BECKLEY, W.Va. (Court TV) — A pharmacist who pleaded guilty to running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded people out of millions of dollars will stand trial on charges she murdered her husband.
Natalie Cochran appears in court for a pretrial hearing on Oct. 8, 2024. (Court TV)
Natalie Cochran is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Michael Cochran, to whom she had been married for nearly 19 years, when he died on Feb. 11, 2019.
At the time of Michael’s death, Natalie was running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors, including Michael’s parents, out of millions of dollars. She pleaded guilty in 2021 to federal wire fraud and other charges and was sentenced to 135 months in prison.
While financial documents linked Michael to the scheme, the judge at Natalie’s federal sentencing noted her ongoing involvement. “Even while her husband lay dying,” U.S. District Court Judge Frank Volk said, “She was attempting to continue the perpetration of her extensive fraud and even in a more robust and thoughtful way.”
Natalie was originally indicted on murder charges in November 2021, but those charges were dismissed at the request of prosecutors in April 2023, because they wanted to exhume Michael’s body and conduct further testing. Natalie was indicted again on murder charges in Oct. 2023.
While the defense strategy was not made clear during pretrial, Natalie implied at her federal sentencing that Michael suffered from substance abuse. “When Michael began to take steroids and using illicit supplements, he was using far and above the normal doses and processing controversial alternative therapies,” she said. “It became his addiction. … Every day I wish Mike were here. I wish he hadn’t left me to deal with this alone. I wish that he had never started the drugs.”
Natalie, who is still serving her federal sentence, faces a potential life sentence if she is convicted of murder.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday, Jan. 13.
