By Tim Binnall
A Federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a D.B. Cooper researcher who hoped to force the FBI to hand over a necktie that had been left behind by the famed skyjacker. The legal challenge was brought back in March by Eric Ulis, who discovered that the piece of evidence featured an adjustable spindle that had allegedly been overlooked by investigators. The researcher argued that, if Cooper had used the mechanism, then there was a possibility that the skyjacker's DNA could be extracted from the attachment. Ulis ultimately wound up suing the FBI in the hopes that they would be legally compelled to provide the piece to him so that the tantalizing theory could be put to the test.
Alas, the Cooper hunter had his proverbial day in court on Monday and it reportedly did not go well as a judge ruled in favor of the federal government's request that the case be dismissed. In explaining her decision, Judge Jia M. Cobb observed that "regardless of the intrigue and mystery that shrouds the case of D.B. Cooper," the necktie at the center of the lawsuit falls outside of the purview of the Freedom of Information Act, which Ulis cited in reasoning for why he should receive the piece. She explained that the FOIA "only compels production on 'records,' not tangible objects." She went on to posit that the necktie could not be considered a 'record' because it "is incapable of replication or copying."
Remarkably, Cobb noted that her decision was informed by another case involving an infamous American mystery as, back in 1971, researchers unsuccessfully sued to gain access to clothes worn by JFK at the time of his death. "If the shirt and coat worn by President John F. Kennedy during his assassination do not qualify" as FOIA 'records,' she mused, "then certainly the necktie of rogue hijacker D.B. Cooper warrants the same treatment." For now, it would appear that the piece of evidence and the possible DNA evidence contained on it will remain in the FBI archives untouched, though Ulis plans to appeal the decision.