Unsolved D.B. Cooper

[Exe Gesis]

Just did some more reading and looked at some photos. I'm convinced it was McCoy. He looked a fair bit like the identikit and the crimes are very similar.

I agree.

+

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_McCoy,_Jr.

Richard Floyd McCoy, Jr. (December 7, 1942 – November 9, 1974) was an American aircraft hijacker.

McCoy hijacked a United Airlines passenger jet for ransom in 1972. Due to a similar modus operandi, law enforcement officials named McCoy as a suspect for the still-unidentified "D. B. Cooper," who committed his unsolved crime four months before McCoy.

Biography

Early life

McCoy was born December 7, 1942, in the town of Kinston, North Carolina, and grew up in nearby Cove City. In 1962 McCoy moved to Provo, Utah, and enrolled at Brigham Young University (BYU) before dropping out to serve a two-year tour of duty in the Army. He served in Vietnam as a demolition expert and pilot[1] and was awarded the Purple Heart in 1964.

In 1965 McCoy returned to BYU, where he met Karen Burns. They married in August 1965 in Raleigh. By 1971 they had two children, Chanti and Richard.

McCoy served another term in the Army on the condition he go to Vietnam, where he was awarded both the Army Commendation Medal and Distinguished Flying Cross. Upon returning to Utah, he served as a warrant officer in the Utah National Guard and was an avid skydiver.[2]

McCoy taught Mormon Sunday school and studied law enforcement at BYU. His purported dream was to become an FBI or CIA agent.

Criminal career



Same modus operandi as D. B. Cooper

On April 7, 1972, McCoy boarded United Airlines Flight 855 under the alias "James Johnson" during a stopover in Denver, Colorado. The aircraft was a Boeing 727 with aft stairs (the same equipment used in the D. B. Cooper incident), via which McCoy escaped in mid-flight by parachute after giving the crew similar instructions as Cooper had. McCoy had obtained a $500,000 cash ransom, and carried a novelty hand-grenade and an empty pistol.Police began investigating McCoy following a tip from a motorist. The driver had picked up McCoy hitch-hiking at a fast-food restaurant, where McCoy was wearing a jumpsuit and carrying a duffel bag. McCoy also had described to an acquaintance how easy it would be to carry out such a hijacking.[3]

Following fingerprint and handwriting matches, McCoy was arrested two days after the hijacking. Ironically, McCoy was on National Guard duty flying one of the helicopters involved in the search for the hijacker. Inside his house, FBI agents found a jumpsuit and a duffel bag filled with cash totaling $499,970.[1]

McCoy claimed innocence, but was convicted of the hijacking[4] and received a 45-year sentence.[5] Once incarcerated at the Federal penitentiary at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, McCoy used his access to the prison's dental office to fashion a fake handgun out of dental paste ("The FBI Files" episode "Flight From Justice – The Story of D.B. Cooper"). He and a crew of convicts escaped on August 10, 1974 by commandeering a garbage truck and crashing it through the prison's main gate.[6]

Three months later the FBI located McCoy in Virginia Beach, Virginia. News reports stated that on November 9, 1974, McCoy walked into his home and was met by FBI agents;[7] he fired at them, and an agent fired back with a shotgun, killing McCoy.[8]

Lawsuits over Cooper allegations

1991 saw the publication of D. B. Cooper: The Real McCoy, by FBI agents Bernie Rhodes and Russell P. Calame. Both authors investigated McCoy's skyjacking case, and their book posits that Cooper and McCoy were really the same person. They cited similar methods of hijacking, and a tie and Brigham Young University medallion with McCoy's initials on the back left on the plane by Cooper.

After the book's publication, McCoy's widow filed suit against the book's authors, publisher and her former attorney, Thomas S. Taylor. She claimed they misrepresented her involvement in the hijacking for which McCoy was convicted, and also misrepresented later events from interviews done with Taylor in the 1970s. She sought an injunction against publication and distribution of the book.[9]

During court proceedings, it was revealed that McCoy's widow was deeply involved in the hijacking. Her request for an injunction to prohibit further sales of the book was denied. However, an injunction to prohibit the sale of movie rights to the book – conditional upon the movie including references to four specific allegations in the book that she protested – was granted.[10] Mrs. McCoy accepted a settlement in 1994.[11]

 

[Kram]

On a documentary I watched they reckoned he stuffed up by not asking for 100s as the 20 dollar notes added significantly to the weight he had to carry, but wouldn't 100s attract a lot more attention when trying to offload the cash?

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Just did some more reading and looked at some photos. I'm convinced it was McCoy. He looked a fair bit like the identikit and the crimes are very similar.

Like your work as a poster, Bunk (Happy now, ya bish?), but this is what I love about this case. Intelligent people who give the case a fair amount of thought can be completely sold on one scenario one week and then something totallt different a week later. I'm exactly the same way. Could be splatter, could be McCoy, could be Weber, could be Christiansen, could be L.D. Cooper, could be 'someone else'.

On a documentary I watched they reckoned he stuffed up by not asking for 100s as the 20 dollar notes added significantly to the weight he had to carry, but wouldn't 100s attract a lot more attention when trying to offload the cash?

That's what people have surmised. Realistically, there's no other reason he wouldn't have asked for 50s or 100s. Larger denominations = too hard to pass off; smaller denominations = too heavy; $20 notes = just right.

 

[grizzlym]

None of the money - barring that found mouldering in the river bed - has ever been found.

 

[DrVanNostrand]

McCoy is a great suspect, but I wonder what evidence the FBI has placing him in Las Vegas the day of the hijacking?

I find it interesting to note a few suspects were ruled out purely because they had a higher level of skydiving ability than what they think Cooper had.

 

[ioppolo]

None of the money - barring that found mouldering in the river bed - has ever been found.

I thought they found a small portion of it? (they worked out it was the money Cooper had by looking at the serial code?)

 

[Kram]

Yeah a kid with his dad found a couple of decaying bundles on a river bank, think they were rewarded by being given the value of about half of it. But that's it, none of the remaining cash has actually turned up in circulation anywhere.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

How is cash traced in circulation? Is every note that passes through a bank identified via the serial number?

 

[Dr Dolphin]

How is cash traced in circulation? Is every note that passes through a bank identified via the serial number?

The money was the old style paper notes, which have a fairly limited life expectancy. When they come through a bank damaged, faded etc the bank sends them to the central US mint who catalogues the serial number and destroys it. None of the many notes have turned up this way, which after so much time you'd think would have happened.

There is also a reward on anyone submitting any of the notes. I'm pretty sure there are websites which list all the serial numbers, if you've got one ; jackpot for you!

Seems very reasonable that he either died from the jump, or dropped/lost the money during it.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Yeah interesting it says on wiki that the average lifespan for a $20 bill in the states is only 7 years before it is retired and shredded. Based on that, you’d think something would have shown up in the system since.

Odds are the entire amount has been destroyed in one hit which fits with the story. Either that or they all went through the system years ago and weren’t detected (not sure what checking mechanisms they have before they destroy currency).

 

[Kram]

I know people like the romantic idea of the guy pulling off the perfect crime and outsmarting LE but given the odds he faced he very likely just went whack into trees or water and died in the middle of nowhere.

 

[grizzlym]

Well, with DB Cooper, if no money found its way into circulation then he didn't convert his crime. So what happened to him and the money?

 

[Dr Dolphin]

Well, with DB Cooper, if no money found its way into circulation then he didn't convert his crime. So what happened to him and the money?

I think he either died on impact, or dropped the money. Then the volcanic erruption at Mount St Helen's destroyed all evidence of both.

Although the authorities went out looking from the next day, they were never certain about where he jumped. The pilot felt the plane bump a little in mid air, and they have always assumed thats when he jumped but its such a large area of pure dense forrest that he could have landed in. A lot of experts have always felt the search area was wrong, even if it wasn't there is no way they could search every inch of land and be sure they havent missed a body or bag. The parachute is my biggest question. If he died, the parachute should still be covering a wide area and should be able to be seen.

 

[Mooster7]

McCoy would probably be the strongest suspect of all if he didn't have an alibi. Don't know how solid the alibi is though. The FBI seems happy with it.

I saw a documentary recently about Kenneth Christiansen which was very compelling. I realize it's the job of a documentary maker to appear compelling but I'm pretty good about filtering bullshit from these things, and Christiansen still comes off smelling pretty stinky. What I don't like is that a lot of the anecdotal evidence against Chritiansen is provided by his brother who has tried multiple times to sell his story as movie and book deals. He may be telling the complete truth, but it's hard not to be skeptical about the credibility of his story when you see the dollar signs in his eyes when he's telling it.

 

[Kram]

From what I understand much of the possible landing area is complete wilderness like 60ft high pine forest. The parachute could be tangled up anywhere high in the canopy and even with a brightly coloured one almost impossible to find.

It's interesting because his plan to get the loot seems clever and perfectly carried out but it sounds like he didn't really think about what he was going to happen once he jumped out of the plane..

 

[Tiff]

I have read a bit about this guy. But they never mentioned his nationality so I assume he is American

All they've said is that he was a white American who might have spent time in the military in Europe where he could have gained acces to a French Canadian comic book named "Dan Cooper". Also, as he is reported to have no discernible accent it was also likely he may have been Canadian.

 

[flight23]

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020893484_apwadbcooperparachutepacker.html

The man who packed the parachutes used by infamous skyjacker D.B. Cooper has been identified as the victim of a homicide in Washington state.

 

[Belnakor]

It's interesting because his plan to get the loot seems clever and perfectly carried out but it sounds like he didn't really think about what he was going to happen once he jumped out of the plane..

he had no choice once the weather came in - he had to jump or be arrested. In perfect conditions it wouldn't have been nessecarily such a difficult jump. The conditions he jumped in were so difficult an experienced skydiver would have abandoned the jump.

The pancake theory is the best bet - the conditions were so bad he may not have even opened his chute. And the cash would have hit the forest floor and scattered.

 

[Glacier]

Didn't he send a note sometime later explaining his reasons for the crime ?

 

[Silent Alarm]

Didn't he send a note sometime later explaining his reasons for the crime ?

Yes, and it read:

YOLO

 

[Burningleviathan]

Would the money still be traceable if he deposited it in another country?

 

[Belnakor]

Would the money still be traceable if he deposited it in another country?

would be more traceable because as soon as someone converted the money it would be transferred to the central banks and scanned.

 

[Dan Cooper]

You just found him.

Well not really him. But somebody who has been fascinated by his story for a long time.

 

[Dan Cooper]

His name was actually Dan Cooper. A mix up with the media release and it became D.B Cooper.

Dan Cooper is said to be the name he used on his ticket, and the reason I chose it as my username. BD Cooper was my first choice, but it was already taken.

 

[PAdman]

Dan Cooper is said to be the name he used on his ticket, and the reason I chose it as my username. BD Cooper was my first choice, but it was already taken.

But your name before was J D cooper.