Pembrokeshire murderer John Cooper linked to five other unexplained deaths

The nation has been gripped and horrified in equal measure as the story behind the Pembrokeshire Murders has been re-told on ITV.

The fate of John Cooper – the so-called “Bullseye Killer” – and how he so nearly got away with it all kept 6.6million of us returning each night for the true crime mini-series.

But now questions are being asked – are the two grisly double killings his only barbaric slaughters?

The evil murderer has been linked to five other unexplained deaths, reports Wales Online.

For many years, police were unable to solve two separate cases in Pembrokeshire.

A killer had murdered brother and sister Richard and Helen Thomas with a shotgun in 1985 at their home Scoveston Park.

When the verdict was handed down, Cooper was described by a judge as having perpetrated “such evil wickedness” that only four whole life sentences would suffice. His conviction capped three decades in which Cooper killed, assaulted and robbed with impunity.

Cooper claimed on the stand that the truth would “all come out on the internet”, yet his attempt at an appeal was rejected a year later.

People still speculate whether Cooper could have killed more.

Experts have pointed out that in 1965, 20-year-old John Cooper was jailed for six months for trampling over a man on the ground. He attacked a police officer the previous year.

He didn’t have a criminal record between 1965 and 1983. Cooper was 40 years old at he time of the Scoveston murders in 1985.

What about the previous years?

According to Dr Sims, it was “quite probable” in fact that he would have been offending earlier because it would be extremely unusual for someone to start that late in life on a criminal career and that they would start with that level of violence.

In a book, written by Steve Wilkins and journalist Jonathan Hill after the 2011 conviction, there is only one reference to potential other crimes, buried away in the conclusion: “At the end of the investigation I was asked whether Cooper might have committed further crimes. I fear we will never know.

“There was much speculation in the press regarding other murders and unexplained deaths. What we do know is that even faced with the most damning of forensic and circumstantial evidence, Cooper admitted and accepted nothing.”

Dyfed Powys Police confirmed the cases of Flo Evans and Griff and Patti Thomas would not be re-investigated.

A spokesman for the force said: “Dyfed-Powys Police will examine any specific new information containing detailed knowledge or evidence, and any further decisions would be based on the results of the examination of that new material. There is no intention to re-investigate any incidents on speculation alone.”

Originally from https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/pembrokeshire-murderer-john-cooper-linked-23329497

Leave a Comment