Byline: ROBIN TURNER
A SHADOW that had hung over a quiet corner of West Wales for decades was finally lifted yesterday when John Cooper was convicted of four of the country's most notorious murders. The shotgun-wielding farm labourer turned Pembrokeshire into his own personal hunting ground in a killing and crime spree so infamous it even hit the county's tourism trade.
Handing down four "whole life" sentences at Swansea Crown Court yesterday, Judge John Griffith Williams told Cooper: "The murders were of such evil wickedness the mandatory sentence of life will mean just that."
And police officers revealed that three further suspicious deaths in Pembrokeshire are to be re-examined to see if Cooper was involved.
The violent deaths of a farmer and his sister in 1976 and the death of one Cooper's former bosses, found floating in her bath at her home in the 1980s, will be reviewed.
Cooper, 66, of Letterston, near Fishguard, evaded justice for more than 25 years after shooting millionaire farmer Richard Thomas, 58, and his sister Helen, 56, at their Scoveston Manor home near Milford Haven on December 22, 1985.
Four years later, with the gun he stole from Mr Thomas, now with sawn-off barrels, he executed middle-aged Oxfordshire holidaymakers Peter and Gwenda Dixon on the Pembrokeshire coastal path near Little Haven on June 29, 1989.
Cooper was also sentenced to 15 years when he was convicted of being the attacker armed with a shotgun who raped a 16-year-old girl and indecently assaulted a 15-year-old in a field at Milford Haven's Mount Estate in 1996.
But even as the judge passed his sentence, a defiant Cooper repeatedly shouted over him with angry claims that vital evidence had been kept from the jury and warned that the truth would be released via the internet.
His anger was in contrast to the family and friends of his victims who sat in court silently listening to him shout.
Cooper lived a classic double life. At night he darted through the Pembrokeshire hedgerows with a shotgun under his coat and murder in his heart.
By day he portrayed himself as an "ordinary Joe", working on farms, being a member of the Milford Haven Sea Angling Club and acting as an official at local darts tournaments.
But for decades he cut his own pathways through the countryside to burgle people's homes, with those attempts turning to murderous rage on at least two occasions.
Before killing the Thomas siblings and burning down their mansion to hide clues, he made off with Mr Thomas' Belgianmade shotgun.
And four years later with the same gun he shot the Dixons.
Before killing them he forced marketing manager Mr Dixon to hand over his cash card and pin number, even stealing his gold wedding band and indecently assaulting Mrs Dixon.
The judge said the husband and wife must have been terrified as it dawned on them they were to be murdered.
"One had to watch while the other was murdered in cold blood. They were a thoroughly decent couple," he said Hiding their blood-soaked bodies in a screen of hazel twigs and bracken he later cycled into Pembroke and Haverfordwest to use the card.
He sold Mr Dixon's ring on July 6, 1989, the day the bodies were found. But psychopath Cooper made a big mistake, taking Mrs Dixon's shorts and keeping them for years as a bizarre "trophy". They became part of a core of forensic evidence that finally trapped him. Over more than a quarter of a century, Cooper burgled dozens of homes, escaping in a maze of hedgerows and fields whose fences he cut for access.
He even used curry powder to stop police dogs following him.
And he used hedges as "safes" for stolen earrings, brooches, rings and photo-frames.
The Dixon murders in particular led to speculative theories that the IRA may have killed the couple for stumbling on an arms cache or that a drug smuggling gang might have been responsible.
But Dyfed-Powys Police began to suspect Cooper could be the killer in the 1990s.
Their Operation Huntsman inquiry into his break-ins earned him a 16-year jail term at Swansea Crown Court in 1998 for a sample 30 burglaries and one armed robbery in which he held up terrified teacher Sheila Clarke in her own home at Sardis, Pembrokeshire, using the shotgun he had taken from Scoveston Manor. In his former house in St Mary's Park, Jordanston, 503 house keys were found and a shotgun.
There were so many stolen goods they were laid out on trestle tables in places such as Withybush Airfield and the Gulf oil refinery so victims could identify property.
Having been released from prison on licence in 2008 after 10 years, Cooper was re-arrested in 2009 and charged for the four murders, serious sexual assault and attempted robberies.
Police had been looking to snare him and had set up Operation Ottawa in 2006 to do so, led by Detective Chief Superintendent Steve Wilkins. It was when more than two decades of advances in forensic techniques finally caught up with Cooper, a man who had been desperate for money when he killed despite winning pounds 90,000 in a newspaper spotthe-ball contest in 1978. He had frittered the money away on boats, holidays and gambling.
As he was taken away by guards to die in jail, 66-year-old Cooper wagged his finger at the judge saying: "It'll all be on the internet."
The judge told him: "These murders were such evil wickedness that the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment will mean just that. You are a very dangerous man, a highly organised and predatory burglar whose hallmarks were using a balaclava, gloves and a sawn-off shotgun that was loaded and that you were ready to use.
"If it had not been for advances in forensic science you may never have been brought to justice because your offences were well planned, allowing you to evade arrest for so long."
He said Helen Thomas died because she would recognise him.
"I'm sure she was terrified when you placed that shirt over her head. I am satisfied you did and I think she was sexually interfered with, though we can never be certain. Her brother heard the shot that killed her so he had to die too."
Cooper shouted: "Utter rubbish."
Referring to the Dixon murders, the judge said: "Mr and Mrs Dixon had to wait for immediate execution and the one was forced to watch as the other was murdered in cold blood knowing the other would soon face the same thing."
> TRAPPED BY CSI-STYLE FORENSICS: PAGES 4&5 TIMELINE OF TERROR DECEMBER 22, 1985 At Scoveston Park, a mansion house near Milford Haven, the bodies of brother and sister, Richard, 58, and Helen Thomas, 54, are found after a fire at their home. Both died from gunshot wounds and a murder inquiry is launched. At its peak in 1986, 150 officers are involved. JULY 2, 1989 Tim Dixon, the son of Peter and Gwenda Dixon, reports his parents have not returned to their Oxford home after a camping trip to Pembrokeshire. JULY 5, 1989 The bodies of Peter, 51, and Gwenda Dixon, 52, are found concealed close to the coastal path near Little Haven at 3.30pm. It is clear they died from gunshot wounds and a major inquiry is launched.
They were last seen on June 29 leaving their tent at Howelston Caravan Park at 9.30am.
JULY 10, 1989 An artist's impression of a man seen in the area who police want to interview is released. He had used Mr Dixon's cashpoint card at banks in the area.
MARCH 6, 1996 At the rear of the Mount Estate at Milford Haven, five young people, all under 18, are confronted by a man in a balaclava brandishing a sawn-off shotgun. After making demands for money from all five he then subjects two female victims to serious sexual assaults. An incident room is set up at Haverfordwest Police Station. DECEMBER 2, 1997 BBC's Crimewatch Still Unsolved programme features a reconstruction of the coast path murders. The response was said to be "excellent" with 400 calls. JANUARY 21, 1998 John Cooper is charged at Haverfordwest Police Station with a string of burglaries and an armed robbery in North Pembrokeshire. The initiative is known as Operation Huntsman.
JANUARY 29, 1998 Forensic and ballistics officers examine Cooper's home and surrounding grounds. DECEMBER 10, 1998 Cooper is sentenced to 16 years for armed robbery and 30 burglaries.
FEBRUARY 2006 Operation Ottowa is formed to conduct a "thematic review" of material from outstanding undetected serious crime in Pembrokeshire, including the Scoveston Manor and Dixon double murders and the robbery/rape offences in Milford Haven in 1996. JUNE 2008 Cooper is taken from prison with the agreement of the Crown Prosecution Service to be questioned at Ammanford Police Station over four days about the two double murders and offences in the 1990s.
APRIL 23, 2009 Ottowa officers receive their first phone call from specialist firm LGC Forensics regarding significant forensic findings in relation to the inquiries. APRIL/MAY 2009 LGC continues to make significant forensic findings using latest DNA and other techniques in relation to the murders, robbery and rapes. MAY 13-15, 2009 Cooper is arrested and, following CPS advice, charged and remanded in custody at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court for the murders of the Dixons, the Thomases and the rape and robbery offences. MAY 27, 2009 Cooper makes an appearance before Swansea Crown Court in a preliminary hearing.
MARCH 22, 2011 Cooper's trial starts at Swansea Crown Court. MAY 26, 2011 At 12.20pm, the six-man, six-woman jury convict Cooper unanimously of four murders, a rape, indecent assault and five attempted robberies. Defiant to the end, Cooper argues with the judge who gives him a "whole life" sentence.
CLICK ON For in-depth coverage of the trial, including video interviews with police officers and the forensics team, visit WalesOnline.co.uk /multimedia
CAPTION(S):
* Psychopath John Cooper * Holidaymakers Peter and Gwenda Dixon and, right, brother and sister Richard and Helen Thomas were blasted to death with a shotgun at point-blank range by Cooper in horrific murders
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