The Troubling Case Against Kevin Cooper

Summary

48 Hours – "The Troubling Case Against Kevin Cooper"

Date: June 4, 2026
Host: CBS News
Theme: An in-depth investigation into the controversial conviction of Kevin Cooper, a Black man on California’s death row since 1985, who maintains his innocence in the 1983 Chino Hills family massacre. The episode lays out the original case, significant doubts about Cooper’s guilt, evidence of possible misconduct, the role of DNA testing, and the ongoing efforts to exonerate him.

---

Episode Overview

This episode of 48 Hours examines the decades-long controversy surrounding Kevin Cooper’s conviction for the brutal 1983 murders of the Ryan family and a neighbor’s son in Chino Hills, California. Through interviews, court records, and commentary by legal experts, journalists, family members, and Cooper himself, the episode scrutinizes the evidence, exposes possible police misconduct, explores alternative suspects, and follows Cooper’s efforts for exoneration through modern DNA testing.

---

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Crime and Initial Investigation (00:31 – 06:32)

• Crime Description: In June 1983, four people were murdered in the Chino Hills Ryan family home: Doug and Peggy Ryan, their 10-year-old daughter Jessica, and neighbor Christopher Hughes. The only survivor was 8-year-old Josh Ryan.
• Eyewitness and Physical Evidence Issues:
  • Three attackers were initially indicated by both Josh (through hand squeezes) and neighbor sightings ([05:10]).
  • Multiple weapons used: hatchet, knife, ice pick, screwdrivers, indicating possible multiple assailants.
  • Cooper, a Black career burglar, had escaped prison and was hiding in a nearby house.
  • Authorities quickly focused on Cooper as a “convenient person to pin it on” ([01:21] Tom Parker).
• Questions about Evidence:
  • No fingerprints/hairs of Cooper found at the scene; light-colored hairs (not Cooper’s) found clutched in victim's hand ([07:16]).
  • Only one drop of blood matched Cooper ([07:41]), found later in the investigation.

Notable Quote:

"There is enormous amount of evidence that suggests three or four white perpetrators."
— Nicholas Kristof ([01:36])

---

2. Conviction, Changing Testimony, and Possible Misconduct (06:32 – 14:43)

• Josh Ryan’s Changed Testimony:
  • At trial, Josh no longer remembered three attackers; said he saw "just one" shadow ([06:25]).
  • Judge Fletcher later questioned this, noting a deputy had visited Josh in the hospital nearly 20 times and may have influenced his memory ([13:32]).
• Allegations of Evidence Tampering:
  • Blood evidence (tiny paint chip): the blood type initially recorded did not match Cooper, later corrected ([14:23]).
  • Cigarette butts from the car: not found until second police search, size changed between tests ([15:19]).
  • Destroyed evidence: bloody coveralls linked to an alternative suspect destroyed before trial ([17:53]).
• Alternative Suspects:
  • Lee Furrow, paroled murderer and ex-boyfriend of a local witness, implicated via witness Diana Roper and others ([16:38], [17:08]).
  • Witnesses report suspicious men at local bar; authorities disregard this evidence.

Notable Quote:

“As soon as they identified Kevin Cooper, a Black escaped prisoner… they stopped looking for those people and focused entirely on proving that Kevin Cooper had killed the Ryans."
— Tom Parker ([14:06])

---

3. Legal Battles and Outside Advocacy (18:14 – 21:32)

• Failed Appeals and Judicial Dissent:
  • Despite legal efforts led by Norman Heil, courts denied retrials.
  • 2009: 11 out of 27 Ninth Circuit judges strongly dissent, suggesting significant unfairness and possible innocence ([12:47]).
• Journalistic and Celebrity Interest:
  • Pulitzer-winning journalist Nicholas Kristof investigates, concludes evidence was probably planted ([21:27]).
  • High-profile figures (Kim Kardashian, the Pope) advocate for new DNA testing ([25:18], [25:34]).
• Official Skepticism:
  • District attorneys and some survivors remain convinced of Cooper’s guilt.

Notable Quote:

"If you disagree with my conclusions, then test the evidence. ... It is sitting in lockers and has been for 35 years."
— Nicholas Kristof ([26:06])

---

4. DNA Testing: Hopes and Disappointments (24:57 – 35:30)

• Orders for DNA Testing:
  • 2018: Governor Jerry Brown and, subsequently, Governor Newsom order new DNA tests on key evidence ([29:47], [30:29]).
  • Items tested: hatchet, tan T-shirt, orange towel from the scene, hatchet sheath, Cooper’s blood vial.
• Results:
  • DNA on T-shirt and hatchet degraded—no profile found ([34:07]).
  • Full DNA profile on orange towel matches neither Cooper, the victims, nor the alternate suspect Lee Furrow ([35:02]).
  • Cooper’s blood vial found empty; suggests possible evidence tampering ([35:41]).
• Persisting Questions:
  • Testing came too late; evidence poorly preserved ([33:42]).

Notable Quote:

“To have an entire vial disappear like that raises all sorts of questions... it wouldn’t surprise me if somebody took blood from that vial and dropped it on things.”
— Mary Howell ([35:55])

---

5. New Witnesses and Ongoing Exoneration Efforts (35:33 – 38:58)

• Fresh Testimony:
  • Defense now has five witnesses linking Lee Furrow to the murders; one claims Furrow confessed after the crime ([36:54]).
  • Two witnesses state two women were also involved; may explain mistaken identity ([37:49]).
• Calls for Broader Review:
  • Cooper’s lawyers submit a 152-page petition for a full innocence investigation ([38:33]).
• Governor Newsom’s Response:
  • Orders an independent investigation in 2021; in 2023, special counsel report rejects Cooper’s innocence claims ([39:13]).

Notable Quote:

“We have statements from people that there were two women involved on this killing team along with Lee Furrow.”
— Tom Parker ([37:49])

---

6. The Human Toll and Closing Thoughts (38:58 – 39:13)

• Impact on Families:
  • Mary Howell (victim’s grandmother) never got closure, dying before the case was resolved.
  • Survivors remain divided; some want closure through execution, others express persistent doubts ([09:22], [10:11], [39:03]).
• Kevin Cooper’s Resolve:
  • After over 40 years on death row, Cooper remains “strong mentally, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually, and I continue to fight.” ([33:06], [39:09]).

Notable Quote:

“I cannot give up and I will not give up.”
— Kevin Cooper ([39:09])

---

Memorable Moments and Quotes with Timestamps

• “I came within three hours and 42 minutes of being strapped down to that gurney…”
  — Kevin Cooper on his near-execution ([11:04])
• “There is not a single case in U.S. history where 11 appellate judges said that they felt the person had not gotten a fair hearing.”
  — Tom Parker ([12:34])
• “[Evidence] was not handled very well. It wasn’t stored well.”
  — DNA Specialist Bica Barlow ([33:42])
• “Kevin is not tied to these crimes through any of this testing.”
  — Tom Parker ([36:34])
• “He is a very strong person and he is somebody who believes in the truth and is willing to fight for it.”
  — Tom Parker ([39:03])

---

Timestamps for Pivotal Segments

• The Crime and Initial Focus on Cooper: 00:31 – 05:28
• Crucial Eyewitness Testimony and Trial: 06:08 – 07:21
• Evidence Tampering Allegations: 14:20 – 18:14
• Judicial Dissents and Advocacy: 12:34, 20:11 – 21:27
• DNA Testing Orders and Results: 29:47 – 35:30
• Testimony Pointing to Alternative Suspects: 35:33 – 38:58
• Final Reflections and Cooper’s Message: 39:03 – end

---

Summary Table: Main Questions Raised

| Topic | Key Questions | Evidence/Discussion | |-------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------| | Number/Identity of Assailants | Single perpetrator or multiple? | Eyewitness accounts, physical evidence | | Police/Prosecutor Conduct | Was evidence planted/tampered? | Discrepant DNA, destroyed coveralls, lab issues| | Alternative Suspects | Credibility of Lee Furrow, others? | New witness testimonies, prior violent record | | Forensic Missteps | Was DNA testing too late/degraded? | Lab findings, mishandling/storage concerns | | Justice Served? | Did race, escaped prisoner status influence investigation/trial? | Judge dissent, journalistic critiques |

---

Conclusion

"The Troubling Case Against Kevin Cooper" exposes glaring ambiguities and possible miscarriages of justice in a high-profile death penalty case. The episode underscores the dangers of tunnel vision in investigations, the lasting impact of flawed forensic practices, and the challenges of clearing a name decades after conviction. The story—still unresolved—remains a sobering reflection on the American criminal justice system.

---

For listeners seeking to understand the full complexity of Kevin Cooper’s case, this episode is a haunting reminder of how crucial it is to keep questioning, even when the wheels of justice appear to have stopped turning.

Transcript

[Narrator/Reporter]

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.

[Kevin Cooper]

I'm Kevin Cooper. I'm on death row.

[Narrator/Reporter]

He claimed he had been framed for the murder of four people.

[Nicholas Kristof]

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.

[Tom Parker]

Authorities say more than one weapon was

[Kevin Cooper]

used in the brutal murders.

[Nicholas Kristof]

Four of them died. One survived even though his throat had been cut.

[Kevin Cooper]

Did you have some injuries? Yeah, my throat was slashed. Got stabbed here, hit by an ax here. Screwdriver punctured my back. My lung broke three ribs.

[Nicholas Kristof]

The authorities then arrested and sentenced to death a young black man named Kevin Cooper for the crime.

[Tom Parker]

This occurred in a upper middle class neighborhood, 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.

[Nicholas Kristof]

There is enormous amount of evidence that suggests three or four white perpetrators.

[Tom Parker]

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.

[Narrator/Reporter]

You believe that evidence was plain and tampered with?

[Kevin Cooper]

I don't believe that. I know that they frame me.

[Nicholas Kristof]

It's very hard for the system to try to correct a mistake.

[Kevin Cooper]

That was one, Montgomery.

[Nicholas Kristof]

I think they got the wrong guy.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But the state says it's case closed.

[Kevin Cooper]

I am 100% certain Kevin Cooper committed these murders. I die a little bit every day. The only thing that keeps me going is the fact that I know I'm innocent.

[Tom Parker]

He's got a lot of people pulling for him. Not only within the prison, 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.

[Narrator/Reporter]

In 2018, Kevin Cooper got his wish. California's governor ordered new DNA tests. But what do they reveal about Cooper's case?

[Mary Howell]

I was worried that there wouldn't be a lot of good data that could be obtained.

[Tom Parker]

We've had the DNA testing. We do have a profile. It's certainly not Kevin.

[Kevin Cooper]

The murder victims were all mutilated.

[Narrator/Reporter]

It was a massacre.

[Kevin Cooper]

They were a close knit family of four.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The Ryan, brutal and bloody.

[Tom Parker]

Authorities are completely Baffled by the sight of the.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And more than three decades ago it shattered the upscale horse community known as Chino Hills in Southern California.

[Kevin Cooper]

We have evidence that places Kevin Cooper

[Tom Parker]

at the crime scene.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Many wonder back then if the right man had been convicted for the crime. And even more wonder today if the real killers got away.

[Kevin Cooper]

Responding to 2951 English Road. 2951 English Road.

[Narrator/Reporter]

On June 4, 1983, Peggy Ryan, her husband Doug and their 10 year old daughter Jessica were stabbed and slapp to death inside their home. An 11 year old neighbor spending the night, Christopher Hughes also lost his life.

[Kevin Cooper]

Here's four doa.

[Narrator/Reporter]

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?

[Kevin Cooper]

Changes your life. You lose somebody and it's. It hurts.

[Narrator/Reporter]

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.

[Kevin Cooper]

The Ryan's family car is missing and and presumed taken by the murder suspects. That's a 1977 Buick four door station wagon.

[Narrator/Reporter]

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.

[Kevin Cooper]

When we got to the point of

[Tom Parker]

asking him how many people were there, I went 1, 2, 3 and he squeezed my hand.

[Narrator/Reporter]

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.

[Tom Parker]

The prime suspect. Escaped prisoner Kevin Cooper is still at large.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Cooper was a career burglar who had escaped from prison and was on the run. He had been hiding out at a vacant house near the Ryan home before the murders. Authorities believed he killed the Ryans to steal their car. A hatchet was reported missing from the house where Cooper had been hiding. A hatchet sheep was later recovered there.

[Tom Parker]

The huge manhunt was finally over with Cooper being sly enough to evade them for months. Case the people say to California versus Kevin Cooper.

[Narrator/Reporter]

By the time Cooper went on trial, the memory of the only eyewitness, Josh Ryan, then 10, had changed.

[Kevin Cooper]

This is Sunday, December 9, 1984.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The district attorney at the time, Dennis Kotmeier questioned Josh.

[Kevin Cooper]

What did you see?

[Narrator/Reporter]

I don't really like the shadow or something. He no longer remembered. Three attackers.

[Kevin Cooper]

How many shadows did you see? Just one. Just the one.

[Narrator/Reporter]

We, the jury of the above entitled cause, determine that the penalty shall be death. Kevin Cooper was convicted and condemned to die. Although he told the jury then what he later told me, that he was innocent. Why should someone believe you, Kevin?

[Kevin Cooper]

I'm not asking anyone to believe me. I'm asking people to look at the evidence.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And the evidence does raise questions. Cooper's fingerprints weren't found anywhere at the crime scene. Neither were any of his hairs. But there were strands of light colored hairs found clutched in Jessica Ryan's hand. Her grandmother, Mary Howell.

[Mary Howell]

When I saw that little hand clif, she must have fought terribly.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And there were those multiple weapons that authorities say were used in the attack. How could one man wield at least three weapons?

[Mary Howell]

I still can't believe that one person could do all that to my family. There's five of them. And I just know that they didn't stand in line saying, I'm next.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The scene was incredibly bloody. There was spatter all over the walls. And yet the state's expert said he found only one single drop of blood that matched Cooper's blood type. It is on the tiny paint chip seen here in this evidence photo.

[Tom Parker]

A man walking his dog spotted the Rhine car in a church parking lot yesterday morning.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And then there's the stolen family station wagon.

[Tom Parker]

Police eagerly searched the car for clues.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Blood was found in the car. But if Kevin Cooper used it to get away, why was the blood found on three seats, not one?

[Mary Howell]

How you doing? I'm winning.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Mary Howell believed there had to be more than one killer.

[Mary Howell]

If somebody's out there that thinks that maybe Josh could identify him, if they went after Josh, they'd go after me, too. I'm concerned. I'm a protective grandmother.

[Narrator/Reporter]

After our first report on Cooper's case aired, the state agreed to conduct DNA tests. There wasn't enough DNA in the hairs, but cigarette butts found in the car, a tan T shirt found near the scene and that tiny blood stained paint chip were all sent to the lab. In 2002, the results came in and no one seemed more shocked than Cooper. The evidence tested positive for his DNA.

[Kevin Cooper]

It was devastating. I mean, I'm not going to lie to you. I thought I was going to walk out the door.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Cooper was convinced that somehow investigators had tampered with and planted the evidence. But who would believe him? Not Josh Ryan.

[Kevin Cooper]

It's time to face it. The DNA is pointing to Kevin Cooper. So he was there. He needs to pay for his crime so we have closure.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Christopher Hughes mother agreed But Josh's loving and protective grandmother didn't see it that way.

[Mary Howell]

I haven't changed my opinions at all. I still am looking for the truth. I feel the killers are still out there somewhere.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Kevin Cooper was scheduled to die by lethal injection on February 10, 2004. Would you go watch him die?

[Kevin Cooper]

Yes.

[Narrator/Reporter]

You would need to do that? Yes.

[Kevin Cooper]

He was there, so he needs to pay for that.

[Narrator/Reporter]

If Kevin Cooper is executed, you believe that they'll be killing an innocent man?

[Mary Howell]

Yes, I do.

[Kevin Cooper]

Hell no. Death row, we say hell no. They say death row, we say hell no. Death row.

[Narrator/Reporter]

February 10, 2004. Kevin Cooper's date with death was set. And then with just hours to go, the execution that was supposed to happen

[Tom Parker]

a few hours ago is now on hold.

[Narrator/Reporter]

A surprise ruling late tonight that stayed his execution and stunned just about everybody. The 9th Circuit federal appellate Court stepped in and saved Cooper's life. He later described that moment to me. How close did you come?

[Kevin Cooper]

I came within three hours and 42 minutes of being strapped down to that gurney and physically tortured with lethal poison.

[Narrator/Reporter]

After the court stayed his execution, attorney Norman Heil, working pro bono, joined Cooper's defense.

[Tom Parker]

I think Kevin is innocent. And I also think that he was the victim of a horribly racist prosecution. And I just don't give up.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Heil fought to get Cooper a new trial. For years he petitioned court after court, but the boxes of legal documents continued to pile up.

[Mary Howell]

And that was her hairdo.

[Narrator/Reporter]

At that time, Mary Howell still refused to say it was over.

[Mary Howell]

Everybody knows that I want to know the truth, why my family was killed, who did it, why, And I don't want to die without knowing it.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Sadly, the 93 year old grandmother never got the answer she hoped for.

[Mary Howell]

Love you, Grandma.

[Narrator/Reporter]

In 2008, Mary Howell died. Kevin Cooper had been on death row for 23 years. One year later, Cooper finally got a break. His case was back in front of the 9th Circuit Court with 27 judges. While the majority refused to review his case, 11 of them disagreed.

[Tom Parker]

There is not a single case in U.S. history where 11 appellate judges said that they felt that the person had not gotten a fair hearing.

[Narrator/Reporter]

One judge, William Fletcher, wrote in a scathing 100 page dissent. The state of California may be about to execute an innocent man. And there is substantial evidence that three white men rather than Cooper were the killers.

[Kevin Cooper]

Please join me in welcoming Judge Fletcher of the ninth Circuit.

[Narrator/Reporter]

In a lecture, he pointed pointed to contradictions. In the only survivors account, Josh Ryan first indicated the assailants were three white or Mexican men. By trial, I Don't know, really, like saw almost like a shadow or something. His story was different.

[Kevin Cooper]

How many shadows did you see? Just one. Just the one.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Judge Fletcher believes Josh's memory was influenced by a deputy who had visited Josh approximately 20 times during the hospital stay.

[Tom Parker]

The deputy got Josh to change the

[Kevin Cooper]

story so that he no longer said

[Tom Parker]

three or four white men did it.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The judge also noted Josh never identified Kevin Cooper.

[Tom Parker]

During his stay in the hospital, Josh

[Kevin Cooper]

twice saw a picture of Cooper on television.

[Tom Parker]

Both times he said Cooper was not one of the killers.

[Narrator/Reporter]

It's what Cooper's lawyers have been saying all along.

[Tom Parker]

As soon as they identified Kevin Cooper, a black escaped prisoner in the house down the hill from the Ryan's, they stopped looking for those people and focused entirely on proving that Kevin Cooper had killed the Ryans.

[Kevin Cooper]

Repeatedly attacked with hatchet blows to the

[Narrator/Reporter]

head by Kevin Cooper, Judge Fletcher also questions the key piece of evidence in this case. That tiny drop of blood. The stick proves Kevin Cooper was inside the Ryan home. At first the criminalist said it was one blood type and later he said it was another.

[Tom Parker]

When he found out that he'd put the wrong blood type down and he had not matched it to Kevin, he changed his notes to say it was the same blood type as Kevin's.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The judge says the criminalist altered his lab notes and claimed that he had misinterpreted his results. And that's not all. Remember those cigarette butts found in the Ryan station wagon? Defense attorney Norman Heil believes they came from the home where Cooper had been hiding out.

[Tom Parker]

When they found the Ryan station wagon, they planted those two cigarette butts.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Those butts weren't found until sheriff's deputies did a second search of the car. And according to Heil, one of the butts inexplicably grew from one test to another.

[Tom Parker]

The previous tested cigarette butt was 4 millimeters long and the one in 2002 was 7 millimeters long.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Judge Fletcher says deputies discounted, disregarded and discarded evidence pointing to other killers. Like evidence provided by this woman, Diana Roper. Days after the murders, she called the sheriff's office after she found bloody coveralls left in her closet. I tried to tell him, hey, this has to do with the Chino murder. She said they belonged to her ex boyfriend, a paroled killer by the name of Lee Furrow. Furrow had murdered 17 year old Mary Sue Kitts on the orders of a gang leader. He strangled her and threw her off, off a bridge in a river. Just an evil, evil person. Roper said. She told investigators that Furrow also owned a hatchet that looked like the weapon used on the Ryans. And Christopher Hughes, well, he kept all of his tools on the back porch hanging on nails. And as soon as they said, I walked back there. And his hatchet was the only thing missing. And she said that on the day of the murders, Furrow was wearing a T shirt. It was like a beige, light brown. Colored beige. A tan shirt was found down the road from the Ryan's home not far from the Canyon Corral bar. That's significant because on the night of the murders, three white men were seen in that bar. One of them in a light colored T shirt and another in bloody coveralls.

[Mary Howell]

I realized at that time that he

[Kevin Cooper]

was just covered in blood, spattered in blood.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Christine Slanacker and Mary Wolf, who are in the bar, spoke to us in 2004.

[Mary Howell]

It was spotted. He had a light colored shirt on. So it was, you know, it showed it really. I mean, it showed up. It was. Even though the bar was real dark, you could still see it.

[Narrator/Reporter]

When you first heard that the Ryan's been murdered, what was your first thought? The guys in the bar, Diana Roper, died three years after we interviewed her. The bloody coveralls she turned over to the authorities were never tested. Instead, a deputy threw them out before Cooper's trial. This disposition report shows the coveralls were destroyed and described as having no value.

[Kevin Cooper]

I don't know that that happened.

[Narrator/Reporter]

That did happen. When we spoke with Floyd Tidwell, who was sheriff at the time of the murders, he didn't seem to know anything about it. But doesn't that concern you that maybe not all the evidence was available at Kevin Cooper's office?

[Mary Howell]

Not.

[Kevin Cooper]

I can't be concerned unless I know about it.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But it was something that happened when you were sheriff. It was your sheriff's department.

[Kevin Cooper]

Let's bring this to a screaming halt right here. Okay, that's enough of that crap.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Kevin Cooper believes the coveralls could have helped his case, and so does Judge Fletcher.

[Kevin Cooper]

The bloody overalls were, to say the least, inconvenient.

[Narrator/Reporter]

So the deputies threw them away.

[Kevin Cooper]

Kevin Cooper, the man now sitting on

[Tom Parker]

death row, may well be, and in

[Kevin Cooper]

my view, probably is innocent.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Doesn't that give you pause? Doesn't that make you feel that you have to do whatever you can to make sure that the right person's being executed?

[Kevin Cooper]

The right person is being executed.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Former district attorney Michael Ramos inherited Cooper's case in 2003.

[Kevin Cooper]

It doesn't give me pause at all. Because you're Talking about a standing judge up the 9th Circuit Judge's Court of Appeals, which is with all due respect, a very liberal circuit. The majority opinion was not only guilty, overwhelmingly guilty. The Second World War was the largest event in human history. A 20 part series with Tom Hanks. No part of the globe was untouched, no life unchanged. Experience. The ultimate account of World War II. Every single person had a story.

[Tom Parker]

These are the stories that make us who we are.

[Kevin Cooper]

Listen to World War II with Tom Hanks on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Narrator/Reporter]

By 2010, Kevin Cooper, 52 years old, had been on death row nearly half his life. His appeals had run out. And then a newspaper columnist 3,000 miles away took notice.

[Nicholas Kristof]

I'm Nicholas Kristof. I write op ed columns for the New York Times.

[Narrator/Reporter]

What caught Kristof's attention was Judge William Fletcher's dissent.

[Nicholas Kristof]

I had never read an opinion like this of respected circuit court judge arguing that somebody on death row had been framed.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Kristof is a Pulitzer Prize winning writer covering genocide and human rights issues. And there was something about Kevin Cooper's case that struck a chord.

[Nicholas Kristof]

The prosecutors kind of seized upon him. As you know, he's sent by central casting. He looks the part that people had in their minds for a ruthless killer and that it's particularly problematic when a black person is charged with the killings of white people. And I think that made it a lot harder for Kevin Cooper to be tried fairly for this crime.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Kristof and a team from the New York Times closely examined the evidence the state said tested positive for Cooper's blood in 2002. The tiny blood stained paint chip and the tan T shirt. Kristof's conclusion, you believe as you're sitting here right now that there was evidence planted?

[Nicholas Kristof]

I believe that there was evidence planted.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But if that's true, how did Cooper's DNA get on those items? Defense attorney Norman Heil has a theory.

[Tom Parker]

When Kevin Cooper was arrested, they took blood from him. And that's the blood that they could have used.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And according to court documents before the DNA tests were done, this glass seen envelope which contained the paint chip was checked out overnight, signed out to the same criminalist who had matched the blood on it to Cooper. His reason, he said it was to assure there was enough evidence to test Kevin. What do you believe happened when he took out the single drop of blood that they say connects you to the case?

[Kevin Cooper]

I think he put either my saliva or blood in there or something in there. He had it out for 24 hours and you only slide it and date it when you open the container.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And the date is on there. You know, I've seen the picture.

[Kevin Cooper]

Yes. And so that means he opened it, but why did he take it out the box?

[Narrator/Reporter]

As for the T shirt, a judge who held a hearing on evidence tampering after the DNA test determined that the shirt had not been checked out or looked at by anyone prior to DNA testing. But that's not accurate. The state showed us the T shirt a year before the DNA tests were done when we first started looking at the case. Can you turn around and hold it, though? Right? Yeah. If you were going to test this shirt here, you would test it for what?

[Tom Parker]

To see if there's any DNA there that can be tested.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Later, the defense discovered something alarming about that vial of Cooper's blood the state had taken for evidence it was tainted.

[Tom Parker]

The vial that contains Kevin Cooper's blood has a second unidentified person DNA on it.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Kristof believes there's a suspicious pattern in Cooper's case.

[Nicholas Kristof]

I think this is unusual in the enormous amount of evidence that suggests that Kevin Cooper was framed the way consistently a place would be searched, no evidence would be found. And then once they knew they were looking at Kevin Cooper, then they would search again and abracadabra, they would find critical evidence that they needed against him.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Former District attorney Michael Ramos says claims of evidence tampering have been dismissed by both state and federal courts.

[Kevin Cooper]

As far as planning evidence, that's absolutely impossible.

[Mary Howell]

There was no evidence tampering at all.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And yet after Cooper's conviction, key people who had worked on the case got in trouble with the law. Crime lab director William Baird resigned amid allegations of stealing heroin from the press. Property locker Sheriff Floyd Tidwell was charged with a felony.

[Tom Parker]

Floyd Tidwell was found out to have been taking guns that the sheriff's department deputies took from people during their normal police activities, and he sold them.

[Narrator/Reporter]

That's the same Sheriff Tidwell who didn't want to answer our questions about destroying evidence.

[Kevin Cooper]

Let's bring this to a scream and halt right here, okay?

[Nicholas Kristof]

It does raise questions about the caliber of the work that was being done by the sheriff's office.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Both Cooper's defense team and Nicholas Kristof called for new DNA testing and got a huge response from readers, politicians, even celebrities. Kim Kardashian west sent out this tweet. Governor Brown, can you please test the DNA of Kevin Cooper? And what was your reaction when she actually went on social media saying, you deserve to get testing?

[Kevin Cooper]

I'm very thankful that she cared Enough. And took the time, all of her busy life to do that.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I understand even the Pope responded, weighed in.

[Nicholas Kristof]

Yeah. How great is that?

[Narrator/Reporter]

You saw the article written by Nicholas Kristof, right? Is he wrong?

[Kevin Cooper]

Absolutely wrong. And I wish that he would have taken the time to go over the evidence, the evidence that was presented at the trial, the evidence that was presented to the appellate courts, the federal proceedings. I truly believe that he didn't do his homework before writing that one sided, very one sided story.

[Nicholas Kristof]

So if you disagree with my conclusions, then test the evidence. The best response, if you, you don't like my argument, is to prove me wrong with the evidence. It is sitting in lockers and has been for 35 years.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The defense believes new tests will connect someone else to the murders, but they'll need the power of California's governor to make it happen.

[Kevin Cooper]

That's him.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Kevin Cooper's lawyers have long believed Lee Furrow was involved in the murders of the Ryan family and Christopher Hughes. When we found him in 2000, Furrow had moved cross country to Pennsylvania.

[Kevin Cooper]

Here I am, and I'm willing to talk to anybody about it.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Furrow was a known killer. He had murdered that 17 year old almost a decade before the Chino Hills massacre. Can I ask you point blank, did you kill the Ryan family?

[Nicholas Kristof]

No, I did not.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Or Christopher Hughes?

[Nicholas Kristof]

No, I did not. I had nothing to do with any of this.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I asked Furrow about those bloody coveralls that his ex girlfriend gave to authorities.

[Kevin Cooper]

I never had any coveralls.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Furrow said that at the time of the murders, he had been at a concert. Former San Bernardino District Attorney Michael ramos.

[Kevin Cooper]

He was 30 plus miles away from the crime scene when this murder occurred.

[Narrator/Reporter]

In 2018, Furrow agreed to give Cooper's team a sample of his DNA. Were you surprised that he was just willing to hand over his DNA?

[Tom Parker]

I was astonished that he would be willing to do that.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Defense investigator and retired FBI agent Tom

[Tom Parker]

Parker and I asked him why and he said he really had nothing to hide.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Furrow is seen here with a relative at a meeting that was secretly recorded by investigator Parker.

[Kevin Cooper]

So if you wouldn't mind opening up your mouth, I'll do this side here.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Furrow was willing to give his saliva, but not his blood.

[Kevin Cooper]

I'm not doing blood to where it can end up on evidence. Like whatever they did to Cooper.

[Tom Parker]

You never had a tan T shirt like that.

[Kevin Cooper]

It's not what you have.

[Tom Parker]

Well, DNA's gonna tell us even 35

[Kevin Cooper]

years later, those skin cells are still gonna be good.

[Narrator/Reporter]

We went back to Furrow's door again in January 2019. This time, he wouldn't talk to us. While the defense pushed for new DNA tests, the only survivor of the massacre was pushing back. Josh Ryan doesn't think any more DNA tests are needed to determine who killed his family in 1983. In a letter to Governor Brown, Josh wrote. Kevin Cooper is on my mind every day. He's a nightmare which plays over and over in my head. I. I can never get away from him. Christopher Hughes mother, Mary Ann agrees. There's just no doubt that Kevin Cooper was the one and only killer, and they need to carry out the sentence that he was given. But Cooper, facing death, still insists he's innocent.

[Kevin Cooper]

Why can't I take responsibility for murders that I did not commit?

[Narrator/Reporter]

Then, in December 2018, Cooper got a surprise.

[Tom Parker]

Two weeks before leaving office, Governor Jerry Brown tonight has issued an executive order directing DNA testing be carried out in one of the most shocking and brutal murder cases in Southern California.

[Narrator/Reporter]

How did you hear about it?

[Kevin Cooper]

I found out about it on Christmas morning when I was watching the news.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The governor's order allowed only four to be tested. The hatchet, the tan T shirt, an orange towel that was found next to it, and the hatchet sheath discovered in the house where Cooper was hiding.

[Kevin Cooper]

I'm just trying to stay positive and hopeful, but I'm also skeptical.

[Narrator/Reporter]

So are these DNA tests really a matter of life or death?

[Tom Parker]

They are for Mr. Cooper for sure.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But then, just two months later, Cooper got more good news. The new governor of California, Gavin Newsom, ordered more testing, including that vial of Cooper's blood. Why do you think that Governor Newsom so quickly added the number of tests?

[Tom Parker]

Well, I like to think that it's because he saw in the clemency petition that there was a significant doubt about whether Kevin Cooper was guilty.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Newsom also suspended executions in California. San Quentin's lethal injection facility was dismantled and hauled out of the prison, but Kevin Cooper remains on death row. I'm finally getting to meet Kevin Cooper face to face after all these years. In 2019, I went to San Quentin Quentin prison with attorney Norman Heil. It's the first time I had seen Kevin Cooper in person. We were not allowed to record the visit, but we talked for hours. Even after all this time, Cooper is confident he will eventually walk out a free man. The fact that he now could have so much of this evidence tested, do you see a difference in Kevin?

[Tom Parker]

I think he's very cautious about trying to predict what's going to happen and trying to get too optimistic we're worried that something nefarious could happen and that the testing will not show his innocence.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Kim Kardashian west also went to see Cooper, and she shared her visit with her millions of followers.

[Kevin Cooper]

She just didn't get on board just to get on board. She did her research. When people look up the evidence, they say, oh, hell, no, this guy didn't do that. Thomas says, tell you he didn't do it. All you gotta do is look at everything and put everything together. And that's what she did.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Cooper continues to wait for the test results, but his team says they're not relying on that. They have new information. They say that has nothing to do with DNA.

[Tom Parker]

We have three people who have testified under oath in the form of a declaration that leave earth confessed to the them.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Kevin Cooper is 63 years old. He's now been on San Quentin's death row for more than half his life.

[Kevin Cooper]

I'm doing as best I can. Despite my situation, I'm strong mentally, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually, and I continue to fight.

[Narrator/Reporter]

It's been one disappointment after another in his bid to prove his innocence. And after a year of DNA testing, more disappointment.

[Mary Howell]

This evidence was collected years and years and years ago.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Defense attorney Bica Barlow, a DNA specialist, says the test confirmed her biggest fear, that the DNA is too degraded for even modern testing.

[Mary Howell]

At the time, evidence wasn't handled very well. It wasn't stored well.

[Kevin Cooper]

This is the T shirt.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Do you know, as you're sitting here today, who was wearing that T shirt?

[Mary Howell]

No.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And why not? We know that this T shirt was used in these murders. Why don't we know who we was wearing it?

[Mary Howell]

We don't know for lots of reasons. But the DNA testing didn't tell us anything.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The lab was unable to find even one full DNA profile anywhere on the tan T shirt that could be matched to a wearer.

[Mary Howell]

I'm sure for Kevin Cooper, it's incredibly disappointing. He's been asking to test this for years and years and years, and, you know, maybe we would have gotten different results 10 years ago or 20 years ago, but that's not what happened.

[Narrator/Reporter]

It was much the same story for most of the other evidence.

[Mary Howell]

Testing was done on the hatchet, the hatchet sheath, the fingernail scrapings from the victims, and we got no conclusive results. So this is the orange towel found with the tan T shirt.

[Narrator/Reporter]

They had better luck with that orange towel, the one believed to have been taken from the Ryan home. A full DNA profile was found on the towel.

[Mary Howell]

We have a single male Profile that is not Kevin Cooper's.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Barlow says the profile doesn't match Cooper or any of the victims. But it also doesn't match Lee Furrow. It was uploaded into codis, a national database of known offenders. But again, there was no match. To be honest, this is a towel inside a family home. It could be a full profile of somebody was visiting the Ryan's.

[Tom Parker]

It could be all sorts of people.

[Mary Howell]

All of that blood had to go somewhere.

[Narrator/Reporter]

There was one unexpected and disturbing discovery made during the testing.

[Mary Howell]

You look at all of these blood vials and they all have a substantial amount of blood in them.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But the vial that has contained Kevin Cooper's blood since he was arrested in 1983 is empty.

[Mary Howell]

To have an entire vial disappear like that raises all sorts of questions in my mind. And I can't understand how all of that blood could have been consumed in testing.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And when you say questions, what do you mean by that?

[Mary Howell]

I don't know what to think. I know. My questions are where do the. Was it taken out deliberately and placed someplace else? There's so much evidence of bad behavior by the police in this investigation that frankly, it wouldn't surprise me if somebody took blood from that vial and dropped it on things.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Cooper has always claimed that his blood had been planted on evidence.

[Tom Parker]

If you look at what we have so far, Kevin is not tied to these crimes through any of this testing.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Even without DNA tests that definitively tied someone else to the murders. Hile says he now has other evidence that does. The team found five new witnesses who connect Lee Furrow to the crime.

[Tom Parker]

We have found witnesses that in one case, Lee Furrow confessed to shortly after the murders, gave a detailed confession to this individual who I'm sure he never would have believed would ever go to the police.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Two of those witnesses came forward after they watched our broadcast. For now, they want to remain anonymous. What makes you believe these men are credible? I mean, how do you know they might not have a beef with him?

[Tom Parker]

Obviously, you don't take confessions just at face value. You dig into them. Their backgrounds are such that contribute to their credibility.

[Narrator/Reporter]

One witness vividly recalled Furrow saying, we butchered all of them. And another witness gave details about Furrow's alleged accomplices that are shocking.

[Tom Parker]

It was a surprise, quite frankly.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Defense investigator Tom Parker.

[Tom Parker]

We have statements from people that there were two women involved on this killing team along with Lee Furrell.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Doesn't that contradict the witnesses at the Canyon Corral bar? They all said it was three.

[Tom Parker]

I have been told that at least one of the women could be mistaken for a man based on the clothing that was being worn.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Both women named by the new witnesses did hang out with Lee Furrow. Hiles says he and his team are following this lead.

[Tom Parker]

Fewer than one out of five cases are solved by DNA testing. There's a lot of other ways in which people are exonerated, a lot of other ways in which the truth emerges.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Cooper's defense team asked, actually pleaded with Governor Newsom to go beyond DNA tests and take a fresh look at Cooper's claims that evidence had been tampered with, implanted in this 152 page petition. They made a case for a full innocence investigation. Does this feel like a really tough uphill battle?

[Tom Parker]

Always has.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But Cooper is not giving up hope.

[Tom Parker]

He is a very strong person and he is somebody who believes in the truth and is willing to fight for it.

[Kevin Cooper]

I cannot give up and I will not give up.

[Nicholas Kristof]

In 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom ordered an independent investigation into the Cooperation Cooper case. It was set up to examine his trial, his appeals and quote, all available evidence, including DNA tests done after the trial. The special counsel released a report in 2023 rejecting Cooper's claims of innocence.

[Kevin Cooper]

Sunday, June 14 Paramount plus presents a night for the Ages live at the White House. UFC stars no cup bigger than this. The world's famous greatest fighters on America's biggest stage. This is the moment we have all been waiting for.

[Nicholas Kristof]

Featuring two UFC title fights with Ilia

[Kevin Cooper]

Toria versus Justin Ga. The hype is real. Plus Alex Pereira versus Cyril Gar and so much more. Let's go baby.

[Nicholas Kristof]

UFC at the White House Sunday, June

[Kevin Cooper]

14th at 8 Eastern only on Paramount Plus.