D.B. Cooper: Book on Christiansen Optioned for Feature Film

Depending on your attitude or opinion on whether Ken Christiansen and Bernie Geestman were the actual perps in the D.B. Cooper hijacking, you might be ecstatic and wish us well…or hope I accidentally fall off a cliff on one of those camping trips to the Olympic Mountains I do occasionally. (We have our detractors, as well as our supporters.)

Yes, it’s true that a Los Angeles-based film production company has picked up the option for our book, Into The Blast – The True Story of D.B. Cooper. It’s the story of Kenny Christiansen, a former US Army paratrooper and an employee of the airline that was hijacked by Cooper. This doesn’t mean they will actually bring the book to market in a picture, of course. That remains to be seen. However, here’s how it all came about and where it’s going now –

About two weeks ago, I received an email from three people at the same time. They wanted to make sure any reply I made went to all of them. They told me they had been following me (and the investigation into KC) for quite a while and wondered whether the film rights to the book were still available. I said yes, but I also warned them that I wasn’t interested in doing a comedy on the Cooper story, or Kenny’s life, and that I had rejected a previous offer over that same point. (The inquiry by CBS Films, via their rep at Paradigm in New York City.)

The three men were execs from the LA film company, and came back with a message right away.

No, they said. They were not looking to do a comedy, but the first serious feature film on the DB Cooper case. And they wanted to name Kenny Christiansen as the hijacker, and present it not as a theory, but as historical fact. This surprised me, because I have stated many times for the record that I can’t be 100% sure Kenny and Bernie were the perps. Yes, I believe they are guilty as sin. Could I prove it today beyond a reasonable doubt? Maybe…if I had Bernie Geestman and a few other folks on a witness stand somewhere. Maybe.

Where Is Missing Witness in DB Cooper Case?

In seven separate interviews I did between January and October of 2010, Margaret Ann Geestman, the ex-wife of alleged Cooper accomplice Bernie Geestman, said her ex was involved in the famous hijacking. After her ex went into denial on the History Channel show ‘Brad Meltzer’s Decoded,’ (DB Cooper episode) she suddenly sold her ranch to the State of Washington’s Fish and Game Department. She received nearly a half-million dollars for the ranch.

Along the way, she told her lawyer (S. Renee Ewalt) and the bank officer who handled the sale, (Dave Thomsen of Winthrop, WA) not to reveal where she was going. No one has heard from her since. In her final interview, she admitted that Kenny Christiansen was with her husband the entire week the hijacking occurred. Some pictures of her ranch in Twisp, WA…and her.