Thank you leftcoast for answering my questions.
no problem.
A little more about yesterday.
We decided to take mr cooper to lunch and get to talk with him. To our surprise, he said yes
He mentioned a particular restaurant, and we agreed. We then went to meet Cooper at his residence, where he threw a curve ball. It seems he decided to switch restaurants ( there are only two in town), and bring his wife along. Instantly, we knew what was up. cooper knew we were going to confront him, and he thought his wife being present would prevent this.
anyway, we went to lunch. We decided not to confront him in front of his new wife.
We were able to get some information out of him.
He loves to talk about himself.
Turns out he was drafted into the army in the early 60's, joined the 101st airborne, and applied and was accepted into the special forces. He claims he was in Viet Nam before the war started, but it didnt' seem like he fought anyone. Anyway, it was informative.
Then, he confirmed what we already knew, that he worked a blue collar job for the same company for the next 6 years. Cooper actually added a few years to the resume, so, it would include the year after the heist, but, we know he lived far away from Portland after the heist.
anyway, he stated "he told his bosses that he was going to quit his job and start his own company". So, he has never had outside employment since 1971.
I asked him if he had saved up money to quit his job, and he said, "no", he just went for it. (I might add, the company he started requires a minimum of 100,000 to even start in today's dollars.)
Later on, he admitted that the business he started has never been profitable, and one guy started in the same business and went bankrupt within 2 years. I can't tell you the type of business, but, as a CPA, I knew the business was a front and that the business was just a cover.
Cooper failed to mention that he was arrested in 1971 for armed robbery. I'm thinking that is why he "left" his job. I believe he was out of money, came upon the movie airport, and the guy who tried the same thing in early november 1971, and the rest is history.
Cooper tried to con us, stating he wouldn't turn in the hijacker, even with the equivalent of 100,000 reward. I find this hard to believe.
Regardless, one other strange thing he said. He mentioned a story about a buddy traveling on an airline, and our suspect tried to give the stewardess a $ 20.00 tip in order to get him into first class. I know that is small, but, anyone with common sense, knows you don't tip flight attendants. I now know two guys who have tried to tip flight attendants.
Sorry, but, we couldn't turn him. We may try again, but, we only have one week left. I'm starting to understand why he has gone free for 35 years.
left
PS Cooper was scared during the lunch. HE kept shaking and was eyeballing the room. We had brought some backup, and had friends placed throughout the restaurant just in case.
Cooper did mention his hatred for the FAA. The FAA was on his butt back in the late 60's, and later on. If you have followed this case, it was obvious in my mind, that cooper was not happy with the us government.
Cooper also mentioned the FBI did a poor job investigating this case.
Say what you want about our case, but, there is no way in the world Cooper was able to quit his job, spend thousands of dollars on his new money losing business, move 100 miles away from the airport, and no longer need to work. Cooper either is the hijacker, or he committed a different armed robbery or other theft. IMO.
