← Murder, Mystery & Makeup
Murder, Mystery & Makeup
The serial killer you’ve never heard of… Killed her BF, husband, and 7 more? Who is Kelly Cochran
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Hi friends. How are you today? Good. Okay. My name is Bailey Sarian and today is Monday, which means it's murder mystery and makeup Monday. If you're new here. Hi, my name is Bailey Sarian and on Mondays I like to sit down and talk about a true crime story. That's been heavy on my noggin. And I do my makeup at the same time. So in a quiet like little Michigan mining town, one woman's messy love life, honestly, it's more like a love square than a triangle. It went from like small town gossip to national headlines. What started as an attempt to save like a crumbling marriage actually spiraled into like one man vanishing without a trace, another one overdosing, and a third dragged into a scandal that he could not escape. Today we are talking about the disturbing case of Kelly Cochran. Kelly. Kelly Cochran. She's from Michigan though, so. But still. But like, here's the question. You don't know what this woman. Okay. Was Kelly, like, honestly, low key, a serial killer? Was she just like a mastermind who was pulling the strings? Or was she just like, oh, a simple woman who let her obsessions destroy everything around her? Those are the questions that you will probably be left with. Kelly. So our story, it starts off in Iron River, Michigan. It's a small town in the upper peninsula of Michigan. And around this time it was said that there were like 3,000 people living there. Maybe there's more now, maybe there's less, but you know, it was small and they had like one stop light. Now if you look at pictures and stuff, this area is filled with like tons and tons of trees. It honestly is like kind of spooky. Okay. And then the name is kind of aggressive. It's like Iron River. But I guess they got their name from like the local mining company, so that's fine. It's here where 53 year old air Force veteran Chris Regan was making a life for himself. You know, he like grew up in Detroit. He later served in the Air Force and then he eventually came to Iron river to be closer to an old flame. Her name was Terry o'. Donnell. So he moves and all that and he finds work at like a local manufacturing company where no one had anything bad to say about him. You know, he sounded like a great guy. Like it was said that he was reliable, a great team leader and just like fun to be around. So it was a little odd when Chris didn't show up for work on October 14, 2014. Now he was not the type to like call out, let alone be a no call, no show. So it was weird. Then he didn't show up to work for like two more days. Now again, this was like very concerning because it was completely out of character for him. Now his co workers went to his boss and mentioned that Chris had mentioned to them like that he had gotten a new job and he was planning on moving. So they were thinking, well, maybe he just kind of like up and left, you know, like, okay, so it was concerning, but okay. But after three days it like no call, no show, you know, at work. This led him to being terminated from the workplace. So this was like the first kind of sign of, hmm, something ain't right. Now, Chris and Terry had broken up by this point, but they were still like close friends and they would like text all the time. So she's texting him and calling him. And after, you know, 10 days straight of texting and calling Chris with no response, Terry got worried. She's like, what the hell is going on? Like, again, this is not like Him. So she went to police. So Terry ends up taking police to Chris's apartment, and she lets them in because she has, like a key, you know, so she lets them in, and when they get inside, they see that the place is like a hot mess. In the apartment there was just like boxes packing tape and crap everywhere. Now, Terry told police that Chris, he had accepted, like, a new job in Asheville, North Carolina. He was moving there to be, like, closer to his son, and he was packing and getting ready to move. But, like, normally he was a very clean guy and organized. So this was just like, unusual. So they're looking around the apartment and they're finding all sorts of stuff. One of the documents they find was like the actual offer letter for his new job. And it wasn't signed and it wasn't mailed back to the company yet. So it was like Terry's like, well, he accepted the job. Like, why wouldn't he sign and mail it off yet? Like, that's weird. Then they see his personal calendar and they see that Chris had written he was going to resign from his current position on October 14, and his last day of work was written down on October 23rd. So they're like, okay, so he had plans to, like, show up for work. They also noticed that his car wasn't there, his cell phone wasn't there, and the apartment window was open. Honestly, to police, it seemed like Chris had just, like, gotten up and like, left the apartment really quick with the intention of coming right back. So a few days go by and there's still like, no sign of Chris. So Terry, she's like, driving around, and when she's driving around, she sees Chris's car at the local parking ride. It's like a carpooling parking lot, you know. So she sees his car and she contacts police. So they come out to have a look, you know. So Terry is telling police that, like, Chris would never leave his car like that for like, a few days. His car was like his baby. So they look inside and they have a little flashlight. So they look inside and they see his knee brace. And Terry tells them, like, he always wore his knee brace. So that was concerning. Then when they get inside the car, they find a post it note on the passenger seat. And on the post it note, it had like, step by step directions written on it to someone's house. So police, you know, they start looking into Chris a little bit more, trying to figure out what's going on here. And they learn that Chris, he had relationships with a few different women. He was a likable guy. Okay? He had options. But I was watching an interview with Terry, and she was like, yeah, this was new news to me. I thought we were exclusive either way. You know, police end up questioning the other women, but they, you know, had no helpful information. So this is when police were led to Kelly Cochran. You see that post it note that was found in the car? It had directions on them. And this led police to the Cochran home. So they go to the house, Police knock on the door, knock, knock, you know, and a guy named Jason answers. And police are like, hi, you know, does Kelly live here? Is she here? And Jason responds like, no, she's not here. But then a few seconds later, Kelly comes, like, from behind him, and she comes to the door. I was watching an interview with, like, the police who went to the house the first time, and they said it's actually very normal when they go to someone's house and they ask for a specific person for whoever's at the door. Usually tells them, no, they're not here. They said that happens every time. So it was kind of like it was normal, you know what I'm saying? Anyways, not the point, though. So Kelly comes. She comes to the door, and they're like, can we ask you some questions? And she's like, sure, you know. So Kelly tells them Jason is her husband. And police are like, you know, she's coming across very cool and calm, and they kind of look at Jason and he just appeared very nervous, quiet, uneasy, I guess his eyes were kind of like going back and forth like, you know, they're like, okay, noted. So they asked Kelly like, hey, do you know Chris Regan? And she tells him, you know, she did. They were co workers, but she hadn't seen him for a while. Police ask like, hey, do you know why Chris's car was at the park and ride? And it was noted her response was kind of weird because she said, like what? I don't know. Like, he loved that car. And police thought this was odd because she was using past tense. They were like, he loved that car. Hmm. So they had their suspicions that something was up, but they had nothing to base that on yet. They were like, these two are weird. Advice is cute, but let's be honest, anyone can give it. And when the expectations pile up, New Year, New me, glow ups resolutions. You know, it can feel like we're being pressured to become a whole different person overnight. That's where grow therapy swoops in to save the day. Grow therapy makes it easier than ever to Actually find a licensed therapist who fits you, not the other way around. 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That's growtherapy.com makeup growtherapy.com makeup availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan. The Iron River Police Department, they were, you know, pretty small and they needed backup, so they called the Michigan State Police for help. And that's when they brought in Jason and Kelly. They brought them in for questioning because of that post it note that was found in Chris's car. I mean, it led them straight to the Cochran house. So it's like this could have been the very last place Chris went before he disappeared. Right? So they're like, bring them in. So they first interviewed Jason right off the bat. He starts the interview by telling police that he hasn't been doing well. He was institutionalized, like, a month ago. He has intense anxiety and he was seeing a therapist. Then he went on to say, like, he had lost a close friend recently, and on top of all of that, his marriage was falling apart. And it was like, wow, what a way to start. You know, he just, like, laid it all out there. So they asked him if Kelly was having an affair and, like, did he know about it? And Jason, he seemed pretty bothered by this question, but. But, you know, he went on to say that he knew about the affair and he just kind of, like, accepted it. And that if Kelly really wanted to be with someone else and, like, not him, then he would let her go. But you could tell he's just very upset, emotional. When Kelly was brought in, police noticed once again, she's very, like, calm, cool. She was very in control of her. Her body language, you know, it was just different. But right off the bat, Kelly starts talking about, you know, her Husband, Jason, and how they had an open marriage. She mentioned that, like, she and Chris were having a relationship, but Jason knew all about it, and he was totally okay with it. So Kelly tells police the last time that she saw Chris was between October 12th and the 15th at his apartment. And, like, that was all she knew. The chief of police for Iron river, her name is Laura Frizzo. She believed there was much more going on. Okay? She was like, they are involved somehow, and she was determined to figure it out. Side note, but the chief of police, Laura Frizzo, she's a little badass. Like, she's the first female police chief in Iron river. So she's an icon. Plus, she's got the blowout, she's got the lash, and she's determined. Just, I loved it. I loved watching her. I was like, you go, girl. So she starts looking into Kelly Cochran a little more. She's like, something ain't right here. So she's looking into Kelly, and she finds out that Kelly was not only married to Jason, but she was also dating Chris, and she was dating another co worker named Eric Erickson. It's like, damn, she is busy. So police are like, okay, you know, maybe Eric was jealous of Chris and he's the one responsible. So they bring in Eric for questioning, and Eric tells them, like, yeah, you know, me and Kelly, we were hooking up or whatever, you know, but that she had mentioned to him that she and Jason, they were separated and they were just, like, living in the same house. That was it. They were not together. So police, they look through Eric's phone. He, like, willingly gives it over. He's like, yes, yes, yes, you can take it. And they see text messages between him and Kelly. And it was the text messages, it seemed like Eric was getting irritated with Kelly because she was blowing him off, and she was not, like, responding to his text messages. So he's kind of like sending these angry texts. And these texts, they were sent a week before Chris went missing. You know, Eric told police that there was this one night when he, him and Kelly were hanging out at the lake. They were having some beers, and her phone kept going off like it was ringing back to back to back to back. So finally he asked her, like, like, who's calling you? And she tells him, like, oh, it's. It's Chris. So again, police are like, mm hmm. You know, maybe Eric was jealous and he wanted Chris out of the picture. But Eric swore up and down, you know, he had nothing to do with this. And he had an alibi. So they asked him to take a polygraph test, which he ended up passing, and he was cleared. So this brought police back to Jason and Kelly. So they're thinking, okay, it has to be Jason. It has to be Jason, because, you know, his wife is having an affair. He's probably jealous. He obviously isn't doing well, you know. So they talk to Jason again, and he tells police that, again, like, the marriage hadn't been going well and that Kelly was living like she was a single woman. So they end up going through Jason's text messages and see that clearly he was bothered by her relationships. Jason had sent Kelly text messages saying, I cannot take it. You promised me you would stop. Was that a lie also? So investigators are like, what made you send these text messages? And he was like, well, there was this one day where I went on a walk and just so happened to be, like, outside of Chris's apartment where I saw Kelly's truck park outside. So I was bothered by that and I sent her these texts. So after that, he sent her more text messages where he was asking her, like, not to go back to the apartment and reminding her that she was a married woman. So again, this is kind of like solidifying to police. Okay, Jason. It's gotta be Jason because he's kind of giving the, you know, that's stalking behavior. Like, he's following her around. He's getting mad. You know, Jason had mentioned that he was admitted to a mental hospital because he wasn't doing well. So police did the math and they realized that he was admitted just two days after Chris went missing. Now, what are the odds of that, huh? With all this in mind, they're like, it's Jason. It's gotta be Jason now. Jason and Kelly. Oh, my God. Sorry, I just had, like, a flashback moment. Do you remember the movie? It was like, from Justin to Kelly or something like that. I saw it in theaters. For some reason. It was after American Idol came out. I know his name's Jason. It's not Justin, but it was just. It gave me. I had a little that's so Raven moment. Okay, so Jason and Kelly, you know, they. They. They went way back, you know, growing up in the 80s. They were next door neighbors and they knew each other all their lives. After graduating high school, the two of them started dating, and then eventually they got married. Now, according to Kelly, in, like, a later interview, she said she felt like she was doing the right thing, like, you know, going to college, getting married, getting the house, etc. And she also said, like, in the beginning marriage was. It was cool, you know, but after some time went on, it got boring to her. And she was like, dude, all I do is is work. Yeah. You know, you grow up and you realize that's it. All I do is work, you know? Anyway, she was like, yeah, it was boring. But people who knew them said that they were total opposites. Jason was kind of like little shy boy, more reserved. He kept himself where. Kelly was like the outgoing one. She was the life of the party. She was more talkative. And according to Jason's family, it was definitely Kelly who wore the pants in the relationship. Months are going by, but police have, like, no solid evidence, you know, to link them to Chris's disappearance. But they're waiting for an approval to get, like, a search warrant for the Cochran home. But again, like, Iron river is a small town, so the fact that someone like just vanished was a very rare occurrence. And like, the people, the locals, they wanted to help. So a local private investigator team, they step up and decide to like, hey, how can we help? You know, so things, you know, they're moving slow. But In March of 2015, which is like five months later, Chief Frizzo, she finally gets approval to perform the search warrant at the Cochran home. So she's talking to the private investigators about this and they decide to go with. They're gonna go with her. Okay. When the police and the private investigators show up to the home, they said like, their first impression was that the. The home was quite creepy. Okay. So, you know, the first thing they do when they enter, they ask Jason and Kelly, you know, are there any weapons in the house? And they're like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And they start naming where all the weapons are. Okay. Now normally people have like a gun here or guns, whatever. They had tons of weapons in the house. They had tons of knives, swords, crossbows, guns in literally every corner of this fricking house. And I was looking at pictures of it, and it's a lot of like medieval looking weapons and swords, battle axes, daggers. And it seemed like Jason was a collector, but it was a lot. It was like, what do you need that battle axe for? What are you doing with that? It was a lot. They had a lot. Which isn't illegal. Well, is it? Whatever. Okay. So they're like, okay, there's a lot. So police are looking around and they see like, you know, one of the doors has like a full on punch hole through it. Plus the front door itself was cracked and damaged. So they decide to call in the crime Lab people to come out and, like, document the scene, collect any evidence, take photos, do all that stuff. So while police are waiting for the crime lab people to show up, the two private investigators that came with them, they're standing in the living room, and they're just kind of, like, looking around. They don't want to touch anything and, like, potentially contaminate the scene. So they're kind of, like, sitting there waiting, and they look up at the ceiling, and they notice that the ceiling tiles were newly painted, fresh paint, you know, but they're looking, and they could see, like, little spots that look like blood spatter underneath the new paint. And all this was caught on police footage. So you see them, like, looking around, and they're like, what's that? You know? So they asked Kelly about this, and Kelly said that they were doing some, like, recent remodeling and painted the ceiling tiles. But if you look at the interior of their home, you're, like, remodeling where? Okay. Because, girl, where? Sure. Okay. So eventually, the crime lab people, you know, they show up, and they end up doing, like, luminol tests on the ceiling spots. Now, luminol will detect blood. So they do the test, and it comes back positive for blood. So to police, they're like, okay, it looks like some kind of a. An attack happened at the door. And then the blood had, like, spread out onto the ceiling. So they collect their samples and a bunch of evidence, and Chief Frizzo is feeling like, this is it. Like, this is it. We got it. You know, once we get confirmation on that blood, that's it. Yeah, she's feeling good. Literally. The next morning, Chief Frizzo gets a phone call from the Cochran's neighbors. Now, they were calling to let her know that Kelly and Jason loaded up their truck and took off like they were skipping town. She's like, oh, shit, no. So the neighbors, they were brought in for questioning, and they had mentioned that around the time of Chris's disappearance, they noticed that the Cochrans started renovating their house. But they weren't, like, working during the day. They were only working at night, okay, for multiple nights. The neighbor said that they could hear them, like, sanding and sanding and using a reciprocating saw. I don't look that one up, but again, it was like, two or three in the morning, and they. They did this for, like, a handful of days. This is when Chief Frizzo, she knew deep down, she's like, oh, they most likely, like, we're cutting Chris up. But again, like, she had no hard proof. She had no hard proof yet. Just allegations. Then another neighbor told police that, like, they were outside in their front yard, like, minding their own business, when they smelled something funky, like, real funky, and they're, like, looking and they noticed that Jason and Kelly, they were burning something. So the neighbors, like, out front, front, kind of, like looking in their direction. And I guess Kelly came, like, running out into the front, and the neighbor asked her, like, what the hell are you burning? And she told him, like, oh, we're just, like, burning some brush. It's not, you know, no big deal. But according to the neighbor, he was like, I have lived here all of my life, and I have never smelled anything that awful before. Like, it was bad now to you. And I were like, was she burning? Where are they burning a body? Police, they go out and they. They search, like, the Cochrane yard, and they notice that they're, like, in the yard, there's a fire pit shaped like a. A barrel sunk into the ground. But the barrel itself was missing. So they ended up, like, sifting through the dirt and the ashes. And investigators, they uncovered a saw blade along with small scraps of denim, rivets from, like, your jeans, buttons, and a zipper. What? Yes, but, like, again, it's like, it's not that. It's not that DNA proof. It's just, like, you know what I'm saying? So there wasn't anything they can do with this. They all know what the fuck is going on, but they can't make an arrest just based off of this.
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So during their search, when they searched the home, they also found journals and like short stories that Jason had written. And there were a few that stood out. But there was one story titled Quack Quack's Revenge. And I guess it was an odd one. So Quack Quack. Yeah, main character Quack Quack went on a killing spree in the story and he wanted to get revenge on a guy whose description almost matched Chris's to a T. Okay. It was a bizarre story and it was dark and it was highly suspicious, but not illegal. So Quack Quack, we're onto you. Well, lab results come back to Chief Rizzo about the blood samples found found on the ceiling tiles. Now she's all excited about this. Cause this again is gonna be like, this is it. But sadly, the samples were bad. Yeah, they came back with nothing. Like no clear DNA, nothing. Now this turned out to be like one of the biggest disappointments because like again, this was, this was it. So I was like, damn, like, now what do we do? You know, because Jason and Kelly had skipped town. Well, surprise, surprise. You know those private investigators, well, they came in very handy because while they were performing the search warrant, one of them, the PIs snuck away and quietly like put a tracking device on the Cochrans truck, which is legal for private investigators to do in the state of Michigan. And I was like, oh, good to know. So according to the the private investigators, the reason they put the tracking device like on their truck was because they thought at some point the couple, they were gonna drive to the location of where, wherever they dumped the body. So, you know, they stuck that little device under the truck, low key, without like anyone knowing. So the private investigators, they go tell Chief Frizzo about the gps because they were following them and they share that. Jason and Kelly, they drove all the way down to Hobart, Indiana, and we're staying at Kelly's parents house. So Chief Frizzo, she contacts the local police department in Indiana and she tells them everything. She tells them what's going on, just fills them in, okay. And she's like, listen, I really want DNA samples from Jason and Kelly. So luckily this police department is like, oh, okay, like, okay, we'll get that for you. So once again, the police, they locate Jason and Hobart and they bring him into the department saying like, hey, we have a warrant to get your DNA. So it was said when they picked him up, he was like, obviously very nervous. He didn't say a single word the entire time. And he was like shaking and sweating and just acting odd. So Hobart police bring him into the station and then they put him in, like in an interrogation room. So Jason is just sitting there and then in walks Chief Frizzo. Listen, she drove over six hours from Iron river down to Hobart just to further talk to Jason and get his DNA. Now this little moment was caught on the security cameras or whatever, but when she walked in, like, Jason just kind of. He kind of goes red in the face, but he just looks completely shocked. He's like, what the heck? You know, just to see her walk in. Now Chief Friso said that she was really hoping to make him feel like a victim in hopes that like, he would kind of confess. So she was like, hey, remember when your wife was cheating on you and you like, just wanted her to act like your wife? Remember? That was kind of crazy, huh? And you could tell Jason was like uncomfortable and bothered, but immediately he asked for a lawyer. So she's like, damn. So she backs off, but she gets her DNA sample. So during this time, Kelly was calling his phone non stop. She was calling, calling Colin. You know, I think she's worried. So then Kelly comes into the station and Chief Frizzo said, like, she could tell Kelly was annoyed. Like, damn, this woman will not leave me alone. You know, like, God, Chief Rizzo. She sits down and she kind of fibs a bit. She tells Kelly that Jason had been there for a while and that he told her some stuff. She's like, yeah, he told me some stuff. Hoping to create, you know, some kind of distrust between the two, between the couple. But Kelly, she immediately asked for a lawyer, and Chief Rizzo's like, God damn it. So she backs off, but she's able to get her DNA sample. So things kind of hit a standstill, that is, until the night of February 20, 2016. So a 911 call comes through, and it's Kelly, and she's calling to report that her husband Jason, was barely breathing. She said his face was turning blue and, like, she needed an ambulance. So when paramedics arrive to, you know, the house, Kelly was a mess, as you would imagine. But it was. They felt like it was a little over the top. Plus, Kelly was actually getting in the way of the paramedics getting to Jason and, like, helping him. She was kind of like, I got, like, just in the way, and they're like, get out of the way. I guess it got so bad that, like, they had to remove her from the room. Now, sadly, there was nothing they could do, and Jason was pronounced dead from what looked like a heroin overdose. Poor quack quack. So after Jason had died, Kelly reached out to, like, one of his good friends. His name's Walt. And she lets him know, like, Jason passed away from an overdose. Now, this did not feel right to Walt. Walt knew, like, Jason never, ever, ever, ever, ever touched hard drugs. So there was no way, like, that he died of an overdose. So Walt, he contacts the FBI, which I know feels like a jump. But he said, according to Walt, he said he found the missing person flyer with Chris Regan's info on it. So he remembered that Jason told him that he and Kelly had gotten into some trouble back in Michigan over a missing guy. And Walt's like, okay, well, now Jason is dead. So he was thinking that Jason's death was connected somehow. So that's why he contacted the FBI to, like, pass on this information. So after Walt's tip came in, the FBI reached out to Hobart Detective Jeremy Ogden. Now, this detective, he had a reputation, like, not just as a great investigator, but as, like, an even better interrogator. First, he started digging into Jason's death, and then Kelly's background, and then finally Chris Regan's disappearance. So he's, like, connecting all the pieces, and he's like, oh, okay, yeah, there's something here. So that's when he ends up connecting with Iron River Police Chief Laura Frizzo. Now, she was thrilled to get this phone call, you know, just to see any type of movement on the case. And immediately, like, she sent over every document and video she had regarding the situation. Thank God for Once, police departments were, like, communicating with each other. You know how it is a very rare occurrence. So it was refreshing to see this. So he gets all the information. Detective Ogden. So right away, he orders an autopsy to be done on Jason's body. And when the results came back, I mean, it was shocking. Yes, Jason had drugs in his system, but it was determined he died from asphyxiation caused by strangulation. As fist asphyxiation is not coming out how I want it to come out. Asphyxiation caused by strangulation. Yes. Anyways, what I'm getting at is that this was not an overdose. Okay? Nope. This was a homicide. So with that in mind, Detective Ogden, he officially ruled Jason's death a homicide.
- [38:27]
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- [39:28]
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- [40:27]
Bailey Sarian
So after all this, you know, Detective Ogden, he brings Kelly in for questioning. Now I'll be honest here. This would be the first, first of many interviews is there's so much footage of her being questioned. They in the end it was said they had over 100 hours of questioning. She liked to talk, but only with this Detective Ogden guy. Cuz she wouldn't talk like this with Chief Frizzo. Anywho, so Detective Ogden, he told Kelly like, hey, I just want to talk to you about your husband husband's death, you know. But during questioning, she stayed in control. She was playing games. She was given dodgy answers. She was saying like a lot, but nothing at all. Do you know what I'm saying? In some of the interviews she's like, oh, I like observing people, like studying people. I, I like to manipulate people. Like she's thinks she's smarter than everybody else and it's really annoying to watch. I watched too much of it. I was just like, shut the fuck up. God. She wouldn't shut up. But the two like Kelly and Detective Ogden, they kind of built like a strange rapport, you could say. Yeah, Kelly seemed to like, like him and was always willing to meet up and talk. And Detective Ogden, he would meet her anywhere. Diners, fast food joints. And he was like always wired with an undercover camera, just hoping that she'd slip and confess. But every single time, Kelly like danced around the one thing that he really wanted to know. So Detective Ogden, his first move was to call Jason's friend Walt. The same guy who like tipped off, who told FBI? Yeah. So Detective Ogden goes to Walt and he's like, hey, will you like help me out with this like, plan? So the plan was simple. Walt would call Kelly and pretend that he had received a letter from Jason that was written before his death and like sent to him. And this is all being recorded. So Walt gets Kelly on the phone and he tells her like, hey, I received a letter from Jason that said if something happens to me, like, please send this sealed note to the Iron River Police Department. And on the other end of the line, you know, Kelly, she's kind of quiet for a minute. She doesn't say anything. And then finally in like a low voice, she's like, please don't. Now this was something but still, Detective Ogden, you know, wasn't enough. He wanted to mess with Kelly a little bit more. And I kind of love him for it, because let me tell you. Let me just tell you. So, you know, Detective Ogden, he had been, like, following Kelly and, like, watching her low key for a while, and he noticed she. She had the same routine every night, Same time, same park. She would go sit on, like, the same log next to the same tree and just sit there. Maybe she was contemplating life or something. I don't know. But she would just sit there every night. So Detective Ogden came up with a little creepy idea. So he ended up carving into the tree that she would sit by the words, chris is here. The idea was, like, to spook her. Maybe think this message was coming from, like, beyond the grave or, like, from a ghost or something. It's kind of silly, but he did it. And he's hoping, like, I don't know, we'll see what happens. Maybe it'll get her to talk. It's kind of Scooby Dooish, but I like it. I'm like, okay, he did his little carving. And then that night, he parked nearby, and he waited to see her reaction. And sure enough, Kelly, you know, she showed up. She sat down on her log, and she spotted the carving. And I guess right after that, she bolted, and she ran straight to her car, got in, sped off. And guess what? It worked. Because that same night, March 29, 2016, Kelly finally cracked the good old Scooby Doo carving in the. The tree really got her. So she called up Detective Ogden. Ogden and said, you know, I'm ready to talk about what really happened. And they ended up meeting at the station. So Kelly came into the station to meet with Detective Ogden, and finally she gave a confession, kind of. She came in, and she painted herself as the victim, saying Jason was abusive and controlling and that she. She was, you know, just trapped in all of this. And I'm kind of saying that sarcastically, because you'll see, but, like, as time goes on, she's just a liar. This woman is a liar. And I don't believe her, but that's what she tells him. Okay, Kelly said, you know, that night, Chris had come over to her place, and Jason shot him right in front of him. Her. Start from the beginning. He. He comes in the house. What. What happens? Four. Okay, then what? Okay, then what? Change that, Griff. Then he forced her to help clean up the mess and, like, hide the evidence. She said Jason even made her use forceps and to pull the bullet out of Chris's skull before he, quote, downsized him. So Detective Ogden is like, what does that mean, downsized? What's that? And Kelly completely, like, straight faced said, like, it means we cut him up. Kelly told Detective Ogden, like, you know, Jason took away the only good thing in her life, you know. And Detective Ogden, he convinced her to show him where and how everything happened. So at 1am they drove six hours to iron River. I like how determined everyone is to figure to solve this. It's great. So they drive all the way out there. And when they get there, Kelly, like, first led detectives to a spot where she claimed they had dumped Chris's, like, body parts. So the area was searched, but nothing was found. So Detective Ogden tells her, okay, well then, like, take us to your house and walk us through step by step, what happened that night. So they go to the house and like, you know, Kelly's like, fine, here's what happened. So according to Kelly, Jason had forced her to lure Chris over that night. She said that she and Chris ended up having sex. Like on the landing by the back door. Door. I was like, sure, okay, whatever, whatever. So they had sex. And, like, where they had sex also happened to be at the top of, like, the basement stairs. So it went like stairs to the basement landing, stairs to the kitchen. So that landing is where they were doing it. She said when they were finished, Chris started heading upstairs towards the kitchen, and that's when Jason came out from the basement and shot him. Kelly said Chris had, like, he fell backwards onto her and the two of them, like, tumbled all the way down the stairs. So, you know, Detective Ogden, he's listened to her story. Sure, whatever. But he could tell. He said in an interview, he was like, I could tell. She's just like, making this up as she went, you know. So at this point, police are really realizing that Kelly is just a serial liar. Now, the problem was figuring out, you know, what exactly she was lying about and, like, what was the truth? Because the truth was in there somewhere. But, like, was she genuinely confused about the location that she pointed them to or was she. Was she deliberately, like, sending them on a stupid wild goose chase? They couldn't tell, but, you know, like, at least she's talking in. With no hard evidence, they had to send Kelly back to Indiana. And without proof, they couldn't get a warrant for her arrest. Which sounds crazy, right? Because you're like, well, she's confessing, like, this is what happened. But, like, according to her confession, she was just there and it was all Jason. So they couldn't arrest her. Meanwhile, investigators, they kept, like, combing the area around her Iron river home. They would find items that, like, could be evidence. But the struggle was always the same. No DNA. You know, but as time was going on, every so often, Kelly, she would, like, text Detective Ogden, I know this. This bitch. So she's, like, texting him, and she's. She texts him one day, like, hey, ever been to the West Coast? I was driving there last. Last night. And then, like, she would shut her phone off. Now, Detective Ogden, he kept replying to her anyways, knowing that, like, Kelly could not resist checking to see if he texted her back, like it was just another one of her dumb little games. Sure enough, you know, she turns her phone back on and she checks her text messages. But what she didn't realize was that every time she turned her phone back on, it pinged a cell tower, so it gave away her location. Now, she was trying to make everyone think she was out, like, on the west coast. But she wasn't, of course, just trying to throw them off. She was actually in Wingo, Kentucky. I guess she was there, like, hiding out at her cousin's house. Wingo, Kentucky. Now, listen, she really messed up with this whole text game because fleeing the state and taunting the detective implied suspicion of guilt. And this was enough for police to finally get a warrant for her arrest. Finally. So just a few days later, on April 29, 2016, U.S. marshals had arrested Kelly Cochran in Wingo, Kentucky, and sent her. Sent her ass back to Michigan. So, Kelly, she was formally charged with five counts first degree murder as an aider and abettor, conspiracy to mutilated dead body, concealing the death of an individual, larceny in a building, and lying to a peace officer during a violent crime. So these charges were all tied to Chris. Chris's death. Now, Jason, his death had to be handled separately since it happened in a different state. State. Now, you're probably wondering or thinking to yourself, larceny. Where the hell did that come from? Larceny. What? Turns out, after Chris was killed, Kelly had, like, broke into his apartment to grab her wedding ring. Like, she left it there. And then she also stole his camera. And I was like, why? Well, according to Kelly, the camera, it had some, like, raunchy photos and videos on it, and I guess she didn't want anyone to see it. But remember when police first went to Chris's apartment and Terry o' Donnell was like, it's a hot mess. Well, that's why it looked like a hot mess. Because Kelly's ass broke in. Kelly was, like, sitting in jail, you know, waiting for trial to happen. And Detective Ogden, he kept visiting her, trying to pull any. Anything from her. More details, anything. Just keep her talking. Because, remember, at this point, technically, police still had, like, no physical evidence. There was no body. There was just, like, a kind of confession. Okay, but listen, during one of those interviews, Kelly shared new information. Well, she's sharing a lot, but she's. Something interesting came out. She told Detective Ogden that on the night of her wedding, she and Jason made a pact. A deal, an agreement. Now, according to her, she said the deal was if either one of them cheated, they had to kill their side piece. So if Jason cheated, he had to kill his mistress. If Kelly cheated, she had to kill her mantress. Yeah, I was like, was that part of, like, their vows or something? But okay, okay, so listen, this is the first time that Kelly was finally admitting that she knew in advance that Jason was going to kill Chris that night because of this pact. Didn't I just say, though, that, like, she would have to kill. Whatever. Eventually, Kelly dropped the games, and she told Chief Frizzo that she wanted to do the right thing. So she agreed to take them to where Chris's remains were buried. So Kelly takes them, like, out to this wooded area. And it's funny, but it's not funny. But, like, while, you know, police are searching, Kelly is like, hey, can I get, like, a smoke? Can I get a cigarette? Can I get a smoke? Can I light, like, whatever? And then she asked them, like, hey, can someone get me a cheese pizza and, like, a soda? I would love that. While they're looking for, like, the remains, she's like, can I get a cheese piece? Pizza? Yeah, just cheese. You're like, girl, read the room. Jesus. With the help of a cadaver dog, investigators uncovered a buried skull later confirmed to be Chris Regan. Now, it was the break in the case they desperately needed. So from that location, they brought Kelly back to her old Iron river home, which had been left untouched since she and Jason left a year earlier. So it's like, everything is still, like, how it was left. And in the police footage, you can literally see her, cheese pizza in hand, like, pointing out where they dismembered Chris's body. She's like, yeah, it happened there. This is, like, the pizza. She's like, yeah, this is where we come up. Then they find the forceps that she used to dig out, like, the bullet from Chris's skull. They were still sitting in the kitchen sink. She's like eating her pizza. Oh, yeah, that's it. That's what I used to pull it out. It's right there. It's just like, yeah, girl. But also so frustrating because if police would have, like, when they initially did that warrant and, like, took stuff from the house, if they would have taken, like, these tools from the kitchen, and it would have had the DNA on it, you know, it was like they were so freaking close anyways. At least they were getting answers. And then Kelly shows them, like, where they hid the gun or, like, hid part of the gun that Jason had used to shoot him. So it was like, finally, like, everything is, like, coming together. So even after confessing, Kelly pled not guilty to all five charges. Her trial, it actually started on February 14, 2017. So Valentine's Day. Kind of ironic, you know, it's like rain because, you know, it's a trial about killing her lover. It starts on Valentine's Day. Come on. That's kind of ironic. Anyways, so trial starts. It lasts. It lasted, like, three weeks. Now, Kelly's defense team argued, like, it was all Jason, that she was just a victim. They even leaned into the idea that Kelly was such a liar and a drug addict, that, like, nothing she said could be trusted. They're like, she's a liar. She's a liar. Her story changes constantly, so how do you even know what's real? They just lean into that. She lies. I think it's very apparent that throughout the course of these proceedings, my client has been less than truthful.
- [57:45]
Podcast Host
She's a liar.
- [57:46]
Bailey Sarian
And I was like, okay, that's. That was an interesting approach. You know, the prosecution, though, I mean, they focused on. Well, first of all, the hundreds of hours of questioning, but also, like, the whole marriage pact of it all, you know? You know, they had her on tape admitting that she knew, like, what would happen to Chris that night, proving that she wasn't just an innocent bystander in all of this. She was a willing participant. So Kelly, she actually ended up taking the stand, you know, herself. Oh. I was like, oh, this isn't gonna go well. She told the court that Jason was abusive, he was jealous and controlling, but that she never told anyone about it until after. After the murder. So people were like, you know, was she lying about. I don't know. No one really believed her about him being abusive, but that's what she was claiming. Now, at one point, she tells the court straight up that everything she said she lied about. Like, everything was a lie. Her story kept changing. She's like, Yeah, I lied about everything. She said there was no pact with her husband. She said she made that up. It never existed. And she claimed that she had no idea Jason was going to, to kill Chris that night. Well, you know, again, after like three weeks, the jury, they go for deliberations and they're only gone for like three hours. And you know, they, they didn't buy anything that Kelly said because they came back and they found 35 year old Kelly Cochran guilty on all charges. Now, she was sentenced to life without parole. Now, it was said in court, well, you can see the footage too, but like in court, she just like, had nothing. She had no emotion, Nothing, nothing. She didn't care. Well, what about Jason? You know, I was like, what about Jason? Eleven months later, in May of 2018, Kelly pled guilty to the murder of her husband Jason. And she was sentenced to 65 more years in prison. In exchange, she got a deal guaranteeing she could never be charged with any other murders in the state of Indiana. I was like, okay, now you think it's over, but it's not over. Because after Kelly's sentencing, even more disturbing allegations started to surface. Her own brother, his name is Connor. Listen. He reached out to Detective Ogden with his suspicions that Kelly hadn't just like, stopped at Jason and Chris. Now, according to Connor, Kelly once told him there were more victims, nine in total. He said she and Jason would like, make these little comments about killing people, but at the time, everyone brushed it off as like, oh my God, they're just like dark humor. But obviously looking back now, it wasn't so funny. Yeah, so he believed there were more people. Now while in prison, you know, Kelly's mom had called to talk to her and, you know, it's recorded. Her mom calls her and is like, kelly, Kelly, what the hell is going on? Like, where the hell is all this coming from? And Kelly responded, telling her, like, you didn't see this coming? Her mom's response made me giggle just a little because she was like, well, yeah, after all this, I could see it coming, but still, it was just, it was just funny because most people were like, I never saw it coming. And her mom was like, yeah, I can see it coming. So then her mom goes on to say, like, but I didn't know that, like, you guys had, like killed people before. Do you guys even have, like a conscience? And have you always been like this? And Kelly responded, I've always been like this, mom. And it was like, I don't know, I just thought it was an interesting call. She said a lot. Again, without saying really anything. Chief Frizzo. She later admitted that she believed there were more victims. Why? Because when it came to Chris Regan's case, it was just too clean. Like, if Kelly hadn't cracked, they might have never actually solved it again, like there was no solid evidence without her confession and, like, leading them to where his remains were found. And to Chief Frizzo, that kind of precision didn't feel like a first timer kind of situation. But, you know, there's, like, no proof or anything, so it's just beliefs. Then came another disturbing allegation, this one from the neighbors. So, remember the same neighbors who said that they heard Jason and Kelly, like, running power tools late into the night? Yeah, them. So listen, okay. They said that just two days after, like, all that noise, the construction and all that, the Cochrans, they had invited them over for a little, like, backyard barbecue. So the neighbors agreed, you know? Sure. And when they showed up, according to them, they were kind of shocked because they said there was, like, $150 to $200 worth of meat piled up just, like, way more than you'd expect for a little cookout, you know? So they were like, oh, wow, okay. So, you know, they. They ate. They ate it, and later they shared that. Like, the meat tasted off. Like it was extra chewy. Well, according to the neighbor, he said it was kind of see through, like lobster meat. You know, how it's kind of like, see through. He was like, it looks like that, and he was just horrified. I watched the interview of him, and you could just see it in his face of just. He was disturbed, you know, Afterwards, the neighbors truly believed that Kelly and Jason chopped Chris up and, like, served him at the barbecue. After this realization, they were messed up, I'm sure they're probably still messed up. According to Chief Rizzo, none of this, like, ever made it into the official investigation because there was no proof, there was no evidence that they consumed Chris's remains. You know what I'm saying? And that the neighbors came to that conclusion on their own. But still, I don't know. Listen. In 2019, Kelly Cochran, she filed an appeal, and she lost. And to this day, she's still behind bars at the women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Now, I was thinking to myself, I don't know if you were thinking this. I know you weren't, but I was. And I was like, huron Valley Correctional Facility. That sounds very familiar. Why does that sound familiar? And you know what? You know who else is at this prison murder mystery, deep cut. Sheree Miller. Do you remember her? No. Let me tell you, I did a murder mystery episode on her. It was titled Catfish Gone Wrong. She was, like, one of the first Internet catfish. Cherie was married and, like, had online relationships, and then, like, she and her Internet lover plan to, like, murder her husband. It was a whole thing. It was a wild story. Anyways, she's at that prison, too. That's all. I was just like, ah, I wonder if they've crossed paths at all. I just. You know, when murder mysteries cross over, I'm always like, wow, it sure is a small world. Unfortunately, not everyone got a happy ending. Chief Laura Frizzo, love her. She. She put everything into this case. She was dedicated. She got. She. She was a big player in all this. Okay. In the end, she ended up getting fired from her position. Yes. I was like, for what? I don't know. It's not very clear. Okay. Now, afterwards, she filed, like, a wrongful termination suit, but she ended up losing. And to this day, the exact reason as to why she was fired isn't clear. But Chief Rizzo, she believes her boss just didn't like all the attention she was getting in regards to this case. Didn't like that she was a woman in charge. And, yeah, that. It was sad. It's like, what the. Shouldn't you be proud that she got the job done? Geez. But listen, because there was one unexpected silver lining. While working this investigation, Chief Laura Frizzo and Detective Jeremy Ogden, they grew close, and they eventually fell in love. Yeah. The two ended up dating, and then they ended up getting married. I was like, oh, it's actually really cute. It's dark. You know when people ask you, like, how'd you guys meet? That's a story for them. But, like, yeah, I was like, oh, okay. Cute, cute. Okay. Sad store. Cute. A murder mystery love story. You just don't hear about that that often, huh? Listen, Kelly Cochran is one of those cases where the deeper you go, the less sense it makes. The marriage packs. The possible multiple victims, neighbors who think they were fed human barbecue. It's just one big, like, what the. And I feel like I barely scratched the surface, because when you watch even the police interview footage with her, she is something else. She is something. Okay. The way she changed her stories, the way she thought she was playing, like, games. Exhausting. I don't think we'll ever really know the full truth. And then the thought, like, that there might be more, you know, it's just, like, what the. Or maybe I was thinking maybe she's just one of those, like, compulsive liars who makes stuff up for attention, but I, I, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. She's exhausting, I'll say that. And I was thinking, I was like, I mean, if this is what we do know about Kelly, I can't imagine what we don't know about her. And then at the end of the day, poor Chris Regan, like, lost his life because of this stupid woman and her husband. And between, like, Kelly's lies, Jason's violence, and, like, all the games they. They played, it just feels like Chris was caught in the middle of just something he. He never stood a chance against. And, like, she. Oh, and to lose your. Her. Just sad. Thank you guys so much for hanging out with me today. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. You make good choices. Please be safe out there. But other than that, have a good day, and I will be seeing you guys later. Goodbye. Oh, go watch that catfish murder mystery. I did, because that one's crazy, too. Okay, goodbye.