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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 5, 2016)
10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2016 Mystery: FBI is discounting eyewitness Cormorants: testimony, work of Tom Colbert’s team Corps stopped Oregon-Washington border, Cooper skydived to freedom. A recent History chan- nel documentary spotlighted Colbert’s multiyear D.B. Cooper investigation, which the citizen-sleuth believes points to Robert Wesley Rackstraw, an ex-convict and former Cooper suspect now living in the San Diego area. And Colbert believes that Rackstraw is “Norman de Winter.” Colbert’s website, dbcoo- per.com, features photos of Rackstraw a year before and shortly after the “Norman de Winter” incident. A can- did photo of de Winter — for example, one taken at the 1971 Regatta Admiral’s Ball, where the so-called Swiss baron was an honored guest — would help establish whether he and Rackstraw are the same person. “Hopefully, we can ind a photo in somebody’s photo album of this guy,” Colbert said. Accounts of de Winter After the History docu- mentary aired, Warrenton resident Phyllis Shatto — who knew de Winter and, in her words, was “enam- ored with him” — dug out two columns from The Daily Astorian published in March 1972 recounting the mystery man’s Astoria escapades. The articles contain some intriguing details. A source who met de Win- ter reported that the baron stopped by an Astoria elec- tronics irm several times to inquire about purchasing some expensive radio gear for an “expedition to Can- ada,” the column reads. De Winter “claimed he had a friend in Canada and was going there to live for a year in the wilds. He was going to have the gear air- dropped into the camp.” The irm’s owner arranged to buy the equipment but canceled when he heard the baron was a phony. In addition, the baron claimed he was “a scien- tist and had an ‘underground research lab’ in Switzerland,” where he and his family were “developing a small suit- case-sized heating system, with unlimited power.” D.B. Cooper hijacked the Northwest light with a brief- case containing what he told the light crew was an explo- sive device. Though the parallels do not prove anything, “it is an interesting, interesting coin- cidence,” Colbert said. According to Colbert, one man who viewed the His- tory documentary wondered whether the name “Norman de Winter” came from Dick Winters — aka “Normandy Winters” — the World War II hero who parachuted into Normandy, France, during the D-Day invasion. Rackstraw attended U.S. Army Airborne School, bet- ter known as “Jump School,” in Fort Benning, Georgia, and likely would have known a lot about Winters, Colbert said. Gifts from the baron Shatto still owns a book — a copy of Kahlil Gibran’s “Secrets of the Heart” — that de Winter gave her at a din- ner party she attended with her then-husband, Richard Davis. She also saved two of de Winter’s letters, both sent in December 1971: an apology note (postmarked from Cor- vallis) calling off the prom- ised getaway in Switzerland, and a Christmas card. “He was very delight- ful,” Shatto said. “He was the most intelligent man I’d ever known at that time, it appeared to me.” She said de Winter — whose wealth, the article points out, never seemed to be liquid — did not try to take or borrow money from her. “I was only given things,” she said, adding that perhaps the fact that she lived in Asto- ria’s low-income housing kept her from being a mark. It wasn’t until The Daily Astorian published those col- umns that she discovered de Winter was a fraud. “I think that that man that I met who was entitled ‘Nor- man de Winter’ could have been anything … Why did he choose to be a con and rip people off?” she asked her- self. “He could have been anything, ’cause he was so … I just thought he was so tal- ented and intelligent.” Asked whether Rack- straw is de Winter, Shatto, recalling an interview Rack- straw gave in the late 1970s, said, “It sure looks like him … I would say, yes, that was him.” ‘Could have been’ A handful of witnesses in Astoria and Corvallis, some interviewed for the History documentary, acknowledge similarities between old pic- tures and footage of Rack- straw and the man they knew as de Winter. But no photo of de Winter himself has been unearthed. Colbert strongly objects to the FBI’s decision to shelve the D.B. Cooper ile. He is offended that the agency — which will now only accept noncircumstantial evidence, such as the stolen money or parachute — is discounting eyewitness testimony and the work of his team. Even if a photo proves Rackstraw and de Winter are the same person, how- ever, that doesn’t necessarily prove that Rackstraw is D.B. Cooper. Rackstraw, a former U.S. Army oficer and expe- rienced paratrooper, has repeatedly denied he is the infamous skyjacker. But, in the late 1970s, when an NBC News reporter asked him whether he is Coo- per, Rackstraw smirked and said, “I’m afraid of heights,” before adding: “Could have been. Could have been. I can’t commit myself on something like that.” Tom Colbert, an investi- gative journalist, has tracked the Cooper mystery at www. DBCooper.com Barber: ‘It’s kind of (become) a part of me’ “Sadly, it didn’t stop when the storm was over in the song,” he said. “Of course, that would’ve been really cool.” Continued from Page 1A Like a pro Once in New York, Bar- ber met dozens of preco- cious young musicians from around the globe. For nearly a month, Bar- ber took lessons, studied music theory, rehearsed and performed in concerts. The campers experienced what it’s like to assemble with other musicians and put A purist Erick Bengel/The Daily Astorian Robert Barber, a junior at Warrenton High School, plays his Buffet Crampon R13 clarinet in his practice studio. together a world-class perfor- mance in short order — the way a professional orchestra would do it. During break time, the students set their instru- ments aside and played soft- ball; their inal game pitted them against the Philadelphia Orchestra. One of Barber’s weak- nesses as a clarinetist has been rhythm, he said. But B A CK TO during the rigorous four- week training, he got better at keeping the tempo in his head, he said. (Pro tip: “It’s really obscene to see some- one tap their foot onstage,” he said.) During an outdoor per- formance of the William Tell Overture at a covered stage, it began to pour — just as Bar- ber and the orchestra reached the “storm” sequence. S CHOOL D EADLINE : S EPTEMBER 13 TH @ 5 PM As much as Barber digs rock and jazz, classical music is the style closest to his heart. He prefers com- posers, such as Beethoven and Brahms, whose work is intensely lyrical. “I really enjoy play- ing classical music, because I’m a purist,” he said with a laugh. “I’m kind of like, ‘This is how music should sound; this is how it should be written.’” John Hammond, the retired Warrenton High School band teacher who gives Barber private lessons, said most of his pupil’s suc- cess can be attributed to his work ethic. “Of course, he has some natural ability, but natu- ral ability only gets you so far. He’s willing to work hard and make the best of opportunities.” Barber — an Eagle Scout who also plays piano and organ — practices two to four hours a day, six days a week, on average. “It’s kind of (become) a part of me,” he said. “I just enjoy doing this.” — Erick Bengel Continued from Page 1A Along with other groups, the Audubon Society con- tends that hydroelectric dams pose the greatest threat to the ish and says it is unnecessary to reduce the number of ish predators by shooting thousands of cor- morants and spreading oil on thousands of nests to pre- vent cormorant eggs from hatching. “It is time for the govern- ment to stop this slaughter and recognize that its cor- morant killing program rests on a foundation of broken laws,” said Bob Sallinger, conservation director of Portland’s Audubon Society. The birds on East Sand Island at the mouth of the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington state constitute North Amer- ica’s biggest double-crested cormorant nesting colony. Federal agencies blame them for eating millions of juvenile salmon as they migrate down the Colum- bia toward the ocean. Thir- teen species of salmon and steelhead on the Colum- bia and Snake rivers have been listed as federally pro- tected species over the past 25 years. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Simon said the fed- eral agency disregarded the law by not seeking other alternatives before decid- ing to kill the birds. Simon acknowledged it isn’t clear exactly how many juve- nile ish are saved each year because of the reduction of the cormorants. But he left the cormo- rant-killing plan in place after deciding it provides some beneit to ish listed as endangered or threatened. Cormorants are not a feder- ally protected species. “In considering effects on endangered and threat- ened species, the ‘beneit of the doubt’ must go to the endangered species,” Simon wrote. The Corps and other fed- eral agencies in two years will issue a revised study of how the operation of the federal power system on the Columbia River affects the environment, including its salmon and steelhead, said Diana Fredlund, a Corps spokeswoman. The revision will likely address some concerns about cormorants with other ways to reduce salmon deaths. Bird conservationists have said repeatedly that attempts to reduce the num- ber of salmon killed as they pass through a com- plex system of hydroelec- tric dams and reservoirs on the Columbia and Snake rivers would help the ish more than shooting their predators. The U.S. Fish and Wild- life in 2015 authorized the Corps to kill about 11,000 cormorants — or 5,600 breeding pairs — and put oil in 26,000 nests on the island. In 2015 and 2016, the Corps culled 7,086 adults birds and applied oil on 6,181 nests, according to Corps documents. The Corps stopped in May because large numbers of birds left the colony. Sallinger believes the 16,000 cormorants left because of the killings, but Fredlund said no one knows the reason or reasons. “It’s likely that some other disturbance came in. It could have been other birds, eagles, any number of things,” she said. The effort to protect salmon in the Columbia River has also included the relocation of Caspian tern birds and the killing of sea lions. Oregon, Washington state and Idaho have had federal authorization since 2008 to catch and euthanize California sea lions seen preying on salmon. The sea lions hunt salmon as they go over the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon. Efforts to keep the sea lions away using pyrotech- nics and sea gates did not work. Authorities so far this year have trapped and put down 54 sea lions. Sea lions are targeted for capture and killing if they are seen eating salmon at the dam between January and May. They must also be seen there for at least ive days by specially trained observ- ers, said Rick Hargrave, a spokesman for the Ore- gon Department of Fish and Wildlife. OREGON CAPITAL INSIDER The most valuable and respected source of local news, advertising and information for our communities. eomediagroup.com Get the inside scoop on state government and politics! We’re investing in Salem coverage when other news organizations are cutting back. OregonCapitalInsider.com Do you like to work with adults, kids or the outdoors? ! for gifted young instrumen- talists at the Luzerne Music Center in Lake Luzerne, New York. He learned of the opportu- nity during the Astoria Music Festival when violinist Eliz- abeth Pitcairn — the music center’s CEO and owner of the famous “Red Violin” Stradivarius — briely men- tioned it before performing a Mendelssohn concerto. Though the application deadline had long passed, Barber submitted an audition tape and got accepted. How- ever, the tuition was pretty steep, and the center said it had depleted the camp’s scholarship funds. Barber assumed he was out of luck. Then his mother received a call from Pitcairn herself a few days before the camp started. The world-renowned violinist said the board of directors had found enough money for Barber to attend. A scholarship from North Coast Symphonic Band helped pay for his tuition deposit. “It was my irst time ly- ing, too — all the way to New York by myself,” he said. in May because many birds left Astoria Parks and Rec has plenty of job opportunities for you! We’re hiring for the following positions now: • Child Care Professionals at the ARC and Lil’ Sprouts • Lifeguards, Swim Instructors and general Aquatic Staff at the Pool • Maintenance Crew positions for our Visit the City of Astoria’s beautiful parks and facilities employment website at www.astoriaparks.com/jobs • Referees for the upcoming sports season, or for more info and to apply. • Fitness Class Teachers at the ARC ng Continued from Page 1A i r is Hi
