Sentencing and Legacy

Hello there and welcome to Murder Most British. I'm Zach. Hey, welcome, I'm Rachel Hey hey. Hello, hello, welcome, welcome. Hope everybody's having a fantastic day or evening or whatever time of day that you're listening Yeah, I think it's getting a bit better over here and the sun's starting to come out a bit more. so I think we're on our way to some real good days and Oh, yeah, there there's some flowers blooming and whatnot. So yeah Definitely doing good So afterfter O Catherine over in Ireland last week. Yeah. Oh God That was wild, wasn't it? I mean, honestly. I just I still don't I can't get my head around how stupid she was with the with the fact of goingoing downstairs instead of, you know, ving hours in betweening her phone in for the police from upstairs where she was which, you know, is supposedly tied up or whatever, but There was so much going wrong with her plan there. Yeah Well, we're headed over to Wales So great.. Excuse me, if I don't pronounce things correctly, I'm still trying to learn of I think there's only I think there's only a couple of, you know, like town names in that really. but other than that, Pemroickkshire. so ye Yeah Before we begin, we've got a brief note from the archive On march thirty first, we're opening our Patreon. Yay! We can't wait Well inside early access, ad free episodes and bonus cases that we won't release on the main feed We'll share some more For now Remember the date March thirty first. If you enjoy the stories that we tell here in the archive, please follow the show and leave us a five star R in. It genuinely helps others discover what we do You'll find all of our socials, discord, and more in the link tree in the description below Your support helps keep the archive going and ensures that no story is ever forgotten Well this episode includes discussion of murder, rape, sexual assault and armed robbery Some listeners may find this material distressing So listener discretion is advised So now, let's get to the story. A man stands on a small television stage, smiling awkwardly under bright studio lights throwing darts for prize money. The audience claps He looks ordinary, open college shirt Greaying hair brushed back an easy grin. the sort of man you might nod to in the petrol station queue Years later, detectives would rewind that footage again and again studud in his face. By then They knew exactly who was under those studio lights Pembrogeshire sits on the far western edges of Wales, bordered on three sides by sea In the nineteen seventies and early eighties, it was quiet, rural and thinly populated farms set apart The village is linked by narrow lanes that emptied after dark. Movement was predictable People recognized vehicles and faces Outsiders stood out And if you knew the land The gates, the hedgeerows The unmarked tracks could move through them largely unseen Well, Milford Haven was compact and working class oil refineries and steady industrial work Evenings centered on pubs, betting shops and social clubs where regulars knew one another by sight and reputation L ran on routine and word of mouth People noticed behavior that strayed from the norm. But familiarity can indulge scrutiny In a town like that, someone could be well known even talked about without even being fully understood It feelounds like a really nice working class littleittle village, you know? There's a lot of places like that in England, Wales and You know I think it's quite genuinely across the board Yeah. unes are quite like this Yeahes, it sounds really nice John William Cooper was born on the third of September of nineteen forty four and spent most of his life in Pembroickhire. He knew the terrain intimately farm tracks, coastal paths and shortcuts that avoided the main roads Between his late teens and early twenties, he was charged or convicted for offenses including vehicle theft assaulting a police officer Drunk and disorderly behavior and Assault occasioning actual bodily harm that he sounds like a real winner. Hm. It wasn't isolated trouble, the pattern was impulsive and aggressive. often fueled by alcohol He gained a reputation for a short fuse. It reminds me of someone I know. I sh I shn't name the person. I do love it when you say shant. I sh't. I shant s. Does it make me sound posh? Yes Speaking Oh now it's speaking the king's English. Yeah I shan't. I sh' Anyway, work never truly settled. He labored on farms, took building jobs and for a period worked as a welder's mate at the Golf Royal Refinery in Milford Haven Eployment came and went Money arrived in bursts and disappeared just as quickly Much of it spent in pubs and bookmakers Gambling became central to his life Winds lifted his mood Losses sharpened it Those fluctuations didn't stay in the bting shop. They were felt most sharply at home Well, he married Patricia in nineteen sixty six and they had two children Moving between addresses across Pembroickghire including Jordanston and Letterston In public, he could be geniial, talkative Even charming A home Family members later describe something very different loud, domineering Physically intimidating A man whose temper dictated the mood of the house. His son later said he was beaten for minor transgressions. and quote Bounced off the walls during violent outbursts Livving in sustained fear of his father's anger P of very nice Oh it gets worse I feel so bad. like the kids should never have to deal with something like that. you know, spouses you no, not come definitely Aful Well, in later wrint interviews, his son recalled that eleven years old pointed a shotgun at his face and pulled the trigger. The gun was not loaded, thankfully, but his son did not know that The threat was deliberate The violence extended beyond people. He also described an Asian family dog lame through old age. being taken into the garden and beaten to death rather than put down Inside that house, fear and unpredictability were constant. Absolutely disgusting You can't even take them down to the vet and just have them put down. Youre going beat it to death. That's You know, and then you like when we talked about stuff, being out in America likeike ting putting an animal down by like shooting it, you know, That's even more humane than that shit. Yeah. Here This is crazy I mean, obviously, you know, it's some there's some places that as a cultural thing they'll just you know, this is the best way for us to do it. but that is just An animal abuse, any abuse of anybody or human or otherwise. is just wrong pure cruelty control extended to space itself There was a locked room and later a shed where he kept possessions separate from family life jewelry, coins and items that appeared to belong to other people along with shotgun components. secured in a vice jewelry was sometimes burned in garden fires to strip the metal from the stones. He often walked alone in the evenings, moving across fields sometimes with a shotgun concealed beneath his jacket on a cord. Weird D you just roll around like with a shotgun? Well, it's different bagn you out the out the wilds, you know. On the farmland. Even still Well, he cultivated an outdoorsman image fishing, exploring, reading survival manuals, including one later described as an SI S handbook Moving across fields after dark was unremarkable in rural West Wales It was simply part of life In nineteen seventy eight, his circumstances shifted dramatically when he won ninety thousand pounds and a new car in a newspaper spot the ball competition The equivalent of well over half a million pounds today. So a lot of money. That's a lot of money. veryery lucky guy to win that amount Well, an extraordinary sum for a farm labourer. Soon after, he left regular employment and for a time lived conspicuously well Oh yeah especially on that mat. I think, you know, especially back then that would have been Good few years worth of You know, you could live off. Yeah, but but it's not enough to just quit Well no, but I mean, you know, it depends on if he's quit work, then he's clearly he's going to live off the money till it's gone and then going he wasn't really a he wasn't quite a reliable he's obviously not going to put some into investment or anything like that if Oh no. he was going to invest majority of that win inss, you would still continue to work, wouldn't you? say Yeah. Maybe that was his plan. Hed just said, Well, I'm done for a while. Yeah I'm going take two years out of working because Proably like a good three years. w if you do thirty thousand a year. onnce you get back into the minimum wage. once you get back into the old bookies,. But yeah, that's the main thing. I don't think that, you know if he was that much into gambling that he wouldn't have spent some of it or most of it Well, yeah, because the money did not last. Gambling and spending drained it within a few years. As finances tightened, he turned increasingly to burglary in targeting isolated farms and rural properties He used the landscape to his advantage cutting through gaps and fences, storing stolen goods in hedgerows and fields he knew intimately The burglaries were often accompanied by intimidation. A shotgun became part of how he operated notot just a tool presence. Yeah. that's how he's why he's carrying it about. Yeah lost all that money and said, Oh man, I got to get that back Well, on the twenty eighth of may, nineteen eighty nine He recorded an appearance as a contestant on ITV's Bulls Eye. Bullsye. I remember watching that as a kid. It was brilliant. Loved it. For what it was, it was a massive show. It was ye Well, answering questions and throwing darts beneath bright studio lights was what it was basically a part of The episode would not air until October that year. At the time, it was an unremarkable television appearance. notothing about it suggested what lay beneath By the end of the decade though, a clearer picture had formed. Labour, gambler. and prolific burglar A man entirely at ease in the fields and hederows of West Bales. whose temper and need for control shaped both his private world and his public one. Well Stepping back a little bit On the night of the twenty second of december, nineteen eighty five Salveston Park lay several miles outside Milford Haven. a large three story farmhouse set back beyond the hedges. and winter bear trees The nearest properties were distant separated by open farmland and narrow, unlit lanes After dark Traffic was sparse. In December, the countrysize settled quickly into silence feels stretched in every direction Broken only by stone walls and outbuildings. Anyone familiar with the land could move along its boundaries under the cover of darkness shield by dips and folds in the ground Inside their farmhouse that evening was Helen Thomas aged fifty four Brother Richard Thomas aged fifty eight was not initially inside the house The house stood in isolation, surrounded by farmland and not overlooked by neighbouring homes In the aftermath, investigators worked on the theory that an intruder had entered the property intending burglary And that event escalated when Richard encountered the offender as he returned towards the house Evidence later indicated that Richard Thomas was confronted near or inside one of the outbuildings In an outhouse, officers discovered a pool of blood along with shotgun cartridge pellets embedded nearby A mud stained blanket lay close to the scene The evidence suggested that Richard had been shot there before being moved back toward the main house position of the blanket. and surrounding disturbance suggested Richard Thomas had been moved after the shooting While Helen Thomas was also shot. both siblings died from the shotgun injuries Evidence found at the scene suggested that Helen may have been restrained before death After the killings, the house was deliberately set on fire Flames climbed stairwells and tore through timber floors. The fire did more than destroy rooms, it stripped away context, furniture, paperwork, and personal possessions were consumed as the blaze intensified compomplicating any reconstruction of what may have happened inside Yeah, that's why we' like This might have been what like it was really hard for them to reconstruct what exactly happened and where. Yeah. I think majority of it, you know, the fire people would go in and they would be able to see where the start of the fire was But you know, as for Um timelines of, o, this could have happened here at this s you know, first or after this happened or you know, trying to get a good timeline of what actually happened in the house was Rather difficult Yeah. Wh smoke drifted across the surrounding farmland and rose into the winter sky Motorists on distant roads reported seeing the roof of space burning fiercely Fire crews work through the night but much of the interior collapsed as structural beams failed. When the fire was finally extinguished Richard Thomas' body was found on a half landing between floors. And Helen Thomas's remains were recovered from ground floor debris that had fallen from above. Three nights before Christmas, Scoviston Park blackened and hollowed. Destruction complicate everything that followed A major investigation was launched involving significant police resources Postmortem examinations confirmed that neither victim had died from smoke inhalation. Both had been shot before the fire took hold The Blaze had been started deliberately after the killings Detectives worked on the theory that a burglary had escalated when the intruder was disturbed. Prosecutors would later summarize that Helen was likely alone when the offender entered the property and that Richard returned during the intrusion Yeah It was the best theory that they had that he just surprised him. He didn't know he was out in the outbuildings or something like that or maybe he saw him out of a window or Yeah Oh gosh, he's, you know, And for him to then be, you know, obviously they found blood in the outhouse so You know, he was probably out there tinkering about got shot in there by the sounds of, you know And then he was even dragged back up towards the house or he wasn't, you know killed straight away and he's tried to get back to the house himself Yeah, there was like some sort of like try and say you So well, the crown's case would eventually argue that the killings were carried out to eliminate the witnesses. And with the arson intended to destroy all the evidence, What investigators were left with in nineteen eighty five was fragmentary The mud stained blanket the cartrid pellets The blood in the outhouse. each detail suggested movement after the shot. body handled, repositioned, and controlled. The same isolation that protected the farmhouse had also shielded the offender But despite extensive inquiries, no suspect was charged Statements were taken, vehicles examined Lines of inquiry pursued and gradually exhausted. One early forensic finding complicated the direction of the investigation. During Richard Thomas's post mortem examination An anal swab indicated the presence of semen At the time, DNA profiling was not yet available in a form capable of identifying an individual suspect Leaving investigators limited to basic blood grouping analysis The discovery prompted detectives to consider whether Richard Thomas might have known his adackter or whether the killing could have been personal or sexually motivated Inquiries expanded into aspects of Richard's private life as investigators attempted to understand the significance of the finding No evidence emerged to support the theory But months of investigative effort were absorbed by a hypothesis that ultimately proved unconnected to the murders. Years later, when the surviving forensic samples were re examamined using modern DNA techniques The answer became clear A further forensic review confirmed the semen had no evidential connection to in Asaka. The early theory of the sexual motive had consumed months of investigative effort but ultimately proved unrelated to the murders. as unfortunate Yeah burned resources for But they had to follow it. It had to be checked yeah. Well, in the years that followed, the burned remains of Skoveston Park stood as a reminder of what had happened there By the late nineteen eighties, the murders of Richard and Helen Thomas had become one of Pembroickhire's most troubling unsolved crimes defined by destruction and by the absence of answers Nearly four years after the fire violence would turn to the county in a different season. in a different landscape Yeah, so on the twenty ninth of june of nineteen eighty nine Peter Dixon, aged fifty one and Gwnda Dixon, aged fifty two, were preparing to leave West Wales and return home to Whitney and Oxfordshire 've been staying at Holsteston Fm Caravan Park near Little Haven, overlooking the coast It was the final morning of their holiday Before beginning the drive home, they chose to take one last walk along the Pembrokshire coastal park A well used cliffside trail with wide sea views but stretches screened by garse, scrub and uneven ground At some point along the route, in daylight They were confronted by a man. armed with a shotgun Peter Dixon had his hands tied behind his back with a cord His Nat Wes bank card was taken, along with his gold wedding ring. And he was forced to disclose his pin for the card Gwnda Dixon was found naked from the waist down. raaising concerns that a sexual assault may have occurred. Control was maintained throughout with the firearm Both were shot at close range with the shotgun After the killings, their bodies were concealed in undergrowth near the edge of a coastal slope, close to Burrahead Around two hundred feet or about sixty meters above the sea. Branches and bracken had been arranged deliberately From the main footpath above, the ground appeared undisturbed. Walkers passed nearby, unaware of what lay only yards away. Later that day and over the following two days Peter Dixon's bank card was used at cash machines across Pembroghire The correct pin was entered Withdrawals and attempted withdrawals were made on four occasions at different locations, including Pembroke Haver Ford West Marrison His wedding ring was sold locally fifty five pounds The violence on the coastal path was followed by movement through towns Visible Tractional and outwardly ordinary carried out in daylight When the couple failed to return home as expected, Their son raised the alarm On the fifth of July, during a police search, a dog handler noticed swarms of flies near the cliff edge The bodies were discovered concealed near the slope, not far from where the Dixon's tent and car remained at the caravan park Their belongings were packed, the vehicle was ready for departure the holiday had ended. but they had not begun the journey home The discovery turned the coastal path into a major crime scene Sections normally busy with families and holiday makers were sealed off Around four thousand statements were taken over the course of the investigation Appeals were broadcast nationally, including on BBC Crime Watch Detectives examine campsite vizard books traced vehicle movements and followed lines of inquiry arising from the bank card withdrawals The scale of the response was significant and public awareness spread far beyond Pembroickhire Well central to those appeals was an artist's impression complied from witness accounts near the Nat West points The man described was of medium build slightly unshaven. collar length, dark hair tanned skin Wearing knee length shaorts and hiking boots He hadd been seen pushing or riding a straight handled bike Locally, the image became known as wild man on a bike Some viewers later remarked that the photo fit resembled a local man, who had appeared on the television Quiz show Bll'se ey U oh Cosing in a little bit there Wild man on a bike. I was just I would just thinkin of like because you see them guys on videos, you know, like the old man on a bike out in the woods. Yeah that lives like a hermit. Yeah I been brushed for like th That was the first thing that came to my mind was just some like older guy you know, big beard or whatever Yeah, crazy. Why would I not buy it coming Well So that observation generated no formal link at the time and no immediate action followed. Instead, the response to the photo fit was overwhelming Hundreds and hundreds of calls were logged from across Wales and beyond, naming men who resembble the drawing so scraggly wild Hired men on a bike So sightings had also multiplied The newly introduced Holomes major incident computer system struggled under the volume of information Officers were diverted across counties to eliminate potential suspects from all over activity intensified But clarity N Well, for a time, speculation was fueled by the later discovery of an IRA arms cache near the coastline prompting a theory that the Dixons may have stumbled upon unrelated criminal activity That line of inquiry produced no charges As with Scoveron Park, the investigation generated movement, public attention and extensive police work but no resolution The case remained open, active and increasingly frustrating Yeah, if that must have felt like you were just kind of running in place Like you're doing so much work, but you're just not really getting anywhere Yeah So one line of inquiry, however, came close to something tangible Investigators tracing second hand gold sales identified a twenty two carrat wedding ring sold at a jewelry shop in Pembroke on the fifth of July of nineteen eighty nine. Six days after the murders And the same day the bodies were discovered The shop stood only fifty yards from the Nat West cash point used with Peter Dixon's c The ring had been purchased for twenty five pounds The receipt recorded the seller as Jay Cooper of St. Mary's Park in Milford Haven That's a that's a big clue right there and then I mean It's so close to where you've killed these people paorwn in there. item He didn't give a sh? Absolutely. just He's he's a not monster. No prosion is there? There's no A monster without a plan Well, a detective visited the address that was on the reippe. Cooper said that he had sold his own wedding ring and his wife confirmed the account. He provided details of his movements on the day of the murders supported by family members, placing him elsewhere at the relevant time He was compared to the widely circulated artist's impression and was judged not to resemble it With no forensic evidence contradicting him and an alibi that appeared corroborated, Per was eliminated from the inquiry They albide them out. Prob under duress It sounds like it was his own ring. H Don't quite believe that story. No. I think he had such hisis family on such a grip of fear that he was like, you're gonna fucking tell them this or I'll kill you. You know, that type of thing. That's just my opinion. impressious think My opinion, but that's the way that He's about He was very intimidating to his family and just ruled by fear I think he's definitely pressured them into giving an alibi Well, the Thomases and the Dixons were unrelated The settings were different, onene crime in winterter inside a remote farmhouse, followed by a fire and the other in summer on an exposed coastal path. followed by concealment Season, landscape, and circumstance varied But one fact remained constant. In both cases Bite the scale of the investigation No one could be identified Well on the evening of the sixth of march, nineteen ninety six Approximately seven PM, five teenagers. So three girls and two boys aged between fourteen and sixteen were walking across open ground behind Mount Estate School near Milford Haven It was dusk, street lightning ended at the edge of the housing estate giving way to darker fields bordered by hedgerows and open space It was a route used locally, a stretch of ground that felt familiar rather than remote So a man wearing a balalava or what we call a ski mask He was carrying a sawed off shotgun. He stepped into their path He immediately took control, directing the group into the field and ordering them to lie down on the grass The gun was pointed toward them as he demanded money from all five of them The threat was explicit and sustained The teenagers complied. remained face down while he stood over them. Terrifying for them So's terrified. Like robbing kids like that. That is crazy Unfortunately, he then went on and forced a sixteen year old girl away from the others. ing the shotgun within reach She was unfortunately raped while he continued to threaten the group with the firearm. He returned to the remaining four teenagers who were still lying face down under threat of the gun pull a fifteen year old girl aside, subjecting her also to a sexual assault Throughout, the boys and the remaining girl were ordered not to look up Pen remained central to his control Absolutely disgusting. Shocking Absolutely shocking and terrifying, absolutely terrifying for those five Yeah Well, the attack was brief, but deliberate Before leaving, the masked man fire the gun as he walked away the sound carrying across the open ground. He warned the teenagers that he would kill them if they repported what had happened Then he fled on foot across the fields disappearing into the darkness beyond the estate. The teenagers were left shaken and traumatized but thankfully alive. Yeah, thankfully, but I mean, how traumatic Um, you know, you kind of You get told, don't you when you're sort of teenagers and stuff, Always stick in a group and you know sometimes it's just And then you have to hear what's going on while you're face down And you know what's going on and it's just absolutely terrifying. It's terrifying for the can N nothing can do about it. The girls are being sexually assaulted, but you're so frozen in fear can be, you know shhooting you the you can't and fight and try to do something But if you do something like that, it's possible that he could just kill everybody. That's what I'm saying, you know There's no What do I do? What do you do situation, you know, other than try to, you know, do as is asked. can be so traumatizing for for females or even males, you know, they do get sexually assaulted as well. And I think so traumatized they probably do go through, o well I wish they just killed me, you know, because now they've got to live with that trauma and try to deal with that The investigation into what became known as the Mount offences was conducted separately from the earlier Double murders Statements were taken from the teenagers, officers searched the surrounding fields and carried out inquiries within the community despite the seriousness of the attack. and the presence of the firearm, no arrest was made at the time The case remained open, but it did not immediately connect to the unsolved killings from the previous decadade That's what it was so Like everything was running parallel. differentere situation as well, you know, that yes they couldt had a gun the same as, you know, with the murders. they had a shotgun But at the time there were shotguns everywhere. You know, theyve obviously The offender has murdered these previous people but they've left these alive. Yeah. The police will be thinking, is this the same person And there's so much time. there's so much time between them as well. She got eighty five eighty nine and then ninety six. Yeah. you know, you're thinking about this is probably just a separate you know, exxactly unless there's something other than you know, both offensces were person was having had a shotgun Other than that, there's no really link that is obvious. so ye Although they were treated as distinct, the amount attack would later gain, you know biger significance in this whole situation It reflected the same method seen in the earlier robberies, like you said. a massked offender using a shotgun to dominate victims on isolated ground before retreating across the fields At trial, prosecutors argued the sexual violence was not an isolated incident part of an escalating pattern The offense formed a bridge between the unsolved murders in the nineteen eighties and the armed burglaries of the nineteen nineties Well while the murders and the mount offensces remained unsolved, police in Southwest Wales were dealing with a broader pattern of violent burglary across rural communities. Victims described I Mask manan carrying a shotgun targeting isolated homes and disappearing across farmland The approach was consistent suudden entry, immediate control, rapid escape The routes used suggested someone comfortably moving through hedgeerows, fields, and unlit tracks Someone who knew the ground. Oh, he had an MO. There's no doubt about it. He had He had He had been doing this shit for so long. He just had it down to a science of how to do everything and get away with it pretty much until The burglary investigations culminated in what became known as The Huntsman indictment In December of nineteen ninety eight, John William Cooper was convicted by a jury of thirty one offenses including burglary and robbery, and sentenced to sixteen years imprisonment At that stage, he was regarded as a prolific and dangerous arm burglar Nothing more The murder investigations remained open and formally separate from the case that had sent him to prison. One of the most serious Huntsman offensces later revisited in court. It was the sest robbery in November of nineteen ninety six A woman in her early sixties was confronted in her home by a masked man carrying a shotgun She was assaulted, her head covered and her hands tied behind her back while the property was searched The intruder escaped along what appeared to be a prepared route through cut fences The following day, a police dog tracked a scent towards Cooper's home. oldnd dog. Oh ye. dogs They really are so smart. You got them good old noses boys and girls searches linked to the burglary inquiries were extensive. Officers dug through land around Cooper's property and combed hedgerows and nearby fields They recovered large quantities of stolen items. and more than five hundred keys. Jesus holy fuck I've never I've probably never had five hundred keys in my whole life I mean, why what was he done? Bloody he cut everybody's keys or something? trying stealing keys stealing their keys and then to then re enter poss time. How did you know whose keys? who? So many. Or it was a trophy. Yeah trophy. S tph This is what I've got. I' got them five hundred houses Absolutely, crazy. It just shows how much he did. He was just out there ransacking all over the countryside. Like they said, very prolific Equipment associated with force entry and concealment was also seized The volume suggested organization rather than impulse. Yet the earlier double murders and the mountain offenses were not part of this prosecution Um, but He just went to prison for being an armed burglar While viewed separately the Thomases, the Dixons and the Mount offences appeared different in season, setting and victim profile One in winter, one in summer, and one on open ground near housing. Yet certain features overlap. A shotgun used up close range No spent cartridges left behind confident movement across rural terrain similar shotgun ammunition characteristics. a shortened double barrelled shotgun. At the time, these similarities were not formally unified Cases moved forward on parallel tracks Yeah It's like you might have some of these certain things here and there, but They're just not quite. you know, evence stuff ain't coming together. The same person. Yeah Well, that shifted in two thousand six Powers Police initiated a structured cold case review known as Operation Ottawa. It did not begin with new witnesses or confessions. It began with storage boxes preserved exhibits retained from earlier investigations When forensic technology had been a little bit limited, compared to two thousand six. Hundreds of preserved exhibits from the murder inquiries and the Huntsman case were ree examamined Advances in DNA profiling and fiber analysis allowed previous inconclusive material to be tested again. That's every's where we go back every time. Yeah. They're just going to keep doing it. They're going to keep retesting. Exactly. Somebody you know, no matter what, it doesn't matter whether it's five years down the line ten years or thirty years. you know, the the Coldcase police will pull it out. they will go over it again And you know, it's just like with DNA. You're like, hey, we got this DNA stuff. workors great.. And then later they're like, Hey, you know what? We got this cool thing. It's called familial DNA. And now we can grab people that are just related to you And then they will find track them and then you can find them through you know, backtracking through people's d know. So it just keeps upgrading. Yeah 's amazing Detectives also revisited Cooper's appearance during the mid nineteen eighties and in nineteen eighty nine. Photographs from that period were scarce But There was one unexpected record On the twenty eighth of may of nineteen eighty nine, just a month before the Dixon murders Cooper had appeared as the contestant on the television quiz show Posei hereere we go. So officers reviewed the surviving broadcast footage, studying his face, build and mannerisms These were compared with contemporary witness descriptions and the photo fit circulated after the Dixon murders It was a reconstruction of a moment in time an attempt to see him as witnesses had seen him decades earlier Yeah out. Yeah because they're like, we don't even know what he looks. what did he look like back in, you know, eighty five or eighty nine or, you know or just in the eighties themselves. He had the old. sort of mullet look But it's just crazy that Because of that It helps them Because he was like, I'm gonna go on bullsye. W, you know One of the biggest shows. O obviously with them being scarce having scarce photos, not many photos taken of him during that time, You know, it was great that they had actually footage of him a long footage because you know, the show iss probably about an hour's long So you know gotot good footage of him notot only the way he looks, but the way that he walks, the way that he talks. you know So yeah And he's not the only killer that's been on a game show Maybe we should have a Like a little short, had do some shorts or something This killer was on this game show Yeah, it's pretty wild. I look I looked up there. There's quite a few of them. There isn't there? Yeah Well, the Dixon case yielded the most significant results Shorts recovered from Cooper's bedroom during the Huntsman investigation were retested Th, blood belonging to Peter Dixon was identified on those shorts Further analysis detected DNA from his daughter, Julie It was in ide She she hemmed them up And her blood was in there. She must have pricked her finger or something and it was in there Jesus. Yeah examxamination of the hem Like I said showed that the shorts had originally been longer and later shortened with additional biological material preserved in the stitching Linking the garment to the members of the Dixon family And he he kept him Firearm evidence strengthened the link double barreled, san off shotgun associated with Cooper recovered in connection with the Sardis robbery was reexamined. Beneath black paint applied to the weapon, scientists located a spot of blood DNA profiling matched it to Peter Dixon. Pain applied in an apparent attempt to conceal preserve the evidence underneath. what had once been hidden was now recoverable. Yes. And this is the thing as well with DNA and you know, because you've painted over something It doesn't mean the blood's gone. You know, P just didn't using a knife, say? He didn't even think about it. No. He just was like, oh yeah, wiped it down or whatever, but missed whatever it was And he's like, H, I'm gonna to spray this black. This is the thing. No matter what, you will not get rid of every single piece of DNA There will be something. because even if they take it apart Unless you're in a clinical setting. Yeah. If Also if they take it apart, you know, down to the components, they can probably find something somewhere that you've missed Crazy, awesome. But just think he's just the hard just spray paint it He'll be fine. Sory make. Well, fiber analysis added further weight to the case Fibers recovered from vegetation used to conceal the Dixon's body and from Peter Dixon's clothing were re examamined alongside the material covered during the burglary investigations Gloves discarded in hedgeerows and other items linked to the Huntsman offenses were also tested Scientists identified fiber associations. Bet these exhibits and items connected to Cooper strengthening the emerging links between the investigations. separate cases that had once been pursued independently We're beginning to converge Yeah Good In September of two thousand eight Cooper was released on licence after serving his sentence for the Huntsman burglaries He was placed initially in a probation hostel in Swansea under strict conditions Any return home managed gradually In the early hours of December morning in two thousand eight during his first ahorized overnight stay back at the family home, his wife Patricia was found dead beside their bed She was sixty six. They're so young Gosh. Police stated that there was no suspicious circumstances A postmortem examination identified significant heart disease and concluded she had not died a violent death. There was no suggestion of criminal involvement whatsoever Those who knew the household however, describe years marked by volatility and control. Dective Steve Wilkins later reflected that Patricia had lived in fear and suggested that the strain of his return contributed to her death He said that she just gave up She spent a decade, you know, over a decade without him free of his Yeah she's probably just Obviously with him being out released and Obviously he's wanting to go back to the family home. She's probably thinking I fuck, you know. Yeah I don't want she hur, but I can't not say no. Shean was already ailing. Yeah. She had a her condition and that and And then the stress from that was probably just too much and just they do say stress is a killer. Lessen your stress out there guys. Yeah Pratricia's death occurred before any murder charge was brought Four months later, in may two thousand nine, Cooper was arrested and charged with four counts of murder and the sexual offenses to the mount attack More than two decades after the first killings Investigations once considered separate were drawn together into a single prosecution not through confession or eyewitness recognition But through preserved evidence and advances in forensic science The land had concealed him timeim had not Yeah, Got them. Finally So when the trial opened in March of twenty eleven, S Swanzie Crown Corp Mr. Justice John Griffith Williams presided. John William Cooper faced four counts of murder, one count of rape One count of indeccent assault and four counts of attempted robbery covering offenses committed in nineteen eighty five, eighty nine. in nineteen ninety six The prosecution's case was that these were not isolated crimes They argued, they formed a connected pattern stretching across more than a decade The crown's case rested heavily on preserved evidence that had been re examamined using modern forensic techniques. Jurors were told the strength of the prosecution lay in accumulation No single strand, they said was decisive on its own taken together DNA, fibers, firearms evidence movement across terrain. Th strands formed what they described as a coherent pelling picture The defense challenged that picture at every stage They questioned the integrity of exhibits stored for decades raise the possibility of contamination or secondary transfer and caution jurors against drawing conclusions from similarity alone. Looper gave evidence in his own defense over several days He denied involvement in the murder and sexual offenses while accepting his burglary convictions He maintained the police had built a case around his criminal history pin it on him. That's way that's his that's his go to defense They're just trying to pin it on me because I was burglar Yeah, but there's a difference between being a bggglar and a sexual assault and, you know raping somebody and killing people. You know, say, I'm only a burglar, you know? I just burgle people. That's all But you have the same gun, the same, you know, you got the energy set up wise buddy boy During cross examination, Cooper accepted that he had previously lied about ownership of a balaklava connected to the Sardis robbery Jurors also heard that during a police interview, he had written the words Sardest gun destruction order. on an outPad Prosecutors suggested this indicated concern about a shotgun they believed had been used in the offenses and later destroyed Cooper denied any connection between that weapon and the murders His credibility ultimately was a matter for the jury So on the twenty sixth of may of twenty eleven, the jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts on all counts. Cooper was convicted of the murders of Richard Helen Thomas and Peter and Gwnda Dixon as well as the rape and indeent assault and four counts of attempted robbery After more than two decades of investigation. cases has been brought together And the jury had accepted the prosecution's case in full Brilliant new. Hell yeah some justice for the family and the people that who's hurt the families don't like the family of those people, they don't have to worry anymore and they don't have to say what Who was this person They got. I think the not knowing is worse than An Y I think, you know, people people that go missing or you know, it's the what Not knowing what happened. Yeah. And you know, if every body turns up. Who did this? Yeah, you know Well, Mr. Justice John Griffith Williams imposed four life sentences and ordered that Cooper serve a whole life term Concurrent determinate sentences were passed for the remaining offences, including fifteen years for the rape. years for indecent assault And seven years for attempted robbery The judge concluded that the murders were of exceptional gravity and that only a whole life order could properly reflect their seriousness Oh yeah Well, he had something to say Be as the verdicts were delivered, The raapers showed little outward reaction until the conviction for the rape was announced. He turned toward the jury and shouted, quote, rubbish When the judge rose to pass sentence, Cooper interrupted repeatedly. insisting the court had not heard all the evidence and telling those present to quote Read the internet He was warned about his conduct and continued speaking over proceedings Well in all that all that shit's on the internet. all it'll prove me Come on Absolutely ridiculous It sounds like some conspiracy guy the inter There's a conspiracy against me. Yeah, crazy. Oh my days In sentencing remarks, the judge described the killings as murders committed to eliminate witnesses by deliberate efforts to destroy evidence As the whole life order was pronounced, Cooper again spoke over the corse before prison officers were directed to remove him from the dock He left protest in his innocence Victim impact statements were then read outlining the enduring impact on the families More than twenty five years after the first murders, the trial brought the cases to a formal legal conclusion So when the jury returned his verdict pre invvestigations, stretching back to December of nineteen eighty five where have resolved in law For the families of Richard and Helen Thomas and Peter and Gwnda Dixon, responsibility was formally determined in open court More than two decades of uncertainty ended with judicial findings grounded in evidence that had been tested challenged and ultimately accepted by the jury. Thank goodness Powers police describe the outcome as the conclusion of one of the largest investigations in the forces's history Thousands of documents had been generated over the years Door to door inquiries, firearm vehicle stops and national appeals had long since run their course. The decisive shift did not come from a late confession or a new witness It came from exhibits preserved decades earlier and re examamined when forensic science had advanced That's's such a it's such a great. like we've had a few of these to maintain preservation. Yeah. really keep track of these items and maintain their preservation becausecause at some point you're going to be able to use them. Yeah Well, senior officers later reflected that the most significant decision had been made years before the trial. retain the evidence. Like I said The clothing, the rope, the cartridges and personal items were boxes stored when earlier testing produced no clear results As DNA profiling and fiber analysis improved, Those same exhibits took new meaning Material once considered inconclusive had become evidentially powerful forming the backbone of the prosecution's case Well within Pembrogeshire, the reaction locally was mixed with many reflecting on how W Cooper had been knowing in the area. the victims' names had also been known locally for years So had Coopers? He had worked in the area, socialized in local pubs, and moved through the same communities that had followed the investigation For many residents, the most difficult aspect was not only the offender had been identified, but that he had been visible Not a passing stranger, but a familiar presence Well nationally Media coverage revived the footage from his nineteen eighty nine appearance on Bullseye drawing attention to the contrast between his public image and the crimes that were established in court The case became shorthand for a broader point. that serious offenders can appear outwardly ordinary for years Pooper appealed his convictions but in October of twenty twelve Court of Appeal dismissed his application ruling the verdict safe The whole life order remained in place Even after the convictions, however, further questions were examined. Following the In twenty eleven trial, police revisited the nineteen eighty nine death of Florence Flow Eans seventy two year old widow found dead in a bath at her home near Milford Haven Her death had originally been recorded as accidental. Detectives reviewed whether there was any potential connection to Cooper No additional charge resulted, but the case was considered in lighter of the wider investigation. Oh yeah. I mean, you after you find all this, you're like You need to go back and look at anything that we thought accidental or we couldn't solve it Yeah and see if we can connect it to him It's worth taking a look, definitely. Yeah Well, detectives also explored whether there was any connectivity between Cooper and the nineteen ninety three murders of Harry and Meghan Tos I hopefully I got that right Sounds like if I didn't, I apologize. They were shot at their remote farmhouse in Cen Harry Reported similarities in weapon type and rural setting prompted discussion and review after twenty eleven In later years, the T's case underwent separate forensic and re examination and a suspect was arrested in December of twenty twenty five But no charge relating to those deaths has ever been brought against Cooper Well further back, attention turns to the nineteen seventy six deaths of siblings Griff and Patty Thomas in Pembrokshire That case, long regarded as controversial, was placed under forensic review by Difford Powers Police in twenty twenty two Officers stated that they were keeping an open mind. No formal link to Cooper has been established The renewed scrutiny reflected the wider impact of Operation Oa and the reassessment of historic files For the families of the four confirmed victims, the focus gradually shifted from investigation to remembrance The Thomases were recalled as devoted farmers and the Dixons as a couple who returned each years to the coastline that they loved The verdicts established that the killings occurred during armed burglary and robbery Bringing an end to years of local speculation about alternative explanations Within policing, Operation Ottawa became a reference point for cold case methods The lessons were clear. Preserve exhibits, retain files and revisit historic investigations as science develops The case was cited nationally as an example of how systematic review and advances in forensic analysis can resolve crimes once thought beyond reach The convictions brought legal certainty The evidence had been tested in court, the appeals had failed, yet the enduring image for many was not from Swanseie Crown Court. But from a television studio in nineteen eighty nine intestinine standing beneath bright lights Scaruring unremarkable For years, that appearance had gone unchallenged The investigations proved The familiarity can obscure. but it does not erase Well that was the story of the bulls eyed killer John William Cooper Absolutely crazy. while we so glad they caught him. BeCuse he wasn't stopping. Well, clearly, you know, it wasn't just like one offence. He was he was committing a lot of offences And pretty serious What makes you think when he got out, he was just going to stop. He was probably going to get right back to it burglarars, but, you know, with the murders, I mean he's obviously He's not come out thinking, o, I'm just going to go back to Berglin You know, he's, uh yeah I think he was I don't think he was what what you would consider like a serial killer. I think it was He had it was like a He had to do it. because there were witnesses, they saw his face or somethingomet that was going to identify him He had to get rid of him or something like that, right I don't think he was like a John Wayne Gy or a like a meditated murder where they were they that's what their goal was was go kill people You know, his was just burglar. I need money And whp, they saw my face You know prettyretty much what his was, I I think did escalate, you know, because he's obviously he's burgling properties And then he goes on to robin the person, you know, So there's just a couple walking along the beach up above And he just rubs them and, you know, they're not going to be carrying a great deal of st stuff that he had the bank card and he had the ring and you like them shorts and that's another thing that got him had that DN with the previous murder, I get what you're saying, you know, this one, hes he's obviously preedit And we don't know what happened from the time that he stopped them and was like, Hey, blah blah blah Get on the ground, give me all your money. there might have been a struggle They might have, you know, that's why he shot them. The male could have tried to Yeah. gone off him or whichever, but Either way he's he's done a lot of horrible things And they's still professing his innocence even though they've got all this evidence against him G go check the interternet I'm glad he was caught. Yes. one hundred repent You may fucking rot in that prison. Yeah. my step. the victims that have survived, especially the five teenagers are have dealt with the trauma. they're doing well in the situation as best they can and they're living you know, a good sort of life. Although I do feel, you know, they probably will never ever forget this and I think it is a small comfort knowing that he's not out there you know, that they're They're not afraid that they're not looking over their back, you know, over their shoulder, sorry and and think are they can's he's put away. He's never coming out. Yeah You don't have to worry aboutcent I'm glad that they've caught him and he's no longer on the streets If you value the work that we do here in the archive Please follow the show and leave us a five star rating. It really helps the stories reach further and keeps the archive growing. Yeah, please, thank you very much. Thank you so much for listening It we really appreciate it And so everything you need O socials, discord, all that. It's all linked in the description below. so Iop in there, come' see us, I'm talk to us. us comment. You know, let uss know about the cases, your opinions on the cases But yeah, until next week guys, thank you for listening, stay safe and stay curious. Bye bye