MYSTERY continues to persist in the murder of an FBI consultant who provided the parachutes used by DB Cooper during the hijacker’s infamous aerial assault more than a decade later.
Earl Cossey, a veteran skydiving instructor, was found dead in his home in suburban Seattle, Washington, on April 26, 2013, after suffering blunt force trauma to the head.
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His daughter made the tragic discovery after going to check as Cossey hadn’t heard from him in four days.
Investigators believe the 71-year-old was killed on April 23, but who fatally struck Cossey and why remains a complete mystery.
Police never disclosed which weapon was used to take Cossey’s life.
However, a critical clue would emerge just days after the murder, when an envelope containing Cossey’s identification, bank cards and casino membership was sent to his home with an anonymous handwritten letter.
Detectives believe Cossey’s cards were stolen by her killer, who intentionally dropped or discarded them.
They believe a Good Samaritan found them and sent them back.
That Samaritan was never identified, but investigators said establishing where these cards were found could be crucial in helping catch the killer.
Eleven years have passed without answers and a $3,500 reward for information remains unclaimed.
In a brief statement to The US Sun, a spokesperson for the Kings Country Sheriff’s Office said the investigation into Cossey’s murder is active and ongoing.
“Unfortunately, we are unable to comment on the investigation,” the spokesperson added.
Investigators have emphatically stated that they do not believe Cossey’s murder had anything to do with the DB Cooper case.
Forty-two years before Cossey was killed, a brazen bandit known by the alias DB Cooper hijacked a Northwest Orient flight over Portland on Thanksgiving Eve 1971, held the plane for a $200,000 ransom, and bailed out. parachuting from the Boeing 727 with his reward, never to be seen again.
Four parachutes were given to Cooper by authorities as part of his rescue – one of which was a dummy parachute intended for training use only.
The parachutes were hastily provided by a local skydiving center who had recently purchased them from Cossey.
What Cooper apparently used was a military-grade NB6, a 28-foot nylon parachute with a conical canopy.
COOPERATION TIES
In the years following Cooper’s robbery, Cossey became the FBI’s de facto technical expert on anything related to the hijacker’s parachutes.
He also became an outspoken supporter of the belief that Cooper was not the master skydiver that investigators initially believed him to be, but instead a foolish amateur whose inexperience was evidenced by the fact that he apparently decided to use the parachute. Wrong falls for your daring jump.
Cossey’s analysis helped change the FBI’s initial narrative that Cooper likely survived the jump and remained at large, believing he likely died as a result of his own ineptitude.
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Eric Ulis, an investigator who has independently investigated the Cooper robbery for the past 14 years, said Cossey was an invaluable asset to the FBI.
Ulis told The US Sun: “Earl Cossey was known for not being a straight shooter with the media. He occasionally fudged the facts about the parachutes, but he was always honest and straightforward with the FBI.
“He was responsible for identifying whether the parachutes were related to the case or not.
“He was an interesting man and I know it’s an unsolved murder, but from what I can tell and what the police have said, this has nothing to do with Cooper.
“This is just an incredibly unfortunate case where it looks like he found someone stealing from him, or something like that.”
The Mystery of DB Cooper
DB Cooper hijacked Northwest Orient Flight 305 on November 24, 1971, during a short trip between Portland and Seattle.
Shortly after takeoff, Cooper handed a note to a flight attendant sitting behind him, informing her that he had a bomb in his briefcase.
In exchange for the lives of the other 36 passengers and six crew on board, the kindly hijacker demanded $200,000 in stacks of $20 bills and four parachutes.
When the flight landed in Seattle, money and parachutes were exchanged by all passengers and some crew members.
Following Cooper’s instructions, the Boeing 727 was refueled and took off for a second time – this time towards Mexico City.
But around 8 p.m., somewhere in southwest Washington, a light flashed on the cockpit instrument panel, indicating that the rear exit door had been opened.
With that, Cooper disappeared, parachuting into the stormy night sky with his rescue in tow.
Virtually all traces of Cooper disappeared there.
The only item left behind on Flight 305 by Cooper was a black JCPenney tie with a gold pin.
Investigators later found a DNA sample from the tie and other items of evidentiary value, but they do not believe the DNA sample belonged to Cooper.
The only other trace of Cooper found since then came in 1980, when a boy digging along the banks of the Columbia River in Tena bar unearthed $5,800 in $20 bills buried in the earth.
The notes’ serial numbers matched those issued to Cooper during the kidnapping, but the discovery yielded no new clues.
Despite the lack of progress in the case, investigator Eric Ulis believes he will be able to solve the case by the end of the decade.
“We are dealing with a very small universe of people,” Ulis said of the remaining group of suspects.
“I know there are others who searched north of 100 men [who] worked for the Crucible and other similar facilities, but no one checks Cooper’s boxes like Vince Petersen.
“This doesn’t prove he was DB Cooper, of course, but it is convincing.
“Over time, I think I will think of something that will seal the deal one way or another.
“But we’re sniffing out the right neighborhood.
“There’s no doubt about that at this point.”
Over the decades, as parachutes were sometimes discovered in the area of Cooper’s intended drop zone, the FBI sought Cossey’s help in identifying them.
Speaking to the AP in 2008, Cossey lamented that the FBI continued to bring him “junk.”
“Every time they find a squat, they bring it in, open the trunk and say, ‘Is that it?’ and I say, ‘No, go away.’ Then a few years later they come back,” he said.
Cossey also occasionally had fun at reporters’ expense.
Some who called him the first year of April Fools were told that the last parachute found was actually used by Cooper.
A reporter called him back and angrily told him he could be fired for writing a false story, Cossey said.
Another said that the newsroom was entertained by the prank.
“I’m getting mixed reviews,” Cossey said. “But I’m having fun with it. What the hell.”
‘HE HAD NO ENEMIES’
Conspiracy and innuendo have continued to surround the circumstances of Cossey’s death for the past 13 years.
Cooper fanatics have theorized that perhaps the outspoken Cossey was silenced as part of a broader government conspiracy, suggesting the robbery was an inside job.
Others wildly suggested that Cossey may have been killed by Cooper himself, or someone who knew him, as retribution for his comments about the outlaw’s lack of skydiving skills.
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But like Ulis, Cossey’s family refuses to be drawn into such baseless fantasies.
Cossey’s son, Wayland Cossey, declined to be interviewed for this story.
However, in previous comments, Wayland said his father’s death has “absolutely no relevance” to his work on the Cooper investigation and that he had no idea why anyone would try to kill him.
“He was a man of peace,” Wayland Cossey said during a press conference in 2013. “He had no enemies.”
Earl Cossey was a parachutist and pilot and coached basketball and football at Leota Junior High in Woodinville.
His family had contact with him the day before he was killed and everything seemed normal, Wayland Cossey said.
At the time, Wayland added that his family’s battle with grief was a daily process.
Information about his father’s death would help in that process, he said.
“He didn’t deserve what happened to him. My father would have given everything to himself, all his money, to avoid his fate.”
“We waited for closure and received none,” Wayland added.
“There are more questions than answers right now and that is difficult to deal with as a family member.
“He didn’t deserve this and those who did this deserve to be brought to justice.
“It would give our family a lot of peace to know that.”
Anyone with information about Cossey’s murder is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or the King County Sheriff’s Office at 206-263-2560.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
