The Murder of Michael Cochran
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Listen to the Generation Why Podcast episode covering the case
On February 11, 2019, 38-year-old Michael Brandon Cochran died after developing dangerously low blood sugar.
Michael Cochran, a father of two from Daniels, Raleigh County, West Virginia, worked with his wife, Natalie Paige Cochran, in businesses she claimed had lucrative government contracts. The pair had married in the early 2000s.
Natalie Cochran was from Raleigh County, West Virginia. She was the owner of two companies, Technology Management Solutions (TMS) and Tactical Solutions Group (TSG), and had previously worked as a pharmacist.
Outwardly, the Cochrans appeared to be successful in their business endeavors. However, it was later revealed that between 2017 and 2019 Natalie Cochran had defrauded at least 11 investors through what was later determined to be a $2.5 million Ponzi scheme. Among the investors were Michael’s own parents, along with friends and family members of the couple who had been promised large returns. Prosecutors said she used money from newer investors to pay earlier investors, creating the appearance of a successful and trustworthy business.
Prosecutors said Natalie convinced investors she had lucrative government contracts, but instead spent much of the money on real estate and personal purchases such as jewelry and a car. Prosecutors also argued that Michael was largely unaware of the fraud.
It was not until late 2018 that Michael reportedly became suspicious of Natalie’s businesses and noticed inconsistencies that led him to investigate the companies in Virginia. According to prosecutors, Michael planned to travel to Virginia, and Natalie later canceled the trip on February 5, 2019.
Around this time, Michael began to feel ill. He reportedly experienced confusion, weakness, sweating, and collapsing episodes.
Although witnesses said they urged Natalie to seek medical attention for Michael, she allegedly said that he would “sleep it off.”
By February 11, 2019, Michael was dead. He died in hospital, and his death was initially not treated as a homicide before later being classified as undetermined.
Several months later, in September 2019, Natalie Cochran was arrested on various charges related to fraud and accused of lying to investors and using their funds for personal gain.
She pleaded guilty to both money laundering and wire fraud in September 2020. The following year, in March 2021, she was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $2.5 million in restitution.
Investigators were also taking a second look into the death of Michael Cochran, whose body was later exhumed in 2023. Forensic testing later indicated the presence of exogenous insulin, meaning insulin introduced from an outside source. Michael was not diabetic.
Natalie Cochran went to trial for murder in January 2025. Prosecutors accused her of poisoning her husband with insulin in an attempt to stop him from discovering the fraud. Prosecutors argued that, using her background as a pharmacist, she poisoned Michael and delayed medical treatment despite his deteriorating condition. The defense argued that Michael dosed himself with insulin and steroids to aid him in bodybuilding.
Natalie and Michael Cochran’s daughter, Nicole Cochran, later testified that her father took many pills and “handfuls of supplements” every day, as well as steroids. She also said that as far back as 2018 her father had felt unwell, suffering dizziness, headaches, agitation, and increasing lethargy over time.
At the murder trial, Jason Bowen, a contractor who worked for the Cochran family in 2019, testified that on February 6, 2019, he and his business partner were called over to the Cochran home by Natalie. He said that when he arrived, Michael was lying on the kitchen floor in a fetal position and appeared seriously ill.
Bowen claimed he witnessed Natalie checking Michael’s blood sugar at one point.
When asked by Bowen if Natalie wanted them to take Michael to hospital in their vehicle, she rejected the offer.
Bowen said she instead asked him and his partner to carry Michael to the couch, which they did. He testified that Michael did not respond when spoken to multiple times and appeared largely unresponsive. When Bowen contacted Natalie later that day to check on Michael’s condition, she told him he was “sleeping it off.”
Bowen also stated that Michael had complained about feeling unwell several days before he collapsed in the kitchen. “He felt like he had been poisoned,” Bowen told the court. Natalie reportedly informed him it was the result of black mold poisoning.
Family friend Stephanie Hamilton, a physician’s assistant, testified that Natalie Cochran refused to get Michael help, rejecting Hamilton’s offer to drive him to several different hospitals. “Nothing was good enough,” Hamilton told the court.
Michael Cochran later died after a short hospital stay.
Thomas Treadway, a graphic designer hired by the Cochran companies, testified that he noticed Michael had changed following a hospital visit in 2018. According to Treadway, Michael became more aggressive, tired, lethargic, and forgetful.
According to Dr. Paul Uribe, a former military medical examiner who spoke with NBC Dateline in April 2025, insulin is difficult for pathologists to detect in homicide cases. He told the outlet: “You’re not going to stumble across an insulin homicide,” adding that if a pathologist does not suspect foul play they would likely not look for it or find it.
It took less than two hours for a jury to convict Natalie Cochran of first-degree murder. In January 2025 she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
