1990

March 23, 1990
 
Deputy Chief ME Dr. Roy’s testimony the jury did hear
 
 “Now, what did you do at the scene?”
     “Really did very little beyond just that preliminary examination. There really was not much we could do. The remainder of that sort of scene belongs to the fire marshal.
     Mr. Popkin asked Dr. Roy what was done “at the medical examiner’s office to investigate this death.”
     “Well, the body was taken to the morgue at Kennebec Valley Medical Center, and the next morning I further examined it externally to determine the extent of injury that had occurred. The internal organs were examined. The trachea was examined for evidence of soot. Blood was collected for toxicology testing.”
     “I would like to show you what has been marked as Roy Deposition Exhibit #1 and ask if you could identify that, please.”
     “That’s a copy of my autopsy report on Micheal Cochran.”

Deputy ME Roy says no stab wounds or gunshot wounds to Mike’s head that was mostly missing

“All right. Now, could you please tell me what you concluded from your examination at that time?”
     “I concluded that the cause of death was due to inhalation of products of combustion including carbon monoxide. ... That’s based on presence of soot in the trachea. ... There was no evidence of gunshot wounds, stab wounds to the chest, to the trunk or head.
     “Okay. Now, do I understand you that what you are saying is that there was no obvious cause of death?”
     “That’s right.”
     “And did you find any evidence of trauma?”
     “No.”
     “Okay. That means no stab wounds, no gunshot wounds?
     “That’s right.”  
     “What did you do to determine whether carbon monoxide was present?”
     “Well—”
     [Attorney Popkin didn’t wait for Roy to answer instead he said, “At this point let me show you Deposition Exhibit #2 and ask you to identify that.”
     “That is the toxicology report.” 
     “And could you, please, state what the results were?”
     “Well, it indicates a carbon monoxide saturation of 46 percent ....”
   
Dr. Roy cannot rule out that Mike was not struck on the head

“Okay. Now, are you confident that there was no other traumatic injury to Mr. Cochran?”
     “I cannot rule out that he was not struck on the head or even that he had a skull fracture. [On the  second page of Dr. Roy's Feb. 25, 1981 autopsy report. It states that "The back, sides and back half of the top of the skull is absent."] I cannot rule out any injuries to his arms or legs or other portions of his extremities that are missing. Obviously, I can’t tell you what happened there. I don’t see any evidence of any penetrating wounds to the head.”
     “And there was severe charring?”
     “Yes.”
     “Now, based upon that cause of death of carbon monoxide inhalation, did you reach a conclusion as to the manner of death?”
     “No, I could not, not from my autopsy examination or information I had.”
     “Did you eventually reach a conclusion in this case as to manner of death?”
     “Yes, I did.”
     “And what was that conclusion?”
     “Homicide.”
     “And why did you reach that?”
     “That’s based on the information from the fire marshal’s office that they believe that this was an arson. So on that basis, this would be a homicide.” 
     “In other words, you concluded that Mr. Cochran died as a result of the fire; and if the fire was an intentionally set fire, then the death was a homicide.”
     “That’s right.”
  (Why was the rest of Fire Marshal Wilbur Ricker's information discounted?)

     “The sort of evidence that you have been giving here, this is the type of testimony that you have given many times in the courts of Maine?”
   “Yes.”

Examination by defense attorney Glazier

“Doctor, but for the information that was given to you by the fire marshal’s office, would you have put the word ‘homicide’ on the amended death certificate?”
     “No.”
     “There is no question that death in this case was caused by carbon monoxide poisoning?”
     “I have no problem with that.”

[Why then did State Police Det. Shuman work so hard to have three men found guilty of murdering Mike by hitting him in the head before setting the fire? He was very upset when the indictment, was dismissed, six years earlier?]

Re-examination by attorney Popkin

“The body that you examined was that of a white male?”
     “Yes.”
     “And was the body much more badly burned on the back, the top?”
     “Yes.”
     “Since the body was lying on its—face down, did you find that the back was much more severely charred than the belly?”
     “Yes.”
     “And the charring on the back at places went right through to expose the pleural cavities?”
     "Yes.”