SkipCaptcha
160
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 12:
Line 12: − − ==Suspects== − − ===Richard McCoy Jr.=== − − One of the 1972 hijackings was carried out by Richard McCoy Jr. On [[April 7]], [[1972]], four months after D.B. Cooper's hijacking, McCoy boarded United Flight 855 during a stopover in Denver. It was a Boeing 727 with aft stairs, the same type used in the Cooper incident, which McCoy used to escape after giving the crew the same type of instructions as Dan Cooper. − − Police started to investigate McCoy after a tip. He was a married former [[Mormon]] [[Sunday school]] teacher with two young children who was studying law enforcement at [[Brigham Young University]]. He was also a [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]] veteran, a former [[Green Berets|Green Beret]] [[helicopter]] [[pilot]], and an avid [[skydiving|skydiver]]. − − Following a [[fingerprint]] and handwriting match, McCoy was arrested two days after the hijacking. Inside his house FBI agents found a [[jumpsuit]] and a duffel bag filled with cash totalling $499,970. McCoy claimed innocence, but was convicted and received a 45-year sentence. − − Once incarcerated, using his access to the prison's dental office, McCoy fashioned a fake handgun out of dental paste. He and a crew of convicts escaped in August [[1974]] by stealing a [[garbage truck]] and crashing it though the prison's main gate. It took three months for the FBI to locate McCoy, in [[Virginia]]. McCoy shot at the FBI agents and agent Nicholas O'Hara fired back with a shotgun, killing him. − − ''D.B. Cooper: The Real McCoy'', co-authored by an ex-FBI agent named Russell Calame, was published in [[1991]]. The book made the case that Cooper and McCoy were really the same person, citing similar methods of hijacking and a tie left by Cooper similar to those worn by Brigham Young students. The author said that McCoy "never admitted nor denied he was Cooper." And when McCoy was directly asked whether he was Cooper he replied "I don't want to talk to you about it." The agent who killed McCoy is quoted as saying, "When I shot Richard McCoy, I shot D.B. Cooper at the same time." The widow of Richard McCoy, Karen Burns McCoy, sued and won a settlement from both the book's coauthors and its publisher. − − ===Duane Weber=== − − In August [[2000]], ''[[U.S. News and World Report]]'' ran an article about a widow in [[Pace, Florida]] named Jo Weber and her claim that her late husband, Duane Weber, had told her "I'm Dan Cooper" before his death in [[1995]]. She became suspicious and began checking into her late husband's background. Duane Weber had served in the Army during [[World War II]] and later had served time in a prison near the Portland airport. Mrs. Weber recalled that her husband had once had a nightmare where he talked in his sleep about jumping from a plane. She had once found an old plane ticket in his papers for Northwest Airlines that said SEA-TAC (Seattle-Tacoma airport.) One of the most convincing pieces of evidence Mrs. Weber related was the fact she had checked out a book on the Cooper case from the local library and saw notations in it that matched her husband's handwriting. Mrs. Weber began corresponding with FBI Agent Ralph Himmelsbach, the chief investigator of the Cooper case. Himmelsbach has said Weber is one of the best suspects he has come across. − − Although the match between the composite drawing and pictures of Duane Weber must be considered inconclusive, recently, facial recognition [[software]] was used on 3000 photographs (including that of a Weber and two other suspects) to identify him as "the best match" (in 3000).
no edit summary
Following three similar (but less successful) hijackings in [[1972]], the [[Federal Aviation Administration]] required that all Boeing 727 aircraft be fitted with a device known as the "[[Cooper Vane]]", a mechanical aerodynamic wedge, which prevents the rear stairway from being lowered in flight.
Following three similar (but less successful) hijackings in [[1972]], the [[Federal Aviation Administration]] required that all Boeing 727 aircraft be fitted with a device known as the "[[Cooper Vane]]", a mechanical aerodynamic wedge, which prevents the rear stairway from being lowered in flight.
==External link==
==External link==