Max Gunther’s 1985 book, “D.B. Cooper What Really Happened”, caused a bit of a stir upon release. Gunther, a well-known author, claimed he was contacted by the highjacker soon after his infamous jump, relaying his version of events on November 24, 1971 and hoping to reap a publishing deal with his sensational story. Some of the facts lined up, others did not (Captain Scott never came back to speak with Cooper.) Obviously, even a not-very-bright criminal would alter details to prevent identification. After mysteriously disappearing almost as quickly as he entered a skeptical Gunther’s life, it would be another ten years before the story resumed.
Enter stage left: Clara. In 1982, a sad divorcee approached Gunther with an even more curious story. She and Cooper became almost immediate star-crossed lovers when she discovered him wounded and hiding on her remote property after he escaped the clutches of law enforcement. They lived a double life, laundering the ransom money and always looking over their shoulders until the elusive criminal died in the early 1980’s.
Was the male caller really Cooper? Why did he disappear before he could extort money from Gunther and his publisher? And Clara? A lonely lady living a fantasy or the better half of Bonnie and Clyde wannabes? She took that a bit far, then, since she wrote a letter to retired FBI agent and prominent case figure Ralph Himmelsbach outlining the sordid story. Hmm.
Gunther lived a very nice life as a respected writer of several books and many articles in popular lifestyle magazines of the era. Cooper sleuths were shocked when a recent 302 document drop contained 1982 correspondence from Gunther himself to the FBI reporting his interactions with the alleged D.B. Cooper! This appeared to be nothing more than a letter from a concerned (and inquisitive) citizen. I never believed M.G. made up this story. He risked his professional reputation and the book did, in fact, cause him a lot of negative press. I have spoken to a well-known personality who interviewed Gunther and proclaimed him completely on the level. Gunther did not concoct this tale as a hoax.
So…were the mystery duo really Dan and Clara? Ask me again tomorrow, but today I believe they were not. If Cooper got away, he was too smart to risk detection. Were they in fact both the same person, noted Cooper suspect and transgender Barb Dayton? A very good case was made that the writing samples of Barb and Clara seemed to align. Sadly, however, this is probably too much of a stretch without a lot of further unavailable evidence such as more writing samples. It sounds to me like these were two more in a series of grifters hoping to cash in on the case or perhaps Clara was a fantasist with delusions of 727s and swarthy strangers.
The Max Gunther book is certainly required reading for any amateur Cooper sleuth. It should perhaps be retitled “What Might Have Happened.” It remains just another curious rabbit hole that doesn’t move the case forward. Onto our next theory…
-Pat
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