SHARON SARGENT INTERVIEWS - THE STATE'S ONLY WITNESS December 5, 1983 Sharon Sargent's first interview concerning Mike's murder was with Bangor Police Detective John Welch and Officer Lloyd (Chip) Blethan on Dec. 5, 1983, neatly three years after Mike's death. She was a drug addict with a criminal record and an an informant for the Bangor police. While the two officers were interviewing her about illegal drugs and shop lifting she told them she knew a lot about Mike's murder. Her interview was exactly one year (December 5, 1984) before Richard Sargent, Roger Johnson and William Myers were indicted for Mike's murder on her testimony only.      Sharon: “Mike Cochran got killed and I know a lot about that.”      Welch: “What do you know about that?”      Sharon: “Dupray’s camp. And I know that Percy and Dupray were in on that, and I know that Richard Sargent is Percy’s brother, and Richard was right in on it too. ... The only thing that I know about down to that camp is that he was going to testify, or he was going to rat on somebody.... And they were afraid of what he was going to say, Dupray, Percy, and there’s another guy involved but I can’t remember what his name is, and he went down to the camp. ...”      Welch: “Who’s told you this?”      Sharon: “Percy Sargent, and his ex-wife Kathy Dupray and there’s another guy too, but like I say I cannot remember his name.... I don’t actually know who hit him, but I do know who set the camp on fire.      Welch: “Who did that?”      Sharon: "Dupray."      Welch:“That’s David Dupray.”      Sharon: “And I don’t know who hit him, who actually hit him but I know the camp was set on fire...”      Welch: “Do you know why, what this involved, this testimony that he might give, what it involved, or what it was about?      Sharon: “About Pot. It was about drugs. A major drug deal is what it was about. And Percy’s doing time now ... Dupray’s walking scott [free] from my understanding."      Welch:  “You said that Cochran was hit.”      Sharon: “They hit him on the back of the head from what I understand.”      Welch: "He wasn’t shot?"     Sharon:  “Nope. Not that I understand. If he was, I didn’t hear about it."      Welch: “Ok. Who was it that told you that he was hit on the back of the head and left to be burnt to death? ...” Before Sharon could respond Officer Blethan (Bangor PD officer who gave Paul Pollard a polygraph exam March 25, 1981.) decided to drop the issue and go back to questioning Sharon about information she had on shoplifting and drugs. He said, “I think we could sit here all day long and find out things and I think you’re in the middle of it, and I think you’re in a good place to hear things. I don’t want you to do anything but hear things, and when you get a minute, don’t, if you hear something interesting think you’re going to have to come in and tell us, don’t do that. If you hear it, just remember it, if you can, the more detail that you can get us, a license number, a serial number, whatever, but don’t put yourself in jeopardy to get that." Sharon told the Bangor Police Officers that David Dupray, Percy Sargent and another guy (?) were involved in Mike’s murder. She said that David Dupray set his own cottage on fire and she doesn't know who hit him. When Sharon said Micheal was hit on the back of the head Bangor Police Investigator John Welch’s response was, “He wasn’t shot?” She said "nope." There is no mention of William Myers or Roger Johnson. February 23, 1984   Two months later, February 23, 1984, police informant Sharon Sargent was again giving Bangor Police Officers Chip Blethan and Stockford information on “2 professional theft rings and inside info on Bangor drug imports.” The information is handwritten and near the end of the statement it says: “1st had info on homicide. Not participatory info. She told Bangor PD she has info on this.” On the left side of the statement a note is added: “Barry Shuman very interested in speaking w/her,” and in brackets on the second page it says [“Chip Blethan – Bgr PD - friend of D]. Sharon was referred to as (Defendant and friend of Blethan) in this statement. July 24, 1984 Seven months, July 24, 1984, after Investigator Welch and Officer Blethan’s interview with Sharon, Shuman and Pinkham had a recorded interview with her at the Bangor Police Department. At the time Sharon was hoping for a sentence reduction for her crimes.       The first paragraph of the interview states that “Sharon was friends with Richard Sargent, Percy Sargent and Buddy Johnson at the time of the Cochran death back in 1981.” [Sharon had been married to two of Richard and Percy Sargent’s brothers (David & Steven), they were Sharon’s brothers-in-law. This is the first mention of Johnson.]      “...The reason that I knew about Mike Cochran was because, ah, they set him up, well, they set him up for some drugs with Buddy Johnson, Buddy Johnson is a big cocaine dealer out of Winterport. He deals heavy, I mean, he’s not petty, he’s like $20,000 in debt [The amount Lionel Cormier, Paul Pollard, Richard Sargent and Percy Sargent stole from Charles Dolan in their Nov. 27, 1980 armed robbery], and whatever, and that’s just about what Mike Cochran was into too, from what I understand, was almost $20,000. Ah, Percy and Richard and David Dupray were the ones that got him involved with Cochran and with Johnson, so they’re not gonna lie and say he would pay, in which he never did. So things were getting hot and heavy about that and then Cochran got arrested and things were coming out that he was gonna turn State’s evidence against Percy, who they had arrested too, and Duprey had been arrested [Mike was arrested in March of 1980 and went to court Dec. 3, 1980 and was a fugitive until he was murdered on Feb. 18, 1981. Percy and Dupray were arrested approximately 3 hours before Mike was murdered.],  so that’s what that was all about.      “...Mike, the night before Mike was killed [February 17, 1981], um, they had a party down to (inaudible), then it was time, there was talk that it was time to put Cochran, to take care of Cochran. Nobody said murder, but they said it was time. ...And there was, Percy wasn’t there because he was in jail, there was Dick and there was me, and Buddy and Duprey. And there was another guy, he hangs around with Buddy all the time but I can’t think of his name. He works with Buddy. [Roger Johnson was never referred to as Buddy his nickname was “Bubba”.] ...I mean, it was set up, they were going to get him, he just walked right into it. First he bragged about turning State’s evidence to them, I mean he bragged to them about this, to make sure that they knew about it, and then he turned around and they found him a place to stay and he believed them. [Linda Gray helped Mike escape from the courthouse and she helped him hide from the authorities]. So then, they said it was time to take care of Mike ... Dick told me he was hit on the head, now the cops think he was shot. I never heard that Mike Cochran was shot. I heard he was smacked on the head and that’s why he didn’t get out when the fire started. I never heard that he was shot, maybe he was. I don’t know. ... Dick says that Buddy set the fire [seven months earlier Sharon told officers Welch and Blethen that Dupray set the fire.], but whether that is true or not, you know, is whatever.      Shuman asked Sharon “The night that Percy was arrested and David Duprey was arrested, do you know about a telephone call that Percy made to anybody?”      “... I don’t know anything about a phone call, but Dick said they can’t blame Percy because he was sitting right in their jail, so how can they say he did anything?”      “Did you ever meet this Cochran?”      Sharon said, “No, I never had any chance to meet him ... And since I’ve been in trouble, since I’ve been talking to the police and stuff, apparently someone thought I was gonna turn State’s evidence ... last year I finally got my shit together ... I wasn’t going to say anything, until they started threatening me. When they pushed me, they pushed the wrong person.      “When did you start getting these threats?”      “About three weeks ago, I got the first one ... the weekend that Percy was out. Percy had been out of jail....”      “He’s out on furlough?”      “Yes. The weekends my threats started was the weekend he was out. ... Cause I’m more scared of him than I am any of the rest of them."      “Percy?”      “Yes....” Shuman questioned Sharon about the armed robbery of Charles Dolan.        “Does Richard ever mention a rip off with a guy up in East Corinth?”      “He went to his house? Beat him up bad? Stole all his money? Yes sir! They beat him up real bad.”      “Who did that?”      “Richard and, do I have to tell ya? I’d really rather keep Buddy’s (inaudible) out of this. I guess Richard and Percy, but I’m not really sure, but I know Richard was into it. He was bragging about it down to his mother’s ... They tied him up, beat him up, they took all, he had grass in the house, they took all that and all kinds of stuff from him. ... I didn’t know it was in East Corinth, but I thought it was up north. I’m not sure who was with them, I could probably find out, be nosey.”      “Right. That was one time, then they did it again.”      Sharon sounded surprised and said, “They did it again!”      “Yes, cut his ear off.” Shuman testified under oath at Richard Sargent's July 1986 trial and Lionel Cormier's August 1986 trial that he had “Absolutely no knowledge of the November of ’80" armed robbery and all he knew about the March 1981 robbery was that Mr. Dolan had been badly beaten back in March of ’81. He said he had gone to the hospital with a Det. Clement to try to interview Mr. Dolan but he was not successful in talking with Mr. Dolan at that time. Shuman's testimony was that he knew nothing about the Dolan robberies before Pollard told him on February 12, 1985. This conversation with Sharon Sargent was on July 24, 1984, seven months before Shuman's visit with Paul Pollard. Shuman continued his interview of Sharon.      “Lionel Cormier had a brother that was staying at the camp.”      “Yes, there was another guy there, I don’t know who it was. I never had any occasion to meet him. But I remember talking about another guy staying there. ...they had a fight over the money, he [Mike] said “You get off my back or I’m gonna turn State’s evidence against you and you guys will be sitting in jail and I’ll be walking around free. What I’m talking about is when they cut the guys ear. They tied him up and beat him up real bad.”     “When they beat this guy up in East Corinth, took all his money that was after Cochran.”      “Right. I just heard about that a while ago, well, last summer, I guess, the summer before. It’s been awhile since all this stuff has happened.”      “Well, it happened to Cochran, it was in February of 1981....” Apparently Shuman knew that he couldn’t allow Sharon to implicate Mike in the March 27, 1981 armed robbery of Charlie Dolan. Lionel Cormier, Paul Pollard and Percy Sargent had taken his life on February 18, 1981, one month before the Charles Dolan armed robbery. I believe if Shuman had thought of a way to implicate Mike in the March robbery he would have. Five months later, in December, Richard Sargent was indicted for Mike's murder. Shuman and Pinkham interviewed him at the jail. During that interview Shuman told Richard that "Percy and Cochran were going to make a hit on Charlie Dolan know who Charlie Dolan is?"      Shuman:  “Had you ever met Lionel Cormier?”     “No....” October 12, 1984 Sharon’s next interview was in October while she was incarcerated at Penobscot County jail. Deputy Sheriff Carl Andrews interviewed her. (Same Sheriff who took a statement from Paul Pollard on Feb. 19, 1981, the day after Pollard was seen fleeing the arson/murder scene. Andrews visited Pollard that day concerning his Jan. 23, 1981 drive-by shooting.)     Andrews: “This is for investigative purposes only. Present in the room are just Mrs. Sargent and myself. [Deputy Andrews addressed Sharon as Terry.) Terry, we’ve talked earlier and a couple of times about some situations and occurrences concerning number one, a homicide that occurred to a victim by the name of Cochran. ...Tell me in your own words what it is.”      “Well, Mike Cochran was associated with, um, Percy Sargent, Duprey and a guy named Bubba Johnson [Three months earlier she called Johnson Buddy]. ...He was in to Bubba Johnson by, for at least $20,000. I’m not sure of the amount. ... the night that he was killed, um, the day before that he called, made a phone call to Bubba Johnson and he told Bubba Johnson that he was going to turn, he had been arrested. ...They were really upset about that, the fact that he owed them money and he had been arrested. He was arrested and went to court and the night that he escaped off the courthouse steps that was well planned. [It was morning when Linda took Mike from the courthouse. Penobscot County Sheriff Donald Cammack's affidavit states "This happened about approximately 9:40 a.m." Carl Andrews and Donald Cammack worked in same Sheriff's office.] ...there was somebody waiting for him. I’m not sure who it was, I’m not sure who Bubba sent but Bubba had that arranged. He was taken to the camp where he was well hidden and well concealed for ah, oh, awhile before he died. The reason being why he didn’t die right off or why the fire wasn’t set right off was because they needed to clear up, they need alibis. Percy Sargent has an alibi has far as you can’t hang him for doing it because he was sitting in the County jail. ... Percy called [Sharon told Shuman in July, she knew nothing about a phone call.]. He had been arrested. He had been set up. He had walked into a place with some Federal agents and you know, was gonna sell drugs to them. So he’d been set up and Dave thought that Mike Cochran had had something to do with that plus he was, Cochran was threatening to turn the States evidence and before all this happened, and he owed $20,000 so the talk was let’s take care of Mike....”      Sharon’s reasons for Mike’s murder: 1) He was going to rat on somebody about a major drug deal. 2) He owed $20,000 in drug money to Buddy, Bubba Johnson. 3) He bragged about turning “State’s evidence” against Percy Sargent. 4) He was involved in the Charlie Dolan armed robbery. 5) He had been arrested, called Johnson and said he was gonna turn. 6) He set Percy Sargent up for his drug arrest on February 17, 1981. Sharon fabricated story continues: “We knew there was a body in that camp a week before, it was good four or five days before they (found) a body in there. ...Richard said they’re Mike’s body in that camp. ... He said Bubba and the Gorilla (Sharon adds a new name]. and I set the fire. ...And I don’t know where the rumor started that Micheal Cochran was shot but as far as I know, he was not shot. ... Richard said he hit him over the head and then Bubba and the Gorilla set the camp on fire... [Dec. 5, 1983, interview she didn’t know who hit him and David Dupray set the fire. July 24, 1984, Buddy set the fire. Oct. 12, 1984, Richard hit him and Bubba and the Gorilla set the fire.] I wasn’t involved in the murder or anything but I was there and I was drugged up.      Deputy Andrews asked Sharon “the night that this phone call came in do you remember who took the phone call?”      “Yeah, Richard did.”      Andrews asked her if she had spoken with anyone else about Mike’s murder. She said she had spoken with the State Police. “At that time they said they were gonna try to keep my name in the background and the information that I gave them was real correct. And then they have talk[ed] to my lawyer since and I was facing a charge and they said they would go easy on the charge if I talked to them. Gave them the evidence that I have. I got four months on a Class E misdemeanor so I don’t feel that they did me any great big favors. Then they’ve called my lawyer since last week and they’re waiting for me to get out of here so that they can talk to me again. I’m not gonna talk to them.” Richard Sargent, Roger (Buddy and Bubba) Johnson and William (Gorilla) Myers were indicted on December 5, 1984.  The witness stood by her testimony,  but on the weekend of March 9-10, 1985, Higgins reported state attorneys were weighing Sharon Sargent's role as a chief witness. Sharon went to Stern’s office in February of 1981, two months after the three men were indicted and said Shuman suggested the information she gave the grand jury and asked to be protected from Shuman.      Sharon said during her Feb. 18, 1981 interview at Marshall Stern’s office that she had been allowed to go home with Andrew’s wife and that Andrews made exceptions to a lot of rules. She said her original out date was November 31 (1984) and November 15 with good time. But on the day of her interview (Oct. 12, 1984) with Chief Deputy Andrews she was sent home. She said, “that was like four, five, six or seven weeks sooner than I should have originally gone and about five weeks sooner than I should have gone with good time.” Shuman knew his case was falling apart when he visited Paul Pollard in Massachusetts on February 12, 1985.  During Sharon's Feb. 18 meeting in Attorney Marshal Stern's office she said "The other night, as far as I understand it, he's [Shuman] in either Massachusetts or New Hampshire, because Barry Shuman left the state for two days last week, ... Carl [Andrews] told me...he was talking to me on the phone and he said, 'Barry Shuman just went looking for Paul Pollard... him and another guy' and I said to Barry 'Did you find Paul Pollard, I want to know' and he said 'Yes, but you can't tell anybody, because he's being state protected.'       Stern: "But you don't know what he is going to testify to?"       Sharon: "Barry Shuman says to everything that I say." Shuman claimed he went to see Pollard concerning Mike's murder but during this meeting Pollard said he needed to clear his conscience of two armed robberies he had committed. Shuman returned to Maine and retrieved the two robberies from a closed file according to Ralph Pinkham's testimony. He and Penobscot County Christopher Almy then started proceedings against the men guilty of the armed robberies, one on Nov. 26, 1980, and one on Mar. 27, 1981. The men were not indicted until January of 1986 and the trials began in July. Pollard testified against his half-brother Lionel Cormier, his friend, Robert Smith, Richard Sargent and his brother, Percy Sargent. Pollard was given complete immunity on both armed robberies after he offered the information.      The reason for this: Shuman was upset with Marshal Stern. He blamed him for losing his arson/murder case and it was reported in the news that he suggested the information Sharon Sargent gave the grand jury and that Sharon feared him. He was out to get Stern's client, Richard Sargent, and with DA Almy's assistant the men were tried and found guilty. Shuman committed perjury during the trials when he testified that he knew nothing about the robberies until Pollard told him.