The Pembrokeshire Murders
The investigations spanned 25 years and John Cooper was finally caught with the help of a quiz show.
Born on the 3rd of September 1944, John Cooper lived in Milford Haven, a small town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, where he worked as a farm labourer. He was a keen fisherman and knew the local area well, spending most of his free time outdoors.
In 1966, he married Patricia and the couple had two children, a girl and a boy. In 1978, Cooper won a new car and £90,000 in a competition. From here, he set up a small farm but due to his gambling habit, alcoholism and poor financial choices, the money soon disappeared. Shortly after, Cooper turned to burglary.
He was a prolific thief in his late teens and he knew how to get in and out of homes. In his youth, he was charged with stealing a car and assaulting a police officer. In total, he committed around 30 robberies and violent assaults on the unsuspecting.
To residents of Milford Haven, John Cooper was a likeable man, but behind closed doors, he took his aggression out on his son. Andrew said in the ITV documentary, Real Crime with Mark Austin, that while fishing with his father, the 11-year-old was hit in the face and pushed to the floor. Cooper then pointed a gun at his son and told him that he was worthless, and his…
