All language subtitles for Snapped.S36E13.HDTV.x264-NGP-CEsubs

A businessman's death mystifies friends
and loved ones.

His death generated a lot of surprise.

This is a very healthy, vibrant young
man.

His blood glucose level was 21, which
can cause your brain to swell.

But we knew Michael Cochran was not
diabetic.

But to his investors, the timing is
suspicious.

A lawyer approached me about an
investment that he made.

Just under $3 million.

He seems to think that there's something
fishy going on with the company.

People were giving up their entire
retirement savings.

You're like, man, we just lost this
money and we're never getting it back.

And when detectives uncover the truth,
it exposes more than anyone could have

anticipated.

In relatively short order.

They were able to put together what was
going on.

There was no business.

It was just smoke and mirrors.

They're like, okay, this movie truly is
planned out. This is true crime.

A second autopsy was able to rule his
death a homicide.

Open the fridge, and there's a bottle of
insulin sitting there. How many of us

that don't have diabetics have insulin
in our refrigerators?

February 6, 2019.

A woman named Natalie Cochran parks
outside an emergency room in Beckley,

West Virginia.

With the help of a friend, she brings
her unconscious husband, 38-year-old

Michael Cochran, inside.

Michael had an unexplained medical event
at the home. He had collapsed, and

she had summoned some folks to come and
help.

Initial... Testing showed that his blood
glucose level was 21, which

by all accounts is dire.

In a healthy individual, that might be
60s, 70s.

When a person's blood glucose drops
below a certain level, you can go into a

coma, and that can cause loss of oxygen
to your brain.

A very likely outcome is death.

Brownlee General took the appropriate
medical action to raise that blood sugar

level.

He is immediately intubated and put on
the ventilator.

When doctors ask Natalie what might have
caused this, she says she has no idea.

Michael is an active father of two and
the picture of health.

But despite their efforts, Michael's
condition continues to deteriorate.

Mike stayed on a ventilator from the
time he was placed on one at Raleigh

General Hospital until roughly five days
later.

He was not waking up, no matter what
sort of treatment he received to reverse

the low blood sugar.

And ultimately, he was declared brain
dead.

For Natalie, that means it's time to
consider the unthinkable.

She told us that they've done the MRI.
He has no brain activity.

She's got to make the decision to pull
him off the vent.

Everyone comes in and says their
goodbyes, and ultimately he is

transferred to hospice, where he is for
only a few hours before he passes away.

It was a bad day for everybody that knew
Mike and loved Mike, and it just

happened just so fast.

Michael's loved ones are devastated by
the loss, but the way he died raises

questions for several of them.

Michael's death generated a lot of
surprise, again, because he was a very

healthy, vibrant young man.

What happened here to, you know, correct
this young man's life that was just so

full of life?

Michael Cochran was born in West
Virginia on December 23, 1980.

Michael was raised by Donna, his mother,
and Eddie, his stepfather.

They are just wonderful people.

Mike has always been into sports.

He was always an athlete in high school.

He played football. He played baseball.

Michael's interest in sports is what led
him to meeting his future wife, Natalie.

Natalie worked at the sporting goods
store and Michael was always in there

buying things.

Her mother and father were both in the
school system there. He was an

accountant and she was a school teacher.

Had a pretty good life growing up. Never
really wanted for anything.

Soon after they began dating, it became
clear they were meant for each other.

Every time you saw Mike, you saw
Natalie.

It's very seldom you ever saw them.

She would always say we were high school
sweethearts. Then they went to WVU. She

was planning to go to pharmacy school,
and he was doing computer science IT

work. And they got engaged while they
were at college.

They married young.

After they finished school, they settled
in Daniels, West Virginia, and they had

two kids.

Mike, as a father, he was very, very
into his children.

He was always coaching his son in
football there. His daughter was always

there with him as well.

Michael and Natalie both worked hard to
support their family.

Michael owned an IT company. He
installed computer programs for

different offices.

Natalie was a pharmacist, and she worked
at various retail pharmacies in that

area. They built a comfortable life
together, but had their sights set on

something bigger.

In 2017, Michael and Natalie formed a
company, Tactical Solutions Group.

And the stated purpose of the company
was to deal in government contracts.

People that got those government
contracts would make money by... buying

and selling them.

They would make a purchase and they
would get paid back from the government.

Michael would research available
government contracts, but Natalie was

the point person for the company. She
was the one that got the money.

When people would come to Michael, he
would refer them to Natalie.

Michael said that Natalie was the one
that had gotten that business going and

she knew everything.

The Cochrans found most of their
investors right there in Beckley.

We did small amounts over a period of
time. We didn't do a lump sum because I

was unsure about how this was working
and how it was going on.

In time, it was around $17,000 total.

And by all appearances, business was
booming.

They were purchasing houses. They were
purchasing cars.

They were purchasing land.

They were going on vacation.

The Cochrans were coming into quite a
lot of money, and they were coming into

it pretty quickly.

They seemed to be doing great, and they
had everything.

Now, Michael has unexpectedly passed
away.

and his loved ones want to know why.

Despite the unusual nature of his death,
doctors attribute it to a natural

medical episode.

Michael was, by all accounts, very
healthy.

It was very strange that Michael passed
away so suddenly, but

when a person passes away in hospice
care, there's not typically

seemed to be an emergent need for an
autopsy.

His cause of death was explained as
respiratory failure having to do

with an anoxic brain injury.

A month later, reports are trickling in
that the Cochran's business may not be

all that it seems.

A lawyer in Beckley had approached me
about an investment that he had made

with Natalie Cochran.

He was concerned that he wasn't going to
receive his money back.

There was a local business owner who
came forward to another trooper

kind of in confidence.

He had entered into a business agreement
with Natalie Cochran, and he was...

I guess to say at the end of his rope.

He had previously contacted Natalie.

He seems to think that there's something
fishy going on with the company.

He was more or less looking to either
get her to complete the deal that he had

entered into with the business, with
her, or return his money that he had

invested, which was approximately
$40,000.

This transaction was supposed to be
completed.

Michael Cochran also suddenly died.

When police begin researching Tactical
Solutions Group, they find several other

investors in Beckley who are wondering
what happened to their money.

People were giving up their entire
retirement.

thinking they're going to be making
hundreds of thousands of dollars in

return. There were all sorts of excuses
as to why those promises couldn't be

fulfilled. Natalie would blame the bank
for not transferring the money as

promised.

To seasoned detectives, Natalie's
excuses sound like something else.

We could not find any record of any
government contract that...

the TSG business I'd ever engaged in.

She's been orchestrating this
multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme right

here at home.

Ponzi scheme is, in basic terms, is when
they take the second person's money,

give it back to the first person part of
it, and then they continue on down the

line collecting money from all these
people. But eventually, the money's

going to run out.

And the timing is suspicious.

The death of Michael in the midst of
what was clearly a fraud being

perpetrated by Natalie had to raise some
major suspicions.

Michael Cochran was a very healthy, fit,
38-year-old young man.

For a person like Michael Cochran to
just suddenly die, yeah, that

warranted a second look.

And so the investigation also pursued
the potential unlawful death of Michael.

She was running this Ponzi scheme, and
then her husband died.

And it all just seemed a little too
convenient.

They realized they had to talk to
Natalie about it.

Coming up, friends paint a puzzling
picture.

He said he will not go to the hospital.

And he would be so mad if he woke up and
he was there.

But Natalie tells investigators she
thinks his death was caused by a

bodybuilding obsession.

West Virginia State Police are dealing
with two possible crimes.

The mysterious death of 38-year-old
Michael Cochran and the alleged Ponzi

scheme his wife Natalie Cochran has been
accused of running.

Right now, it's unclear if there's a
connection.

There's unaccounted money out there. The
investors are upset. I think ultimately

there was the loss.

The FBI is tasked with handling the
financial crime while detectives focus

on the possible homicide.

They begin by speaking with the
Cochran's long-term friends and

investors, John and Stephanie Hamilton,
who say this is the second tragedy to

befall the family.

Right around the time frame that I gave
her the first check for the investment

in January of 2019, that same week,
actually, she told

me that she had leukemia.

I was devastated for her.

She's young, we're the same age, and
she's got young kids.

Everybody was just...

trying to just do everything they could
for her because no one wants to battle

cancer alone.

I immediately was, how can I help them?
What can we do?

The Hamiltons were so focused on
Natalie's health that it came as a

surprise when a month later she called
to say that Michael had fallen sick as

well.

On February 6th that morning, Natalie
sent me a text saying that Mike had

collapsed.

and just wanted to know if I could come
by.

Whenever I got there, Mike was laying on
their downstairs couch and appeared to

be asleep.

I asked Natalie what had happened, and
she said that he had a seizure and that

she was going to let him sleep at all.

I said, do you want me to call him an
ambulance?

Do you want us to drive him to the
hospital?

And she said, well, no, I'm just going
to let him sleep at all. This is what he

does whenever he has seizures.

You know, you're thinking, well, I
really don't think this is the best

idea, but it's her husband.

So what I did was I went and I called my
wife because my wife is a physician

assistant.

I said, you know, what's wrong?

And he said, Michael's sick.

And I said, okay. And he said, you need
to stop by here and see if you can talk

her into taking him to the hospital.

When I get to the house, I walk in.

And Mike was laying on the couch, and
there's a blood pressure cuff on his

arm. And I remember seeing the numbers
and the heart rate, and that was all

good. And I said, what happened?

And she said, well, he was thrown up in
the sink.

He had a seizure.

Anybody that has a history of seizures
should go to the hospital immediately.

She said he will not go to the hospital.

And she said he would be so mad if he
woke up and he was there. I said, well,

blame me.

Tell him I was here.

I said he had to go.

And she said, well, I'm just going to
let him sleep it off.

I had to leave.

So I left, and she had promised when I
was leaving if he didn't wake up from

his sleep.

that she would take him to the hospital.

I know that Steph, throughout the day,
she was getting updates on how Mike was.

At one point, Natalie actually showed my
wife a photo of the way that he had been

playing in the kitchen, and my wife once
again reiterated that, you know,

Natalie, you probably need to take him
to the hospital just to get him checked,

just to be sure.

The Hamiltons say eight hours after she
initially called them, Natalie texted

that she was taking Michael to the ER.

Her friend and neighbor come by and
actually got Mike to the hospital that

night there. He was the only one that
could talk her into it finally.

She did let me know they got there.

They were working on him. The next thing
I get is a picture of him on the vent

and everything, and I thought, what in
the world is going on?

The homicide investigators, the fact
that Natalie waited so long to get her

husband medical attention is a potential
red flag.

Clearly he was in distress and she
didn't get him help when everybody could

see that he needed help.

As we talked to all these witnesses, I
was like, man, it seems like that she

was delaying care for him.

Well, why would you do that?

Then your gut sinks because you're
thinking, man, that's pretty cold

-blooded.

With questions regarding the sudden
death of Michael Cochran continuing to

arise, detectives are left wondering why
an autopsy was not performed.

It's very unusual for someone to die in
hospice care and have an autopsy.

That's where people go to die with as
much comfort for them and their

survivors as they can.

So that was certainly not unusual that
there was no autopsy at the time.

But the investigation into the fraud
aspect messed with the suspicious death

of a very healthy young man.

The death certificate listed Michael's
death as natural causes.

That is obviously a hurdle, but it's not
insurmountable. It doesn't mean that

we're going to stop doing what we're
doing.

But... It did take a really long time
from the time that Michael died in

February of 2019 to gather evidence.

There was so much talk in the community
about his death.

So our office kept the information that
did not need to be public behind closed

doors.

At this point, Lieutenant Bledsoe needs
to know what Natalie knows about

Michael's death.

And she offered to come into the state
police detachment.

On April 8th, two months after her
husband died, Natalie speaks to

investigators in West Virginia.

Like I told you, we're investigating,
you know, what caused or contributed to

Michael's death.

Natalie, just tell me how things
progressed, you know, with Michael.

Okay.

Natalie says she doesn't think Michael's
death had anything to do with the

seizures.

She's convinced it was caused by
something else.

She stated that after Michael had passed
away, she found this

bottle in a medicine cabinet, which was
labeled as enclomiphene citrate.

She didn't know what it was. She said he
got it on a trip to Mexico.

During that time, he paid 34 supplements
a day. He was all good.

Okay. I'd always been learning that this
stuff's not safe, it's not tested. It

even came in a bottle that said for
animals only, not for human ingestion.

And he was taking it. It was like a
steroid. Right. He was taking it to gain

mass. And he would suck that up.

Gotcha. And it also had an insulin
component in it, which bodybuilders can

manipulate insulin to cut muscles.

And so Mike was all about, you know, all
that stuff.

Michael was very athletic.

He lifted weights. He ran. He took some
supplements, but mainly just what seemed

to be your normal supplements that
healthy people take.

She says that Michael definitely
overdosed on this alleged Mexican

supplement that he was using as part of
his workout regimen.

Hospital records seem to confirm
Natalie's theory.

When Michael got to the Raleigh General
Emergency Room, they took a sample of

his blood, and his blood glucose level
was 21, which is essentially fatal.

I want to see exactly what the effects
are of an insulin overdose on a non

-diabetic patient, because we knew
Michael Cochran was not diabetic.

They discover that unnecessary insulin
intake can cause loss of brain function

and comas.

The first attending physician that we
interviewed, I asked him, can you even

overdose from insulin?

He said, oh yeah, absolutely. He said,
if you let it go unattended, he said,

after a certain time it becomes
irreversible.

There was a substance that she said he
used, which was in clomiphene citrate.

However, experts were able to determine
that there's no evidence that that could

have caused Michael's condition, even if
he was using it.

It was a substance that would certainly
not be fatal and certainly would not

cause Michael Cochran to have a
hypoglycemic injury.

Investigators find it unlikely that, as
a medical professional herself,

Natalie would make such a mistake.

At this point in the investigation,
Mike's death hasn't even been ruled a

homicide. We have no idea what killed
him and we have no murder weapon at this

point. And then Natalie brings up the
idea of insulin for bodybuilding

purposes.

Natalie Cochran is a diabetic educator.

A pharmacist whose specialty is treating
people who have diabetes.

Who would know it better? And more
importantly, not just know it, but who

would know how long it takes?

Police wonder if they've just been told
how Michael was killed by the person who

did it.

We knew we had turned over the right
stone. It's just now, follow the

evidence.

Coming up, the government's fraud case
reaches a conclusion.

They found a contract where Natalie had
arranged to sell half of the business.

But investigators find the homicide
trickier to prove.

There is no per se smoking gun.

So you're looking at why did this
happen?

Three months into the investigation of
Michael Cochran's death, West Virginia

police decide to prioritize getting an
arrest for the Ponzi scheme.

So they ask federal agents pursuing the
fraud allegations for assistance.

The officers that executed the search
warrant were state police, ATF, and the

FBI, all engaged as a collaborative
search.

Any number of things that could support
the theory that there was a Ponzi

scheme. They're seizing papers, they're
seizing electronics.

There were deposits being made, but the
payments coming out were all from

those deposits of investors and none
from any true generation of business.

They found a contract.

in that search warrant where Natalie had
arranged to sell half of the business to

a local business person for a
significant amount of money.

They were going to pay $4.9 million for
a business that was absolutely

worthless. There was no business.

It was just smoke and mirrors.

The contract proved to federal
investigators that Natalie knew the

scheme couldn't last forever.

She was going to sell it to someone else
and have them take the fall for her.

And then she would have been out of it.
She would have been free and clear.

But homicide detectives are looking for
something else, a murder weapon.

I opened the fridge.

In the door, there were shelves, and
there was a sack of candy bars. I moved

those out of the way, and when I did,
there was a bottle of insulin sitting

there.

There was a single puncture. Someone had
stuck a needle in that bottle and

extracted some quantity of insulin out
of it.

At this point in the case, it's really
significant that investigators are able

to find a bottle of insulin in the
Cochran residence.

One, because no one in the residence is
diabetic, so there's really no reason

for insulin to be there.

Two, in her interview with Lieutenant
Bledsoe, Natalie has...

brought up the idea of insulin use.

You just can't believe that someone who
is not a diabetic does not use insulin

because it could put you in a diabetic
shock.

How many of us that don't have diabetics
have insulin in our refrigerators? Not

many, I dare say.

Whenever the officers execute a search
warrant, they're required by law.

to give the owner a receipt.

She gets to the insulin, and she's
packing the paper. She says, this right

here, this is for a neighbor's child who
has diabetes, and I keep that insulin

here for him.

I pick out that one thing.

That's going to get any competent
investigator, that's going to get his

attention.

When investigators ask the neighbor
whether she gave Natalie the insulin,

she says she did, but not for the reason
Natalie claimed.

The morning that Mike gets sick, Natalie
texts her friend and neighbor and

tells her that she's going to have to
start taking small shots of insulin to

regulate her blood sugar because it's
been elevated due to her cancer

treatment.

And around 10.30 that morning, Keith
actually drops the insulin off at the

Cochran residence.

We obtained Natalie's medical records
from the places that she said she was

getting treatment for her leukemia.

And there was never any indication that
she had received treatment for any kind

of cancer.

Who lies about that?

If you're capable of lying about that,
is it hard to believe that you're

capable of killing your husband?

Natalie asked for a bottle of insulin
the morning that Mike gets sick and

suddenly his blood sugar is 21.

So they're really starting to get a
clearer image of who Natalie Cochran is

at this point.

But to prosecute Natalie for murder,
they first need to prove Michael's death

was a homicide.

In September, seven months after
Michael's death, police obtain a court

order to exhume his body.

He undergoes his first autopsy. At that
point, Michael was already pretty

severely decayed.

His cause and manner of death were ruled
undetermined and undeterminable.

That autopsy had no forensic value
whatsoever. It didn't enlighten anybody

as to anything.

For now, the only thing Natalie can be
charged with is financial crime.

A couple weeks after Michael's autopsy
occurred, Natalie Cochran is arrested on

26 federal counts of wire fraud and
money laundering.

I called Bledsoe, the detective,
Detective Bledsoe. I said, someone tell

me this is a Ponzi scheme.

Is this true?

And he says, Yeah, I'm afraid it's true.

You're like, man, it's like we just lost
this money. We're never getting it back.

It's devastating.

And not just about the money, but the
betrayal

was so deep.

That level of betrayal, that was much
deeper than the money.

When Natalie was finally arrested
towards the end of September, what ran

through my mind is that she finally was
going to get what she deserved.

Homicide investigators are finding it
difficult to build a case against

Natalie Cochran, but the federal crimes
she's been charged with eventually lead

to jail time.

About a year after her initial arrest
for the money laundering and wire

fraud charges, Natalie Cochran actually
pled guilty to some of those charges and

was sentenced to 11 years in the federal
penitentiary.

The federal Ponzi scheme side of it?

That's pretty easy. There's tons of
evidence as to what transpired here.

The murder was the hard part.

When you look at circumstantial cases,
there is no per se smoke and gun.

So you're looking at why did this
happen?

People don't just get up out of bed and
decide to murder their spouse.

Believing Natalie's motive is the key to
cracking the case.

Detectives search her phone, which was
seized during the federal fraud

investigation.

Natalie's phone contains thousands of
text message exchanges, e

-mails, all really showing she was not
only telling investors

certain excuses and explanations for why
they're not getting their money, but

that she's also telling Michael the same
things.

That also applied between Michael and
Natalie. I read about 1,600 pages

that covered about an 18-month time
period, and he was telling Michael the

exact same lies he was telling the
investors.

There was no evidence that Michael knew
about the Ponzi scheme. He really

thought they had a successful business
going, and they had banker problems.

But it seems Michael slowly began to
realize something was wrong.

Speaking to bank officials, police
learned that he asked for a full

accounting from them in February 2019.

The night before Michael collapsed, he
was getting so outraged

that the money was not coming because
Natalie had been telling him that they

have hundreds of millions of dollars.

So Michael's going to straighten us out,
and he directs Natalie to arrange to fly

down to the local branch in Virginia
that Michael thinks is stopping up the

money supply to their investors.

She and Michael were supposed to take a
flight the morning of February 6th in

order to determine why money was not
hitting their bank account.

Had that flight taken place and the
Cochran's talked to the banker, Michael

would know this whole thing is a fraud.

And at that point, the Ponzi scheme
ends. Natalie could never let that

happen. She had to do anything she could
to prevent the meeting.

She was a cornered animal.

That's exactly what she was.

It's not crystal clear.

as to what plane they were going to
take, but they did have one available.

At 6.30 in the morning on the day that
Michael collapses, Natalie texts the

pilot and says, she's been up all night,
she's sick, she can't go, they'll have

to reschedule.

So the flight is off.

She snapped.

She called that day to get the insulin.

Police know that the insulin was dropped
off by 10.30 a.m.

Natalie's weapon of choice was insulin.

She was a pharmacist by training in
trade, so she knew exactly what she was

doing.

Circumstantially, there's only one
explanation for why Michael Cochran

died.

Throughout the day, while Michael's
unconscious on the couch, Natalie is

sending some of his vital signs via text
message to friends, sending his

purported blood glucose levels.

The numbers that she was sending were
always high.

And given what we know now and how low
his blood sugar was when he actually got

treatment, those couldn't have been
accurate.

Once you hit blood glucose levels that
low, the effects become more and more

irreversible as time goes by.

He had laid there for about eight hours,
and there was no indicator that she had

any intentions on letting him go
anywhere other than that couch until her

friend showed up. She would have let him
lay there until he died.

In May 2021, two years and three months
after Michael's death, investigators

pay Natalie a visit in federal prison
and give her a chance to come clean.

Obviously, you know, we've been
conducting an investigation into

Michael's death for some time now.

And, you know, we're bringing that to a
conclusion.

I did not do anything in. I feel like
I've led enough for the two of us

already. Because I took the fall for
something that he was responsible for

too. That's not true.

It's true.

In November 2021...

Six months into her prison term, Natalie
Cochran is indicted again, this time for

murder.

But prosecutors are concerned they won't
be able to convince a jury of her guilt

without more evidence.

The street wisdom was we were going to
get our butts kicked, and this should

never go to trial. Why are we wasting
our time?

And it's because of the lack of the
usual indicators in a murder case.

The medical examiner never reached a
conclusion that there was a homicide.

A second autopsy is ordered by the
former prosecutor.

This pathologist also had the benefit of
reviewing all of Michael's medical

records. And from both those records,
his review of the initial autopsy report

and his own autopsy, he was able to rule
Michael's death a homicide.

and that he had been killed by someone
else giving him insulin.

Having that conclusive finding, I think
that really sealed the deal and gave us

what we needed to prosecute her.

In January 2025, five years and 11
months after the death of Michael

Cochran, his wife Natalie Cochran goes
on trial.

Prosecutors are now armed with the
results of the second autopsy, but know

the process may be an uphill battle.

There were a number of events that
transpired between the time that Michael

died and the time that we were actually
able to try this case.

There was definitely a lot of moving
parts, but I think ultimately this was

tried when it was meant to be tried.

During the trial, Natalie is very smug,
honestly. I think she is

convinced that no jury is going to find
her guilty.

I could hear her constantly talking to
her lawyers at every time out where you

could see what she was doing. She was
writing them notes and passing them to

them. This was the Natalie Cochran show.

The prosecution's case against Natalie
remains largely circumstantial.

No jury pool anywhere are so used to
seeing on television direct

evidence.

They're used to seeing DNA evidence. And
in a case like this, there would be

no way for us to have any of that.

But instead of attacking the state's
lack of physical evidence, Natalie's

attorneys take a different approach.

The defense in this case was somewhat
schizophrenic.

One of the defenses was she couldn't
have injected him because he would just

bite her off.

Simultaneously, they said Michael
Cochran was a sickly guy.

He had so many medical problems.

Hell, he was going to die any minute
anyhow.

So his death shouldn't be a surprise to
anybody.

It was defense du jour, and the trial
went on for three weeks.

Surprisingly, Natalie never takes the
stand in her own defense.

When the jury is sent to deliberate, it
only takes them two hours to reach a

decision.

The judge receives the verdict from the
jury foreperson, and he says,

we the jury.

Find the defendant, Natalie Cochran,
guilty of first-degree murder.

Natalie Cochran is sentenced to life in
prison without the possibility of

parole.

Nothing will ever bring back Michael,
but the jury spoke for him.

And I was just, you know, it was kind of
like a thought of relief, like evil

lost.

And the truth won.

And that's how I felt.

You know, there's always going to be
that certain scar there.

But everybody's just trying to get their
head up and go on and move on about

their lives.

I used to trust everyone.

And I always thought, and I still think,
everyone has a good side.

They're good in everyone.

But I'm not so trusted anymore.

To keep Michael's memory alive, we try
to get his story out, just what we're

doing here.

He deserves to be remembered.