Skyjack: The Hunt for D. B. Cooper by Geoffrey Gray

Author:Geoffrey Gray
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Tags: Non-Fiction
ISBN: 9780307451316
Publisher: Crown
Published: 2011-03-15T05:44:23+00:00

A few days later, Richard wakes up for National Guard duty. It is dawn. He is putting on his military uniform. He hears pounding on the front door. He races into the living room. He sees Stetsons. The feds are waiting for him.

“Richard Floyd McCoy, you are under arrest for the charge of air piracy. You have the right to remain silent.”

In response to the rash of skyjackings, legislators in Washington have toughened the penalties for air piracy. The crime is a capital offense. McCoy now faces the death penalty. In Utah, the method of execution is a firing squad.

The agents cuff him and comb the house. They find a black parachute harness, a black crash helmet, a pistol, and $499,970 in cash in his closet, among other incriminating evidence.

In handcuffs, Richard pleads with the feds.

Let me change into a suit, he says. He does not want to embarrass the service, walking into a criminal court in his military uniform.

Agents push his head down into an unmarked car.

Neighbors are up, standing on their lawns. Reporters arrive on the scene.

“He was a real kind person,” says Mr. Cluff, McCoy’s neighbor. “Always friendly and always smiling. He would help push our car out of the snow.”

“He was the type of fellow you could always say hi to and get a response,” says Mr. Peterman, another neighbor.

“He does not seem to be the kind of a kid to hijack a plane,” says Mr. Reynolds, who lives near the Cluffs and Petermans.

McCoy’s wife, Karen, and their children are rushed to a neighbor’s house. Blinds are drawn.

On the lawn of Richard’s house, reporters linger. The home is empty. The reporters hear McCoy’s telephone ring.

In Raleigh, Richard’s father, Floyd, is convinced the arrest is a mistake.

“He’s not that kind of boy,” Floyd says.

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