Nabbed... by Bullseye!
THE PEMBROKESHIRE MURDERS
Welshman John Cooper lost more than just a game of darts when he appeared on ITV’s Bullseye. His brief and unsuccessful appearance would help lead to the permanent loss of his liberty. The year was 1989 and Cooper was eager to grab one of the star prizes on the popular quiz show – speedboats, cars, £5,000 cash – on the show hosted by Jim Bowen. Cooper and his partner began well and secured £220. But his female opponent beat him on general knowledge, and he was left empty-handed. He glared at the TV camera as the credits rolled. A month later he killed for the second time.
The Bullseye footage had been consigned to a video library in Leeds for the best part of 20 years, but then suddenly it assumed significance for this cold case murder story which is being dramatised in a three-part series, The Pembrokeshire
Murders, due to air on ITV soon.
Based on a book by journalist Jonathan Hill, who found the Bullseye evidence, and DCS Steve Wilkins, who led the police’s cold case inquiry known as Operation Ottawa, it reveals how the pair searched for new evidence to link the murders to Cooper – already in prison for violent robbery – as he approached the end of his sentence, which would mean he would be free to kill again.
Wilkins had long suspected that Cooper was also guilty of the murWilkins ders of millionaire farmer Richard Thomas and his sister Helen in 1985, as well as the deaths of Peter and Gwenda Dixon four years later, who were shot while walking on the idyllic Pembrokeshire coast.
Finding the image of Cooper on the show was hugely important as it was the only image police had of him from the time; and it matched an artist’s impression given by an eyewitness who had seen Peter Dixon’s killer.
The story focuses on the effort put in to nail Cooper for the murders. His team went through every bit of evidence, toiling for months until pioneering forensic methods discovered fibres that linked the robberies Cooper had been convicted of to the murders.
During the investigation, they discovered he was guilty of a series of sex assaults. Cooper was convicted in 2011 of the four killings and was also found guilty on separate charges of rape, sexual assault and attempted robbery.
The series stars Keith Allen as
Cooper and Luke Evans as Wilkins. Luke, who grew up holidaying in Pembrokeshire, says, ‘Playing Steve Wilkins carries with it a huge responsibility for me, as the drama depicts a true crime which to this day still affects the families of those whose lives were tragically taken.’ ITV drama, coming soon