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Cochran guilty of murder

Faces life in prison without parole in 2014 Regan killing

KELLY COCHRAN, LEFT, and her defense attorney, Michael Scholke, listen as jurors confirm their votes after finding her guilty Tuesday of first-degree murder and four other charges in Iron County Trial Court. Cochran now faces life in prison without the possibility of parole when she is sentenced May 10. (Nikki Younk/Daily News photo)

CRYSTAL FALLS — Kelly Cochran now faces life in prison without the possibility of parole after a jury convicted her Tuesday of first-degree murder and other charges for the 2014 killing of 53-year-old Christopher Regan of Iron River.

Her sentencing is set for May 10 in Iron County Trial Court.

The jury of eight women and four men deliberated for less than three hours before announcing their verdict just after 3:30 p.m. The trial lasted more than two weeks.

Cochran, 34, was brought back into the courtroom from the Iron County Jail with her hands shackled to her waist. She showed little emotion as the jury forewoman read off guilty verdicts on all charges — first-degree murder as an aider and abetter, conspiracy to commit dead bodies-disinterment and mutilation, concealing the death of an individual, larceny in a building and lying to a peace officer-violent crime investigation.

Cochran had admitted to investigators on April 30, 2016 she lured Regan, an Iron River co-worker with whom she was having an affair, to her Caspian home Oct. 14, 2014 so her now-deceased husband, Jason Cochran, could fatally shoot him with a .22 rifle.

CHRISTOPHER REGAN

She then helped Jason Cochran dismember Regan’s body in the basement with a reciprocating saw and hide the remains off of Pentoga Trail in Crystal Falls Township, according to the April 2016 interview.

While testifying in her own defense, Cochran claimed she lied in that interview because she felt guilty her affair with Regan led her husband to murder him. She maintained Jason Cochran acted alone in the murder and she only assisted him in concealing the death out of fear for her own life.

Investigators, with Cochran’s guidance, found Regan’s skull and eyeglasses May 17, 2016 — about a year and a half after his disappearance — in a wooded area off Pentoga Trail.

In closing arguments Tuesday morning, Iron County Prosecutor Melissa Powell told the jury even though Cochran herself may not have pulled the trigger, Michigan law holds that anyone who aids and abets a criminal is equally responsible for the crime.

“The defendants in this (Continued from A-1)

matter were bonded in blood; Chris Regan was bathed in it,” the prosecutor said. “At this time, I’m asking you to wash away the blood and find the defendant guilty on all counts.”

Powell proposed Cochran knew her husband was going to kill Regan because the Cochrans had a murder pact to kill anyone with whom they had extramarital affairs. If she didn’t help Jason Cochran plan and cover up the murder with her college knowledge of forensics, she’d lose her husband as well as Regan, Powell said.

In addition, Powell claimed Cochran was a “scorned woman” who Regan was about to leave behind in his planned move to North Carolina.

Defense attorney Michael Scholke used Cochran’s own admission she was a liar to her advantage in his closing argument.

“Anything she tells you should be looked at with great scrutiny,” Scholke said. “And the only evidence they (the prosecution) have is the word of Ms. Cochran.”

While there’s no question Regan’s skull showed he died of a gunshot wound to the back of the head, Scholke argued there’s no way of telling from the scientific evidence if Jason Cochran committed the murder by himself or if he had help from his wife.

Trained cadaver dogs never indicated the presence of a dead body in the Cochrans’ basement where the dismemberment reportedly took place, Scholke pointed out. In fact, the only item seized from the Cochran residence with Regan’s DNA on it was the forceps Cochran said she used in an attempt to dig the bullet out of Regan’s head, Scholke added.

Judge Richard J. Celello told the jury they could choose to convict Cochran on first-degree, or premeditated, murder as an aider and abetter; on the lesser charge of second-degree murder as an aider and abetter; as an accessory after the fact to murder; or to acquit her entirely of the murder charge.

On the other charges, jurors could consider a not guilty by reason of duress verdict if they believed Cochran only committed the offenses because she feared her husband would harm her if she didn’t comply. Duress is not a defense for murder, the judge explained.

Lead investigator and former Iron River Police Chief Laura Frizzo afterwards credited the verdict to a team effort of different police agencies and the prosecutor. The goal always was to get justice for Regan’s family, she said. 

Regan’s family members in the courtroom Tuesday declined to comment on the case.

Scholke said he respected the jury’s verdict and thanked them for their time and attention. However, he noted it would be “premature” to comment further before sentencing.

Cochran still faces a murder charge in Indiana’s Lake County for the Feb. 20, 2016 death of Jason Cochran, which she reportedly committed as revenge for Regan’s murder, according to court documents.

Indiana Detective Jeremy Ogden said Tuesday that case is ongoing and he was unable to comment on it.

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