COOPER: Certainly, certainly.
POLICE: In light of that they carried out a highly detailed microscopic examination of the shorts and this revealed the presence of a tiny two millimetre square blood stain in the relevant area of the garment itself. They profiled the stain and it produced a weak partial DNA profile, the components of which matched those of Peter Dixon. They’ve been able to prove on that result and they can confirm that there’s an incomplete profile which was obtained, which matched that of Peter Dixon. They’ve estimated the probability of obtaining that profile if the DNA had come from someone other than unrelated to Peter Dixon is less than 1 in 480 million. Do you understand the significance of that?
COOPER: Yes, yeah.
POLICE: Can you explain to me why forensic results have indicated that there’s blood matching the DNA of Peter Dixon on your shorts?
COOPER: Can I explain it? Well I can’t explain it. As I said before my wife sourced most of my clothes, ninety odd per cent of my clothes. Where she got the shorts from I do not know, how long I had the shorts I do not know. I would wear second hand clothes. Right, I’m just trying to make sense of all this right now. I’ve already told you that Percy Thompson, my father-in-law, he used to come out to us five or six times a week, he worked for the animal rescue. He used to bring costume jewellery for the kids, toys for the kids, and sometimes if he brought things for me I would make a donation and larger items like tools, and I remember a weights bench for my son and things like that. I would make a donation. He would bring me out, he was, he had a number of jobs; he did the animal rescue, collecting items and helping to sell them on a market stall. He worked on Milford Docks and for Frank Newin and he went to the TA’s. He was a sergeant in the TA’s. Later on he worked at Doughty’s and he worked with Tom Newin first, then Frank Newin and the TA’s. He would bring me ex-army boots for work, right. Overalls that was donated, okay. I would wear those things. I used to wear and still do wear trousers more than jeans, but I would wear jeans. But my shirts were bought, I didn’t wear second hand shirts, but I would wear second hand clothes. And sometimes, my wife would produce clothes that could have come from Percy Thompson. He got embarrassed when he was interviewed about that and of course he, he was an old man, I understand it, it doesn’t matter. He did it.
POLICE: So are you trying to say those shorts may have been…
COOPER: May have been.
POLICE: May have been?
COOPER: They were produced by my wife or sourced by my wife. They may have come from a second hand source. At the moment I have one second-hand item in my wardrobe, which is an overcoat that I wore to my wife’s funeral, and that was bought for my cousin’s funeral in ’98.
POLICE: But we’ve established that on your shorts, the forensic examination has revealed a DNA profile matching that of Peter Dixon.
COOPER: Yes.
POLICE: To 1 in a billion and also blood on the shorts itself, sorry 1 in a billion was the tapings and 1 in 480 million on the shorts, okay.
COOPER: Yes.
POLICE: In relation to the blood on your shorts, yeah, have you any explanation to give as to how that blood could have innocently appeared on the shorts?
COOPER: I really do not know. As I said my wife sourced the shorts, maybe from Percy, maybe from a shop, I don’t know whatever she sourced. More worryingly is my son used to take my clothes, whenever he wanted and that would be more of a worry for a father, but I don’t know.
POLICE: Have you any reason to suspect that he’d borrow your bathers?
COOPER: He would take whatever he wanted, whatever he needed.
POLICE: I have to ask you John, was that blood stain deposited on those shorts at the time that Peter Dixon was killed?
COOPER: I never killed anybody in my life.
POLICE: Have you ever visited the scene of the murders after Peter Dixon was killed?
COOPER: No.
POLICE: During the period the 29th June 1989 and the 5th July 1989, do you recall your movements on those days? We’ve established on the 5th July you sold a ring in a jewellers in Pembroke… have you any other information or have you got any other alibi to offer us for that period of time?
COOPER: No, but I would like I’m glad you brought that up – the ring, the ring. At the last interview you intimated that only one, two, a number of rings were sold about that time. Does it say it’s a man’s ring or a lady’s ring? I’m not sure.
POLICE: A man’s wedding ring was stolen from Peter Dixon.
COOPER: Yeah, on the receipt, does it say a man’s wedding ring or a female wedding ring?
POLICE: It doesn’t say female or male.
COOPER: Right. Shall I add something? Most of the jewellery or what have you that I used to sell like that, scrap usually, was to Mr Waters, as I’ve already told you. Now, you can go round the jewellers and find out when you sold scrap gold to jewellers, if the ring was of not resalable, right, it would go in as scrap gold. Now for you to say that only so many rings were sold is total nonsense, because if you go round them jewellers they will tell you that if the ring was not resalable it would go down as scrap gold, so to say there was just that couple of rings sold is nonsense.
POLICE: You mentioned just now that you don’t believe the blood on the shorts is from Mr Dixon, is that what you’re saying?
COOPER: I don’t believe it is, no. How can it be if they’re my shorts? I didn’t kill him.
POLICE: Okay, no further questions. Is there anything you would like to bring up? The time now is 11.55 hrs.
Cooper appeared desperate in his attempts to divert his ownership of the shorts. It was clear he knew their significance and again he offered his son as a possible suspect. The interview then moved to the Milford Haven attack.
POLICE: On the 6th of March 1996 at approximately 7 p.m., three females and two males were walking in the field to the rear of the Mount Estate in Milford Haven when they were approached by a male person wearing a balaclava and carrying a gun and a torch. One of the females was raped and another was indecently assaulted, okay? Were you the person responsible for the offences committed on the 6th of March in a field behind the Mount Estate?
COOPER: No I was not.
POLICE: Now I appreciate with the passage of time, as we’ve spoken about previously, this may be a difficult question to answer, but however bearing in mind you chose not to answer questions in the last interviews regarding these offences, I’m giving you the opportunity now. Are you able to tell me where you were on the 6th of March 1996?
COOPER: I’ve no idea honestly.
POLICE: With regard then to the area of the offence, um it occurred in a field behind the Mount Estate in Milford Haven and we’ve had some discussion in previous interviews about the area and you’ve described in the last interviews with us in July last year with regards to you mentioned a place called Blackbridge and Spinxey’s house and I think you mentioned a little boat that you used to keep in the area. So we’ve got a photograph now that I’ll come to shortly. If I say first of all then what area or what parts of that area would you visit specifically?
COOPER: Well we used to live, we used to live in Milton Crescent. We used to live in up until 1977.
POLICE: Until 1977.
COOPER: ’77.
POLICE: And when you lived in that area would you frequent the fields in the area?
COOPER: Oh the Pill, I had a boat in the Pill.
POLICE: Right okay, which I understand is close to the Mount Estate but on the other side of the road somewhere.
COOPER: Uh yeah, yes, not too far away. 19… sorry 1978, we were down there til 1978.
POLICE: I have a photograph of the area because obviously in the last interviews you discussed the area. I think it’s important if we put a photograph in front of you. We can be specific isn’t it, and say this is what we’re talking about so it avoids any confusion.
COOPER: Okay.
POLICE: I’m now going to show John, in interview formally, an aeri
al photograph of the area of the offence which was Blackbridge and the Mount Estate and this photograph was recovered from the enquiry documents to do with the Milford Haven rape okay and the Exhibit for this is GDR/30, um which was produced by myself on 8th May of this year from the Incident Room at Pembroke Dock okay? If I turn towards you now it’s an aerial photo. Going from the top third of the photograph, there are obviously housing estates in the central section or band and in the lower right hand band there are a number of agricultural fields bordered by hedges and trees and then at the bottom left hand corner there’s a waterway and at the real bottom there appears to be a farm. Okay? Can you see that map there and that would have been as it was in 1996. Does that make sense to you? This is your Blackbridge is it?
COOPER: Yeah.
POLICE: The offence of that we’re talking about has occurred in this field here.
COOPER: Well that’s Mount here.
POLICE: Yeah which is of the three sort of upper fields in the picture, it’s the central one then. If I ask you have you ever been into that field?
COOPER: Oh, no.
POLICE: Have you ever walked through that field?
COOPER: Not in, not in living memory no, no.
POLICE: Right okay. Were you in that area on the 6th of March 1996?
COOPER: No, most certainly not.
POLICE: The victims then in the offences that we’re talking about in ’96 were video interviewed and described the male who committed the offences against them okay? The victims described a male with a balaclava, there’s also... um they talk about a jacket worn by the offender which one victim describes as a wax jacket. The offender was wearing boots described by one as black combat boots. The offender was wearing jeans. The offender was also wearing gloves okay, and I’m now going to ask you questions in regards to the clothing and what clothing you may have had during the period of 1996, okay? Did you own a wax jacket during that time?
COOPER: No.
POLICE: Have you ever owned a wax jacket or anything that could be resembling a wax jacket?
COOPER: Plastic jackets.
POLICE: Plastic jackets. Okay, did you own a jacket which you’d say was similar to a wax jacket?
COOPER: No I’d wear softer jackets.
POLICE: Okay, what about balaclavas in 1996, would you have been in possession?
COOPER: I had a balaclava on my boat.
POLICE: Right, okay, and what use would you have for wearing balaclavas?
COOPER: Fishing.
POLICE: Fishing?
COOPER: Yeah.
POLICE: Is that the only time you’d wear balaclavas?
COOPER: Fishing.
POLICE: Okay and obviously in the last interview with us you spoke about… well not the last but one of the interviews today you spoke about working boots. Would you have worn walking boots or working boots in 1996?
COOPER: To work yes, yes. Tough black, tough cheap boots.
POLICE: And we’ve discussed in previous interviews your use and your possession of gloves and you’ve stated that you wouldn’t often wear gloves but there would have been gloves around your house over the years.
COOPER: Yes.
POLICE: In relation to clothing, have you ever owned an Army or combat type jacket, camouflage?
COOPER: Possibly, Percy used to bring stuff like that and I’d use stuff like that for working.
POLICE: Right.
COOPER: Possibly, but more like bottle green or something like that.
POLICE: Bottle green.
COOPER: Yeah.
POLICE: Okay and you’ve said that you, they were Army Surplus or…
COOPER: Possibly yeah.
POLICE: Okay thank you. Okay, I’ve mentioned that the offender was in possession of a shotgun okay. Did you own any guns in 1996?
COOPER: Uh no.
POLICE: Did you have possession of any guns?
COOPER: Oh no, no, no, my license, I give up my licence long before then.
POLICE: Okay.
COOPER: No.
POLICE: The gun used in this offence has been described by the victim to officers as a sawn-off, double-barrelled side-by-side shotgun and having a strap which was connected with pins and clips okay? Okay and obviously in the last interviews we discussed in July now last year the offence of the Sardis robbery and you mentioned that the gun was handed round Court and you believed that you may have handled it at that time okay? So apart from potentially handling the gun at that time, have you ever had in your possession or held any gun matching that description?
COOPER: Years before yes, I used to have a shotgun licence, yeah years before.
POLICE: We’re talking about a sawn-off…
COOPER: A sawn-off…
POLICE: Double-barrelled…
COOPER: No, no.
POLICE: On the 22nd of November 1996 a robbery occurred at a premises Westwinds in Sardis alright and following that robbery searches of nearby fields resulted in the recovery of a number of items which included a sawn off, double-barrelled shotgun and that gun has been linked to yourself okay and I have a photograph of the gun recovered following the Sardis robbery. I’m now going to show John Cooper a photograph contained in an album in relation to the Sardis offence with two photos in the album. The second photo is of a sawn-off shotgun with a lanyard connected by clips that were contained on a brown evidence sack.
Okay and obviously John you can see the photograph of the gun…
COOPER: Yeah.
POLICE: My colleague has just shown you and in my opinion then the description given by the victims to these offences of the gun that was used is very similar to that gun. It’s a sawn-off, double-barrelled shotgun and it specifically has a strap or lanyard which is connected to both ends by clips.
COOPER: You say so yeah.
POLICE: Would you say so?
COOPER: Don’t know.
POLICE: Haven’t I…if I said to.
COOPER: Well it’s a sawn-off shotgun yes and that it’s got a strap connected each side.
COOPER: That’s the gun they had in one of these rooms in here, yeah.
POLICE: Yeah? Down from the trigger mechanism and the stock area, the clip is similar to one, like a dog lead clip.
COOPER: A snap-on clip yeah yeah…
POLICE: Yeah?
COOPER: Yeah.
POLICE: Okay, and obviously the gun in my opinion is very similar to the gun as described by the victims of the attempt robbery and rape. Is that the gun used in the rape and attempt robbery, the same gun as was recovered by police.
COOPER: I don’t know that…
POLICE: …following the Sardis robbery.
COOPER: I’ve no idea.
POLICE: Okay. Obviously you have been linked to the offence of robbery to the gun from the offence of the Sardis robbery that has led to your conviction, okay. Were you the person who pointed the gun at five youngsters in a field in Milford Haven and searched the victims for money?
COOPER: No.
POLICE: Were you the person who subjected one of the young females to rape?
COOPER: No.
POLICE: Were you the person who indecently assaulted another of the females?
COOPER: No.
POLICE: Okay. Have you any explanation, alibi or defence to offer in respect of the investigation of the attempted armed robbery, rape and indecent assault which occurred in Milford Haven on the 6th March?
COOPER: Have I?
POLICE: Have you any explanation, any innocent explanation, alibi or defence to offer?
COOPER: I know nothing about it sorry, I know nothing about it.
POLICE: Exhibits, and we’ve spoken about what exhibits are. MTJ/7 is a glove, okay? This glove was recovered from a hedgerow on the 23rd November 1996 following the Sardis robbery that we’ve discussed. Tell me what you know about that glove.
COOPER: I have no recollection about the glove at all.
POLICE: Okay. Was it your glove?
COOPER: Oh it wa
sn’t my glove, no.
POLICE: Okay. Unfortunately I don’t have a photo of the Exhibit MTJ/7 but it’s... I know we talked about gloves earlier and Gareth showed you a glove which linked to the Dixons, it is a separate glove to that, okay, so we’re talking about a completely different exhibit.
COOPER: Oh I see, okay.
POLICE: This is MTJ/7, so it’s a different exhibit okay. An examination of the knickers of the female who was raped on the 6th March 1996, which is Exhibit BKG/9, has led to the recovery of a fibre and that fibre is described as indistinguishable from the fibres of the glove MTJ/7, which was obviously recovered following the Sardis robbery. Have you any explanation for that?
COOPER: None at all.
POLICE: Were you the person who wore gloves in the commission of the offence of rape on that date?
COOPER: No I was not.
POLICE: Okay, that glove then is linked to yourself as it was recovered from a hedgerow, along with other items which have been linked to the offence of robbery in Sardis for which you’ve been convicted.
COOPER: Falsely convicted.
POLICE: Okay, we’re talking about an offence, a very serious offence of a rape, a sexual assault and attempted robbery and five youngsters in a field on the outskirts of Milford Haven. Can you tell me whether you were the person who pointed a gun at those children?
COOPER: I was not that person.
POLICE: Okay. Can you tell me whether you’ve been in that locality for any reason in possession of a shotgun?
COOPER: No.
POLICE: Can you tell me whether you used to visit fields in the area to shoot rabbits or other prey?
COOPER: No.
POLICE: Okay. Can you tell me whether or not you had in your possession a large lamping light?
COOPER: Large lamping light? I had rechargeable lights that I know of yeah.
The Pembrokeshire Murders: Catching the Bullseye Killer Page 22