10 Most Compelling Suspects In The D.B. Cooper Hijacking

The question of a motive often comes up when analysing the D.B. Cooper case. Out of all the known suspects, Joe Lakich (pictured second left on the accompanying image) has one of the most believable and credible motives for carrying out the dangerous act. Lakich was a retired Army Major whose daughter was tragically killed at the hands of the FBI two months before the hijacking.

Joe's daughter was the unfortunate victim of a hostage negotiation gone wrong, with Lakich eventually suing the FBI for negligence because of the incident. Many then believed that it was Lakich who committed the crime in an act of desperation to get back at and fool and embarrass the FBI for the tragic loss of his daughter.

D.B. Cooper's tie was eventually recovered from the plane, which had on it tiny specs of titanium. In 1971, titanium, along with the other fragments of metal on Cooper's tie, were incredibly rare and hard to come by. Joe Lakich in November 1971 just so happened to be working at an electronics factory as a production supervisor, meaning he would have had exposure to these metals on a regular basis.