FACTFILE
A pretty
normal upbringing, at age 22 he married his childhood
sweetheart, Pat, they had 2 children.
1978, The same
year as Cooper stated work on an oil refinery he won
£90,000 and a £4,000 Austin Princess car on a newspaper
spot-the-ball competition, life was good.
22nd
December 1985, Cooper killed brother and sister
Richard and Helen Thomas. She was found in the house
tied up with rope with a man's shirt around her head as
a blindfold. Her brother was found in an out-building.
Both had been shot in the head, then doused in petrol,
the house was then set alight.
July 1989,
Peter Dixon and his wife Gwenda Dixon were on holiday in Pembrokeshire,
it was the last day of their camping holiday, they
decided to have a last walk along the cost. Cooper
lay in wait with a sawn off shotgun.
He forced them
to walk down to a secluded cliff where he tied them up,
he sexually assaulted Gwenda then stole bank cars and
forced them to reveal pin numbers, he then shot them
both at close range.
Days after the
shootings Cooper appeared on the TV quiz show Bullseye,
he was also seen using the Dixon's stolen credit card,
and an artists impression was drawn up, Police compared
the 2 pictures, but at the time these was no other
evidence.
By the 1990's
he was broke, having blown most of the winnings on horse
racing bets.
1996,
He attacked a group of teenagers, raping a 16 year old
girl and sexually assaulting her 15-year-old friend at
gunpoint
1996,
He was arrested for 30 burglaries and a violent armed
robbery, holding up a terrified teacher with a shotgun
in her home at Sardis, Pembrokeshire.
1998,
He was convicted of the 30 burglaries and jailed for 16
years.
2006,
Police conducting a cold Case review, as a consequence
DNA was discovered on a pair of shorts belonging to
Cooper, DNA that belonged to murdered Peter Dixon. Mr.
Dixon's blood was also discovered on Cooper shotgun.
May 2009,
Cooper was arrested and charged with 4 murders, 5 counts
of attempted armed robbery, as well as charges for
sexual assault and rape.
26th May
2011, Copper was found guilty on all charges, he was
ordered by the judge to serve a "Whole life"
term.
This puts him
on the Home Office list of prisoners never to be
released, see list
here >>
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