April 12, 2023 • 42 mins
The trial of Kelly Cochran reveals shocking information about Kelly and Jason, discerns Kelly's truth from lies, and begins painting a clear picture of the Cochrans' killing spree. Plus, we take a closer look at Jason's manuscript.
This is a Studio BOTH/AND production:
www.pactpodcast.com / www.bothand.fyi
For an ad-free experience or to support the show: www.patreon.com/studiobothand
Written, researched, edited, and produced by Josh Hallmark.
Music by William Hellfire, Whithe, Sergey Cheremisinov, Chris Zabriskie, Stacxk, Lee Rosevere, Radical Face.
Sources: Where Monsters Hide: Sex, Murder, and Madness in the Midwest by M. William Phelps, The Iron Mountain Daily News, The Iron County Reporter, and Dead North.
This is a Studio BOTH/AND production:
www.pactpodcast.com / www.bothand.fyi
For an ad-free experience or to support the show: www.patreon.com/studiobothand
Written, researched, edited, and produced by Josh Hallmark.
Music by William Hellfire, Whithe, Sergey Cheremisinov, Chris Zabriskie, Stacxk, Lee Rosevere, Radical Face.
Sources: Where Monsters Hide: Sex, Murder, and Madness in the Midwest by M. William Phelps, The Iron Mountain Daily News, The Iron County Reporter, and Dead North.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:09):
This is a studio both and production. Now you talked about animals on Friday.
Did you ever tell your brother Coltonthat you and Jason fed your victims
to your pigs and that the familythen take those things? No, I
did not. You never told yourbrother Colton that I never told my brother
(00:32):
that me and Jason fed victims tothe pigs. Did you tell your brother
that Jason alone fled victims to plas, Yes, I do. Why did
you tell you brother that just sawmy anton? Why did that? I
(00:57):
believe I talked to him on thephone here or maybe it was just two
months after Iron River City manager DavidThayer fired Laura Frizzo for either irreconcilable differences
(01:21):
or in subordination, depending on whenyou ask him and what he has to
gain from it. The first ofKelly Cochrane's two trials, this one for
the murder of Chris Regan, beganon February fourteenth of twenty seventeen, and
it would be the first time thatKelly Cochrane, Laura Frizzo, and David
Thayer would all be in the sameroom together. Kelly at the defendant's bench,
(01:46):
Frizzo sitting beside prosecuting attorney, MelissaPowell, and David in the audience,
Three people whose stories had intersected withsuch acrimony and examination found themselves together
for the very first time in anever shifting power imbalance, and it was
the first time since her firing thatLaura Frizzo could speak to her success in
(02:09):
the Cochrane investigation and arrest without interjection, contradiction, or testimony from David.
There the two week trial would beilluminating, and whether intentionally or not,
it would demonstrate just how Kelly Cochranecould be capable of killing multiple people without
(02:34):
anyone ever being the wiser, andthat, despite all her many many lies,
Kelly and Jason had likely been involvedin murders prior to Chris Reagan,
and as it had been made clearby the changing of Kelly's statements leading up
to the trial, The defense aimedto paint Kelly as a victim of abuse
and control who Jason Cochrane had forcedto cover up the murder of Chris Reagan.
(03:00):
The prosecution, on the other hand, set out to show that,
through Kelly's actions and the timeline ofher ever evolving statements, that it was
she who abused and controlled Jason andorchestrated the murder of Chris Reagan, and
that she carefully and premeditatedly set Jasonup to take the fall. The one
(03:24):
and only thing that both sides couldagree on was that Kelly was a liar.
And it's a sad state of affairswhen even your defense attorney admits in
court that you are not to bebelieved. In fact, that was essentially
the baseline of Kelly's defense. Youcan't find her guilty because every confession she's
(03:46):
ever made, everything she's ever said, has been a lie. The trial
opened with testimony from Terry O'Donnell,Chris Regan's best friend and ex girlfriend,
who not only took the court throughreporting Chris missing in what she knew about
his affair with Kelly, but alsogave Chris life. She talked about who
(04:12):
he was as a person, asa father, as a friend, as
a veteran. She shared how excitedChris was to be leaving the Upper Peninsula
and returning to North Carolina to bewith his kids, that the next chapter
of Chris's life had invigorated him,and that Chris had no plans whatsoever to
(04:32):
include Kelly Cochrane in that chapter.Day one of the trial also saw testimony
from Sergeant Cindy Barrett, who conductedthe searches of Chris Regan's apartment in Carr,
as well as the initial interviews withKelly and Jason Cochrane. Following Sergeant
Barrett, Kelly's boss at Oldenburg,described Kelly's tremendous work ethic before discussing the
(04:56):
day that Kelly told her Jason threatenedto kill her and and himself. Day
two of witness testimonies started with oneof the most anticipated trial witnesses, though
Eric Ericsson, Chris Regan's subordinate atOldenburg, who was also in a sexual
(05:17):
relationship with Kelly Cochrane. It wasthe first time Eric would speak publicly about
his relationship with Kelly. He toldthe court that the relationship was strictly sexual,
that the two had been engaged inwhat was an emotionless sexual relationship for
several months before Kelly fled Iron Riverfollowing the search of her house, and
(05:41):
that he was aware that Kelly hada sexual relationship with Chris Regan, but
noted that Kelly had described Regan asannoying and Stalkrish, so it wasn't a
relationship he took seriously. In regardsto Kelly's marriage, Eric admitted that he
felt threatened by Jay sin Cochrane despitehaving never met him, but that everything
(06:03):
he knew about Jason he'd heard directlyfrom Kelly, which included physical and verbal
abuse, as well as death threats. He said that he believed Kelly's claims
about Jason, but only to acertain extent, Noting that Kelly was incredibly
independent and the sole breadwinner of theCochrane house. He wondered why, following
(06:27):
a separation, Kelly would take Jasonback if he had actually been physically violent
with her, especially because she didn'tneed him. However, Eric's most damning
testimony involved text messages he exchanged withKelly on October tenth of twenty fourteen.
That morning, Kelly had asked himto retrieve and deliver a toolbag from under
(06:48):
her workbench at Oldenburg. That toolbagit contained the saws all that would be
used to dismember Chris. Regan justfour days later, implying that the murder
of Chris was planned and premeditated,and that Kelly was not only aware of
it, but involved in it.Following Ericsson's testimony, Michigan State Police Detective
(07:13):
Sergeant Chris Brackett recounted to the courtan early interview where Kelly stated that she
was never threatened by nor feared JasonCochrane, that she was entirely independent and
could and would take care of herself. On the sixteenth, the Cochrane's neighbors,
David Sailor and his mother, Caroline, testified. Caroline walked the court
(07:38):
through the night of Chris Regan's disappearancewhen she awoke to a gunshot, followed
by a man and woman yelling ateach other, and then two cars driving
out of the back of the Cochrane'sproperty. But it was David Sailor's testimony
that would be the most sensational andeyebrow raising of the week. David Sailor
(08:03):
told the court about hearing power toolsbeing used in the Cochrane's basement on the
nights of and following Chris Regan's disappearance, and that when asked, the Cochranes
told him they were doing house renovationsat two in the morning. Then David
recounted the day the search warrant wasserved on the cochranes home While the Iron
(08:26):
River p D and MSP searched theirresidence, the Cochranes took shelter at the
sailor house. David testified that he'dnever seen either of the Cochranes, so
distressed that Jason was pacing, andKelly kept reassuring him by saying, they're
not going to find the body.When David finally asked her what she meant,
(08:50):
Kelly specified that they wouldn't find abody because the Cochranes had nothing to
do with Regan's murder. He wentoff to tell the court that following the
search, the Cochranes returned home tosee what the police had looked at,
and early the next morning he heardthem fleeing. In a phone call several
(09:13):
days later, Jason told him theywent to Hobert because the police were harassing
them and that they would return injust a week. They never did.
Kelly, ever enamored with her perceivedcharisma, seemed surprised to find that not
only was David a state's witness,but that he'd actually worked as an informant
(09:35):
in the investigation into her. He'dlogged all their phone calls and interactions following
the initial search of the Cochrane's home. He testified that, following the Cochrane's
departure from the up, Jason discussedthe different ways a person could be murdered.
He also shared with the court thatKelly had an affair with a drug
(09:58):
dealer while they lived in Indiana,and that Jason threatened to kill the man
shortly after the pair left Indiana forIron River. Sailor wasn't allowed to testify
about the barbecue at the Cochrane's home, but it was something that would be
alluded to throughout the trial, inaddition to comments Kelly made about feeding murder
(10:22):
victims to their pigs in Indiana,something will get deeper into in a future
episode. But it was day fourof the trial that the press had most
eagerly been awaiting and speculating about.Laura Frizzo finally took the stand, and
what would amount to almost two entiredays of testimony. She discussed at length
(10:48):
and with great specificity, the courseof her investigation, her ability to work
across multiple jurisdictions, her utilization ofJason's friends Walt and David Sailor as confidential
informants, specifically the fake letter thatfinally led to Kelly's first real confession.
They are in Cochrane, both lookedon with a very visible disdain, And
(11:13):
while we've already gotten into the majorityof what Laura spoke about at that trial,
there are several quite notable highlights.When speaking of Kelly's lies, Frizzo
noted that the lies changed depending onwho she was talking to, who could
corroborate them, and when she didn'tthink she was being recorded. Specifically,
(11:35):
Kelly only told investigators about Jason's allegedabuse after his death, same with the
pact, and that not only wasthere no witness testimony that showed Jason to
have ever been abusive, there waswitness testimony recounting Kelly being abusive toward Jason,
and that Kelly admitted to being asociopath, having no feelings or emotion
(12:00):
zone having lifelong murderous impulses only duringconversations that she didn't know were being recorded,
most often with her close friends andfamily. Frizzo also concisely plotted witness
interviews and evidence onto a timeline thatdemonstrated that not only had Chris Regan's murder
been premeditated, but that Kelly wastrying to set up Jason as the sole
(12:24):
murderer. This began less than amonth before Chris's death, when Kelly told
Eric Ericson that Jason was abusive andwould kill him. Then, around that
same time, when Kelly reported toOldenburg that Jason threatened to kill her and
himself, citing both mental health issuesand her extramarital relationships, a conversation Kelly
(12:46):
knew would have to be documented.Then, four days before the murder,
Kelly asked Eric Ericson to bring herthe sawzall from her desk. That sawzall,
which was used to dismember Chris Us, was then gifted to David's sailor
shortly after the murder. Then,on the day of the murder, Kelly
told Jason her phone was broken andasked to use his, Although testimony from
(13:11):
a phone tech proved her phone wasworking just fine. Kelly used Jason's phone
for the first and only time tocommunicate with Chris that entire day leading up
to his death. Frizzo noted thatphone records would imply that it was Jason,
not Kelly, who lured Chris Reganto the Cochrane residence that night.
(13:33):
An implication that Kelly likely had intended. Frizzo then spoke of the one second
phone call placed from Kelly's phone toChris's phone that night, the only call
that Kelly's broken phone made for threedays. Frizzo declared that that call was
Kelly trying to find Chris's phone afterhe'd been murdered. It was clear to
(13:58):
Frizzo that Kelley had orchestrated the wholething and wanted Jason to get arrested for
it. Most notably, though,during testimony regarding Kelly's ever changing claims that
she was a serial killer, Lauratold the court that she was actually able
(14:18):
to link Kelly and Jason Cochrane toa missing woman in Indiana, and yes,
we'll get into that in a futureepisode. Overall, Frizzo's testimony showed
that Kelly was a liar who couldonly be believed when there was actual evidence
to support her claims, and thatthe evidence overwhelmingly showed that she was at
(14:41):
a minimum complicit in the murder ofChris Regan, but more likely the architect
of it. On February twenty first, the court played several recorded phone calls.
First were the jailhouse calls between Kellyand her mother, where Kelly confessed
(15:01):
to having been emotionless for entire life. In those calls, she told her
mother that she'd fantasized about killing peoplefor as long as she could remember,
and that she eventually acted on thosefantasies, killing multiple people. Kelly seemed
sad and upset that her mother neverpicked up on this. Then the court
(15:22):
played the phone call between Walt andKelly where Kelly begged Walt not to go
to the police with the fake letterJason had mailed him before his death,
the call that, ironically enough sentKelly to the police. Then Lisa Champion,
a Michigan State Police forensic scientist,told the court that blood found on
(15:45):
the Cochrane's comforter and on a doorarch in the Cochrane's home matched Kelly and
Jason, respectively, and that theblood on the forceps that Kelly claimed she
used to extract the bullet from ChrisRegan's school was in fact Chris Regan's blood.
The following day, an FBI forensicanalyst, Tiffany Smith, testified that
(16:07):
the cast off blood found on theCochrane's living room ceiling didn't belong to Chris
Regan nor either of the Cochrans.Then, a Graves County jail supervisor recounted
a time when Kelly pretended to passout in her Kentucky jail cell, a
ruse she attempted to maintain throughout aninitial examination where she was unresponsive to responding
(16:33):
guards. That same jail supervisor whowent on to describe that the following day,
while searching Kelly's cell, he founda pair of eyeglasses that Kelly had
broken and carved into a shive.After a short recess, Hobert, Indiana
police detective and Laura Frizzo's boyfriend,Jeremy Ogden, took the stand. Jeremy
(16:57):
spoke about his side of the investigation, his many many interviews with Kelly,
most of which had been voluntary andat the behest of Kelly and Kelly's eventual
arrest, and I'll spare you thosedetails, almost all of which you already
know. Additionally, Jeremy spoke ofa conversation he had with Kelly where she
(17:22):
admitted to a gay relationship she hadwith an unnamed fast food worker. She
told Ogden that she'd initially picked upthe woman for Jason, but over time
she began engaging an affair with herseparately from Jason. Later, Ogden confirmed
for the court that the investigation intoKelly's multiple claims of killing other people was
(17:45):
in fact still open that while thelist of twenty one was dubious at best,
he agreed with Laura Frizzo that Kellyhad definitely murdered more than just Chris
Regan and Jason Cochrane, and thathe would continue looking into those murders as
long as Kelly continued talking. Thefinal witness before Kelly herself would take the
(18:11):
stand for two days was the Cochrane'sninety year old neighbor, mister Goshen.
Goshen spoke mostly about Jason Cochrane,that he frequently saw him using multiple burn
barrels on the back of their property, and that he'd offered up his much
larger bonfire to Jason on several occasions, but Jason repeatedly declined the offer.
(18:33):
Goshen said that Jason was friendly andhelpful and well liked amongst the neighbors.
He said that the only notable thingabout Jason was how closely he paid attention
to Kelly when she was out andabout in the neighborhood. He felt like
Jason was always watching Kelly, particularlywhen she mowed people's lawns. Goshen also
(18:56):
casually mentioned that around the time Jasonwas burning stuff on the back of his
property, he saw Kelly mowing aneighbor's lawn with her arm in a sling.
And that is a convoluted mystery allits own, involving multiple stories from
Kelly about sexual affairs, car accidents, and hitchhiking in Minnesota. And yes,
(19:19):
we'll get into that soon too,but for now, Kelly takes the
stand. Kelly took the stand firstin her own defense with her attorney,
Michael Schulkey. Her testimony began withvarious claims of Jason's alleged abuse. She
(19:40):
told the court that he'd held agun to her head approximately twenty times in
their thirteen year marriage. She saidthat she'd separated from Jason multiple times and
even tried filling out divorce papers once, divorce papers that she told the court
Jason set on fire. She Jasonconstantly screamed at her he was angry,
(20:03):
depressed, unstable, and that shesought out extra marital affairs as a means
of escape. She then went onto describe the night Chris Regan was killed.
She said she genuinely wanted to inviteChris over for dinner that night.
She'd originally planned on having him overthe previous night, but canceled because she
wasn't feeling well. The two settledon October fourteenth because Jason had plans to
(20:27):
go to a spa with some ofhis friends, including David Sailor, who
told investigators that there was never sucha plan. Kelly said she had no
idea Jason was actually in the basementthat night, and that while she and
Chris had intercourse on the landing betweenthe basement and the kitchen, Jason emerged
(20:49):
from the basement and shot Chris andthe head. However, she also conceded
that Jason had, and I haveto stress these are her exact words,
cooked up a plan to lure Christo their house and kill him, which
begs the question, if Jason hadcooked up this plan, why would she
(21:11):
go out of her way to innocentlyinvite Chris over for sex. Kelly testified
that after the murder, Jason forcedher to sit in a chair and watch
him dismember Chris. Then he madeher clean up the mess. And if
you believe the Cochrane's friend and impartialwitness David Sailor Chris Regan, was dismembered
(21:33):
over the course of two nights,meaning Kelly sat in that chair for an
awful long time. You'd also thinkan innocent woman who'd never done this before,
who was under such duress might leavebehind even I don't know a single
drop of blood in that basement,especially considering there's roughly one and a half
(21:55):
gallons of blood in the human body. He asked Kelly about statements she made
regarding her butterfly tattoos. She saidthat, despite her claims to both family
and investigators, the butterflies didn't representher victims, but merely important people in
her life who died. She saidthat butterflies are beautiful and represent freedom,
(22:19):
and then she rambled on and onabout studies that show more butterflies gravitate to
dead bodies than flies or maggots do. So there's that. And Kelly wrapped
the penultimate day of trial by denyingher previous claims of being a serial killer.
(22:41):
She told the court that her statementsregarding stabbing a truck driver in the
eyes as well as her list oftwenty one murder victims were entirely made up.
She said that she felt like amonster for what Jason did to Chris,
so she wanted to portray herself asa monster out of some sense of
guilt. Sure, Kelly. Thefinal day of the Cochrane trial revolved mostly
(23:07):
around prosecuting attorney Melissa Powell's cross examinationof Kelly. Now, I've already testified
that you told Chris and Eric howjealous and possessive Jason was. Yes,
exactly, yes, If that weretrue, why would Chris agreed to come
over to your house October fourteenth,two fourteen because the apartment was a mess
(23:33):
usually as carpet was excellent condition,and they knew Jason. Well, you
know Jason's jealous and possessive. Youknow that he already knows about Chris.
You taught Chris is jealous and possessive. Are you jealous that Chris is an
unreasonable person? Bosire gatified Poston heknew Jason was in So if the truth
(23:59):
was that there was no plan tokill Chris, why not tell the police?
Were you wa anything about Jason killingChris? If it was that easy,
he would have been taken him outof your life right away. I
don't think that was true. Yourtestimony was that Chris parked in the back
that came around to the front door. Isn't it true that you redirected him
(24:22):
to the back room so that Jasoncould kill him from the Lason That's not
true. Well, he certainly wouldn'tbe able to kill him right away if
he came through the front or arrect. Jason went schos. Where were you
at when Jason left? When heleft, yeah, I was from the
main floor, undishon up cleaning,and then I took a shower. Was
(24:44):
your husband of fifteen years able totell them you revived him? I don't
know. You don't know if youcould tell when you re Lind, I
don't know. Could Chris tell youan household I don't know, could have
ericed out of your rond? It'spossible. I don't could Detective I've did
with the years of experience with peoplelying to a towing your lie. No,
(25:08):
now you're telling these jers that sheapplied previously, would you not?
I'm not I applied many times inthe guest Have I ever heard Hooper players
talk about a tell that someone hasa talent when they lie. Yes,
you do you know that you havea tale? I have no tell?
Yeah, not that smart. Nobodygets Why did say smart? But note
(25:30):
that smart? No smirk? Smirkis a murder? Is that a talib
your mom? I smirk a lot, I guess, so smiling a lot.
So telling your mother you would likethat since you were bored and wanted
to kill people I was alive.Yes, why would you like your mother?
(25:52):
It was a cruel fan of dude. Why would you lie to your
mother? Because I wanted her tothink I was a sporting first, so
she'd forget about me. You wantedher to thank You are a horrible person,
so hopefully she'll forget about you.Yeah. No, Telling detective offer
you your comeside or your entirement wasalso a lie wreck Yes, telling sheep
(26:17):
res ly didn't have feelings or feelremorse and you had homesided intentions towards the
guard and the guy in transport wasalso a lie. Yes, I have
many feelings and so a person thatsat next to me, I still conversation
through letters. You helped me getthrough a hard trip thirty seven hours being
locked in abouts. So let's seeApril thirtieth, when you tell Detective oct
(26:44):
In about this marriage fact and yourhomeside feelings and a plan to kill Chris,
that was all a lie, right. And the conversations that you have
with your family between April thirtieth andMe sixteenth when you talked to Chief Frizzle,
those were all live right, yes. And then your conversation with Chief
Frizzle on May sixteenth after we arraignedthat out of the jail, when you're
(27:07):
telling you had these feelings your entirelife, that was all a lie,
right, and chep your conversation withChief Frizzle on May seventeenth when you go
on the field trip and show wherethe gun is and where you threw the
camera, where you put the skull, that was all a lie. Correct.
I didn't put the skull anywhere.I wasn't lying about the only thing
(27:30):
I was lying about you was Iwas trying to kick up the stack that
I wasn't score. We're killing Well, we're not done yet. So May
seventeen and you're lying, took policeofficer right. May nineteenth, when you
talk to your brother, you lieto him right, correct. In May
twenty first, when you talk toyour mother on this horrible phone call.
You lied to her as well.So for a whole month you're Lyne wonder.
(27:53):
But today you're telling the truth tothese twelve or fourteen strangers. Their
monsters hide. The book is ina word wild, and some might say
eerily prescient. On its first page, Jason writes that a person cannot truly
(28:18):
love without knowing hate, and muchof the book is devoted to monsters.
How some monsters are born and someare made. That even monsters have predators,
something he discussed at length, culminatingin what he called the smell,
which he described as the odor offear, an odor he knew well that
(28:44):
as much as the hunter could smellthe hunted, the hunted could smell the
hunter, or, as he putit, the rabbit smells the fox.
That only true evil truly recognizes evilin others, that it can be smelled.
In later chapters, the book takeson a more narrative approach, telling
(29:07):
the story of Jason quack Quack.Quack Quack was a name given to Jason
by his nieces and nephews. Jasonquack Quack beat his wife and was a
child molester, among other things.The book told stories of Quack Quack and
his wife picking up a disease riddensex worker called m f W who was
(29:34):
a home wrecker. The book alludesto a fourteen year old boy being raped
and possibly murdered by two people dressedas door to door Mormon missionaries, and
the book repeatedly mentions a sign inthe entryway of quack Quack's house which reads,
if you're not invited, You're notwelcome, and how quack Quack would
(29:56):
murder any one who dare enter hishome uninvited. The book ends with the
sentence wife saves the day, andthen an allusion to a big surprise at
a neighborhood barbecue, and yes,Jason started writing this Pulitzer bait while in
(30:18):
a mental health facility, which hewas then released from. At trial,
Powell asked Kelly if Jason's book wasautobiographical, and Kelly confirmed that it was.
Somewhat Surprised by Kelly's candid response,Powell asked Kelly if she knew what
(30:38):
autobiographical meant, which was shady asfuck and clearly pissed Kelly off. And
again Kelly confirmed that the book wasautobiographical and that yes, she knew what
autobiographical meant. Jumping off from thebarbecue portion of Jason's book, Powell asked
(31:03):
Kelly where the rest of Chris Reganwas. She smirked and claimed not to
know. Then she asked about claimsKelly previously made that she and Jason killed
a bunch of people in Indiana andfed them to their pigs. Kelly denied
this and then specified that Jason andJason alone killed a bunch of people in
(31:27):
Indiana and fed them to their pigs. She went on to say that Jason
also liked playing around with chemicals andthat he had big plans for using different
chemical compounds to commit mass murder,citing a particular plan to poison Michigan's water
supply. The cross examination of Kellycochrane rapped with Melissa Powell asking some seemingly
(31:53):
innocuous questions about the pool company thatshe started with Jason while living in Indian
Enna. What type of services didtheir pool business offer? Well, they
cleaned, repaired, and built swimmingpools. Were those above ground or in
ground pools? Both? And thatincluded building in ground pools? Yes?
(32:17):
Did that include excavating for in groundpools? Yes? The jury only deliberated
for two and a half hours,and they unanimously found Kelly guilty of first
degree murder, larceny, conspiracy tocommit dead bodies to disinterment and mutilation,
(32:45):
concealing and abducting an individual, andlying to a peace officer during a police
investigation. And two months later,Kelly was sentenced to life in prison without
the possibility of parole. Kelly chosenot to address the court. Three days
(33:09):
after Kelly's trial and Iron River ended, Laura Frizzo filed her complaint against Iron
River and David Thayre for wrongful terminationon the basis of gender discrimination, and
despite all the compelling evidence laid outin the previous episode of this podcast,
the court ruled in the favor ofIron River, and there both Kelly and
(33:35):
Laura filed appeals in their respective courtcases. Kelly's was denied and Laura's case
made it to the appellate court,but unfortunately the original ruling was held.
Following their failures in Iron River,both women moved to Indiana. Kelly was
(33:57):
extradited there to face trial for themurder of j Cochrane and Laura moved in
with boyfriend to Jeremy Ogden and beganworking with Investigative Discovery on a docuseries about
Kelly Cochrane. In October of twentyseventeen, while shooting the ID series,
Laura Frizzo and the film crew recoveredChris Regan's lower jawbone while on location on
(34:22):
Pintoga Trail. To this day,his skull and jawbone are the only pieces
of Chris that have ever been found. Kelly never made it to trial for
the murder of Jason. In Februaryof twenty eighteen, she signed a plea
agreement where she admitted to injecting Jasonwith a lethal doseph heroine then suffocating him
(34:45):
to death. She stated that hermotive for the murder was revenge for Chris
Regan. There was an interesting clauseincluded in that plea agreement, though,
one that a prosecutor I know saysshe's never seen before, that, in
admitting to guilt in the death ofJason Cochrane, Kelly could not be charged
(35:08):
with or prosecuted for any additional murdersin the state of Indiana, an interesting
and unprecedented insertion for a woman whoclaimed in court never to have killed anyone.
In the state of Indiana. Asper the terms of that plea agreement,
(35:29):
Kelly was sentenced to sixty five yearsin prison for the murder of Jason,
and even two years later, Kellyis still talking a lot, and
her stories are still evolving and changinga lot. In letters to M.
(35:50):
William Phelps, who wrote Where MonstersHide, Sex, Murder, and Madness
in the Midwest, Kelly confessed thatevery man she has ever been with is
dead. She also wrote that Jasonkilled scores of people and fed their remains
to their pigs, pigs that thecouple later sold in local butcher shops as
(36:14):
grass fed organic meat. So hereis what we know about Kelly and Jason's
time in Indiana. It's where Kelly'simpulses to kill began. It's where Kelly
alleges the pact was made. LauraFrizzo can connect the Cochranes to a missing
(36:37):
woman. There, Kelly picked upa fast food worker for Jason to have
sex with, who she ultimately engagedin a relationship with. Jason threatened to
kill a drug dealer that Kelly wassleeping with. Kelly has alleged that either
she and Jason or Jason alone killedmultiple people. Kelly and Jason owned a
(37:00):
small pig farm, and Kelly andJason made money building in ground, swimming
pools and people's backyards. Digging holesup to ten feet deep then covering them
would cement hundreds of times, allacross Indiana.
This is a studio both and production. Now you talked about animals on Friday.
Did you ever tell your brother Coltonthat you and Jason fed your victims
to your pigs and that the familythen take those things? No, I
did not. You never told yourbrother Colton that I never told my brother
(00:32):
that me and Jason fed victims tothe pigs. Did you tell your brother
that Jason alone fled victims to plas, Yes, I do. Why did
you tell you brother that just sawmy anton? Why did that? I
(00:57):
believe I talked to him on thephone here or maybe it was just two
months after Iron River City manager DavidThayer fired Laura Frizzo for either irreconcilable differences
(01:21):
or in subordination, depending on whenyou ask him and what he has to
gain from it. The first ofKelly Cochrane's two trials, this one for
the murder of Chris Regan, beganon February fourteenth of twenty seventeen, and
it would be the first time thatKelly Cochrane, Laura Frizzo, and David
Thayer would all be in the sameroom together. Kelly at the defendant's bench,
(01:46):
Frizzo sitting beside prosecuting attorney, MelissaPowell, and David in the audience,
Three people whose stories had intersected withsuch acrimony and examination found themselves together
for the very first time in anever shifting power imbalance, and it was
the first time since her firing thatLaura Frizzo could speak to her success in
(02:09):
the Cochrane investigation and arrest without interjection, contradiction, or testimony from David.
There the two week trial would beilluminating, and whether intentionally or not,
it would demonstrate just how Kelly Cochranecould be capable of killing multiple people without
(02:34):
anyone ever being the wiser, andthat, despite all her many many lies,
Kelly and Jason had likely been involvedin murders prior to Chris Reagan,
and as it had been made clearby the changing of Kelly's statements leading up
to the trial, The defense aimedto paint Kelly as a victim of abuse
and control who Jason Cochrane had forcedto cover up the murder of Chris Reagan.
(03:00):
The prosecution, on the other hand, set out to show that,
through Kelly's actions and the timeline ofher ever evolving statements, that it was
she who abused and controlled Jason andorchestrated the murder of Chris Reagan, and
that she carefully and premeditatedly set Jasonup to take the fall. The one
(03:24):
and only thing that both sides couldagree on was that Kelly was a liar.
And it's a sad state of affairswhen even your defense attorney admits in
court that you are not to bebelieved. In fact, that was essentially
the baseline of Kelly's defense. Youcan't find her guilty because every confession she's
(03:46):
ever made, everything she's ever said, has been a lie. The trial
opened with testimony from Terry O'Donnell,Chris Regan's best friend and ex girlfriend,
who not only took the court throughreporting Chris missing in what she knew about
his affair with Kelly, but alsogave Chris life. She talked about who
(04:12):
he was as a person, asa father, as a friend, as
a veteran. She shared how excitedChris was to be leaving the Upper Peninsula
and returning to North Carolina to bewith his kids, that the next chapter
of Chris's life had invigorated him,and that Chris had no plans whatsoever to
(04:32):
include Kelly Cochrane in that chapter.Day one of the trial also saw testimony
from Sergeant Cindy Barrett, who conductedthe searches of Chris Regan's apartment in Carr,
as well as the initial interviews withKelly and Jason Cochrane. Following Sergeant
Barrett, Kelly's boss at Oldenburg,described Kelly's tremendous work ethic before discussing the
(04:56):
day that Kelly told her Jason threatenedto kill her and and himself. Day
two of witness testimonies started with oneof the most anticipated trial witnesses, though
Eric Ericsson, Chris Regan's subordinate atOldenburg, who was also in a sexual
(05:17):
relationship with Kelly Cochrane. It wasthe first time Eric would speak publicly about
his relationship with Kelly. He toldthe court that the relationship was strictly sexual,
that the two had been engaged inwhat was an emotionless sexual relationship for
several months before Kelly fled Iron Riverfollowing the search of her house, and
(05:41):
that he was aware that Kelly hada sexual relationship with Chris Regan, but
noted that Kelly had described Regan asannoying and Stalkrish, so it wasn't a
relationship he took seriously. In regardsto Kelly's marriage, Eric admitted that he
felt threatened by Jay sin Cochrane despitehaving never met him, but that everything
(06:03):
he knew about Jason he'd heard directlyfrom Kelly, which included physical and verbal
abuse, as well as death threats. He said that he believed Kelly's claims
about Jason, but only to acertain extent, Noting that Kelly was incredibly
independent and the sole breadwinner of theCochrane house. He wondered why, following
(06:27):
a separation, Kelly would take Jasonback if he had actually been physically violent
with her, especially because she didn'tneed him. However, Eric's most damning
testimony involved text messages he exchanged withKelly on October tenth of twenty fourteen.
That morning, Kelly had asked himto retrieve and deliver a toolbag from under
(06:48):
her workbench at Oldenburg. That toolbagit contained the saws all that would be
used to dismember Chris. Regan justfour days later, implying that the murder
of Chris was planned and premeditated,and that Kelly was not only aware of
it, but involved in it.Following Ericsson's testimony, Michigan State Police Detective
(07:13):
Sergeant Chris Brackett recounted to the courtan early interview where Kelly stated that she
was never threatened by nor feared JasonCochrane, that she was entirely independent and
could and would take care of herself. On the sixteenth, the Cochrane's neighbors,
David Sailor and his mother, Caroline, testified. Caroline walked the court
(07:38):
through the night of Chris Regan's disappearancewhen she awoke to a gunshot, followed
by a man and woman yelling ateach other, and then two cars driving
out of the back of the Cochrane'sproperty. But it was David Sailor's testimony
that would be the most sensational andeyebrow raising of the week. David Sailor
(08:03):
told the court about hearing power toolsbeing used in the Cochrane's basement on the
nights of and following Chris Regan's disappearance, and that when asked, the Cochranes
told him they were doing house renovationsat two in the morning. Then David
recounted the day the search warrant wasserved on the cochranes home While the Iron
(08:26):
River p D and MSP searched theirresidence, the Cochranes took shelter at the
sailor house. David testified that he'dnever seen either of the Cochranes, so
distressed that Jason was pacing, andKelly kept reassuring him by saying, they're
not going to find the body.When David finally asked her what she meant,
(08:50):
Kelly specified that they wouldn't find abody because the Cochranes had nothing to
do with Regan's murder. He wentoff to tell the court that following the
search, the Cochranes returned home tosee what the police had looked at,
and early the next morning he heardthem fleeing. In a phone call several
(09:13):
days later, Jason told him theywent to Hobert because the police were harassing
them and that they would return injust a week. They never did.
Kelly, ever enamored with her perceivedcharisma, seemed surprised to find that not
only was David a state's witness,but that he'd actually worked as an informant
(09:35):
in the investigation into her. He'dlogged all their phone calls and interactions following
the initial search of the Cochrane's home. He testified that, following the Cochrane's
departure from the up, Jason discussedthe different ways a person could be murdered.
He also shared with the court thatKelly had an affair with a drug
(09:58):
dealer while they lived in Indiana,and that Jason threatened to kill the man
shortly after the pair left Indiana forIron River. Sailor wasn't allowed to testify
about the barbecue at the Cochrane's home, but it was something that would be
alluded to throughout the trial, inaddition to comments Kelly made about feeding murder
(10:22):
victims to their pigs in Indiana,something will get deeper into in a future
episode. But it was day fourof the trial that the press had most
eagerly been awaiting and speculating about.Laura Frizzo finally took the stand, and
what would amount to almost two entiredays of testimony. She discussed at length
(10:48):
and with great specificity, the courseof her investigation, her ability to work
across multiple jurisdictions, her utilization ofJason's friends Walt and David Sailor as confidential
informants, specifically the fake letter thatfinally led to Kelly's first real confession.
They are in Cochrane, both lookedon with a very visible disdain, And
(11:13):
while we've already gotten into the majorityof what Laura spoke about at that trial,
there are several quite notable highlights.When speaking of Kelly's lies, Frizzo
noted that the lies changed depending onwho she was talking to, who could
corroborate them, and when she didn'tthink she was being recorded. Specifically,
(11:35):
Kelly only told investigators about Jason's allegedabuse after his death, same with the
pact, and that not only wasthere no witness testimony that showed Jason to
have ever been abusive, there waswitness testimony recounting Kelly being abusive toward Jason,
and that Kelly admitted to being asociopath, having no feelings or emotion
(12:00):
zone having lifelong murderous impulses only duringconversations that she didn't know were being recorded,
most often with her close friends andfamily. Frizzo also concisely plotted witness
interviews and evidence onto a timeline thatdemonstrated that not only had Chris Regan's murder
been premeditated, but that Kelly wastrying to set up Jason as the sole
(12:24):
murderer. This began less than amonth before Chris's death, when Kelly told
Eric Ericson that Jason was abusive andwould kill him. Then, around that
same time, when Kelly reported toOldenburg that Jason threatened to kill her and
himself, citing both mental health issuesand her extramarital relationships, a conversation Kelly
(12:46):
knew would have to be documented.Then, four days before the murder,
Kelly asked Eric Ericson to bring herthe sawzall from her desk. That sawzall,
which was used to dismember Chris Us, was then gifted to David's sailor
shortly after the murder. Then,on the day of the murder, Kelly
told Jason her phone was broken andasked to use his, Although testimony from
(13:11):
a phone tech proved her phone wasworking just fine. Kelly used Jason's phone
for the first and only time tocommunicate with Chris that entire day leading up
to his death. Frizzo noted thatphone records would imply that it was Jason,
not Kelly, who lured Chris Reganto the Cochrane residence that night.
(13:33):
An implication that Kelly likely had intended. Frizzo then spoke of the one second
phone call placed from Kelly's phone toChris's phone that night, the only call
that Kelly's broken phone made for threedays. Frizzo declared that that call was
Kelly trying to find Chris's phone afterhe'd been murdered. It was clear to
(13:58):
Frizzo that Kelley had orchestrated the wholething and wanted Jason to get arrested for
it. Most notably, though,during testimony regarding Kelly's ever changing claims that
she was a serial killer, Lauratold the court that she was actually able
(14:18):
to link Kelly and Jason Cochrane toa missing woman in Indiana, and yes,
we'll get into that in a futureepisode. Overall, Frizzo's testimony showed
that Kelly was a liar who couldonly be believed when there was actual evidence
to support her claims, and thatthe evidence overwhelmingly showed that she was at
(14:41):
a minimum complicit in the murder ofChris Regan, but more likely the architect
of it. On February twenty first, the court played several recorded phone calls.
First were the jailhouse calls between Kellyand her mother, where Kelly confessed
(15:01):
to having been emotionless for entire life. In those calls, she told her
mother that she'd fantasized about killing peoplefor as long as she could remember,
and that she eventually acted on thosefantasies, killing multiple people. Kelly seemed
sad and upset that her mother neverpicked up on this. Then the court
(15:22):
played the phone call between Walt andKelly where Kelly begged Walt not to go
to the police with the fake letterJason had mailed him before his death,
the call that, ironically enough sentKelly to the police. Then Lisa Champion,
a Michigan State Police forensic scientist,told the court that blood found on
(15:45):
the Cochrane's comforter and on a doorarch in the Cochrane's home matched Kelly and
Jason, respectively, and that theblood on the forceps that Kelly claimed she
used to extract the bullet from ChrisRegan's school was in fact Chris Regan's blood.
The following day, an FBI forensicanalyst, Tiffany Smith, testified that
(16:07):
the cast off blood found on theCochrane's living room ceiling didn't belong to Chris
Regan nor either of the Cochrans.Then, a Graves County jail supervisor recounted
a time when Kelly pretended to passout in her Kentucky jail cell, a
ruse she attempted to maintain throughout aninitial examination where she was unresponsive to responding
(16:33):
guards. That same jail supervisor whowent on to describe that the following day,
while searching Kelly's cell, he founda pair of eyeglasses that Kelly had
broken and carved into a shive.After a short recess, Hobert, Indiana
police detective and Laura Frizzo's boyfriend,Jeremy Ogden, took the stand. Jeremy
(16:57):
spoke about his side of the investigation, his many many interviews with Kelly,
most of which had been voluntary andat the behest of Kelly and Kelly's eventual
arrest, and I'll spare you thosedetails, almost all of which you already
know. Additionally, Jeremy spoke ofa conversation he had with Kelly where she
(17:22):
admitted to a gay relationship she hadwith an unnamed fast food worker. She
told Ogden that she'd initially picked upthe woman for Jason, but over time
she began engaging an affair with herseparately from Jason. Later, Ogden confirmed
for the court that the investigation intoKelly's multiple claims of killing other people was
(17:45):
in fact still open that while thelist of twenty one was dubious at best,
he agreed with Laura Frizzo that Kellyhad definitely murdered more than just Chris
Regan and Jason Cochrane, and thathe would continue looking into those murders as
long as Kelly continued talking. Thefinal witness before Kelly herself would take the
(18:11):
stand for two days was the Cochrane'sninety year old neighbor, mister Goshen.
Goshen spoke mostly about Jason Cochrane,that he frequently saw him using multiple burn
barrels on the back of their property, and that he'd offered up his much
larger bonfire to Jason on several occasions, but Jason repeatedly declined the offer.
(18:33):
Goshen said that Jason was friendly andhelpful and well liked amongst the neighbors.
He said that the only notable thingabout Jason was how closely he paid attention
to Kelly when she was out andabout in the neighborhood. He felt like
Jason was always watching Kelly, particularlywhen she mowed people's lawns. Goshen also
(18:56):
casually mentioned that around the time Jasonwas burning stuff on the back of his
property, he saw Kelly mowing aneighbor's lawn with her arm in a sling.
And that is a convoluted mystery allits own, involving multiple stories from
Kelly about sexual affairs, car accidents, and hitchhiking in Minnesota. And yes,
(19:19):
we'll get into that soon too,but for now, Kelly takes the
stand. Kelly took the stand firstin her own defense with her attorney,
Michael Schulkey. Her testimony began withvarious claims of Jason's alleged abuse. She
(19:40):
told the court that he'd held agun to her head approximately twenty times in
their thirteen year marriage. She saidthat she'd separated from Jason multiple times and
even tried filling out divorce papers once, divorce papers that she told the court
Jason set on fire. She Jasonconstantly screamed at her he was angry,
(20:03):
depressed, unstable, and that shesought out extra marital affairs as a means
of escape. She then went onto describe the night Chris Regan was killed.
She said she genuinely wanted to inviteChris over for dinner that night.
She'd originally planned on having him overthe previous night, but canceled because she
wasn't feeling well. The two settledon October fourteenth because Jason had plans to
(20:27):
go to a spa with some ofhis friends, including David Sailor, who
told investigators that there was never sucha plan. Kelly said she had no
idea Jason was actually in the basementthat night, and that while she and
Chris had intercourse on the landing betweenthe basement and the kitchen, Jason emerged
(20:49):
from the basement and shot Chris andthe head. However, she also conceded
that Jason had, and I haveto stress these are her exact words,
cooked up a plan to lure Christo their house and kill him, which
begs the question, if Jason hadcooked up this plan, why would she
(21:11):
go out of her way to innocentlyinvite Chris over for sex. Kelly testified
that after the murder, Jason forcedher to sit in a chair and watch
him dismember Chris. Then he madeher clean up the mess. And if
you believe the Cochrane's friend and impartialwitness David Sailor Chris Regan, was dismembered
(21:33):
over the course of two nights,meaning Kelly sat in that chair for an
awful long time. You'd also thinkan innocent woman who'd never done this before,
who was under such duress might leavebehind even I don't know a single
drop of blood in that basement,especially considering there's roughly one and a half
(21:55):
gallons of blood in the human body. He asked Kelly about statements she made
regarding her butterfly tattoos. She saidthat, despite her claims to both family
and investigators, the butterflies didn't representher victims, but merely important people in
her life who died. She saidthat butterflies are beautiful and represent freedom,
(22:19):
and then she rambled on and onabout studies that show more butterflies gravitate to
dead bodies than flies or maggots do. So there's that. And Kelly wrapped
the penultimate day of trial by denyingher previous claims of being a serial killer.
(22:41):
She told the court that her statementsregarding stabbing a truck driver in the
eyes as well as her list oftwenty one murder victims were entirely made up.
She said that she felt like amonster for what Jason did to Chris,
so she wanted to portray herself asa monster out of some sense of
guilt. Sure, Kelly. Thefinal day of the Cochrane trial revolved mostly
(23:07):
around prosecuting attorney Melissa Powell's cross examinationof Kelly. Now, I've already testified
that you told Chris and Eric howjealous and possessive Jason was. Yes,
exactly, yes, If that weretrue, why would Chris agreed to come
over to your house October fourteenth,two fourteen because the apartment was a mess
(23:33):
usually as carpet was excellent condition,and they knew Jason. Well, you
know Jason's jealous and possessive. Youknow that he already knows about Chris.
You taught Chris is jealous and possessive. Are you jealous that Chris is an
unreasonable person? Bosire gatified Poston heknew Jason was in So if the truth
(23:59):
was that there was no plan tokill Chris, why not tell the police?
Were you wa anything about Jason killingChris? If it was that easy,
he would have been taken him outof your life right away. I
don't think that was true. Yourtestimony was that Chris parked in the back
that came around to the front door. Isn't it true that you redirected him
(24:22):
to the back room so that Jasoncould kill him from the Lason That's not
true. Well, he certainly wouldn'tbe able to kill him right away if
he came through the front or arrect. Jason went schos. Where were you
at when Jason left? When heleft, yeah, I was from the
main floor, undishon up cleaning,and then I took a shower. Was
(24:44):
your husband of fifteen years able totell them you revived him? I don't
know. You don't know if youcould tell when you re Lind, I
don't know. Could Chris tell youan household I don't know, could have
ericed out of your rond? It'spossible. I don't could Detective I've did
with the years of experience with peoplelying to a towing your lie. No,
(25:08):
now you're telling these jers that sheapplied previously, would you not?
I'm not I applied many times inthe guest Have I ever heard Hooper players
talk about a tell that someone hasa talent when they lie. Yes,
you do you know that you havea tale? I have no tell?
Yeah, not that smart. Nobodygets Why did say smart? But note
(25:30):
that smart? No smirk? Smirkis a murder? Is that a talib
your mom? I smirk a lot, I guess, so smiling a lot.
So telling your mother you would likethat since you were bored and wanted
to kill people I was alive.Yes, why would you like your mother?
(25:52):
It was a cruel fan of dude. Why would you lie to your
mother? Because I wanted her tothink I was a sporting first, so
she'd forget about me. You wantedher to thank You are a horrible person,
so hopefully she'll forget about you.Yeah. No, Telling detective offer
you your comeside or your entirement wasalso a lie wreck Yes, telling sheep
(26:17):
res ly didn't have feelings or feelremorse and you had homesided intentions towards the
guard and the guy in transport wasalso a lie. Yes, I have
many feelings and so a person thatsat next to me, I still conversation
through letters. You helped me getthrough a hard trip thirty seven hours being
locked in abouts. So let's seeApril thirtieth, when you tell Detective oct
(26:44):
In about this marriage fact and yourhomeside feelings and a plan to kill Chris,
that was all a lie, right. And the conversations that you have
with your family between April thirtieth andMe sixteenth when you talked to Chief Frizzle,
those were all live right, yes. And then your conversation with Chief
Frizzle on May sixteenth after we arraignedthat out of the jail, when you're
(27:07):
telling you had these feelings your entirelife, that was all a lie,
right, and chep your conversation withChief Frizzle on May seventeenth when you go
on the field trip and show wherethe gun is and where you threw the
camera, where you put the skull, that was all a lie. Correct.
I didn't put the skull anywhere.I wasn't lying about the only thing
(27:30):
I was lying about you was Iwas trying to kick up the stack that
I wasn't score. We're killing Well, we're not done yet. So May
seventeen and you're lying, took policeofficer right. May nineteenth, when you
talk to your brother, you lieto him right, correct. In May
twenty first, when you talk toyour mother on this horrible phone call.
You lied to her as well.So for a whole month you're Lyne wonder.
(27:53):
But today you're telling the truth tothese twelve or fourteen strangers. Their
monsters hide. The book is ina word wild, and some might say
eerily prescient. On its first page, Jason writes that a person cannot truly
(28:18):
love without knowing hate, and muchof the book is devoted to monsters.
How some monsters are born and someare made. That even monsters have predators,
something he discussed at length, culminatingin what he called the smell,
which he described as the odor offear, an odor he knew well that
(28:44):
as much as the hunter could smellthe hunted, the hunted could smell the
hunter, or, as he putit, the rabbit smells the fox.
That only true evil truly recognizes evilin others, that it can be smelled.
In later chapters, the book takeson a more narrative approach, telling
(29:07):
the story of Jason quack Quack.Quack Quack was a name given to Jason
by his nieces and nephews. Jasonquack Quack beat his wife and was a
child molester, among other things.The book told stories of Quack Quack and
his wife picking up a disease riddensex worker called m f W who was
(29:34):
a home wrecker. The book alludesto a fourteen year old boy being raped
and possibly murdered by two people dressedas door to door Mormon missionaries, and
the book repeatedly mentions a sign inthe entryway of quack Quack's house which reads,
if you're not invited, You're notwelcome, and how quack Quack would
(29:56):
murder any one who dare enter hishome uninvited. The book ends with the
sentence wife saves the day, andthen an allusion to a big surprise at
a neighborhood barbecue, and yes,Jason started writing this Pulitzer bait while in
(30:18):
a mental health facility, which hewas then released from. At trial,
Powell asked Kelly if Jason's book wasautobiographical, and Kelly confirmed that it was.
Somewhat Surprised by Kelly's candid response,Powell asked Kelly if she knew what
(30:38):
autobiographical meant, which was shady asfuck and clearly pissed Kelly off. And
again Kelly confirmed that the book wasautobiographical and that yes, she knew what
autobiographical meant. Jumping off from thebarbecue portion of Jason's book, Powell asked
(31:03):
Kelly where the rest of Chris Reganwas. She smirked and claimed not to
know. Then she asked about claimsKelly previously made that she and Jason killed
a bunch of people in Indiana andfed them to their pigs. Kelly denied
this and then specified that Jason andJason alone killed a bunch of people in
(31:27):
Indiana and fed them to their pigs. She went on to say that Jason
also liked playing around with chemicals andthat he had big plans for using different
chemical compounds to commit mass murder,citing a particular plan to poison Michigan's water
supply. The cross examination of Kellycochrane rapped with Melissa Powell asking some seemingly
(31:53):
innocuous questions about the pool company thatshe started with Jason while living in Indian
Enna. What type of services didtheir pool business offer? Well, they
cleaned, repaired, and built swimmingpools. Were those above ground or in
ground pools? Both? And thatincluded building in ground pools? Yes?
(32:17):
Did that include excavating for in groundpools? Yes? The jury only deliberated
for two and a half hours,and they unanimously found Kelly guilty of first
degree murder, larceny, conspiracy tocommit dead bodies to disinterment and mutilation,
(32:45):
concealing and abducting an individual, andlying to a peace officer during a police
investigation. And two months later,Kelly was sentenced to life in prison without
the possibility of parole. Kelly chosenot to address the court. Three days
(33:09):
after Kelly's trial and Iron River ended, Laura Frizzo filed her complaint against Iron
River and David Thayre for wrongful terminationon the basis of gender discrimination, and
despite all the compelling evidence laid outin the previous episode of this podcast,
the court ruled in the favor ofIron River, and there both Kelly and
(33:35):
Laura filed appeals in their respective courtcases. Kelly's was denied and Laura's case
made it to the appellate court,but unfortunately the original ruling was held.
Following their failures in Iron River,both women moved to Indiana. Kelly was
(33:57):
extradited there to face trial for themurder of j Cochrane and Laura moved in
with boyfriend to Jeremy Ogden and beganworking with Investigative Discovery on a docuseries about
Kelly Cochrane. In October of twentyseventeen, while shooting the ID series,
Laura Frizzo and the film crew recoveredChris Regan's lower jawbone while on location on
(34:22):
Pintoga Trail. To this day,his skull and jawbone are the only pieces
of Chris that have ever been found. Kelly never made it to trial for
the murder of Jason. In Februaryof twenty eighteen, she signed a plea
agreement where she admitted to injecting Jasonwith a lethal doseph heroine then suffocating him
(34:45):
to death. She stated that hermotive for the murder was revenge for Chris
Regan. There was an interesting clauseincluded in that plea agreement, though,
one that a prosecutor I know saysshe's never seen before, that, in
admitting to guilt in the death ofJason Cochrane, Kelly could not be charged
(35:08):
with or prosecuted for any additional murdersin the state of Indiana, an interesting
and unprecedented insertion for a woman whoclaimed in court never to have killed anyone.
In the state of Indiana. Asper the terms of that plea agreement,
(35:29):
Kelly was sentenced to sixty five yearsin prison for the murder of Jason,
and even two years later, Kellyis still talking a lot, and
her stories are still evolving and changinga lot. In letters to M.
(35:50):
William Phelps, who wrote Where MonstersHide, Sex, Murder, and Madness
in the Midwest, Kelly confessed thatevery man she has ever been with is
dead. She also wrote that Jasonkilled scores of people and fed their remains
to their pigs, pigs that thecouple later sold in local butcher shops as
(36:14):
grass fed organic meat. So hereis what we know about Kelly and Jason's
time in Indiana. It's where Kelly'simpulses to kill began. It's where Kelly
alleges the pact was made. LauraFrizzo can connect the Cochranes to a missing
(36:37):
woman. There, Kelly picked upa fast food worker for Jason to have
sex with, who she ultimately engagedin a relationship with. Jason threatened to
kill a drug dealer that Kelly wassleeping with. Kelly has alleged that either
she and Jason or Jason alone killedmultiple people. Kelly and Jason owned a
(37:00):
small pig farm, and Kelly andJason made money building in ground, swimming
pools and people's backyards. Digging holesup to ten feet deep then covering them
would cement hundreds of times, allacross Indiana.
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