In the 1980s four people were killed by a shotgun. The two couples were unrelated and it was a case that was not solved for 25 years. These double murders took part in Pembrokeshire, and have recently been the focus of an ITV program.

After 25 years, a team was compiled to re-examine the evidence in light of new forensic breakthroughs. Codenamed Ottawa the cold case was examined.

The Original Murders

In 1985 police were called to a house fire in Scoveston Manor. They discovered the body of Richard Thomas, although burnt they could see his abdomen, where there was a shotgun wound. Also in the house was his sister, Helen who showed signs of a shotgun wound. Helen was found alone in one of the other rooms, she was tied up and possibly sexually assaulted. Police soon realised that the fire had been started to cover the murder up.

The second murder happened in 1989 in Littlehaven close to the first. Peter and Gwenda Dixon were discovered on a cliff edge close to a popular walk. Peter had been tied up and shot and Gwenda was unclothed and shot. Police at the time said that the scene reminded them of an assassination.

It was also discovered that the couple had been robbed and their credit cards were taken. The cards were traced and witnesses compiled a photofit of the person observed using the cards. Despite an extensive search at the time the police had no leads.

The police did question the local handyman, John Cooper. He had a conviction for violence in his youth. He had an alibi for both the murders, provided by his family. Although it was obvious the family were frightened of Cooper, they could not break down the alibi.

Burglary

During the 1990s the area was again in the papers as it had a large robbery statistic. A group of home robberies had occurred all with similar methods.

In 1996 five young people were attacked by a man wearing a balaclava on Milford Haven. The man confronted the teenagers with a shotgun. He then took one of the females into the woods and raped her, whilst assaulting a second female. It was largely thought at the time that the attacks were related to the murders. A rope was used in all the attacks that was similar.

During a house to house investigation, Cooper was found in possession of some of the stolen jewellery and a shotgun. He was also local to all the incidents. He was convicted of 30 counts of robbery and sentenced to sixteen years in prison. The police failed to find evidence to connect him to the rape.

Cooper is released

Eight years into his sentence, the Ottawa team started looking through the evidence again. They studied over a thousand pieces of evidence, which had been collected from the murders, rape and robberies.

As they worked through the evidence they decided to put out a public appeal for information. This was a technique to see how Cooper, in prison, would react. As Cooper was now ten years into his sentence, it was widely thought that he would be released shortly and start killing again.

The day he was released Cooper returned to his family home and his wife, Pat was waiting for him. That evening she died of heart failure. Although it was investigated, the death was natural causes. Pat was so terrified of her husband that her heart gave up when she was confronted by him.

Forensic Advancements

Meanwhile, the Ottawa team continued to examine the evidence. It was noticed on a pair of shorts, from one of the burglaries that there was a spot of blood on one leg. After analyses, the DNA profile was matched to Peter Dixon. Further analysis of the shorts found fibres in the pocket. These were matched to Richard Thomas.

During one of the robberies where Cooper fled the scene, he dropped gloves, a balaclava and shotgun. Through more analyses, these were connected to not only Cooper but that of the Dixon murder and Milford Haven rape.

Every contact absolutely leaves a trace it is just we have to be clever enough to find it. — Angela Gallop

After twenty years, the police finally had enough evidence to arrest Cooper for murder.

Interviewing Cooper

The police knew that to get a conviction they needed to tie Cooper to all the evidence. They started by showing him the pair of shorts, which he was only too happy to admit were his. He pointed out that they were not the same length though as the shorts worn by the man in the photofit. The police went on to discover the shorts had been shortened by Pat Cooper.

They then showed him the gun from the robberies and he became angry, asking them why they were so obsessed with the gun which they knew was his. Unknown to him the police had removed the black paint he had covered the gun with and found a red stain, which when analysed was Peter Dixon’s blood.

The photofit was still proving problematic though, as it bore no recognition to Cooper. The police felt to secure the conviction they needed to deal with all the evidence.

Bullseye

In a stroke of luck it was discovered that in the 1980s, Cooper had appeared on a game show called Bullseye. Police reached out to ITV and after an extensive search, they found the clip they were looking for. The appearance had occurred three weeks before the Dixon murders. The younger Cooper matched the photofit exactly.

Cooper was tried in Swansea Crown Court and after weeks of evidence, he was found guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to four life sentences.

It is possible that his body count could be higher than four and he could be linked to the unsolved murder of Flo Evans. Cooper at the time was her handyman. She was found in her bath in bizarre circumstances, a shotgun had been removed from her house. With no evidence to link Cooper to her, other than employment this case remains unsolved.