The Fallacy on ‘D.B Cooper.'
On 24 November 1971, the aircraft Boeing 727 that was in transit from Portland International Airport to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was hijacked. The identity of the hijacker was presumed to be of a man who had boarded the plane under the alias D.B Cooper. He supposedly had a bomb in an aircraft that has about forty-two passengers and demanded among other things 200000 US Dollars. To date, there has been no conclusive evidence on the identity of the suspect, where he disappeared to and exactly what happened to the money given as ransom.
The investigation carried out in regarded to this incident has been one of the most intense ones. In spite of the numerous and widespread manhunt in search for the perpetrator of the hijacking, there has been no identification up to date. The investigation of this saga was not an easy task as there was not much evidence to work with. There were 66 unidentified latent fingerprints. Furthermore, there was a black clip on tie and a mother of pearl tie clip, which was suspected to have been left there by the suspect. Several persons who had interacted with the suspect were interviewed. Some sketches were developed. Over the years, there has been an increasing list of suspects who have been questioned. This has led to the publication of several books in an attempt to establish who exactly the man behind the name D.B Cooper was. According to Schaffner, the suspect appeared familiar with the terrain, as he seemed to recognize where they were. The suspect denied a face-to-face meeting with an official as they were negotiating his terms and conditions.
Eyewitnesses who were in that plane on that particular day described a man, who by his looks was perhaps in his mid- forties. It was said that he wore a dark suit, a black necktie and a mother of pearl tiepin. He sat on the rear side of the passengers’ cabin. He smoked a cigarette and politely ordered a soda and bourbon. After a while, he passed a note to a flight attendant who was known as Florence Schaffner and made her aware of the fact that he indeed had a bomb with him.
Proposed experts, news reporters and people interested have attempted to write books and articles to proof their opinions on who D.B Cooper was. Renewed interest was observed in the early 1980’s when there a discovery of a small amount of the ransom money. Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigations opined that D.B Cooper could not have survived his jump in an attempt to avoid prosecution. Among the first suspects was a man by the name D. B Cooper, who had a minor police record, but his involvement was quickly ruled out.
One of the publications that gained massive popularity in its attempt to discover whom exactly was D.B Cooper was one by Porteous Skipp, The True Story of D.B Cooper. The books attempt to prove that a man by the name Kenneth Christiansen was indeed the man behind the name D.B Cooper. (Al, 2010) In 2003, Lyle Christiansen was certain that his brother was the man behind the 1971 hijacking. The book does give very compelling arguments in support of this.
Kenneth Christiansen was in the army trained as a paratroop. One of the major similarities between Kenneth and Dan was that they were both fond of smoking cigarettes, and both drank bourbon. This, according to the book (Al, 2010), was a major reason he was considered a suspect. Moreover, it was said that Kenneth was left handed. This was compared to the suspicion that D.B Cooper was also left-handed. It was seen(photographic evidence) that Dan while in the plane had pinned the tie clip from his left side suggesting that he was left handed. Considering that the number of left-handed persons is limited, this was seen as a clear indication that Kenneth could have indeed been D.B Cooper. Moreover, the flight attendant Florence Schaffner commented that the photos of Christiansen were the perfect fit to her memory of the hijacker as compared to that of other suspects. It was also said that there were news clippings from the time he was hired, which stopped immediately before the hijacking and did not continue after the hijacking ordeal.
Equally important was the fact that shortly after the hijacking, Kenneth was said to have spent money to purchase a very prestigious house. Lyle Christiansen, Kenneth’s brother also admitted that his brother had told him (Lyle) while dying of cancer in 1994, that there was something that he (Kenneth) should know but cannot be said. Lyle did not push him to admit. Allegedly, after Kenneth’s death, the family members discovered a very valuable stamp collection and what was thought to be gold coins. They also said that Kenneth has over 200,000 US Dollars in various bank accounts.
Despite all these arguments, there were facts that did not allude to the evidence that Kenneth Christiansen was indeed D.B Cooper. To begin with, the witnesses stating that D.B Cooper was between 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) to 6 feet 0 inches (1.83 m) tall gave several statements. However, Kenneth was shorter as he was 5inches 8 feet tall. Secondly, witnesses estimated D.B Cooper’s weight to be between 170 to 180 pounds (77 to 82 kg). He was believed to be in his mid-40s yet Kenneth was slightly slimmer and, therefore, lighter ranging at about 150 pounds. This was clearly a significant and reasonable distinguishing factor between Kenneth Christiansen and D.B Cooper. The investigation agents were quick to dismiss this citing a very poor match as compared to what the eyewitnesses had described.
In addition to that, in 1991, there was a suspect by the name Richard McCoy, who was said to have immense physical similarities between him and D.B Cooper. The fact that Richard McCoy did not accept or deny the fact that he was accused of being D.B Cooper was seen as a sign of his guilt. It was also said by the McCoy’s family that the tie and the month of pearls left on the plane by D.B Cooper allegedly belonged to McCoy. (Bernie, 1991). There was also no direct evidence linking Kenneth Christiansen to the physical and the DNA evidence found in the plane left behind by the suspect. Nevertheless, the Federal Bureau of Investigations never considered him as a suspect.
Among the things that D.B Cooper demanded, when he had hijacked the plane were two parachutes. The agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigations stated that D.B Cooper chooses the older and less professional sports parachute. This was contrasted with the vast knowledge and expertise predicted by Kenneth. This was in an attempt to put across that had it been Kenneth on the plane; he would have chosen the more professional parachute.
It is vital to note that among the persons suspected of being D.B Cooper was a man known as William Gossett. William was clearly known to be obsessed with the plane’s hijacking. He had also accumulated a vast collection of articles related to Cooper and the hijacking. He also claimed and admitted that he did have a lot of knowledge of the Cooper case. In his later days of life, he allegedly told a retired judge in Utah and a friend of the defenders office that he had indeed committed the hijacking, and he was D.B Cooper. Some even argue that D.B Cooper could not have survived the parachute jump in his attempt to evade legal charges (Richard, 1984). A woman named Clara also said that she found an injured D.B Cooper two days after the hijacking saga. She states that they lived together for ten years before he died (Gunther, 1985).
In conclusion, there have been a whole lot of well-founded claims that Kenneth Christiansen was indeed D.B Cooper. Nevertheless, there was also a lot of evidence that points to the contrary. Among this was the fact that another suspect, William Gossett had indeed admitted to being the hijacker of the plane. There was also no direct evidence incriminating Kenneth as the perpetrator behind the D.B Cooper hijacking. In addition to this, there were allegedly no physical similarities between D.B Cooper and Kenneth Christiansen. In fact, it was stated that another suspect, Richard McCoy had the most similarities to the features of the person who the witnesses and those who had interacted with D.B Cooper described. It will therefore not be wise to assume and conclude that Kenneth Christiansen was indeed D.B Cooper. Overall, it is clear that this was indeed one of the unique cases of the 20th century.
References.
Al, P. S. (2010). Into the Blast: The True Story of D.B Cooper. Seattle: Adventure Works Press.
Bernie, R. (1991). D. B Cooper: The Real McCoy. New York: U. of U. Press.
Gunther, M. (1985). D. B. Cooper: What Really Happened. . Chicago: Contemporary Books.
Richard, T. (1984). D.B. Cooper: Dead or Alive? New York: Tosaw Publishing.
