Naman Shrestha
The episode titled ‘Where Monsters Hide’ of ABC’s ’20/20′ chronicles the mysterious disappearance of an Air Force veteran named Christopher Regan in Iron River, Michigan, in October 2014. When he went missing from his home, his loved ones and coworkers became concerned. Months later, their worst nightmare came true as his remains were found several miles away from Iron River. The homicide investigation uncovered a web of lies, affairs, and jealousy that led them straight to the perpetrator.
Christopher Regan’s Partial Remains Were Found More Than a Year After His Disappearance
Born on April 26, 1961, in San Antonio, Texas, Christopher “Chris” Karl Regan Sr. was a divorced Air Force and Military veteran who moved to Iron River, Michigan, in 2013, to be closer to his then-girlfriend, Terri O’Donnell. His two sons, including Christopher Regan Jr., also accompanied him to the small town. Soon, he landed a job at the Oldenburg Group, a manufacturing company. In the following months, Chris and Terri fell apart and broke up, but they remained close friends. In October 2013, he landed another job in Asheville, North Carolina, where he was looking forward to moving the following month.
As a reliable, hardworking employee, Chris had a reputation for always arriving on time to work. So, when he failed to show up at the manufacturing company on October 14, 2014, his coworkers were concerned about his well-being. After not being able to contact him for 2 weeks, on October 28, Terri alerted the police and accompanied the officers to his apartment. They found no signs of a struggle or any chaos in the house. There was half-packed luggage and cartons lying around in different rooms, indicating that he planned to return to the house. As for his car, it was left abandoned for days in the nearby Park and Ride. Inside his car was his knee brace, without which he usually didn’t go anywhere.
Upon reviewing surveillance footage from a gas station in the area, the detectives spotted him on the footage of October 14, 2014, when the 53-year-old Air Force veteran was last seen. About a year and a half after he had suddenly vanished, the investigation led the police to a wooded area off Pentoga Trail, where they discovered Chris’ skull and eyeglasses on May 17, 2016. His skull indicated that he had died of a gunshot wound to the back of the head. The detectives also found a .22 caliber bullet right next to the skull, but didn’t find any other parts of his remains.
Christopher Regan’s Killer Gave False Statements in Multiple Interviews
As part of the investigation, the detectives dug deeper into the life of Christopher Regan. They learned that the reason why Terri broke up with him was that he had been having an affair with a coworker, Kelly Cochran, a married woman who had helped him get a job at the Oldenburg Group. Married to Jason Cochran, Kelly was also new to the town when she met Chris. During her interview, she admitted to having an intimate relationship with Chris and claimed that her husband was also aware of the affair. Upon learning that she also had an affair with another Oldenburg Group employee, Eric Erickson, the police brought him in for questioning. Maintaining his innocence, he took a polygraph test and passed it, allowing them to eliminate him as a potential suspect.
Although Jason Cochran knew about his wife’s affair with Chris, the investigators still suspected that he could have had a role in his disappearance. In March 2015, the police executed a search warrant at the Cochran residence and discovered all kinds of weapons in the house, including knives, daggers, swords, and firearms. They also found what appeared to be blood spatter on the ceiling and Jason’s journal in the basement that described the details of the crime resembling Chris’ disappearance. By the following morning, the couple fled the town and drove to Kelly’s parents’ house in Hobart, Indiana. Since the investigators had put a GPS tracker on the Cochran truck, they were able to track the suspects. The Iron River Police Department asked the Sheriff’s Department in Indiana to bring Jason and Kelly in for questioning.
However, over the next few months, the couple evaded the detectives by staying away from Iron River. Things took a sudden turn when, in February 2016, Kelly called 911 and asked for an ambulance as her husband was in a critical condition. Later, Jason was pronounced dead at St. Mary’s Hospital. Following that, Hobart PD detective Jeremy Ogden hatched a scheme to get close to Kelly and make her open up about what happened with Chris. However, during their meetings, she gave varied accounts of what transpired and kept changing her story. One night, she finally broke down and told the detective that Chris Regan had been killed by her husband, Jason, who also allegedly forced her to remove the bullet from Chris’ skull with a pair of forceps. Kelly alleged that Jason then dismembered the remains.
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The Killer Tried Pinning the Blame on Her Late Husband
Soon, Kelly reportedly fled to Graves County, Kentucky, where she was arrested by the authorities. In the interrogation that followed, on April 30, 2016, she claimed that she knew in advance that Jason would kill Christopher Regan on the fateful night with a .22 rifle. She claimed that she and Jason had made a wedding pact that if one of them were to cheat, the cheating spouse would get rid of their lover or be killed by the other spouse. As per Kelly’s account, she also helped Jason dismember Chris’ remains in the basement with the help of a reciprocating saw before burying the remains off of Pentoga Trail in Crystal Falls Township, where the authorities discovered the remains. Despite admitting to her guilt, she later pleaded not guilty to the charges against her. Several months later, on February 13, 2017, Kelly stood trial for the murder of Christopher Regan.
During the trial, the defense argued that her late husband, Jason, was solely responsible for Chris’ death. In her defense, she told the jury that she lied in the interviews and testified that Jason was abusive towards her and acted alone in the crime. Her defense attorney also used her being a liar to an advantage, stating, “Anything she tells you should be looked at with great scrutiny. And the only evidence they (the prosecution) have is the word of Ms. Cochran.” After a couple of weeks of witness testimonies and hearings, on February 28, the jury deliberated for about three hours and found Kelly Cochran guilty of five felony counts, including first-degree premeditated murder and aiding and abetting in connection with Christopher Regan’s killing. Ultimately, she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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