CANADA Canada - Mary Ann Plett, 29, Edmonton AB, Sept 15 1971

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If the age of "James Cooper" mid 40's is accurate in Mary Ann's case, then present day could be his son. Following the approx. age of being in his 30's as in the Kelly Cook (1981) case then this would make the son somewhere in his mid-60's now. This could make sense where we're seeing similar m/o's and importance of date referencing taking place. What would make a SK more dangerous than becoming one on his own? Going to the family school table to become one. IMO
 
Clouddippingdown said:
Something else, more recent to keep in mind is that September 15 is also the day that Terry and Hailey Blanchette died. Historical romances... James Cooper most popular "The last of the Mohicans"... The wig represents the scalp... A theory; this would have been the book that he based timing and left behind items on and his enactment on the First Nations using a white woman, Mary Ann, as reference. Fast play to the most recent present... Victoria Crow shoe is found a stones throw from the Crows nest pass at the Oldman River Reservoir on the 13th of September. Was she the prelude to the September 15th tragedy of Terry and Hailey? September 15th.... in other words, is he saying this? I am an old man now look at me, I've killed white women, First Nations women, old women, men and children as in the possibility of DS having an accomplice; rather an accomplice who was gunning the show. JMO, but there are some interesting connections.
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Mary Ann Plett disappeared on September 15. Too bad there's no way of determining whether she died on that date, also.

Clouddippingdown said:
That would make sense why he would leave the wig in the trunk when the rest of her items were found scattered. The du Maurier cigarettes and slip on glasses were probably left on purpose too. I guess he thought he was a cool guy or maybe that's the impression that he wanted to leave.
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All speculation: As far as leaving the cigarette package on purpose: The red du Maurier cigarette package has "signature" on it. The brand is named for Sir Gerald Du Maurier, a British actor. His daughter, Daphne, wrote a book titled Frenchman's Creek. There's a Frenchman's Creek up near Alliance and Red Deer in Alberta.

One could wonder about that. I don't know whether that specific variety red signature cigarette package was the one left.
 
pleasestandby said:
All speculation: As far as leaving the cigarette package on purpose: The red du Maurier cigarette package has "signature" on it. The brand is named for Sir Gerald Du Maurier, a British actor. His daughter, Daphne, wrote a book titled Frenchman's Creek. There's a Frenchman's Creek up near Alliance and Red Deer in Alberta.

One could wonder about that. I don't know whether that specific variety red signature cigarette package was the one left.
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I wonder if accessible areas around Frenchman's Creek have ever been searched. The reasoning behind the duMaurier package with "signature" on it could have also been that he was indicating that he had left his signature on Mary Ann. RCMP believed that she was a victim of a SK responsible for the deaths of 7 hitchhikers. Due to the different m/o's he would have had to have left his signature on her for LE to have made this connection and more than likely it would be somewhere highly visible such as her face, as her skull was found along with several of her bones. The signature; therefore, would have had to have been etched into her skull in some manner and form. Imo.
 
Clouddippingdown said:
I wonder if accessible areas around Frenchman's Creek have ever been searched. The reasoning behind the duMaurier package with "signature" on it could have also been that he was indicating that he had left his signature on Mary Ann. RCMP believed that she was a victim of a SK responsible for the deaths of 7 hitchhikers. Due to the different m/o's he would have had to have left his signature on her for LE to have made this connection and more than likely it would be somewhere highly visible such as her face, as her skull was found along with several of her bones. The signature; therefore, would have had to have been etched into her skull in some manner and form. Imo.
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BBM

We so need a link to that - is it here already? Maybe I missed it - apologies if so.

What connection?

Fwiw - I do 'get' the possibility of father/son connection - an unexplored area imo of long term serial killers. We need more though in this case. Please state speculation if it is speculation.

Let's get a proper prospective rather than a train wreck (borrowing from mod B). Jmo.
 
Woodland said:
BBM

We so need a link to that - is it here already? Maybe I missed it - apologies if so.

What connection?

Fwiw - I do 'get' the possibility of father/son connection - an unexplored area imo of long term serial killers. We need more though in this case. Please state speculation if it is speculation.

Let's get a proper prospective rather than a train wreck (borrowing from mod B). Jmo.
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http://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/sept-15-1971-real-estates-murder-remains-a-mystery

There was speculation by the media and police that Mary Ann Plett was a victim of a serial killer responsible for the deaths of seven hitchhikers.

Who were the seven hitchhikers that are being referred to before September 15, 1971. I haven't found the allocation of name references.
 
The link comes up 'page not found' = train wreck.

Mary Ann needs credible sources in order to help or further her long since cold case. Jmo.

Anything else that will help?
 
Woodland said:
The link comes up 'page not found' = train wreck.

Mary Ann needs credible sources in order to help or further her long since cold case. Jmo.

Anything else that will help?
Click to expand...

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/sept-15-1971-real-estate-agents-murder-remains-a-mystery
rbbm.

"An intensive search was launched with police dogs along a 15-km corridor heavily wooded with poplar and pine and covered with dense underbrush.

The dogs unearthed a cache of papers, a can opener, and a curler hidden under some logs about four km north of where the briefcase was found.

The papers included listings books from Graham Realty Ltd. where Plett worked, documents relating to the Edmonton real estate business and properties that the victim had been working on.

But just as the search intensified with the new discoveries, it had to be called off Nov. 4 after more than 10 centimetres of snow covered the Fort Assiniboine area.

A $5,000 reward was offered for information leading to Plett’s return. Graham Realty offered $1,500; $2,500 was offered by the Edmonton Real Estate Board; and the Plett family offered $1,000.

The winter brought no new clues to her disappearance but on April 14 two workers digging a drainage ditch in the Fort Assiniboine area found Plett’s clothes.

The search began again and this time a gruesome discovery turned up on April 19th, when the real estate agent’s skull and several of her bones were found by a police dog in the same area her briefcase was discovered.

An autopsy was performed but the remains revealed no cause of death or leads to the killer.

There was speculation by the media and police that Mary Ann Plett was a victim of a serial killer responsible for the deaths of seven hitchhikers.

There were stories about a mentally deranged man being interviewed as a suspect. The man, who was in custody, was a suspect in the killing of other Alberta women.

There were other theories, other interviews, other supposed suspects, but in the end no one was ever arrested in Plett’s death. It is believed James Cooper is the key to solving the case. He most likely is the killer and remains a mystery man."
 
OK - what became of the speculation? Or is it still speculation?

Who were the 7 hitchhikers and where were they hitchhiking? We kinda need that imo.
 
http://edmontonsun.com/2012/12/03/s...nd-forgive-moms-unknown-killer-41-years-later

Now, the speculation or theory behind the reasoning for leaving specific items behind, in that Al Gower is quoted in saying "There was nothing that belonged to this guy you could get dna material off for a sample, he was very, very careful," is that each item that he left carried a specific meaning to it. The meaning attached to the duMaurier brand "signature" could be interpreted that he wished for LE to know that he had a signature in which only a SK would have. Mary Ann's m/o was a very obvious one of being stalked and maneuvered into a vulnerable position; whereas, the m/o attached to a hitchhiker is obviously rather simplistic; therefore, indicating that LE must have had a reason for their speculation. Where would that reasoning be found? And not one or two hitchhiker's, rather seven. Imo, the best way to show an attachment in his mind would be to leave a clue behind given the different m/o's. Maybe to show them that he was not only a SK of opportunity but also one who was studious. In other words, "do not minimize my ability."

It may be fractional, but based on clues one must then explore those clues and the most reasonable and functional sequencing that can be applied to them. Based on a name, a date, a wig and a box of cigarettes there are connections there that begin to make sense and when one takes all of those connections and apply them to the fact that he drove by the office in her vehicle on the same evening of her disappearance by her husbands witness account, then imo, the indication of a very studious, audacious SK begins to formulate. From here one would explore the possibilities as to the presence of a signature based on the condition of the remains.
 
dotr said:
There were other theories, other interviews, other supposed suspects, but in the end no one was ever arrested in Plett’s death. It is believed James Cooper is the key to solving the case. He most likely is the killer and remains a mystery man."
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I believe that James Cooper is the key to solving the case and through association of clues we may have a SK who identifies heavily with the author James Fenimore Cooper and his most famous book, "The Last of The Mohicans." (in a twisted sort of way) Imo We could be at this point be desperate for that hitchhiker information to accomplish broader profiling.
 
Right - so no 7 hitchhikers ever linked - total media speculation, and then some.

So yeah - who pretended to be James Cooper in Sep 1971? No self destruction involved imo.
 
Woodland said:
Right - so no 7 hitchhikers ever linked - total media speculation, and then some.

So yeah - who pretended to be James Cooper in Sep 1971? No self destruction involved imo.
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It's a theory that a SK lives under an identity in crisis. In order to better understand that identity we must first formulate how that identity simulates or attaches itself under critical awareness and the way in which it exposes itself. We can determine where and to what type of character that identity in crisis first attached to often by clues that he leaves behind. From there we can use that "character" as a reference from which to form a profile. We know that James Fenimore Cooper was born on Sept. 15 and that his most famous and widely read book, "The Last of The Mohicans," mentions wigs in it and there seems to be some firm attachments to these factors with Mary Ann's case. Her killer was very careful and many of her items were found scattered in the general vicinity of her remains; so it only makes sense that the items left behind have meaning attached to them or in other words were left as clues. Does the blanket look like a First Nations one? I'm still working on the clip on sunglasses. And I'm going to address the "signature" that was left behind on the cigarettes. In The Last of the Mohicans does it mention of trading tobacco?

So far, who pretended to be James Cooper in Sept. 1971 was a studious, literate and attentive man who first fixated himself and his identity on the story The Last of the Mohicans. And in order to understand his inner workings better and how they formed I will need to read the book. Cowboys and Indians. And based on this alone we may be safe wandering into the territory of First Nations women's murders. Imo, he would have operated his own business, more than likely with some success and it was a business that paid attention to detail as in the finished product by way of exposure to the public.

I'm not going to expand on the possibility of the father/son scenario because there is no need and the reasoning behind this is that one will be a reflection of the other, if in fact they did exist as I referenced with the age comparisons in Mary Ann's case and Kelly Cook's case.

In so far as the 7 hitchhikers, the RCMP also speculated an attachment.

The above represents my theory based on some known facts.
 
Since the killer was apparently ' very, very careful", he must have purposely left those items, wonder if, in any of the more recent cases had similar items left behind?
Very bold of perp to try and solicit another realtor so soon after MaytAnn went missing, was he only in town for that time period, or only had that time off work, family obligations, ect?
imo.


From above SUN link.
rbbm.

"The only other thing the kidnapper left behind was a pack of DuMaurier cigarettes and a pair of slip-on sunglasses.

At this point, Gower had little hope MaryAnn was still alive.

"With the wig and some clothing and the blood and the trunk, it was quite obvious she was dead," he said, noting there was nothing to connect the car to her remains. "There was nothing that belonged to this guy you could get DNA material off for a sample. He was very very careful."

Not long after MaryAnn's disappearance, another female real estate agent received a call from a man with a deep gravelly voice who identified himself as Dave Cooper. He also claimed to be from the east and wanted to arrange to see an acreage property out of town, but the realtor was too busy to schedule the viewing."
 
dotr said:
Just noting, wig ( scalping ) cigarettes ( tobacco), DuMaurier ( Ontario ), realtor (sell land), blanket ( trade )
imo.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/2012/12/...nd-forgive-moms-unknown-killer-41-years-later
attachment.php
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It's petty close to following the outline of The Last of the Mohicans combined with author's name and birth date being relevant. However, I think the most important factor of DuMaurier is the signature and I think that may tie in to the possibility of the 7 hitchhikers, if we could ever find out who they were and probably only through either Al Gower or her son would that be possible.

Based on the clues and the way that they tie together why would a SK put so much detailed effort into one victim unless he was conveying a message whereby recognition and possibly signature was concerned? It's almost as if he was writing his own crime novel. So, if the only items that her killer left behind that belonged to him were the DuMaurier cigs and the slip on glasses this could mean that his signature could be seen after a days work driving west into the setting sun. That makes sense in that when would you put on your sunglasses when driving at the end of a days work? If you were headed west.

By the sounds of the condition of her car, her killer used it to drive her to the location where she was left.

The car had sustained damage to the front fender and had a small gouge in a rear tire. Grass stalks were lodged in the front bumper and a two-foot-long tree branch was wedged in the undercarriage.

And based on this imo he travelled to the location directly knowing his timeline of how long it would take for her to be missed and a search to begin and was back in Edmonton driving by her office by 11:00 pm. This indicates that Mary Ann was already dead.

Seven months passed before MaryAnn's remains were found in a wooded area 100 km northwest of Edmonton. In April 1972, two employees of the Pinto Creek Sawmill found women's clothing scattered along Goose Lake Road.

The clothes were most likely scattered knowing that it would only be a matter of time before they were found and so would her remains, which would lead to a signature. What is the significance of this location as it lines up with the other indications? There should be one and based on this theory alone her killer was very familiar with Edmonton and surrounding remote areas.

A search found a watch given to MaryAnn by her mother, along with the top portion of a human skull and part of a femur. The remains were identified as MaryAnn through dental records.

This could be important if a signature was to be found as to give indication as to speculation of attachment to the 7 hitchhikers.
 

http://www.edmontonsun.com/2012/12/...moms-unknown-killer-41-years-later#map_canvas
On Sept. 15, Cooper arranged for MaryAnn to pick him up at the Bonnie Doon Shopping Centre at 11 a.m. By 5 p.m. her co-workers and husband Jake realized something was wrong when MaryAnn didn't return. A search of the Looma acreage turned up no sign of her, prompting a call to the police.
Around 11 p.m. that night, Jake saw MaryAnn's green 1970 Pontiac Laurentian slowly drive by the office with a male driver. By the time he and his co-workers got to a vehicle to give chase, the car had already vanished.
Two days later, a car attendant found the vehicle in a lot of Don Wheaton car sales, blocks from MaryAnn's office. The car had sustained damage to the front fender and had a small gouge in a rear tire. Grass stalks were lodged in the front bumper and a two-foot-long tree branch was wedged in the undercarriage.

I was wondering how he managed two vehicles on that day. His and hers. If he met her at the property than drove her car back he would had to go back to the property and leave her car and drive his away.
He didn't want to do that, He wanted to be sure he left her vehicle somewhere besides on the property she showed. Somewhere near his, at the centre perhaps, or someone near the car lot.
So Mary Ann picks him up at the centre around 11 am, At around 11 that night he does a drive by the place she works and is spotted by persons inside. THAT was a risky move. Why do a drive by like that. Police could have been there and given chase,(( His car may had been left near her office)) in this case chase was given but he was gone. He seen he was spotted and got out of there........I believe he had intended on leaving the vehicle at her job, anticipated no one would be there at that time, but was seen and had to change plans. Now hes in some kind of panic mode, a surreal time sets in, hes in a hurry to get rid of the vehicle since he was spotted and not knowing if he may be chased/stopped by police. Being dark, and probably not much traffic on the road at that time, he would have been easy to spot by the LEOs driving around in her vehicle since she was reported missing a few hours earlier. He spots the car-lot with others cars there to blend in with. Parks the car and walks away.......((Was the keys in the Ignition??When discovered.)) When driving around in her car for whatever reason, he had the items in the truck so in cased stop/stopped somewhere whatever they would not be seen laying in the passenger seat or back seat. I believe he had intended on retrieving those items after parking the car back at the realtors office and leaving the area to get back to his vehicle. If not the blanket at least the wig. But he was spotted and got in a hurry, and after leaving the car-lot he simple forgot or decided not to retrieve any items from the trunk and got the hell out of there. He may have simply forgot his smokes and glasses with it being dark and not thinking straight...I think he wanted to keep that wig, to help relive the fantasy of her murder. Having that wig in front of him, holding it looking at it and so forth he would have been able to see her face and relive every moment of her attack............

The place he chose to inquire about may be more telling then the realtor he chose. I am sure he canvas the area in advance to know what to expect if he decided to kill her there. Isolated area one would presume the murder occurred there. But I am not so sure about that. Just because her remains and items of hers were found on the property she was showing does not mean she was killed there after they arrived there. He could have taken her some place else for a few hours before taking her back to the property. He may have had a business/home/rental property something in the general area that he could have taken her to that was close by the property being sold.

Two days later, a car attendant found the vehicle in a lot of Don Wheaton car sales, blocks from MaryAnn's office.
Does this mean it was parked there two days after her murder. Or that it took two days before anyone notice it was there? Had it been there for two days, or did it show up two days later


How Far is the distance between her job, the centre where she picked him up at, and the place her car was found at the carlot. ARE these places in the general area of each other. Walking distance is what i am wondering.
 
The locations are southeast of downtown Edmonton and just across the North Saskatchewan River. All are in the same general vicinity; maybe in around 17 blocks from Don Wheaton car sales to the Bonnie Doon Mall. The meeting location of the Bonnie Doon Mall may largely represent a comfort zone for him. One neighborhood away from Forest Heights where Karen Ewanciw was found murdered in a ravine in 1975.

I found this post while searching Karen and it is very interesting in the connections that are being made to an area SE of Edmonton.
Sillybilly 03-26-2012 Gary Handlen thread

A couple ofinteresting coincidences in Kathryn Mary's case that i've enountered whilesleuthing on a POI in various Alberta cases:

Kathryn Mary was killed in 1975, just 5 months after 11 y.o. Karen Ewanciw ofAlberta. Karen Ewanciw had a sister named Catherine Marie (approx 14 y.o. atthe time of Karen's murder)

Kathryn is buried in Hazelwood Cemetery in Abbotsford. The Ewanciw surname(quite an uncommon surname) appears in that same cemetery.

Also in the Hazelwood Cemetery is an Olaf Olson (same name as Clifford Olson'sgrandfather who owned the family farm southeast of Edmonton but later moved toBC). Some Ewanciw relatives in Alberta had property in close proximity toOlson's grandfather in that same area southeast of Edmonton.

After I started sleuthing a certain poi (not Olson), I discovered thatindividual appears somehow related to the Ewanciw family, and i firmly believethe poi has connections to Olson's family (geographically and quite possibly throughrelatives)

As despicable as he was, Olson had family and friends at one time. Sadly, thecreep probably took a lot of info to the grave with him.


The information as to the SE farm location may give us some insight if this general area is Mary Ann's killers comfort zone.
 
Clouddippingdown said:
Seven months passed before Mary Ann's remains were found in a wooded area 100 km northwest of Edmonton. In April 1972, two employees of the Pinto Creek Sawmill found women's clothing scattered along Goose Lake Road.

The clothes were most likely scattered knowing that it would only be a matter of time before they were found and so would her remains, which would lead to a signature. What is the significance of this location as it lines up with the other indications?
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The only significance I see related to James Fenimore Cooper is Goose Lake, and a far-fetched relationship at that, is that William Cooper's father founded Cooperstown on Otsego Lake, New York. The setting of The Deerslayer, by JFC, was also Otsego Lake. If you take all the letters, except the letter "t", in the word Otsego, and rearrange them, you get the word goose. Interesting, but far-fetched.

Scalping runs rampant in The Deerslayer, the last of JFC's series.

A search found a watch given to MaryAnn by her mother, along with the top portion of a human skull and part of a femur. The remains were identified as MaryAnn through dental records.
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If they found only the top portion of her skull and part of a femur, how do you get dental records from the top portion of a skull?
 
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