Headless skeleton killer out of prison
The man jailed for the elaborate cover up of the grisly killing of Auckland man Javed Mills has been released from prison on parole.
James Cooper killed 25-yearold Mills in late July 2009, then smashed his skull and spread the fragments onto the property next door where a couple were building their home.
His death remained a mystery until a headless skeleton was found in a Mt Wellington garage in September 2011.
Cooper, now 30, had been denied parole in 2017 and 2016 but was released this month on conditions including that he submit to electronic monitoring and not contact Mills’ family.
He was serving a sentence of seven years and three months for manslaughter and perverting the course of justice after being found not guilty of Mills’ murder at his trial in 2013.
In the latest parole board decision, a psychologist said Cooper was at low risk of violent offending and said she considered he had ‘‘good insights into his offending and that his relapse prevention plan is realistic’’.
During his trial, Cooper told police he struck Mills in the head after he ‘‘lost his marbles’’ during an argument in an oversized doll house called ‘‘the den’’ – a place where the pair would smoke pot and listen to heavy metal music.
When he realised that Mills was dead, Cooper wrapped the body in a blanket and put him underneath the den – where he left him for two days.
When the decomposing body started to smell Cooper dug a halfmetre-deep grave and ‘‘chucked him in there’’, where he was left for 12 months.
While exhuming the remains to remove them, the head of the skeleton fell off backwards. Cooper then used a mallet to crush the skull before scattering the fragments onto the neighbouring property.
The rest of the bones were then put in a red-topped recycling bin behind the den before Cooper wheeled the bin off to a garage set to be demolished.
In an elaborate effort to cover up the death, Cooper set up a fake social media account and communicated with Mills’ family. He also withdrew Mills’ weekly Work and Income benefit and used his eftpos card regularly.
The victim’s mother, Lichelle Mills, pleaded in a letter to the parole board not to release Cooper at his hearing in October 2015.
She wrote that Cooper needed psychological help.
‘‘He is a pathological liar ... he has not spoken a word of truth or admitted what he had done, that would be the first step he would take if he was remorseful for what he has done,’’ she said.
‘‘He really needs to be given help. This guy is really crazy.’’
In a statement during the trial, Mills’ brother, Tareq Rahman, said images of the barbaric and callous way in which his brother was treated haunted him every day. Cooper will be subject to tightly controlled residential restrictions for at least the first three months of his release.