Naman Shrestha
In February 2019, a West Virginia-based businessman, Michael Cochran, met his tragic demise. After his death, the dark truths about his wife, Natalie Cochran, came to the surface. As the investigators dug deeper into her life, it was discovered that she had scammed many people into investing in her business. Not only that, she was also involved in the homicide of her husband. The entire case is explored in detail in ABC’s ’20/20: Small Town Big Con,’ which also consists of exclusive and in-depth interviews with the loved ones of the victim and the professionals linked to the investigation.
Natalie Cochran Ran a Ponzi Scheme Worth Millions of Dollars Allegedly Behind Her Husband’s Back
Born to Daphne and Larry Jessup in November 1980, Natalie Paige Cochran was raised in a seemingly loving and supportive household, along with her sister, Penny Lowery. Having completed her education, she tied the knot with Michael Cochran around 2000. Over the course of the next few years, the couple entered parenthood as they welcomed two children into the world — a daughter named Nicole “Nikki” Cochran and a younger son. In the 2010s, they operated a contracting business in which many of their friends and family, including Michael’s parents, invested large sums of money. However, when their investors were not getting any sort of return for their investment, Michael became suspicious and started asking questions from Natalie.
Instead of investing the money in the business, she used the money for her personal interests, such as buying jewelry, investing in real estate, and purchasing a 1965 Shelby Cobra. By pretending to be a government contractor with two successful businesses, she managed to run a Ponzi scheme worth $2 million for a couple of years, from 2017 to 2019. In order to get some answers, Michael decided to travel all the way to Virginia on February 6, 2019. However, in the early hours of February 5, Natalie canceled his flight and poisoned him with insulin so that he would not find out her dark secret about the Ponzi scheme. When his friends learned about his critical condition, they urged her to take him to the hospital, but she insisted on letting him “sleep it off.”
A few days later, on February 11, 38-year-old Michael passed away. While she pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud and other related charges and received 135 months of imprisonment for the same in March 2021, she was indicted for killing her husband on November 19 of the same year. On top of the sentence, she was also ordered to pay more than $2.5 million in restitution to her victims and serve an additional three years of supervised release. Soon enough, the prosecutors requested for the first-degree murder charge to be dismissed in April 2023 as they had to exhume the victim’s body for further tests. Upon conducting the necessary tests, it was confirmed that he had died due to the consumption of nonprescribed insulin. In October 2023, Natalie was officially indicted for the murder charges again.
Natalie Cochran is Incarcerated at a West Virginia Prison Facility For Her Crimes
Her trial finally began more than a year later, in January 2025. While the prosecution accused her of poisoning Michael Cochran with insulin because she did not want him to find out about her fraudulent schemes, the defense argued that it was the supplements that the victim took., some of which were not approved by the government. Her defense attorney claimed, “He was taking medication–steroids–that were not for human consumption. There were some animal medications taken.” According to him, Michael also knew about the Ponzi scheme, considering his extravagant lifestyle. Natalie and Michael’s children also testified for her defense, claiming that their father was the one handling the business and used to take dozens of supplementary pills along with steroids.
However, the circumstantial evidence against the defendant overweighed the defense’s arguments. Thus, on January 29, 2025, after a couple of hours of deliberation, the jury returned with a guilty verdict and convicted Natalie of first-degree murder. After the verdict was read, Michael’s mother and stepfather, Donna and Ed Bolt, told WVVA, “We would just like to say thank you everybody for your prayers. It’s been a long time coming. February 11 of 2025 will be six years that Michael Brandon has been murdered. This has been a very long, hard battle. We just thank everybody and God’s plan has been fulfilled today. Justice is done for Michael Brandon. We just want to say, we remain strong in our faith and that Natalie Cochran was held accountable and justice has been served for Michael.”
A couple of days later, on January 31, Natalie’s sentencing took place. The convict took the stand and talked about her late husband’s battle with substance abuse. She stated, “When Michael began to take steroids and using illicit supplements, he was using far and above the normal doses and processing controversial alternative therapies. 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.” In the end, she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing Michael Cochran in February 2019. As of today, she is serving her two concurrent sentences at Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, West Virginia.
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