BECKLEY, W.Va. — A Raleigh County circuit judge agreed Wednesday to dismiss a murder charge against former pharmacist Natalie Cochran and allow for the prosecution to have her husband’s body re-exhumed for more testing.
Cochran, 42, was indicted in November 2021 in the February 2019 death of her husband Michael Cochran. It’s alleged she killed her husband while they were under federal investigation for operating a Ponzi scheme. She was later convicted on federal fraud charges for stealing $2 million from family and friends. She’s currently serving an 11-prison term at the federal prison in Hazelton.
Raleigh County Prosecutor Ben Hatfield asked Raleigh County Circuit Judge Robert Burnside to dismiss the murder charge during Wednesday’s hearing and to allow for Michael Cochran’s body to re-exhumed for further examination. The judge agreed. He dismissed the charge without prejudice meaning Hatfield can indict Cochran again for murder.
Hatfield said seeking a dismissal gives the state more time for testing. He said a simple continuance of the case would have given him a September deadline.
“I believe this gives the state more time to have that examination done in a way that does not rush the examination,” Hatfield said. “This pretty much gives us an unlimited time to do it, although I don’t think it will take that long.”
Hatfield said a Texas pathologist that specializes in insulin testing will examine Michael Cochran’s body for possible insulin overdose.
“He’s going to come here when we do the exhumation, perform the necessary examination on (Cochran’s) remains and then he’s going to create slides to send to a laboratory to use a reagent to test for subcutaneous insulin in the skin tissue,” Hatfield said.
The prosecution has evidence in connection with Michael Cochran’s death that has led it to this point, according to Hatfield,
“Upon admission, on the date of the major medical event that led to his death, his blood glucose level was 21 which is extremely low and he’s non-diabetic. That’s the justification for the exhumation and the examination,” Hatfield said.
Michael Cochran’s body was exhumed once before the original indictment. Hatfield said the West Virginia Medical Examiner’s Office doesn’t do the specialized testing the pathologist from Texas will perform.
Hatfield said he would have never indicted Natalie Cochran in the first place without a strong case. He said further testing will broaden the state’s case against her.
“I would not pursue this line of testing if it was not a viable scientific alternative,” he said.
Hatfield said his office learned of the specialized insulin testing from the investigations into the deaths of the veterans at the Clarksburg VA Hospital.
Hatfield said he’ll likely re-indict Cochran by the end of the year.
Cochran’s attorney Matt Victor said his client has nothing to lose with the dismissal of the murder charge because it will remove some restrictions his client is currently under in federal prison.
“If the state wants to dismiss the case and in the process offer my client some benefits, privileges in federal custody, which she didn’t have while she was under the indictment—that’s fine,” Victor said.
He said it is “troubling” that the state wants to do additional testing some three years after the investigation began.
Victor did ask the court Wednesday for any evidence in the original Ponzi scheme investigation that involved Michael Cochran. He said after the hearing he believes the evidence will help prove his client didn’t kill her husband.
“We believe that once that information is disclosed we’ll be able to demonstrate that the state’s theory of this case is faulty,” Victor said.
Natalie Cochran’s federal prison term currently runs until Jan. 16, 2030.
WJLS Reporter Keith Thompson contributed to this story.