and dna through - Yes. I, along with other folks have said many times that we wish they would. If they have it, why not compare it if all other things are equal. Got no argument there. Still I would think that they have to have some sort of baseline criteria to expend resources - maybe LD met something in their baseline criteria and Kenny didn't? I really think that those who still care about this case in the FBI hate that it is unsolved and they want to solve it. I can't imagine them thinking he is a viable suspect and not pursuing it, but that's my opinion and I'm a dog on a bone, never say die kind of person. Who knows, maybe, we are kidding ourselves and they really couldn't care less about this case. I hope that's not the case.

So...instead of calling the construction company and bitching them out on my doors :) I've looked and it's looking like 7" from top is not an unusual hinge placement. As a matter of fact - From the Stanley website 5 -10 is the US standard layout for top and bottom hinges - but certain Western states use the Western standard for hinge placement: 7 from the top and 11 from the bottom. I can now officially add door hinges to the list of things that I have learned as a direct result of subscribing to this forum. Of course, this and 3.69 will buy me exactly one gallon of gas at today's price in my neck of the woods, but I thank you guys anyway.

Tape measure?? I can't tell you the number of tape measures i have bought..and always return to my toolbox when I'm through with it --but I'd bet a million free copies of Blasted that it's not there at this particular moment in time.

I'm sure Bruce is forever beholden to you and it's nice to see that you two have bonded; however, when you say that Bruce was "mad" so he "said some things", are you implying that Bruce is lying in this account of an interview with you? Previous post by Brucesmith Interview with Robert Blevins, author of: “Into the Blast, The True Story of DB Cooper” I spoke with Robert Blevins for about 20-30 minutes on the Memorial Day Weekend, 2010. Robert seemed to be guarded, initially. His first words to me were: “It’s okay with me if you tape this.” That mind-set had been revealed earlier when I read his web site and learned of his efforts to achieve absolute security when he conducted his interviews and wrote his book. He was afraid that the FBI would take all of his notes and shut down his project. However, over time, my conversation with Robert warmed up, but the initial stages were filled with many pauses. Overall, Robert Blevins has only a modest understanding of the DB Cooper case. In fact, he has very little knowledge of much of what is in the book, and as a result he is unable to expand or explain in greater detail many elements of the book. Frequently, when I asked a question, Robert would say, “Oh, Skipp Porteous knows that – he did the interview.” In reality, Robert was more like an editor of Porteous’ transcripts than a writer in the customary sense of the word. However, he did conduct a few interviews on his own, primarily with the Mike, Dawn and Katie characters, and the current owners of the former Christianson property in Bonney Lake, WA. Apparently, Porteous, a private investigator in New York City, did copious amounts of investigatory work to find all these people and their addresses, and to verify corroborative information, such as determining the various owners of the Christianson property in Bonney Lake and obtaining the details regarding the bag of $2,000 in 20s found in a stump pile. When I asked if I could interview these individuals, Robert gave a curious answer. He told me that the characters had indicated to him that they would be open to the idea of speaking with other researchers and journalists, but he said that he wanted to protect them and would not release their contact information. He said he wanted to spare them the “onslaught” or words to that effect. Nevertheless, I asked him to pass on my contact information to them along with my invitation to call me, and he said he would. Robert also said that he and Porteous did not speak directly with Tina Mucklow, and only communicated with a “family intermediary.” He said that Tina was unable to speak with journalists and researchers because it would be “too upsetting.” Nevertheless, he characterized Tina’s health and well-being as “fine.” He also said that she “has a normal life – family and kids and all that.” Indicative of Robert’s paucity of knowledge in the DB Cooper case, Robert was surprised to learn that Tina had been in a convent for 12 years. He had thought the stories of Tina being a nun were false. Robert also does not seem to have any substantive knowledge of the works of Calame, Tosaw or Himmelsbach, and seemed unfamiliar with information provided by Captain Bohan on the wind speed and direction, and other similar details pertaining to the flight path and jump. Robert also seemed very comfortable with what he considers the FBI’s officially stated metrics on weather, wind speed and direction, and does not appear eager to entertain conflicting information, even if it comes from a former FBI official. However, Robert is very familiar with Richard McCoy’s age of 29 in 1971, and spoke with incredulity about how the FBI could consider a suspect so wildly out of the reported age range of “mid-to-late forties.” As for the book’s statement that Captain Scott left the cockpit and sat next to Cooper to ascertain the reality of the bomb, Robert said that he got that from Porteous, who got it from Bill Rataczak in a taped phone conversation. Robert has not visited or communicated with Florence Schaffner, nor has Skipp, apparently, yet, although Robert said Porteous would in the future. Robert says they are comfortable with the information provided by Geoff Gray in his New York Magazine piece, where Florence says the picture Gray showed her of Christianson is the closest she has seen, yet, of DB Cooper. Robert does not have a DNA profile of Kenny Christianson. In addition, he claimed that the FBI doesn’t have any viable DNA samples of DB Cooper, stating that the Bourbon cup and the cigarette butts were mis-handled too severely to provide a viable sample of genetic material. Robert said he got this information from Skipp. When asked why the FBI ruled out Christianson, Robert said it was because of disparities in the height and eye color. Robert told me that Kenny’s driver’s license says that KC was 5’8” and 170 pounds, with hazel eyes, “whatever color that is,” added Robert. Later, though, Robert characterized Kenny as “lying” on his driver’s license, adding, “I don’t know why he would lie.” Robert said that Kenny was taller than 5’8” and probably closer to six-foot tall, based on two pictures. One, taken with his father, Kenny stands an inch taller than his 5’11” dad. Also, in the picture of Kenny walking in the doorway of his home a few days after the skyjacking with a briefcase and paper sack, Robert says the measurements of the door frame and the placement of Kenny in the picture show him to be “about six-feet tall.” Robert says he has verified this by measuring the actual door frame. Robert also provided some original and interesting information. He said that Kenny Christianson worked for Northwest Orient Airlines, part-time, until 1993. Further, the Christianson family seems circumspect about the possibility of Kenny being DB Cooper. “Some don’t care, others are embarrassed,” said Robert. Robert also said the free PDF version of “Into the Blast” will be “around for awhile.” He spoke convincingly that his work is about finding the truth. “It’s not about the money at all. It’s about the truth.” Just curious cause, you know...for a guy that seems to make his share of mistakes...or..has had a difficult time establishing credibility, or. as one very respected and knowledgeable poster once noted... "play(s) fast and loose with the facts", you sure do seem to come down pretty hard on others. Lol..but I've noticed "derangement syndrome" can be rampant on this thread at times so I guess it's par for the course. Oh well. Whether you like Bruce or not, I've found from reading his articles that he seems to be pretty honest in his reports...even down to reporting conversations or happenings that don't always put him in the best light. Just saying....Glass houses and all that...think about it.

You don't say. lol....no offense, really - but just when I think you've got the market locked on hubris, you rise to new heights. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aPJYrFLStg&feature=player_detailpage but....A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.....Winston Churchill

And if you couple that with everything else in his life, I would say it's a DAMN GOOD alibi. IMHO you are wasting your time trying to link Sheridan to the hijacking, although obtaining DNA profiles from those stamps couldn't hurt. They could compare them to a real suspect (if anyone is found) later.

lol.....look ma.....no cleavage! Finally.... a Farflung collage I can put on my refrigerator but....A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.....Winston Churchill

You pretty much nailed that one....except I think Cook's support is for the letters to be analyzed, but his candidate is Gossett. Unless he's switched sides. ?

I agree with this. And, fWIW, how do we know that the FBI hasn't done this. And fWIW again, the subject of obtaining DNA from the envelope was mentioned way back in 2008 by snowmman in a post about another letter and, in that discussion, ckret subsequently posted this: "Lots of "Cooper" letters have been sent to the FBI, this was the first one. In fact, every time something comes out on the news I get some. I actually know where this one is and will scan and post it when I get back from vacation (2 weeks). I also remember reading a lab report about it but can't say 100% without going back so I'll wait posting on it. Safe to assume nothing came of it." Smokin sez: I haven't found yet that he ever scanned the letter or produced results of the "lab report". Just saying that there might have been more attention paid to the letters than we give them credit for. And this from Bruce Smith mentions "New DNA evidence". The FBI interview with Peterson and DNA swab happened around 2002 or 2003 and I don't think there was any mention of where the "New DNA evidence came from". Was it the Tie? Or maybe they found the cigarettes, magazine, drink glass? Or could it have been the letters/envelopes? I don't know. does anyone outside of the FBI know this? From Bruce's post.... "Mary Jean received a “lead” from the Seattle FBI office to “locate” Sheridan Peterson and conduct an inquiry regarding Petey’s association to the Cooper case, such as his parachuting skills, and take a DNA swab. She believes the lead was generated by new DNA evidence coming forward, and it originated in Seattle, but she doesn’t remember the case agent who issued the lead. She also said that Petey fit the general metrics for DB Cooper, i.e.: age, jumper, etc." ..... "Mary Jean didn’t know about the 1971 investigation of Petey prior to the interview, but Petey volunteered the information. Mary Jean was very impressed with Petey’s recall and the volume of documents he has on his life, such as his skydiving log." [Smokin sez - Incidentally, the Parachutist Online article written by Musika Farnsworth stated that Peterson provided fingerprints, DNA, and proof of his whereabouts when interviewed "clearing him as a suspect". ..... "Mary Jean said that she sent the DNA swab to Quantico, and that she later “received a cover” informing her that the findings were negative." Just some additional perspective.

Impressive. Did you take this? And is that a boat on the left? but....A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.....Winston Churchill

I didn't try to discredit your honest attempt to solve the case. Folks challenge your posts, they challenge my posts. It's the way it works around here. As far the rent thing - yeah that was a joke. If I offended you,I apologize. On the other hand - if you'd read through this thread you will see that humor is used quite a bit. Maybe you need to lighten up? As for the DNA - go for it. Seeing as how they've already got his DNA and they've already investigated him, seems like it would be a relatively easy thing to do on the surface. Last laugh? Gee I hope so. You know Peterson has been on the "dropzone radar" for a long time. He's one of the top contenders for several of us - me included. Rumor has it that he even posts on here occasionally.

Wow. but....A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.....Winston Churchill

"one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind" First man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, 82 died today. RIP but....A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.....Winston Churchill

I got nothing against dwarfs....I have a very good friend that is a dwarf or if you're feeling pc, "little person". Lol...believe it or not, his last name is Peak...but I have to say that was kinda creepy.

Stay safe and leave if you're told to.

Dang...Sheridan must have skipped out on paying the rent... So once you've got DNA that would associate this 86 year old man with the letter-writing, you'd want to put him in prison for the rest of his life because he lied about being in Nepal - so you could try to get a confession? That's interesting. If you can "prove" that the letters were written by him based on the spit on the envelope, then why not just charge him with the crime and try him for that? Doesn't he basically confess in the letters? I've got a feeling, just a feeling, mind you, that no one will ever serve any time for this crime. Not saying that crime should go unpunished, you understand, and call me cynical, but imho, a lawyer would love the PR he'd get from defending this one.....and DB would probably finally end up with all the money, beautiful women, and tiki huts that he could handle.

but....A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.....Winston Churchill

lol...I like your explanation a lot better. I always wondered what they were saying and never quite understood why they said anything. I guess to let us know that someone is driving the bus. but....A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.....Winston Churchill