Sheridan Petersen ranks low on my list of suspects, not eliminated.. KC and Reca don't even make the list. There are probably thousands of suspects known and unknown that can be made to fit with circumstantial evidence. Some are just better than others..
Problems I have with SP..
Cooper - Latin/Mexican swarthy, marcelled "Nixon" like hair.
Cooper - needed instructions for rear stairs and then had trouble lowering them. Shows lack of knowledge/competence.
Cooper had jump experience but wasn't a top flight jumper. SP was TOO experienced.
SP was a high profile suspect, DNA was taken. DO we know it wasn't compared or just unconfirmed.
No clear exposure to tie environment.
and the totality of the circumstantial evidence that exists for SP is generally weak.
Until the FBI puts some dude on that plane, all we will have is circumstantial evidence.. some better than others.
I actually feel the reasons for eliminating Sheridan are far flimsier than the circumstantial evidence against him. Shaky alibi? Check. Anyone missing him in the US at that time? Nope, because he was already abroad (could also be significant for laundering purposes - I'm pretty sure, say, Nepalese tellers were not all over the DBC hunt).
The swarthy complexion means - nothing, nothing, nothing. After 2 days in Thailand, I was dark as a coffee bean, and I never tanned a day before in my life with so much Irish blood I look like a mashed potato. After 5-6 years in Southeast Asia, SP HAD to be dark. I've lived in Asian. You will tan. You will burn. You will, if as fair as I, be sick as a dog first.
Marcelled hair, my ass. There, I've said it. That description comes from ONE witness who couldn't even correctly identify which FA sat next to DBC through most of the flight. Paint shop or no, I take everything that particular witness says with a massive dose of salt. I do think the outfit was probably a mismatched combo of black and brown, based on the Mitchell and Mucklow descriptions. Hair is the least consistent item in the witness descriptions.
Needed stair instructions - meh. Probably more familiar with the military model than the
civilian, or just never had to open the door himself before. Didn't need parachute instructions, though = not his first rodeo. I also don't see any evidence that Cooper wasn't a top jumper. "Too experienced" is not a problem for me. Besides, he could also be attempting to hide expertise, after already revealing he didn't need jump instructions, recognizing Portland from the air, and revealing he knew the oxygen location.
According to EU, two other suspects were CLEARED, but SP was not, exactly. They couldn't prove he was aboard, but their DNA is incomplete and not even surely Cooper's. Just because they can't convict him doesn't prove he didn't do it.
Exposure to tie environment - well, presuming (and we can't really presume this) the 3-yr-old tie wasn't purchased at the Portland Sally Ann on Nov 23, and was even Cooper's tie - the one element not explained by SP's background was a common element. It was probably on my dad's clothes - he repaired TVs and always had a half-dozen around with their tubes exposed. MY clothes could have contained that element.
I love Sheridan. But nothing has convinced me to eliminate him - except an eye colour confirmed by one (very much in shock) witness, who changed her story about when he donned the glasses in her interviews. Ditto Gossett, though with him I am concerned about alibi. I'm not very clear on whether his whereabouts for Nov 24 can be verified. (I also do not eliminate the possibility of Cooper's death; the story of the woman with the missing dad is compelling). Most suspects I have far less trouble eliminating. Which is not to say that ANY of the people named thus far did it.