BruceSmith

Regarding Tina's Bar, I know that Galen was there a few days ago saying that he was back at work with his soil scientists and hydrologists. Other than that, I haven't a clue what is going on, and I sure don't understand the current mystery dust-up. Also, as for Burnworth - or any suspect for that matter - I think it is important to explore all details of the case, including who the FBI investigated and how they did it. Yes, it would be simple, I suppose, to send off a fingerprint to the feds and ask for confirmation, but what does that achieve? Merely scratching another name off a list? Rather, I think it is important to examine FBI behavior and dynamics, as well as the cultural effluvia of suspects, confessees, witnesses and wannabees. There are important lessons to be learned in their study, in my judgment. The trick, I think, is not to become distracted, side-lined or overwhelmed.

I wouldnt even hazard a guess about how closely various FBi agents followed the original Cooper profile (physical) when pursuing leads. It's just something Ive always wondered about, but that basic profile does seem a good place to start with just for openers ? Yes, it's an interesting, and very worthy line of questioning to pursue with the feds.

Quote Excellent point, G. I'll be asking eye color right out of the chute from now on.

DZ, Status Report on Burnside, May 21, 2010 I spoke with Don Burnworth’s daughter, Dotti, recently, and she basically corroborates Don’s story. Also, she told me about a lot of family history that I need to keep confidential at this point, as her family members are private citizens and entitled to their privacy until I can get some more corroboration on the charges swirling about. Nevertheless, here are the highlights. Dotti is Don Burnworth’s youngest of three daughters he had with Bernice. Dotti is a vivacious and somewhat whimsical woman. After an exchange of phone messages, we connected when she called me on her cell phone from a track meet in which one of her five children was participating. I found her to be a chatty, delightful person, and honest. I felt she was telling me the family history as she knows it, with no embellishments or withholding of any elements. “Where do we start,” was the exclamation we both voiced when we finally spoke to each other after many phone messages. “Tell me about your father,” I said finally. “What are your strongest recollections of those days when he was charged with being DB Cooper?” “It’s the reputation thing,” she said. “We’re hoping that he’s DB Cooper. It would be so cool.” “But, if he’s DB Cooper, though, he going to go to jail for the rest of his life,” I replied. “Oh, no, no. no…………..no…………” Her voice just trailed off as if she couldn’t fathom the reality of her father being DB Cooper. It just didn’t compute. After a pause, Dotti began again. “We were in Germany. He kept us healthy and happy, you know.” Dotti also said that she spoke only German when she returned to the United States as she was two years-old. “All I know from those days is what I was told, especially from my Nana, my grandmother. She had a newspaper clipping – from the Redwood City Tribune, I think – Redwood City something. I’ve tried looking it up – Googleing it on the Internet – but I can’t find it. The clipping showed the three of us – me and my two sisters. It’s one of the few pictures of us that we had. There was a sketch of DB Cooper and a picture of my father and he looked just like DB Cooper. The clipping’s lost, though. I’d really like to find it, or get it on line, but I haven’t been able.” At this point, Dotti began talking about her Nana, a very influential person in Dotti’s life. By all account, her Nana was a powerful, controlling, unyielding woman. Dotti’s Nana is named----, initials “DB.” However, even after a healthy discussion with Dotti, I’m a little hazy on the details of her Nana’s life. Here’s what I’ve got: Somehow DB adopted Bernice, Burnworth’s wife and Dotti’s mother, along with Bernice’s younger brother ----“S” just days after their biological mother, a woman named ---"D," died in childbirth with S. This incident happened in the upper mid-west. Wisconsin? Minnesota? Dotti claims DB married a mobster, named “CB,” who Dotti says died mysteriously. DB then married a “felon,” who was shot in the back of his head while sitting in his car in downtown Kansas City. “It’s such a cliché,” Dotti commented, adding, “Who do you trust? Who has more….who do you have more faith in?” Dotti seemed very even-handed telling this family saga of violence and death in the KC mob. She was not overly emotional, nor was she flat and repressed. Dotti described DB as a consummate matriarch. “She ran the show,” said Dotti. “She called the shots,” adding “she was super-classy, but she wasn’t a typical Mafia Momma – the nurturing kind – she definitely wasn’t that. She always had to be in control. It was like, ‘If I can’t control you, you’re gone - it was goodbye.’” My research for the corroborating history of Dotti’s family has only turned up sketchy bits and pieces in the overall history of the KC mafia. I found some half-corroboration, but nothing iron-clad. Further, several published histories of mob activities in KC make no mention of Dotti’s family. A current best-selling book on the subject: The Mafia and The Machine, by Frank R Hayde, a LE officer, apparently makes no mention of any member of Dotti’s family. There is certainly none in the lengthy overview that is available on the Internet. Further, another chronicler of KC mob activities, Allan May, also wrote up a treatise of the KC mob in the “AmericanMafia.com” web site that has no information whatsoever on Dotti’s family. I spoke with Allan on May 19, 2010, and he confirmed that he has no knowledge of any criminal activity by any of Dotti's family members. I do not know if DB is still alive. Again, Dotti and I ran out of time before I could confirm – the cell phone batteries ran out. Dotti says that most of what she knows of the DB Cooper era of her family’s life she has gotten from her Nana. Dotti’s mother died in 1977 when Dotti was about 8 or 9, according to Don Burnworth. Dotti and I did not have a chance to talk about her mother in detail. “I was told a lot of things growing up,” said Dotti. “But there is so much more to learn about what my Dad has said.” As a young girl, Dotti describes her father as ‘balanced’ and repeated, as if she was testifying in court, that she and her sisters were well taken care of in Germany. “We were healthy and happy. But my father was the devil according to them, (Nana and Bernice).” As for the events surrounding the return from Germany, they are still unclear to me. Nevertheless, Dotti had this to say about the return and subsequent events: “My mom married the detective who ‘found us, quote, unquote,’ but the marriage only lasted a couple of months.” “Then she married another guy – a monster….She made ridiculous, arbitrary decisions.” During this marriage, Bernice and her husband clearly put the girls into jeopardy. “My mother let a child molester move into the house to live with us – a 15 year old guy – in a house with three girls!” At this point, Dotti spoke in a rambling and tangential manner for a while about her mother. By all accounts Bernice was a very troubled and problematic woman. “The man she married was physically abusive,” Dotti said. Latter she expanded upon that theme: “Think of an abuse - and he did it.” It was my understanding that the “monster” was named ----“EH.” Dotti and I did not have a chance to discuss any of these details. However, Dotti added, somewhat out of the blue: “Mom was always trying to help people, and was always helping out in the community, but she forgot that she had three kids to take care of. At this point, Dotti said that she “never got along” with her Nana, but that the middle sister, “G” did. “G and Nana were like two peas in a pod. I don’t think G will ever talk with you,” Dotti said. Dotti said that the oldest daughter “K” was more circumspect about Nana. “K might talk with you.” Moving back to the DB Cooper angle, Dotti said that her mother and Nana never explicitly said that her father was DB Cooper. “They just said that he was tried and acquitted by the FBI. That’s what they told me.” Dotti was about 2-2½ years-old in late 1971, and her sisters were about 4 and 5 years-old. Dotti also said that the newspaper clipping Nana showed her revealed that Don and the girls traveled to Germany with a woman named Marianne Cooper. When I told Dotti her father’s story of a male “Marion Cooper,” traveling to KC to retrieve her and her sisters before their flight to Germany, she was surprised and said that she had never heard of that angle. As for her personal life, Dotti now lives in the mid-west with her husband, “N”, a widower, and his two kids. Dotti has had three marriages, and has three children from her second union. I assume that all five kids are with her. She sounds like a busy mom, and her answering machine message says “You have reached Wonder Woman’s phone…” Other information: The archivist from the San Mateo Mercury News emailed me saying that she could not find any coverage of the Don Burnworth arrest and incarceration. A Lt. Ray Luny of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department has called me and said he is sending me a packet of information “on the arrest in 1972 that you asked about.” I haven’t been able to speak directly with Lt. Luny and we are only exchanging brief phone messages. Nevertheless, I sense that he is going to confirm that Don was at least detained by the feds in the SMC jail. But that is not definite. I should know next week when I receive the packet. Don has not responded to numerous phone calls and emails over the past two-three weeks. Nor has he sent me any photographs as promised. Also, he has not told me the name of the DB Cooper imposter that Bernice’s family presumably hired. Nor has Dotti responded to any of my emails and phone messages of the past seven days. I have a sense that the Burnworth family is pulling back and deciding how much public exposure they really want. Lastly, retired FBI agent George Grotz continues to remain unresponsive despite spending the majority of his career in San Francisco, and was on Norjak at the beginning.

Oops. Thanks for the head's up, 377.

Quote All I know is what I've posted. Here is the current situation: The archivist from the San Mateo Mercury News emailed me today to say that she could not find any story that referenced Don Burnworth. In addition, the San Mateo Sheriff's Dept confirmed to me Tuesday that any FBI arrest or detention arising at the San Francisco Int'l Airport would involve the San Mateo jail, which they operate. The acting PIO at the SMSD said she would attempt to confirm whether Burnworth was held at her jail, but I haven't heard back. I've asked retired FBI agent George Grotz for information on Burnworth, too. Grotz is the guy who was a rookie G-Man in the Seattle office on Nov. 24, 1971 and later spent the majority of his career in the SF office. I haven't heard back, which makes about the second or third time George has declined to respond to me after an initially very robust and light-hearted discussion of the old days and Petey Peterson. Don himself has still not sent pictures of himself, but he has arranged for me to chat with his youngest daughter. She and I have exchanged a couple phone messages and I expect to talk with her directly in the near future. I spoke with Galen today at length about the veracity of Mr. X and Don, since this all came to me via Galen initially. Galen thinks both these guys are looking for a glory ride on the DB Cooepr Express, but I find it hard to see how Mr. X and Don concocted a tale that is aligned in some important ways but is so wildly at odds is so many others. That's what I've got.

...why does X need a trump card? Quote I don't know, Orange, but it suggests that he has grand plans, ie: movies, fame, books, etc. Not only does X insist on anonymity, he has requested complete control over what I write of his information. I have never recevied a "request" like that before. Don is much easier to deal with than X, but X is quite affable on the phone, too; it's his emails that are tough.

Guess who popped up in my Inbox - The Snowmman! And he offered the following. As he suggested, I post his email "in toto:" ****************************************** You can post this information verbatim. In the December 1989, Farflung and I flew on an 737-200C that was half cargo/half passenger into Dutch Harbor. You can see what it was like in the vids below. proof: here's an AA vid showing the 737-200 landing at Dutch Harbor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzY1wLy-TZ0 Well, so we made our way into town, and there was some kind of crazy bachelorette party going on at this purple bar called "The Elbow Room" I kid you not: They had a burly woman at the door who wouldn't let you in unless you let her measure your dick and you passed a minimum. Well we got in. I remember there was a woman passed out cold on the floor while two others were still fighting. One thing led to another. I remember hazily Farflung pointing to some bills posted behind the bar, and he was reading thru them..(different countries) till he got to a twenty with no additional writing on it at all. He said "what's this?" and the bar went quiet. That's all I remember until I woke up at the airport in Anchorage. I'm not kidding. You can confirm this with Farflung. more vids on winter landings there http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=7591003 http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=32342912 http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=32342474 http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=32343297 http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=32343748 There was another time in Valdez, where Farflung and I ended up at the Pipeline club. Again I don't remember much, but at least that time I woke up in a room upstairs, not hundreds of miles away. If Farflung denies it, have him explain this: "Early 1994, ASAA requested a life raft deviation for it’s Russian operation. The FAA inspector team, including the Principal Maintenance and Principal Avionics inspector had safety concerns about granting this deviation in such a cold climate and freezing water. Baldwin told the inspectors that ASAA WOULD get the deviation “or else”. He raised his voice to the inspectors and emphasized many times that ASAA was our customer, and our job was to give them what they wanted. We disagreed, stating the flying public was our customer, and people would die unless we protected them. This type of incident was typical of Mr. Baldwin. In another incident, Mr. Bill Boser directed a Russian mechanic to de-ice an MD-80 with vodka and a garden sprayer. It was then done with passengers on the airplane and the APU running (a recipe for a fire). The plane then departs. I discovered the incident, attempted to go after the airline for safety violations, and experienced interference from Baldwin. Boser was a personal friend of Baldwin’s. Baldwin said he thought the incident was “funny” and “showed creativity”. Baldwin became angry when I pursued the issue." ***************************************** Ahem, Farflung, I think the ball is in your court.... - BAS

X was referring to the US military's investment of time, money and training in Burnworth - not the FBI's investment. This is based on alot of inference X received from the three federal authorities who individually interviewed him in three sequential, separate sessions. Exactly what was said by the agents, I do not know because X is very cagey about what the feddies specifically said. X says he wants to hold onto some details as a kind of trump card. By the way, Don was very eager to receive the URL to this site. I hope he joins the discussion. X also reads this forum, and is a big fan of Sluggo's!

Don says he was arrested and incarcerated by the FBI as a suspect in the DB Cooper case. When he left the country he had a 30-day temp custody grant from a California judge. I'm not sure if that meant anything in Kansas, where the kids were. Yes, leaving the country with the kids was illegal, as I understand it. Yes, I wonder how Marion Cooper could have gotten all that information of the molestations in KC, and why nothing was done about it. Don's story is not unique in terms of custody battles and incomprehensible court rulings. One of my editors has experienced something very similar to Don.

Notes, Burnworth, Don, interview #2, phone, May 6, 2010 Had a very enjoyable two-hour phone conversation with Don Burnworth this afternoon. We covered mostly his personal time-line. Don Burnworth was born March 4, 1931 in Arcadia, Oklahoma. His family lived on a small farm and their home was a converted smoke house. When he was about 4 or 5 they moved to Oklahoma City. His father was a construction electrician, and they moved about every year. He had no permanent friends growing up. By 1942, their lives settled down a bit and they lived in an old mansion in Britton, Oklahoma that his father bought for $2,500. In 1948, Don graduated from high school and then went to Central State Teacher’s College, where he spent two years and took physics and math courses. In 1950, to avoid the draft, Don joined the Air Force, where he worked mostly as an electrical mechanic. By 1954 near the end of his hitch, he was stationed at Nellis AFB, and was part of a team handling ATC duties in a mobile trailer. He was also able to work in the nearby Las Vegas clubs, particularly the Flamingo and the Sands, which was under construction. Don left the military in 1954 and rejoined the Air Force as a civilian contractor. During this time he got married to the first of five wives, Frankie, with whom he had four kids. Don also began to learn how to fly small civilian aircraft. He next transferred to the FAA where he was trained as test pilot and learned how to fly large aircraft: DC-3, 4, 6, and 7s, along with Convairs and Electras. His skill set as an air force electrical mechanic and a private pilot with a math and physics background was ideal for his candidacy to test pilot school. He spent several years with the FAA and wrote lots of flight manuals and certified numerous commercial aircraft. On Oct 6, 1964 Don signed with United Airlines, and for the next year attended their flight school. He eventually became a flight instructor for UAL and did that for a couple of years. At this point in his narrative, Don abruptly announced: “I’ve done a lot of things in my life that are bad, and that I am ashamed of. I have not lived my life with integrity.” This shocking and startling pronouncement heralded our entrance into the mixed world of his marital life and Bernice. Don apparently met Bernice in Chicago and began having an affair. Don then left Frankie and the kids and moved to Denver with Bernice. Frankie and the kids eventually followed and Don says that he “bounced between the two.” Nevertheless, Don says that he and Frankie remained good friends up until her death; date unknown. Don lived with Bernice for several years and experienced a very turbulent life. “She could be wild at times,” he said and described several occasions where Bernice had what seems like disassociate episodes in which she became very violent. On one occasion she attacked Don while he was driving, cutting him about the face and head with keys clenched between her knuckles. “She could fist-fight like a man,” he said and described a brutal attack by Bernice upon her younger brother when she was a kid. “She couldn’t be rational,” Don says, and states that Bernice vacillated about marriage to Don. Ultimately she did consent to marry, but after 28 days she field for divorce. During this time she also conducted at least one serious suicide attempt, intentionally driving a VW into a tree at a high rate of speed. Even though they were only married for a month, they had ben living together for about 3-4 years and had three children together – all girls. Don is a little hazy on dates and years, but he generally feels that he met Bernice in 1967 and got married/divorced in 1970 or 1971. Don says that Bernice was very violent with their children and he got custody of them in the divorce. Earlier, Don had stopped being a test pilot and instructor with UAL and became a passenger jet pilot, hubbing out of San Francisco, where he moved with Bernice and the kids in about 1967 and they lived in Half Moon Bay, California. During the divorce period, Bernice kidnapped the kids when they were being attended to by a babysitter and he was away. She took them back to Kansas City. She also got a California judge to sanction her behavior, and Don says that a California social worker deceived the court about his fathering as a result of a bribe from Bernice’s family. Don’s Marital History: 1. Frankie Shaw Burnworth, now deceased. Four kids. 2. Bernice Lucille Day Bruno Burnworth, now deceased. Three kids. 3. Nancy Walker Burnworth; married 1973, divorced 1977, and the court papers are easily Googled. 4. Lu Wright Burnworth, a psychic who lives “near where you do, (BAS).” 5. Charlotte, current wife Custody Battles Don went back to court to attempt to regain custody. This part of his story is often punctuated with his anger towards the court system and how discriminatory it was towards men and profoundly blind to the physical and sexual abuse fostered by dangerous women, such as Bernice is reported to have been. Don described seeing his kids routinely beaten, bruised and crying, and on at least one occasions seeing a kid with a broken bone. One girl was also “starved nearly to death.” Don received a ruling of a 30 day temporary custody grant. By then, he felt he could not get any meaningful help from the courts and started piecing together his getaway plan to Germany. “It was life and death,” he said. First he got an open-ended leave of absence from UAL. Next he got a piloting buddy named Marion Cooper, and the guy whose moniker was the inspiration, Don feels, for the DB Cooper alias, to fly to KC and retrieve the kids. Of note: Don says that Marion Cooper was ex-CIA and an ex-convict. In addition, Don and Marion used to ferry aircraft for Jack Richards, the fellow who sold the DC-7 to Sailfish. Don says that when Marion arrived in Kansas City, he spent a few days “casing the house.” Bernice and the kids were in Don’s old abode in KC and Don had given the key to Marion. While conducting surveillance, Marion observed and photographed Bernice and a man described as a Mr. Wurst, having oral sex with Don’s two oldest children. Don says he has the photographic proof, but did not say if he had shared it with LE and sought criminal action. The girls were 5-6 years old. Marion Cooper was able to successfully return the three girls to Don in San Francisco, and from there they went to Germany. First, they spent about a month in Frankfort, and then went to Heidelberg, where they lived in a duplex shared with an American soldier stationed there. Don heard about the skyjacking while watching German television. By all accounts, Don and his girls had a peaceful and loving time in Germany. They stayed for about 10 months. However, in early 1972, Don’s mother called him and said the FBI was looking for him. They had visited her in the family homestead in Oklahoma, and had been threatening in their interrogation. In addition, UAL reversed their decision on the leave of absence and said he had to return to work. Don feels that his old flight manager, who was having an affair with Bernice, was instrumental in this development. Don feels the Bruno family was behind all these actions in order to extricate Don and the girls from Germany, where Don now wanted to live permanently. In fact, he had already received German court custody of the kids, and they were being treated by German health workers for their experience of molestation and abuse. Arrest and Incarceration Don was not arrested immediately upon returning to the USA. Don left the girls in Germany with a baby sitter, the family that he rented his house from, and returned to the United States alone. Don went home to San Francisco and shortly returned to UAL. On his first day back, he was arrested in the UAL flight office by federal authorities. Don was placed in San Mateo County jail, and given a cellie for a few days that Don is convinced was a FBI plant. Don was incarcerated for eight days and then released when his kids came to the USA. The following is not clear to me despite repeatedly questioning: Don was in SF and thought that his German custody would protect his rights and his kids. But the kids flew to Kansas City, apparently, where Bernice retrieved them, remaining with her for many years. Why didn’t Don fly them to San Francisco? Why did they go to KC? I also don’t get why the FBI released Don when his kids arrived in the States, particularly if they were in KC? Why is there a connection here, or influence upon the release from jail? Nevertheless, immediately thereafter UAL fired Don, saying that he was a causing “adverse publicity.” He was denied all passes aboard UAL flights, and had to pay for his own passage to Oklahoma, where he returned to live with his mother. During this next time period, Don feels there were 2-3 attempts on his life, such as a speeding driver who jumped a curb and sidewalk to try to strike him. Bernice remarried, marrying a guy named Hughes. Don says that the sexual abuse of his children continued with Hughes. Bernice was killed in a violent horseback riding incident in about 1977. She lingered for a few days in a hospital, and then succumbed to her many injuries. However, Don says that one of the physicians in the hospital told him that Bernice’s life support system had been turned off in the middle of the night. Don did not say how he got this information, or whether he actually visited the hospital, the kids, or KC. Further, Don says that two weeks after Bernice’s death, Hughes remarried. Don continued to fight for custody and was thwarted by repeated court delays. He eventually got Colorado Senator Pat Schroeder to intercede and he was awarded custody of the youngest child. However, by now, the middle girl was pregnant and eventually married her baby’s father. Don’s a little hazy on the status of his oldest girl at this time, and was unsure if she was out on her own. Don says that his youngest daughter and he are now “the best of friends.” He will ask her if I can contact her and discuss her father’s life, and her experience of all this. He is optimistic that she will consent. DB Cooper details: Don says that he does not smoke and has always been highly allergic to cigarette smoke. He also says that he does not drink, and never did. He also claims that he does not drink soda pop, either. He has never parachuted and does not know how. He chuckled when I asked him this question, and his response was identical to what 377 has described as the basic attitude of pilots towards abandoning their aircraft: they don’t. Don said that Bernice had told him at one point the real name of the DB Cooper impersonator, but he could not recall the last name, only remembering “Jim.” Also, his knowledge, or opinion, of the DB Cooper case is extensive, but his facts are so askew it is as if Don lives in a parallel universe where things are a bit off. For instance: he insisted that $3,800 was found at Tina’s Beach. In addition, he says that the aft stairs of a 727 could not be lowered in flight. He also said that DB Cooper put the money in the briefcase, and has lots of scenarios in his mind of how the money must have spun away while parachuting, putting aside the getaway car at Sea-Tac for the moment. Don acknowledged that he is currently 200 pounds and six-foot tall. Don said that he would send me pictures of what he looks like currently and what he looked like in 1971. Impressions Don gave ready and complete answers at every turn. He is telling the truth as he knows it, or is one of the best actors and script writers on the planet. I did not feel deceived at any point, but I am troubled at the inconsistencies with the kids return to the United States. He and I will be speaking with each other again, soon. X’s commentary, rebuttal I contacted X and told him what Don has told me over these two days. X staunchly insists that the Alaska trip in the DC-7 for Sailfish took place prior to the Cooper skyjacking, in early November, 1971, and that they returned about two weeks prior to the T-Day holiday. X also says that he had about $10,000 in cash in a bag from “selling groceries out the back of the plane,” so Don could have been paid in cash immediately upon return to Salt Lake City. Nevertheless, X confirmed that the co-pilot Cupil and flight engineer Munsen did not show up for work at Sailfish again, either. X reiterated that Don Burnworth is a spitting image of the early Cooper sketches. X continues to deny authorization to reveal his name.

You guys got it. Donald Burnworth from Arizona. Some things still don't add up, such as the divorce papers, dates and the name of his ex-wife, but here's the story I got from Don today. I'll be talking with him again, tomorrow. Interview with Don Burnworth, Initial Phone, May 5, 2010 Initial Report: I spoke with Don Burnworth (no "s") at length this afternoon, and will continue again tomorrow. He tells a wild tale, and it is strongly at odds with X's story in some places; but it also links up in many ways, too. Don wants to tell his story, and he has been keeping track of details, records, etc. Don Burnworth was a UAL captain, and a key suspect in the DB Cooper skyjacking. He acknowledges flying with X, but says it was in the 1973-1974 time period, after the time of the skyjacking. Don corroborates all aspects of the flight experience with X on the DC-7 to Alaska and back for Sailfish Air Freight. He was incarcerated by the FBI for eight days following the skyjacking; not sure of the exact time period. He was also fired by UAL at that time because he was an active suspect. That was when he went to fly for Sailfish Air Freight in Salt Lake City. He flew one trip for Sailfish, with X, to Alaska, and all the details of the trip check out with X's story. However, Sailfish did not pay Burnworth in cash, and only offered stock options. He passed, and left. He was later re-instated by UAL after a lengthy Labor Relations lawsuit. Don Burnworth says that the DB Cooper skyjacking was set up by his ex-wife's family, the Vincent Eddy “Charlie” Bruno crime family of Kansas City, Kansas, and who is also connected to the Bruno crime family in Philadelphia. Don says that Robert F Kennedy, Jr. personally prosecuted his father-in-law during the early 1960s. Don says the intention of the Cooper skyjacking was to pin the blame on Don and discredit him, or get him incarcerated, so that his ex-wife, Bernice Lucille Day Bruno, would get full and exclusive custody of their three kids. Burnworth describes his ex-wife, Bernice, pronounced Burn-iss, as having a Jekyll and Hyde persona, and he calls her a “hysterical personality.” “She had very serious mental problems,” he added. Bernice Burnworth Bruno is now deceased, as are her parents. Don also says that custody of their kids was highly problematic upon their divorce. First she had them via wrangling and bribery from the Bruno family, then he had the kids, then she kidnapped them back, and he got them returned through court action. Following that he took them without telling her, which was illegal, to live with him in seclusion in Germany. Don says he has court transcripts that indicate that Bernice had prior knowledge of the skyjacking before it took place. He says the records read: "I was sitting in the living room and watching TV with my cousin Mary, waiting for it (the skyjacking) to happen. When it came over the news, I then called the FBI and told them DB Cooper was my ex-husband." (or words to that effect, from my notes of today's phone conversation.) The skyjacking was designed to ferret-out Don from his hiding place in Europe. Apparently he was still flying for UAL from Germany, and the FBI found him and took him into custody, bringing him and the kids back to the United States. “The Bruno family will protect their own,” he says. Don says that every aspect of his involvement in the case had the feel of being orchestrated by powerful interests. He also says that J Edgar Hoover's replacement, Clarence Kelly, was on the Bruno payroll while a G-man in Kansas City, and was investigated for corruption at one point. Don says Kelley was placed at the head of the FBI directly from his post as Chief of Police of Kansas City, a job he had after having to leave the FBI earlier due to the corruption probe. Don did not say if he knows DB Cooper’s identity. He has been following the case intently since his incarceration, and has conducted a lot of research. He says that the case has lots of inside tells, or personal artifacts. He claims that the skyjacking took place on November 24 because that was his ex-wife’s birthday. He says that the actual Cooper forgot the alias he was supposed to use in purchasing the ticket in Portland, and actually signed the ticket Dan X. Cooper, and had erased the last name so many times as he made mistakes that he almost wore out the ticket paper. Don did not say how he knew this piece of information. Don also says that the FBI was involved, at least peripherally, in the early stages of the crime. He says the FBI fostered the name “DB Cooper” onto the media and world to reflect his connection with his own initials of “DB,” for Don Burnworth. Don has extensive knowledge of 727s. He was a check pilot for UAL and a flight engineer for 727s Don thinks that DB Cooper didn’t jump, but rather, he hid in a small side compartment in the stair well that was covered by a cloth and Velcro flap. These cloth covers were replaced on the 727 fleet shortly after the Cooper skyjacking, Don says. Don claims that DB Cooper got out at Sea-Tac and that a car was waiting for him at the end of the runway, and he drove away. Again, he hasn’t said how he knows this. The Bruno family is heavily involved in the skyjacking, according to Don, and he intimates that individuals with UAL were also involved, possibly his flight manager, whom Don says was having an affair with his ex-wife Bernice. This flight manager was called to testify at the Labor Relations hearing on Don’s re-instatement, and was a very hostile witness. Don said that the FBI placed an agent, thinly disguised as his cell mate during his eight days of incarceration, to gather more information. Don is very eager to talk, and I found him to be a credible individual. He also seems like a nice guy. He answered every question thoughtfully and fully. He held nothing back. 377 found Don via a patent Don holds on electrical improvements he has made to 727s. Obviously, Don Burnworth is a very smart, capable guy. In this initial interview we did not discuss any of his background, including any military experience, such as intimated by X.

Upon Orange1’s kind prompt, I’ve decided to post the information on the suspect that has been presented to me over the past few weeks. I have some hesitancy in revealing his identity, as a private citizen is entitled to his privacy, but the public good does have some weight in this decision as well, and I lean on that side of the issue. Our source still has not authorized me to reveal his name, so the fellow with whom I’ve been talking is identified as “X.” Our person of interest is named Don Burnsworth, and here is X’s story: Interview with X, phone, April 21, 2010 I received a tip from Galen Cook several days ago that a new suspect in the DB Cooper case had emerged, namely a United Airlines captain named Don Burnsworth. Galen had received the information from a guy named X, and I in turn called X. X apparently lives in the Everett, Washington area at present. He said he contacted Galen a few weeks ago upon the suggestion of a friend of Galen, an airline flight attendant whom X met recently. X said he had told Galen's his friend his DB Cooper story and she recommended that he get in touch with Galen. Here is X’s story: In 1971, X had been working for a couple of years as a pilot flying Martin 404s for an air freight company in Salt Lake City, Utah named Sail Fish. In the late summer or early fall a new pilot joined the company as a contract pilot, a United Airlines pilot, a captain in fact, named Don Burnsworth. X says he picked Burnsworth up at the SLC airport and Burnsworth was wearing his UAL uniform, including name patch, and had walked off a UAL flight just prior to greeting X. Apparently Burnsworth had been hired to fly a new addition to the Sail Fish fleet, a DC-7-C. For the next several months X co-piloted this DC-7 with Burnsworth on runs to Alaska to bring fresh fruit north and carry fish south. They also made runs to intermediate stops and carried unknown cargo. They stopped at least once in Seattle at Boeing Field, and again in Bellingham, WA, and once in California. In Alaska, they stopped at Dutch Harbor, Kodiak and other locations. “When the fish piled up the price became very attractive, and we went,’ said X, who estimated that they flew two or three times per month. Their last flight together was a run to Homer, Alaska, where they blew a tire on landing. It took several days to replace the tire – “It was a real drill,” said X, as the airfield at Homer had no equipment to do the job, and a rag-tag crew of local contractors had to be assembled to provide the necessary gear, such as air compressors to pump the fixed tire with 200 psi of nitrogen. By the time they returned to Salt Lake City - sometime before the Thanksgiving Day weekend - so much time had elapsed and the schedule so disrupted that the boss of Sail Fish told his crew to take the rest of the time off, up to and including the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. That was the last time X ever saw Don Burnsworth, who never returned to work nor contacted him or anyone at Sail Fish. When X returned to work on the Monday morning following the Thanksgiving weekend, he was called into his company’s conference room and was met by three federal officials. X believes that two were FBI and the third was FAA. The three were dressed in black suits. “They introduced themselves as “Inspector this and Inspector that, and Special Agent so and so,” X said. Later, X told me that one agent’s name was “Kennedy,” and a “Burns” might have been the FAA guy, who might have been out of Denver or SLC. “Then they held up an artist’s sketch and asked me, ‘Do you know who this is?’ “‘Yeah, it’s Don Burnsworth,’ I told them,” X said. “The agents said it was an artist’s sketch of DB Cooper, and at the bottom of the flyer it said, “Wanted.’ I just said ‘Oh, My God.’” X stated that the sketch looked just like Burnsworth, adding that later composite sketches of DB Cooper looked less like Burnsworth. “They lost something in the eyes,” X related. When I asked X about the details of the federal interview, he became uncharacteristically circumspect and refused to reveal any specific information. “I’m not even going to go there,” he announced to me. “It’s all of a confidential nature.” However, he did say that the nature of the questioning revealed that the agents knew that Burnsworth had an extensive military background, particularly with parachuting and special forces-type of training and combat experience. X told me that the feds let him know that Burnsworth would have viewed the Cooper jump out of a 727 “as just another HALO jump.” X said that the feds let him know that Burnsworth had multiple tours of duty in Vietnam. “But I don’t know if it was with Air America or the CIA or the Air Force. Plus, he had the training to jump out of planes at night. So, he might have been Special Forces, too.” And lastly, “They had a lot of time and money invested in him.” Adding to the mystery is an event that may or may not be related to Don Burnsworth. X relates that a buddy of his was a member of the Utah National Guard and when X told him his Burnsworth-is-Cooper story, the friend shared his own mysterious story. X’s friend said that the Utah NG staged night HALO training jumps in early November, 1971. On one particular jump a stranger joined them. This individual was older than everyone else, who were all recently returned Vietnam airborne troops and in their twenties. Hence, the young troopers called their newcomer “Gramps,” and they ribbed him on the way up to height. When they reached altitude, they called out, “C’mon Gramps, show us how it’s done.” “Gramps” in turn calmly stepped to the door and without hesitation jumped. That was the last anyone ever saw of him. All the troopers reached their landing zone, and they reported Gramps as “missing in action.” However, whatever happened to Gramps was never shared with the troopers who jumped with him that night. X believes that Burnsworth was Gramps and was fine-tuning his night time jumping skills, and sailed away from his “youngins” as an act of one-upmanship. X says the officer in charge of the jump was an individual named Williams or Williamson. As for Don Burnsworth’s physical characteristics, X describes Burnsworth as being slightly smaller and thinner than he is. Since X is 6’2” and 200, he pegs Burnsworth at 5’10”- 5’11” and 170-180. He also described Burnsworth as a quiet guy who kept to himself, and a very intelligent man. “He was extremely skilled commercial pilot,” said X. “He saved my life on two occasions.” One of those occasions was at Boeing Field, where they narrowly missed an eight-foot fence on take-off. “He was calm under pressure. He was even calm after the pressure,” said X. “He could fly a DC-7 right to the edge.” X also said that Burnsworth smoked, although he doesn’t remember if they were Raleighs. Burnsworth also drank, and again X can’t remember if it was Bourbon. Burnsworth never spoke about any time in the military. “It was as if he mentally avoided talking about the military.” Nevertheless, Burnsworth described the mid-west as home. “I can’t remember exactly where in the mid-west – but it was someplace like Indiana or Ohio,” X said. He also said that Burnsworth told him that he was going through a "nasty" divorce. Upon further questioning, X revealed a lot of information that blasts open the question of who Don Burnsworth was and what was going on at Sail Fish and in other operations. X said that two others were part of the DC-7-C crew who flew with him and Burnsworth. One of the crew, the Flight Engineer, Bill Munson also worked for Zantop Aviation, a contract operation for the CIA and related to Air America. Munson was a cracker-jack mechanic, too, and had an A&P license – a certification – to work on the radial engines of the DC-7s. “Bill was one of the old dogs,” X said, explaining that Zantop was a government contractor who flew C-46 and DC-4s, vintage craft from WWII and the Korean War, and utilized veteran crews. The fourth crew member was Bob Cupil, whom X described as the “primary co-pilot.” In addition, X said that Cupil flew for Zantop. X said that generally the four of them flew together, although sometimes, apparently Cupil was not present so X sat in as co-pilot. He stated that his “job was to make sure everything was ready,” which meant handling the logistics, loading the cargo, and coordinate with HQ, besides being able to “help fly the plane.” In addition, X said that the guy who sold the DC-7 to Sail Fish was a guy named Jack Richards or Richardson, and that he also sold aircraft to Air America. “He knew the Air America boys,” X said. Lastly, the DC-7-C that X and Burnsworth flew, serial number N75000, ended up in Columbia by 1980 and owned by a Kenneth L. Meeks. There is a web posting showing the aircraft on an undisclosed, rural, dirt air field at that time, and copy that says the aircraft was rigged to self-destruct via a short in a wiring harness if it was tampered with, which is exactly what happened subsequently. X gives every indication that he believes Don Burnsworth is DB Cooper, and that he escaped to Columbia. “Where could a guy like Burnsworth, with those kinds of skills – being a captain for Untied Airlines - go and live and not be detected? Either Columbia or Africa.” X adds: “Burnsworth could have walked into Portland Airport, retrieved his UAL uniform and been out of the county in twelve hours.” ................................ My follow-up. All my efforts to locate and contact Don Burnsworth have been unsuccessful. I do not know if he is still alive, even. Curiously, the website for retired United pilots has been down for the past few weeks. X has been active, recently, in trying to find Burnsworth and the other principals. Efforts to locate Jack Richards have also met with dead ends, although we think we have traced him to Onyx Aviation in Sequim, WA. I have had a subsequent interview with X, and he has spoken with Jo several times, too. I find X to be credible.

Hang in there, Sky, for fresh Cooper stuff. I have been interviewing a source who has identified an original suspect. My source is a little shy, but he reads the DZ, so I am waiting until he is comfortable with seeing his name in our bright lights before posting the whole shebang. This source has also been in contact with Jo, and he comes to us via Galen. This source had contact with a person of interest in the Salt Lake City area, hence I am waiting for Russ to return to his SLC digs from a winter foray to SC, and confirm some of the federal aspects of this new information.

Sluggo. How about some more CAVA? Anyone? Quote Before we move on, what exactly is the deal with the two maps Sluggo has provided us. I gather the new evidence shows the FBI was eleven miles off in it's calculations of the LZ in Cooper Country. Am I correct on this? If so, in what direction? Is the new thinking that Cooper jumped closer to Portland or closer to Seattle? Thanks

georger: Galen has asked me to let you know he has a message for you on Sluggo's forum. Oi vey, yenta central here. (smile).

This might be another CAVA question. It is certainly a topic that shows cultural inclinations as to how people interpret Cooper's actions. Most say the early donning of the parachute and the desire to leave Sea-Tac with the aft stairs deployed, means that Cooper wanted to land near Seattle or Tacoma, and hence, was probably from the area. That could be true. But I feel that Cooper knew time was not his friend, and that he would be increasingly vulnerable as time elapsed, both in the air and when he got to the ground, as the feds became further organized, deploying greater and greater resources over a wider area through the night. It could also mean that he didn't trust the pilots, who might disregard his instructions to only fly at 10K and no faster than 180 K. Hence he might have wanted to jump ASAP so that he would be able to do his getaway under the most favorable conditions. To me, Danny Boy was both savvy and quirky. He could have put his parachute on straight away because he was anxious.

Jerry could you ask Ralph if he ever interviewed Tina, and if not, why not? Galen says that he asked Ralph if he had, and was surprised to hear that Ralph has never spoken with Tina. It's funny, Ralph won't talk with me, and Galen is banned from the forum, so we's a bunch of yentas here trying to match up statements! Thanks, and if you could ask Ralph if he would ever consent to some degree of communication with me, I'd be truly grateful.

I vote yes on CAVA #1, the paper bag. As for CAVA #2, I have mixed feelings about the rigger's card, but I tend to give Tosaw the benefit of the doubt. I re-read his book last night, and gained a new appreciation of the man and his work. I felt he wrote from a deep body of knowledge. As far as I know, Tosaw was the last person to have an extensive conversation with Tina, and it was just prior to the publication of his book, so mid-1980s, and the information would be relatively fresh in his mind. In my conversations with Galen Cook, I have learned that Tosaw kept great field notes and was a solid, hard-working investigator. Galen collaborated with Richard in his latter years, and now Galen possesses a trove of Richard's work in copied form. Galen has a lot of respect for Tosaw, and so do the Fazios, who rented out land to Richard in the summer so he could park an RV and drag the Columbia for evidence. In turn, I think Tosaw had a lot of respect for Cooper, and considered him a savvy criminal and someone with an advanced knowledge of 727s and parachuting. The fact that DBC commanded the pilots to trim their flaps at fifteen degrees impressed the heck out of Rataczak, who told me that the 727 was the only Boeing craft to have a fifteen-degree setting and he thus considered Cooper to have a highly advanced knowledge of the plane. Add to this the fact that Cooper knew the plane could fly with the aft stairs deployed further adds to the perspective that Cooper was a smart cookie. With all of this, I could see how Tosaw could "fill-in" the bit about Tina witnessing the rigger card action. Remember, Tosaw also reportedly said that Tina was a basket-case in the interview, and struggled to give more than vague, simplistic answers. That's not in his book, but I've heard that from Galen and others. So, Tina's mental state and ability to provide meaningful evidentiary contributions might be another CAVA topic. BTW: Robert Blevins confirmed to me last night that he has directly communicated with Tina. However, he refused to say how, or what they discussed. In fact, he absolutely refuses to say anything more than state the confirmation of direct communication.

Richard Tosaw writes on page 69 of his book, "DB Cooper Dead or Alive? The True Story of the Legendary Skyjacker:" "Also, Tina described the ease with which he slipped on the backpack after first opening it and examining the canopy panels and parachute lines. He even found the rigger's card that was tucked away in a little pocket and looked to see who had packed it and when. Other things indicating parachute training were his comments about the missing D-rings on the back chute and his choice of altitude, speed and diving platform."

I believe Richard Tosaw mentions in his book that Tina told him that Danny checked the rigging cards. My copy of T's book is outisde in The Box, and it's raining and cold - but if I have to go dig it out, I will. Maybe someone else has a copy at arm's length???

I believe the prepondernce of evidence is that DBC had a paper bag, contents unknown. Ckret and LE reports are compelling.

I think the Pittsburg article is artistic license of the writer. The only thing we know is the brief case from the bomb report. I still stand by, why would a ticket counter person or stewardesses have a reason to remember Cooper before he handed that note off. Has anyone besides the men in black ever talked to the ticket counter person? Any of us ever tried? Is that person still living? Bruce I smell an interview if so? Everyone here conceides Tina is off limits, what about this guy or Flo? Quote Galen asked me to try to locate the ticket counter guy or his family last summer. I was unable to do so. Galen has the name, and I suppose I do too, but it's buried somewhere in The Box. As I recall, Galen was pretty sure the ticket guy was deceased, and we were looking for a widow. As for Blevins: I was disappointed "in extremis" when I saw a rectangular canopy on the cover of his book. His blithe dismissal of his mistake really casts a pall on his judgment. Alas. Also, as others have posted, I don't understand Blevins' paranoia. Yeah, making a back-up and contracting with an overseas print house is the clear option if one is worried about interference. But , being arrested, if that is even possible for publishing a book about an open FBI investigation, would only be a great marketing point, not an impediment. C'mon Larry - please arrest me!!!!! Then maybe Random House will return my phone calls, and I can get my mag piece sold to Mother Jones, too!!!! Larry, umm, "Ckret" - I'll make the same deal with you that I offered to Himms: 10% of all my royalties. C'mon, buddy......... .....I'll even promise to not say any more bad things about you anymore on the forum - not even in PMs! ....I'll even insist on Jo using standard forms of Southern etiquette when she calls me at midnight ranting about you!!!!!! ...Please don't make me beg any more, C..... ...10%. Just tell me where to make the drop.

You hit a major point on Safe's assumptions, G. In his videos, Safe does not mention or account for the shards of money that multiple FBI agents say were embedded in the sand. To whit: Himms writes in his book that shards were found as deep as three feet. McPheter told me on the phone that he recovered at least 6-7 shards along the tide line and some as deep as a shovel blade, 1-2 feet deep. Lastly, Dorwin, the Delightfully Doozy G-Man, says thousands of shards were equally dispensed throughout the sand column at least three deep down and for a diameter of 20 yards. Yes, of course, Dorwin also remote-viewed the Bedell still dredging the Columbia at Tena's Bar six years after it left, and he says his team also found parts of the briefcase and assumes that DBC put money into it, but no one else has remotely suggested anything close to the Dorwin Hypothesis. And secondly lastly, Al Fazio says not one shard was buried and that everything was at the surface. But Al was the last guy to the party, arriving from his cattle auction trip well after the feds got there and locked Al out of his property when he drove down River Rd. I give Al credit for not finding anything in the sand when he was digging with his back-hoe, but what about all the FBI shovel work before he hit the beach? So, Safe - ya gotta tell us: how come you say 3 bundles was it, in toto? On a similar vein. I loved the deduction that suggested that the money couldn't have been the transporter of the three bundles to Tina's Beach. Too improbable that the other 97 bundles wouldn't be near-by, that a plume-field dispersion pattern would be most probable if the bag carried the loot down the river. Hmmm, the Ckret's Propeller Theory AND Barb Dayton's burial scenario are looking better at the moment. Quick, 377, pour me a drink................... Are we back at the Bedell-cutting-everything-up-in- 1974, and the rubber bands holding intact for six years in the sand and three years in the river???? 377 - where's my drink!!!!! As for three bundles in a coat pocket, I have never seen that conclusively confirmed. Has it been? BTW: Robert Blevins is posting on his web site that the release date for his DBC book: "Into the Blast: The True Story of DB Cooper" has been delayed until the summer. It had been originally scheduled for Feb, 2010.

QuoteAll, As I have mentioned before, my web-site generates a lot of “leads” into the attempt to identify Cooper. Most of them are from family members who think a relative was DB. Sometimes I get a “lead” from someone who has stumbled onto a suspect (in their mind) from something they read. This morning I was researching a lead on one “William (Wild Bill) Cooper”. I found two “Wild Bill Coopers” and I thought I would share with the forum and see if anyone here thinks either one (or both) are worth further consideration. Here are the two “Wild Bills”: Milton William Cooper Story HERE The son of a U.S. Air Force officer, Bill graduated in 1961 from Yamato High School in Japan, and enlisted in the U.S. Air force. He was honorably discharged in 1965. December of the same year he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He served in Vietnam, rising to the rank of petty officer. Cooper was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal with combat V and the Navy Achievement Medal with combat V. He was honorably discharged in 1975. Cooper's earliest notoriety developed among UFO enthusiasts, as he promoted UFO conspiracy theories, Kennedy assassination theories, and theories about a New World Order. Cooper became a popular speaker on the UFO lecture circuit, and expanded his account into the book Behold a Pale Horse. Quote Ahh, Sluggo, this brings up some memories. This "Bill Cooper" was one of my first journalistic interviews, back in 1990. I remember Bill as being a really nice guy, and very grounded, even though we were talking about "out there" stuff like UFOs, and in particular the alien abduction phenomena. I remember him drinking a couple whiskeys, which I found remarkable as I had never drunk with a "hard liquor" drinker before, being a beer and wine guy. I doubt Bill was DBC. Bill had no grudge towards anyone that I could tell, nor was he anxious about being a public figure, even one who was very controversial in many quarters, which is not in harmony with the DBC that I know. In addition, he made no mention about being in DB Cooper Country, even though he was a few miles from Sea-Tac. Plus, neither this Wild Bill or the other one has any piloting, parachuting, bomb-making experience, as far as I can tell. Also, my Bill looked to be about 50 or so in 1990 when I interviewed him, making him about 32, tops, in 1971.