UPDATE: Cochran murder charge dropped; Hatfield looking for traces of insulin. WITH VIDEO, PHOTOS..

Apr. 20—The first-degree murder charge against Natalie Cochran, a former Raleigh County pharmacist who is spending 11 years in prison on federal charges on another related matter, was dropped during a hearing Wednesday with the prosecution citing the need for more time to gather evidence.

Cochran had been charged with the 2019 murder of her husband, Michael.

Raleigh County Prosecuting Attorney Ben Hatfield made a motion to drop the charge to allow time to reexhume and reexamine Michael's body.

Once the examination is complete, Hatfield said it is "extremely likely" that he will reindict Cochran for the murder of her husband.

"The evidence that I have — I did not indict it the first time without sufficient evidence," he said. "This just gives me a broader look at exactly what happened."

Cochran's defense attorneys made no objections to the prosecution's motions.

In an interview with media after the 30-minute hearing, Matthew Victor, one of Cochran's attorneys, said this would give them a chance to gather more evidence from the federal investigation and prove that Michael was aware of the Ponzi scheme Cochran was charged with.

In May 2021, Cochran was sentenced to the Federal Correctional Institute-Hazelton in Bruceton Mills, W.Va., on a federal conviction related to the operation of a $2.5 million Ponzi scheme.

"We believe that once that information is disclosed, we'll be able to demonstrate that the state's theory of this case is faulty," Victor said.

Cochran was charged in November 2021 with first-degree murder for the death of her 38-year-old husband, who died in February 2019.

For the first time since her indictment, Cochran appeared in person in a Raleigh County courtroom wearing a brown shirt, khaki-colored pants, black shoes and shackles on her hands.

Several members of her family, including her two teenage children, were also present during the hearing Wednesday.

Cochran was able to speak with them briefly before being escorted from the courtroom after the hearing.

"I love you guys. Bye. I'll let you get to school," Cochran said to her family with a smile as she was escorted out of the courtroom by police.

At least one family member responded, "Love you."

The parents of Michael Cochran were also present at the hearing.

Hatfield said the reason he requested Michael's body be reexhumed is so that a pathologist from Texas can perform a specialized test, not previously performed by the state's medical examiner, that detects insulin levels in tissue samples.

"The evidence that led us there is that upon admission, on the date of the major medical event that led to (Michael's) death, his blood glucose level was 21," Hatfield said. "It's extremely low and he's nondiabetic."

Hatfield said he consulted Michael's family prior to making his formal request to reexhume the body.

"The reason that we hadn't explored (reexhumation) up into this point was I didn't have an expert to tell me necessarily whether or not it would still be a viable option," he said. "Because we are now around four years postmortem. I found an expert that gives me a reason to believe that the examination would still be viable, because I would not pursue this line of testing if it was not a viable scientific alternative. I would not do that to Mr. Cochran's remains or that to his family, unless it was likely to result in inculpatory or exculpatory evidence."

Michael was taken to Raleigh General Hospital for an unspecified illness on Feb. 6, 2019. He was later transferred to Charleston Area Medical Center.

He died at Bowers Hospice House on Feb. 11, 2019.

When Michael's body is exhumed, Hatfield said a pathologist from Houston, Texas, will perform an immunohistochemistry test for subcutaneous insulin, which is a specialized lab test used to detect the presence of insulin in tissue samples.

Hatfield said this specialized test was not performed during the autopsy conducted in September 2019 when Michael's body was initially exhumed.

"It is an examination that the OCME, the chief medical examiner in the state of West Virginia, does not run on site," Hatfield said during the hearing. "So it is not a retest or redo in any way. It is an attempt by the state to use physical remains of the decedent to obtain scientific evidence."

Hatfield said Michael's body will be exhumed and examined at an undisclosed time and location so as not to jeopardize the investigation.

"It will be done at a time where no one knows," he said. "Now that the judge has granted it, we'll do it and we'll conduct the examination at an undisclosed location."

Hatfield said he requested that the indictment of first-degree murder against Cochran be dropped while additional evidence is collected in order to avoid further continuances.

"I believe that this gives the state more time to have that examination done in a way that does not rush the examination," Hatfield said. "This now pretty much gives us an unlimited time with which to do it."

Hatfield previously filed a continuance in December, which was granted by Raleigh County Circuit Court Judge Robert Burnside, that pushed Cochran's trial date from Dec. 12 to May 1.

Before ruling on the prosecution's motion to dismiss the charge and exhume Michael's body, Burnside asked Cochran to personally confirm that she understood what was taking place.

"Your attorney and the prosecuting attorney have reached a proposed agreement that would result in a postponement of the trial," Burnside said to Cochran. "It would result, as I understand in summary, of actually a dismissal of the present indictment but under circumstances that allow it to be refiled without prejudice."

"I understand," Cochran said. "I understand. I'm just — I hope that."

Before she was able to finish her thought, Cochran was cut with a silent gesture from her defense attorneys as well as the judge, who restated that if he accepted the prosecution's motion, her trial would not take place on May 1 as scheduled.

"I want to make sure you understand what you're giving up," Burnside said.

Following a second affirmation from Cochran that she understood, Burnside approved Hatfield's motion to dismiss the indictment as well as his motion to reexhume Michael's body from his resting place at Sunset Memorial Park in Beckley.

Cochran's defense attorney Matthew Victor said the dismissal of the indictment will also give him additional time to gather evidence from the federal investigation.

Victor said he believes evidence from the federal government's investigation, which he has yet to receive, will prove that both Cochran and her husband were being investigated for the Ponzi scheme.

"I have no knowledge of whether (Michael) was going to be indicted, whether he was going to be tried, whether he was going to be prosecuted, and we're trying to obtain that information from the federal government," he said. "I believe that this was a joint investigation by officers who are involved in this case."

Hatfield has previously told The Register-Herald that it was unlikely that Michael knew anything about the Ponzi scheme.

"I have no evidence to suggest that he knew about the scheme," said Hatfield in an interview in November 2021. "Even as we wrapped up the case, as we presented to grand jury, I had no evidence that Michael Cochran knew about the scheme that Natalie was running."

Hatfield said he will likely reindict Cochran before the end of 2023. Depending on when he files the indictment, Hatfield said a special grand jury may need to be called to decide on the indictment.

Even though her murder charge has been dropped, for now, Cochran still has several more years on her federal sentence.

"I'll be honest, that weighed into the ease of my decision to make the decision to dismiss," Hatfield said.

"She's serving an 11-year federal prison sentence. So it's not like I'm releasing her and she's going to be free to move about the community or anything like that. While she's serving that sentence, we'll conduct the test."

Following the hearing, Cochran was driven back to the Hazelton federal prison by state troopers.

Email: jmoore@register-herald.com