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FIGHTING FOR JUTICE |
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Maine State Police Detective Kenneth MacMaster says "TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE"
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STATE OF MAINE COVER-UP OF MIKE COCHRAN MURDER |
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JUST A DOG IN MAINE |
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January 23, 1987 - By T. J. Tremble
Allegations of a Maine State Police Cover-up reported
https://www.pressherald.com/maine-state-police-investigation/
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1986
So, the Penobscot County DA's office was supplying the dangerous
criminal informants that were working with the Maine State
Police who were running the Maine DEA and doing the drug stings.
And the MSP were also the investigators on Mike's murder. They
had lost Mike his life using a criminal informant and were now
investigating themselves. Cover-up in Mike Cochran 41-year-old
murder.
Richard Sargent went on trial for an armed robbery in July of
1986. I attended the trial and met Richard Sargent,
Roger Johnson and William Myers, the men indicted for Mike's murder. It was now five years
and five months since Mike's murder and I was still trying to
find out who murdered Mike and why. The indictments against the
three men were dismissed in June of 1985, six months later. The
informant recanted her story and said Det. Shuman fed her the
story she told the grand jury.
There was also a trial in August for Lionel Cormier, Richard's
partner in the robbery. I attended both trials and learned
information that had been covered up in Mike's murder. During Richard Sargent's
trial his attorney, Hilary Billings, question Pollard and Shuman. I heard Shuman
say that he "had to talk with the District Attorney, Christopher Almy,
before any type of bargain was made" [about Pollard] "being free from
prosecution in the murder." During Lionel Cormier's trial his
attorney, Martha Harris, questioned Paul Pollard and Det. Shuman more
extensively than Billings had in July. I heard Paul Pollard say he had a
Smith and Wesson .357 on him when he fled into the woods away from the
murder scene and
I listened to Shuman lie to cover for Pollard. After I learned of
Pollard's crimes, I had to accept the fact that Shuman and Pinkham were
not honest when they told me Pollard was not guilty of Mike's murder and
that he neither saw nor heard anything. He woke, found the cottage on fire
and ran.
Shortly after Richard's trial there was an article in the Bangor
Daily, August 12, 1986 by A. Jay Higgins, with the heading "Case
of Criminal as Informant Sours."
And on the same day there was another article by Higgins with
the heading "Attorney
Questions Value of Using Cooperating Crooks." On the
14th there was a Bangor Daily News Editorial with the heading
"Miscarriage of Justice." that said when Penobscot
County District Attorney Christopher Almy
"calls placing the public at risk 'a small trade-off' for
getting a [drug] conviction he is wrong." There was
another article on the week-end of October 11-12, 1986 with the
heading
"Resigning Prosecutor Criticizes Drug Unit" by
Higgins. The article reported that "a high-profile prosecutor
claimed that "[D]ominance of the task force by the Maine State
Police is compromising the potential effectiveness of the
unit."
So the Penobscot
County DA's office was supplying the dangerous criminal
informants that were working with the Maine State Police who
were running the drug unit and doing the drug stings. And the
MSP were also the investigators on Mike's murder.
They had lost Mike his life using a
criminal informant and were now investigating themselves.
As I read the articles, I thought of Mike and how his life was
taken less than four hours after one of the State of Maine's
undercover drug stings using a dangerous criminal. Newspaper
articles tell how Penobscot County District Attorney Almy was
involved in the practice of using dangerous criminals to catch
other criminals in drug stings in 1986. Almy was Assistant DA
under DA David Cox in 1981. I've wondered why DA David Cox was
so involved in Mike's murder. I've wondered why the Maine State
Police had my meeting in March of 1981 in DA David Cox's office
and I've wondered why the Maine State Police took all their
statements at the Bangor Police Department and Penobscot County
DA Cox's office when Mike was murdered in Hancock County.
In my mind I thought the Maine State Police was a higher office
than a district attorney. But Cox seemed to be controlling
Mike's murder. I have proof that Cox was doing in 1981 what Almy
was doing in 1986 - using dangerous criminals to catch drug
dealers and something went wrong during
their Feb. 18, 1981 DEA sting that cost Mike his life.
I've also wondered why Shuman, Pinkham and Cox were so cold and
hostile toward me. I now believe I was a threat to their
cover-up. No matter what evidence I found there was something
wrong with it. How high up did the cover-up go? The Attorney
General's Office hired my attorney eleven days before my trial
date against Paul Pollard and Shuman showed up in court to
testify for Pollard. They destroyed my lawsuit that cost me
$30,000 that I had borrowed against my home to get some kind of
justice for my son Mike.
January 23, 1987, three months after Higgins reported Pasquale
Perrino's resignation from the Maine anti-drug unit there was
more news about the Maine State Police. A reporter with the
Bangor Daily New
reported that the FBI was "investigating charges of
improper conduct leveled against several Maine State Police
troopers assigned to undercover drug work." And "among the
allegations that reportedly have been made against the police
officers are that some of the troopers have had sexual relations
with female informants and that they coerced some witnesses to
lie in court."
From a review of my book by Alice De Stular
"Leola “Lee” McBreairty Cochran has written a
encyclopedic research manual about the development of
a covered-up true crime story,
the investigation, the trials, and the aftermath. She exposes
those who railroaded her and those who stood by her.
"When a true crime book of this volume, over 600 pages, is
written in a novel style it is easy to lose the attention of the
reader. We cannot let that happen as Michael is too important.
His story is too important.
The cover-ups must be exposed.
"‘A Maine Murder’ is a mix of a true crime, survival guide,
memoir, diary, trial transcript repository, and guidance for
other victim families. She has done a tremendous job and I
highly recommend you check
out this book."
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1980
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