Most interesting unsolved non-serial killer cases

[RivkahChaya]

I think the most fascinating non-murder unsolved crime is the Dan Cooper ransom hijack. I think it's fascinating, because other than something just short of 20% of the ransom cash, found mouldering on the shore of a river about 12 years after the crime, no one ever found a trace of him or his parachute, and believe me, people looked. No one ever confessed, albeit, there are several second-hand accounts of death-bed confessions, and the rest of the money never turned up.

I suppose it's remotely possible he had a partner who helped him get out of the woods, and they stashed the cash somewhere until the fuss died down, and then something happened to both of them before they could retrieve it, but he really strikes me as a solo type. I can't remember off-hand whether he dove with the briefcase and supposed bomb, or left it on the plane. Diving with a bomb seems pretty stupid, even if it had a battery fuse that could be pulled out. It could have been fake. The only person who had much of a look at it, IIRC, was the flight attendant who admitted that she wouldn't know a real bomb from a fake one.

Anyway, as far as anyone knows, he had no supplies, so unless he had a landing spot prepared, and he hit it, he was diving into a Donner winter. But they never found a body, nor even the chute.

[sdreid]

I remember that one on the news when it was ongoing. He obviously spent a lot of time developing his plan. It was the first hijacking that involved parachuting as far as I know and the multiple chutes was genius since it guaranteed that they couldn't be tampered with.

[sdreid]

I tend to think that he perished but the fact the parachute was never found seems to argue that he might have.

[sdreid]

I tend to think that he perished but the fact the parachute was never found seems to argue that he might have.

might have made it, that is.

[sdreid]

It seems we get a new candidate for Cooper every year or two.

[sdreid]

might have made it, that is.

If the parachute didn't open however then it would be much harder to find so not seeing the parachute could mean that he did make it and hid the chute or that he didn't make it.

[Mayerling]

Mixed feelings on D. Cooper's hijack, ransom, and jump. I don't support crime, but his showed some planning and daring - especially daring. Look at the tree infested forrest he planned to jump into! I suspect he did not make it, but I secretly hope he somehow did make it.

Jeff

[Mayerling]

By the way, I have the same mixed feelings about the three convicts who fled Alcatraz in 1963, but were never found. Again, remarkable planning and escape from the island, and daring in those strong San Francisco Bay currents in that raft. Again, they probably drowned, but I would not have been upset to hear they made it.

Jeff

[Ginger]

Mixed feelings on D. Cooper's hijack, ransom, and jump. I don't support crime, but his showed some planning and daring - especially daring. Look at the tree infested forrest he planned to jump into! I suspect he did not make it, but I secretly hope he somehow did make it.

Jeff

I feel the same way. He stole an enormous amount of money, and terrified the poor people on the plane, but at the same time, he showed a remarkable amount of audacity and bravery, and in the end, no-one (except probably Cooper himself) got hurt, so...

[sdreid]

Mixed feelings on D. Cooper's hijack, ransom, and jump. I don't support crime, but his showed some planning and daring - especially daring. Look at the tree infested forrest he planned to jump into! I suspect he did not make it, but I secretly hope he somehow did make it.

Jeff

I feel the same way also.

[sdreid]

It was a form of armed robbery however.

[Mayerling]

It was a form of armed robbery however.

Have to agree with you there Stan - it was an armed robbery. It's just the total conclusion that leaves us forgetting how Cooper got that money he jumped with. Certainly a spectacular ending.

[Mayerling]

In the wake of all the discussion this weekend about Dallas and JFK's assassination (and his place in American History), there is a side issue of some interest to me which almost fits this thread: Why are there some political assassinations that everyone always is willing to voice an opinion about, and others that just drift out of our consciousness?

The biggies among U.S. political assassinations are Lincoln's, J.F.K's, King's, Malcolm X's, R.F.K.'s, and (believe it or not) James Garfield's. I am basing this on the number of television shows, movies, and books written about these, and how others fall by the wayside. Garfield (I added0 because there have been three books (two in the last decade) about his murder, and the issues of what killed him (the bullet or infection by incompetent doctors), his two month ordeal before his death, the mental condition of Guiteau, and even how Alexander Graham Bell tried to help with a prototype of a mine detector to find the bullet. McKinley's death got two books in the last decade too, but otherwise (like Garfield) he has been the subject of biographies only.

But what of such attacks as those on Reagan, Ford, or even Andrew Jackson? Not a single book was ever written about the 1835 attack by that nut Richard Lawrence, so far the only American political assassin whose would-be victim beat him up with a walking stick. Few ever hear of Lawrence, and even less know that the attorney who got him committed to an asylum was Francis Scott Key!

And we haven't even touched on figures like Huey Long, Governor Steunenberg of Idaho (one book published five years back is all), and Governor William Goebel of Kentucky (killed on the day he was to be sworn in - he lived long enough to be sworn in). The Goebel Case in particular has never been satisfactorily settled. And there are others. Was Mayor Anton Cermak the real target of Giuseppi Zangara in Miami in Feb. 1933, or was he really trying to shoot FDR?

Any comments?

Jeff

[sdreid]

Yes, I have noted elsewhere that half of the 6 men on our general use currency notes were shot; Lincoln, Hamilton and Jackson - not sure what that says about us. You also have McKinley on the currently old issue $500 dollar bill. On currently used coins, 2 of 5 with Lincoln again and Kennedy makes 4 out of 8 men on our generally used denominations were shot at least once.

[Mayerling]

The reasons for the selections deal with what the parties did to aid the economy of the U.S. and it's currency.

Washington and Hamilton - created the National Debt (to reassure investors we stood behind our debts and paid them off) and the First Bank of the United States to be a stablelizer of the currency (like the Bank of England). Lincoln and Salmon Chase (who is on the $5,000.00 bill no longer needed) who in the Civil War created the "Greenback" national paper currency we still use. Madison (on the now not printed $10,000.00 bill) for chartering the the Second Bank of the United States in 1816 in the wake of seeing the damage his destruction of the First Bank in 1811 did to the economy in the War of 1812. Jackson for demonstrating in his confrontation with Nicholas Biddle that the Second Bank was indeed a danger to American Democracy and destroying it. Grant for passing the first attempt at a national income tax. Franklin for helping to get the French loans in the American Revolution and for assisting in printing our revolutionary currency (the infamous "Continental).
Cleveland ($1,000.00 - obsolete) and McKinley (the $500.00 - no longer printed) for their success in maintaining the Gold Standard from 1893-1914 (when the Fed Reserve was created), and for McKinley restoring prosperity in the 1890s after the Yukon Gold Strike. Finally Woodrow Wilson on the $100,000.00 bill (highest denominaton) for being the President who pushed the Federal Reserve Bill (with the help of Carter Glass of Virginia) through in 1914. I am not sure but the $100,000.00 was solely for large scale transfers between the branches of the Federal Reserve - it may still be in use.

Jeff