BECKLEY, W.Va. — An FBI chemist who tested a vial found in accused murderer Natalie Cochran’s refrigerator after the death of her husband testified Friday what was in the vial was consistent with human insulin.
Cochran, a former pharmacist in Raleigh County, is charged with using insulin to kill her husband Michael Cochran in February 2019. The prosecution alleges she killed him after he began asking questions about the Ponzi scheme she was operating. Natalie Cochran, who is currently serving a federal prison term for the Ponzi scheme, denies the murder charges.
FBI Chemist Joseph Stephens was called by the prosecution to testify about the items he received and the result of his testing.
“State’s exhibit 15, the liquid, is consistent with containing human insulin/hemoglob,” Stephens said.
The vial was recovered months after Michael Cochran’s death. Neither Michael nor Natalie Cochran were diabetic.
Under cross-examination, Stephens was asked to explain what “consistent with” means.
“It is the pre-defined highest level of association that we have in that standard operating procedure,” Stephens said.
Also under cross-examination, Stephens told defense attorney Stan Seldon his testing only concentrated what was left in the vial not what it may have been used for.
“My analysis would not link insulin to any incident, it only tests the content of the vial. In other words, I don’t know that any alleged activities happened out of this vial,” Stephens said.
Stephens and a contractor were the only witnesses in the trial Friday. The jurors were sent home early and were told to return to court on Tuesday.
Testimony on Thursday focused on how long Michael Cochran remained unconscious at his home in February 2019 before his wife agreed to take him to the hospital.
“I told her we could bypass Raleigh General if that’s not what they wanted to do, we could go to Charleston and she said he wasn’t happy at Charleston either. I mentioned Princeton, nothing was good enough,” Cochran’s friend Stephanie Hamilton.
Michael Cochran died less than a week after the incident at his home in early February 2019.
Defense attorney Matthew Victor told the jury in his opening statement on Tuesday the prosecution’s explanation of what happened is farfetched.
“She is accused here of one of the vilest crimes that is known and I’d submit to you the state’s motive in this case is absolutely nonsense,” Victor said.
The trial resumes Tuesday.
The trial is being lived streamed on Court TV.