The Pembrokeshire Murders: Catching The Game Show Killer delved into the disturbing story of how serial killer John Cooper was finally convicted.
John Cooper, known as the Bullseye Killer as he once appeared on the gameshow, is now serving four life sentences for the murder Peter and Gwenda Dixon and Richard and Helen Thomas.
He was also sentenced for a vicious gunpoint rape and sexual assault on a group of teens.
The hour-long documentary featured the detectives, lawyers and forensic scientist who worked in the terrifying case.
It also included jaw-dropping footage and news reports from the case, including Cooper’s interviews and arrest.
The Bullseye Killer infamously escaped justice for over two decades (Image: ITV 4)
Gerard Elias QC was the prosecuting barrister at the 2011 trial at Swansea Crown Court.
In the chilling documentary, he said Cooper was a level of evil he’d never seen before.
He explained: “[There was a] cold controlled evil that I saw in Cooper that I don’t think I’ve seen in anyone else I’ve been involved with.
“I’ve certainly never been involved in a trial before where there were three separate but complex and hugely important matters. And, of course, the evidence of one supported the evidence of another.”
Gerard Elias QC was the prosecuting barrister at John Cooper’s 2011 trial (Image: ITV)
John evaded justice for over a quarter of a century, as forensic evidence needed to convict him remained undiscovered for decades.
During the documentary, Elias told viewers about the tense trial of John Cooper which took place at Swansea Crown Court.
He said he needed to prove that Cooper had lied during his burglary trial in 1998, as he said the mask he wore didn’t belong to him when it did.
Dr Angela Gallop was a forensic scientist who worked on the case (Image: ITV)
Elias said: “I didn’t want the jury going home thinking this represented the man in any shape or form.”
DS Gareth Rees was one of the officers who came face-to-face with Cooper in the chilling footage.
He said that the murderer was vicious even when at home, as he told viewers: “He was a nasty individual even in the family environment. He lived on a farm and he killed a pig…with a hammer.
“And when his children were small they reared some chicks and he shot them with a shotgun in front of them.”
Dr Angela Gallop, a forensic scientist who also worked on the Stephen Lawrence case, talked about the forensic evidence discovered at Cooper’s spate of burglaries.
She said: “This grotty old muddy glove which had been recovered from a hedgerow, that links with the Dixons, with Cooper’s home address, with other hedgerow items, with the Milford Haven crime – that is the central item, I think, of the whole case.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
