Kelly Marie Cochran, Suspected Serial Killer, 2016, Indiana

Kelly Marie Cochran, 33, of Indiana is charged with two murders in two states. Investigation continues. In Crystal Falls, Michigan the Iron County prosecuting attorney, Melissa Powell, has filed court papers noting that other possible murders are to be investigated. Powell stated that Cochran has "claimed responsibility for the deaths of other individuals, which, if true, make her a serial killer." She is currently held in Michigan in the Iron County Jail on a $5 million cash bond, charged with six felonies, including murder.  She was captured in Kentucky and voluntarily extradited to Michigan to face charges. There she is charged with:

-Homicide, open murder for the death of Christopher Karl Regan
-Second-degree home invasion
-Conspiracy to commit dead bodies – disinterment & mutilation
-Concealing the death of an individual
-Lying to a police officer
-Accessory after the fact to a felony

Investigators believe that Corcoran, together with the husband, had plotted a staged “caught in the act” murder of her 53-old boyfriend, Christopher Regan. On October 13, 2014, she lured Regan with a promise of sex and Jason Cochran, 37, shot the man in the head with a .22 shotgun. Husband Jason, using an electric hand saw, cut up the body. They put the remains in trash bags and drove to the Iron River where in the woods they distributed the bags. Police recovered from the woods “a human skull with an apparent bullet hole, bones and bone fragments. Police also recovered a .22 caliber rifle, a .22 caliber bullet, and a pair of glasses.”

Following her April 18 arrest in Kentucky where she had fled, Cochran was “interrogated by both Michigan and Indiana police for almost 70 hours.” Cochran confessed to murdering her husband. She injected him with heroin and then choked him to death. He was dead in under 60 seconds. She told police "I still hate him (her husband), and yes, it was revenge. I evened the score,” referencing the earlier murder, which she apparently later regretted. She added that before Regen was killed she had considered dropping the plan and killing her husband instead.

Investigation may or not substantiate Ms. Cochran’s allusion to previous murders at her hand. One should note that Miranda Barbour of Pennsylvania, who committed a murder on November 11, 2013, made a grandiose confession to having previously murdered at least 22 others. But the claim, after investigation, was discredited.

[Robert St. Estephe]

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Kelly Marie Cochran, 33, “of Merrillville, Indiana.”

Earlier crimes – "claimed responsibility for the deaths of other individuals, which, if true, make her a serial killer."

Oct. 13, 2014 – Christopher Regan, 53, murdered with shotgun, dismembered, Iron River, Mi.

Feb. 20, 2016 – Jason Cochran, 37, murdered, Hobart, Indiana; “asphyxia due to strangulation that was complicated by heroin intoxication.” Found dead Feb. 20. “Cochran confessed to killing Jason Cochran, her husband of 13 years. Cochran told police she delivered an overdose of heroin to her husband on Feb. 20, and put her hands on his neck, nose and mouth. According to reports, Cochran told police he died less than a minute later.”

Mar. 15, 2015 – “When police searched her home with the FBI in March, 2015, they found nothing.”

Apr. 2016 – “According to the document, Cochran has an alleged prior mental health history, which includes a voluntary admission to a psychiatric facility in Indiana a month ago [in April, 2016].”

Apr. 26, 2016 – “According to the Post-Tribune, Cochran fled Northwest Indiana without telling family members on April 26, about nine weeks after her husband's death and around the time Michigan authorities charged her in Regan's death.”

Apr. 28, 2016 – arrested in Wingo, Kentucky, where she had fled from Hobart, Ind.

Apr. 29, 2016 – “Following her arrest in Kentucky, Cochran spoke with police on April 29 and provided details in the killing of Regan and directed them to recovery of evidence in the case.”

May 3, 2016 – Graves County Jail in Mayfield, Kentucky; Cochran signed extradition papers that will bring her from Mayfield, Graves County, Kentucky to Crystal Falls, Iron County, Michigan.

May 16, 2016 – arrived in Mi. on extradition; formally charged in Iron County, Mi. Pleased not guilty.

May 23, 2016 – “During a May 23 interview with Hobart Detective Jeremy Ogden, Cochran said she blamed her husband for taking "the only good thing I had in my life," court records state. "I still hate him (her husband), and yes, it was revenge. I evened the score," records quote her as saying.”

Aug. 12, 2016 – charged with murder of Jason Cochran. Superior Court of Lake County, Ind.

Sep. 13, 2016 – “Kelly Cochran is set to appear for a preliminary exam in Iron County on September 13th.”

 

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[Jerry DeRoche,“Cochran charged in husband’s death,” Iron County Reporter (Mi.), Aug. 17, 2016]

 [“New details in murder case link suspect to possible serial killings,” ABC10 News (WBUP/WBKP – Marquette, Michigan), May 17, 2016]

[Melissa Locker, “Is This Indiana Woman a Serial Killer?” Rolling Stone, Aug. 17, 2016]

[“Kelly Cochran charged in husband's heroin death,” UPMatters.com, Aug. 15, 2016]

 

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