The Troubling Case Against Kevin Cooper
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What happened during the 1983 Chino Hills murder case?
You've been with us for the two decades that we've investigated the case of Kevin Cooper, the California death row inmate who has always professed his innocence. Tonight, there are new developments that may help Cooper in his bid for freedom. Our investigation began with letters from San Quentin Prison outside San Francisco.
I'm Kevin Cooper. I'm on death row.
He claimed he had been framed for the murder of four people. There was a terrible home invasion in Chino Hills, California, one night in 1983.
Family of four with a young boy who was an overnight guest.
Authorities say more than one weapon was used in the brutal murders.
Four of them died. One survived even though his throat had been cut.
Did you have some injuries?
My throat was slashed, got stabbed here, hit by an ax here, screwdriver, punctured my back, my lung, broke three ribs.
The authorities then arrested and sentenced to death a young black man named Kevin Cooper for the crime.
This occurred in a upper middle class neighborhood, a horse country. Finding somebody to pin it on was very important. And Kevin Cooper was a convenient person to pin it on.
The problem was they didn't have the evidence. There is an enormous amount of evidence that suggests three or four white perpetrators.
I'm Tom Parker. I'm a retired FBI agent. I was brought into this case at the request of the lead attorney. The more I dug into it, I began to realize that there was something seriously wrong with the case.
You believe that evidence was planted and tampered with.
I don't believe that. I know that. Explain to me.
It's very hard for the system to try to correct a mistake. I think they got the wrong guy.
But the state says it's case closed.
I am 100% certain Kevin Cooper committed these murders.
He's got a lot of people pulling for him, not only within the prison, but outside.
We've been trying to get this evidence tested over the last 15 years I've been working in the case, and we've always been refused.
In 2018, Kevin Cooper got his wish. California's governor ordered new DNA tests. But what do they reveal about Cooper's case?
I was worried that there wouldn't be a lot of good data that could be obtained. We've had the DNA testing. We do have a profile.
It's certainly not Kevin.
The murder victims were all mutilated.
It was a massacre.
Who is Kevin Cooper and what are the claims against him?
They were a close-knit family of four. Brutal and bloody.
Authorities are completely baffled by this.
And more than three decades ago, it shattered the upscale horse community known as Chino Hills in Southern California.
We have evidence that places Kevin Cooper at the crime scene.
Many wondered back then if the right man had been convicted for the crime. And even more wondered today if the real killers got away.
Responding to 2951 English Road, 2951 English Road.
On June 4th, 1983, Peggy Ryan, her husband Doug, and their 10-year-old daughter Jessica were stabbed and slashed to death inside their home. An 11-year-old neighbor spending the night, Christopher Hughes, also lost his life.
The only one who miraculously lived through that night was Josh Ryan, then eight and a half years old. I spoke to him in 2003. What does something like this do to a person's life? Changes your life. You lose somebody and it hurts. There was strong evidence pointing to multiple assailants. A bloody hatchet was discovered near the Ryan's Arabian horse ranch. Investigators believed it was just one of three weapons used. And according to the coroner, the victims had some 140 wounds.
The Ryan's family car is missing and presumed taken by the murder suspects.
It's a 1977 Buick four-door station wagon. Neighbors reported they saw three people drive away in a car that looked like it. And Josh, still too wounded to speak, also indicated that there were three attackers when he was questioned by a deputy.
When we got to the point of asking him how many people were there, I went, one, two, three, and he squeezed my hand.
Three people when things went crazy. Right. Josh thought the attackers were white or Mexican men, and yet police soon zeroed in on this one man, Kevin Cooper.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What happened during the 1983 Chino Hills murder case?
0:05–3:10
2
Who is Kevin Cooper and what are the claims against him?
3:10–11:58
3
What new developments occurred in Kevin Cooper's case since 2018?
11:58–13:32
4
What were the results of the DNA tests ordered by the governor?
13:32–21:27
5
What evidence suggests multiple assailants in the Ryan family murders?
21:27–27:19
6
How did Kevin Cooper become the prime suspect?
27:19–40:06