BECKLEY, W.Va. – The third day of Natalie Cochran’s Ponzi scheme murder trial in a Raleigh County court kicked off Friday morning.
The state began the day by calling on Jason Bowen, a general contractor who worked full time for the Cochran family in 2019.
Raleigh County Prosecuting Attorney Tom Truman questioned Bowen about the series of events that happened on February 6, 2019.
Bowen recalled being at Lowe’s when getting a text from Natalie at around noon that she needed him and his business partner Jonathan Miller to come to the home.
“She asked us to come to the house, that Mike had gotten sick and was laying in the kitchen floor,” said Bowen. “We told her we were on our way and started to head straight there.”
After Bowen and Miller got to the house, he observed Micheal Cochran laying on the kitchen floor in a curled-up position. Truman pointed out that while Cochran took a photo of her husband in that position and sent it to several people, Bowen didn’t receive it.
“She said that he had gotten sick at the sink and kind of lowered himself down onto the floor using the cabinet, and that’s where he (Micheal) kind of ended up,” Bowen said.
Bowen testified that he didn’t know if the victim hit his head or not.
Natalie then asked them to move her husband to the couch, where they tried to communicate with him but had no response.
“We were trying to talk to him several times, saying his name, ‘Mike, can you hear us,’” said Bowen.
Bowen also testified that he thought Micheal should’ve been taken to seek medical help.
“Once we got him to the couch, we felt like he needed to be checked,” Bowen said. “He was not responsive. Jonathan actually did a sternum rub on him once we got to the couch, he kind of responded, he kind of groaned.”
West Virginia State Police arrived at the home five minutes after the construction workers arrived and moved the body.
Bowen kept in contact with the defendant after he left the home to ask about the husband’s condition. Cochran said in a text, “he was sleeping it off or there was no change.”
During cross examination by Cochran’s attorney Matthew Victor, he asked the witness about his knowledge about Micheal’s health prior to February 6.
Bowen said he and Micheal had conversations about the victim feeling unwell, testifying that the victim stated, “He felt like he had been poisoned.”
Months prior to the day the victim was discovered lying in the kitchen, he was hospitalized, which Bowen stated that Natalie told him that it was due to black mold poisoning.
Bowen testified that when he and Miller were at the Cochran home February 6, he observed Cochran checking her husband’s blood sugar while unresponsive.
During the state’s redirect, they asked Bowen if he and his business partner where capable of loading the victim into a car and taking him to the hospital which he responded, “Very much so, yes.”
Adding, “We actually asked her (Cochran) if she wanted us to,” which she responded no.
After the first witness was excused, the state called on Joseph Stephens, who is a Forensic Chemist Examiner with the FBI and the state’s first expert witness.
The state entered three medical vials and their contents into evidence along with the chemist’s analysis report of what was in the vials.
Based on Stephens’ research, the contents of the vials were consistent of methylprednisolone acetate, a combination of glycerol and letrozole, and Humalog insulin.
During cross examination, Defense Attorney Stanley Seldon asked Stephens if he could testify on the volume of how much insulin was in the vial at the time of his testing and weather he knew if the vial had been used, which he responded: that information was not in his area of expertise.
That same response was also used when the defense asked if he knew if the insulin vial was the same vial Natalie had in her home and if any liquid was taken from the vial.
Around 11:30 jurors were told that court would conclude for the day because of scheduling difficulties.
The trial will resume on Tuesday, January 21, at 9 a.m.
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