A killer confession: How a detective's unusual tactics led to uncovering the truth
One man's disappearance spurs a two-state investigation that nabbed a murderer.
After Chris Regan went missing from the small town of Iron River, Michigan, during the fall of 2014, investigators initially came up empty.
The Iron River Police Department eventually honed in on a co-worker of Regan's and her husband as the two main suspects: Kelly and Jason Cochran. But as the case dragged on, there still was not enough evidence to charge the couple with a crime.
Without Regan’s remains or any proof that a crime was committed, the Cochrans lived freely and moved back to their hometown of Hobart, Indiana.
That was until Jason Cochran died in February 2016. An autopsy determined his death was a homicide, bringing the case to then-Detective Jeremy Ogden at the Hobart Police Department.
Not long after Jason’s death, the FBI told Ogden about an anonymous tip they received from someone who claimed to know both Kelly and Jason Cochran, indicating that Jason’s death may be linked to Chris Regan’s disappearance. What followed was an intensive investigation spanning hundreds of hours of interrogations, undercover stings and other unorthodox efforts that would finally result in finding out what happened to Chris Regan.
According to Ogden, one of his main goals from the beginning was to keep Kelly Cochran talking and specifically to get Kelly to want to speak with him. Ogden told “20/20” in an interview that to do so he needed to “leave something left to be said. And that’s exactly what I did in the first interview.”
This open line of communication that Ogden instituted with Kelly Cochran would lead her to trust him. The police interviews of Ogden’s interrogation of Kelly Cochran show her beginning to feel comfortable with the detective.
“I always felt like she viewed me as a worthy adversary,” Ogden told “20/20.” “And that's why this continued.”
After consulting with Iron River Police Chief Laura Frizzo, who had been investigating Jason and Kelly Cochran for over a year in Regan’s disappearance, Ogden learned Kelly was having an affair with Chris Regan at the time of his disappearance. Kelly claimed her husband Jason knew of and tolerated the relationship, but interrogation videos of Jason tell a different story. Ogden insisted that maintaining a relationship without spooking Kelly was crucial.
“I know she [Kelly] is capable of murder,” Ogden told “20/20.” “Everything that I did with her, every interaction, was all noncustodial every single time. And it had to be that way in order to get all the way to the end.”
Another psychological tool Ogden employed led to a turning point in the case. After tracking Kelly’s movements in Hobart following Jason’s death, Ogden noticed that Kelly would often visit a specific part of the woods. Upon identifying a tree stump at this location, Ogden decided to try something different to move the investigation forward by carving “CHRIS IS HERE” onto the stump.
Whether or not Kelly saw the stump is unknown, but the result was momentous. While watching Kelly visit the location with the now-carved tree stump, Ogden saw her suddenly sprint out of the woods. That same day Kelly would reach out to Ogden and tell him she needed to talk. She finally told him Chris Regan was shot and killed by her husband Jason.
But Ogden knew that even with this statement, there was much more investigative work to be done. Kelly was pinning the homicide of her ex-lover Chris Regan on her deceased husband Jason, who could not defend himself.
“I've put her in a position to play the victim,” Ogden told “20/20.” “All of these meetings with her, all of these interviews, have been basically set up to give her an out and to take that out.”
In the end, Ogden was successful. Kelly admitted to her role in Regan’s murder and led authorities to the location of Chris Regan’s remains in a remote part of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Iron River police finally had someone to charge in connection with Regan’s death.
Kelly Cochran pleaded guilty to the murder of her husband Jason Cochran, but fought the charges related to Chris Regan’s death. After a jury trial, Kelly Cochran was convicted of first-degree murder of Chris Regan and is currently serving a life sentence.
Kelly Cochran maintains her innocence to this day.
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