Db Cooper Essay

One of the greatest mysteries is the D. B. Cooper case. The legend of D. B. Cooper has inspired many books, movies, songs, and more. In just the last 40 years there have been over 1000 suspects and over 40 deathbed confessions of being D. B. Cooper (Hannaford 10). The case is still unsolved after 52 years of investigation. The crime committed by D. B. Cooper is still the only unsolved case of air theft on commercial airlines. There have been multiple strong suspects, but the legendary D. B. Cooper remains missing Dan Cooper, later known as D. B. Cooper, because a reporter misheard an FBI agent, was boarding onto a Northwest Orient Airlines Jet. After getting on the plane and ordering a drink, the skyjacker handed a note to the flight attendant,

Weber actually confessed to being D. B. Cooper on his deathbed, but that doesn't mean much with there being over 40 deathbed confessions. Weber was an ex-con who served time in McNeil island penitentiary, 20 miles from the airport, which made it much more likely he had been the hijacker. Weber also almost perfectly matched the physical characteristics they described the hijacker as. “The FBI described D. B. Cooper as being in his 40s, 6 feet tall, 170 pounds, with black hair. He was a bourbon drinker and a chain smoker” (Pasternak. 2003). At the time of the hijacking, Weber was around 6’1”, 185 lbs, with black hair, and like Cooper, he also drank bourbon and chain-smoked. Weber is a likely suspect and even more so because he has military experience, allowing him to be more prepared to survive the jump. Although there is a lot of evidence against Weber, the FBI ruled him out as being the hijacker. The FBI could not match Weber's DNA to Cooper’s tie, so the search continues. (Pasternak. 2004.

Marla Cooper claims she remembers her uncle coming home with serious injuries and talking about the hijacking. (Johnson) Having the same last name and coming home with these injuries makes him a likely suspect. Marla Cooper was so confident in her uncle being the hijacker saying, “It looks rather promising that this case could very well be solved in the next few months” (Johnson). But again, the FBI could not match the DNA to the necktie. This doesn't rule him out as being a suspect, because no one knows for sure if the necktie was the hijackers. Eight cigarette butts that were Coopers went missing in FBI storage, so there was no confirmed DNA matching the hijacker. William Gosset is also an interesting suspect. Gosset was a retired military veteran who had parachuting experience. He was known to be a very skilled parachutist and survivalist. After the D. B. Cooper's case became public when he was obsessed and talked about it all the time. Gosset repeatedly claimed to be Cooper to his son and in front of a San Diego Judge. Gosset randomly had a ton of money to spend before Christmas in 1971, which was only a couple weeks after the hijacking. The FBI had no strong evidence against Gosset, so they ruled him out as a suspect.