Police seek justice for the
decades-old unsolved murder of
Michael Cochran of Dedham
DEDHAM, Maine — Police are pushing for
answers to help solve the 41-[45] year-old cold
case killing of Michael Cochran of Dedham.
In a facebook post a Maine State Police
detectives said the 24-year-old man’s body was
discovered among the rubble of a burned-out
cabin in Dedham on Feb. 24, 1981.
Police said they
believe the cabin was burned on Feb. 18, 1981.
Police ruled his death a homicide,and the case has remained unsolved. Police are asking
anyone with information about Cochran’s murder to call the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit at 207-973-3750."
__________________________________________
I am Mike Cochran's mother. I
am 90 years
old. In
February of 1981, when Mike was murdered, I was 44. I
have spent half my life trying to get justice for Mike.
I was first told Mike's death was an accident. I spent
years trying to find out what happened the night Mike was
murdered and I
have been told by the Attorney General's Office that
there won't be any justice because the police bungled Mike's
murder. I received a letter on Sept. 5, 2006 (twenty years
ago) from Deputy Attorney General William Stokes telling
me that there remains tremendous difficulties with
prosecuting this case particularly in view of the fact
that the ‘homicide scene’ was not treated as such until a significant period of
time after your son’s death, potentially jeopardizing important
evidence in the meantime."
Portland Press Herald Reporter Eric
Russell wrote in his Dec. 3, 2017 article "After
25 years, the state’s top homicide prosecutor admitted
that police had bungled the investigation from the
beginning.."
Assistant Attorny
General Thomas Goodwin also told Russell that [H]e also
doesn’t dispute the opinion of [Kenneth] MacMaster, the
former state police detective who called the case a “travesty of justice.”
“If he thought the case was mishandled, I’d be inclined to believe
him,” Goodwin said.
Now, the Maine State Police are "asking anyone
with information about Cochran's murder to call" them.
What would they do with the information since the Maine
Attorney General's Office has said that the case cannot
be prosecuted?
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD reported
on December 3, 2017 that "Kenneth MacMaster, a former Maine State Police detective who wasn’t
assigned to the Cochran investigation but knew the victim and many of
the people involved, agreed with the victim’s mother that the case was
mishandled. In an interview last month, he called the case a “travesty
of justice,” and said the details were etched into his memory.
Mr. MacMaster, I am now 90
years-old and have suffered my son's murder for 45 years,
half my life. Please tell me what you know about what happened the night Mike
was murdered what is etched in your memory. Please tell me! What
was done wrong the night Mike's life was
taken? I beg of you please tell me!
Michael Cochran, 24, was found among the rubble of a burned-out
cabin in Dedhaon, Feb. 24, 1981. Police are pushing for answers to help solve the 41-[45] year-old cold
case killing of Michael Cochran of Dedham. On Maine State Police Face Book it satates that detectives said the 24-year-old man’s body was
discovered among the rubble of a burned-out cabin in Dedham on Feb. 24, 1981.
Police said they believe the cabin was burned on Feb.
18, 1981. Police ruled his death a homicide,and the case has remained unsolved. Police are asking
anyone with information about Cochran’s murder to call the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit at 207-973-3750."
__________________________________________
COLD CASE FOUNDATION UNCOVERED INVESTIGATES MIKE'S MURDER
AND CAVES TO THE COVER-UP
I contacted a
Cold Case Organization
in June of 2022 trying to find justice
for my son. Their website was so impressive with many
Investigative and
Forensic
teams. They accepted Mike's case and I worked for months with
Cathie Vallas-McKinzie who was
Victum/ Advocate/Executive Assistant
at that time. Last November
she said they wanted to
let me
know the results of their investigation and set up a
zoom meeting. This was
after they had contacted
Law Enforcement in Maine During the
meeting, the
Arson Investigator denigrated me and my years of
work on my son's murder. He said that Mike wasn't
murdered that it was an accident. The same as I was told when Mike
was found in 6 day old fire rubble in 1981. The
Deputy Executive Director told me to find something else to do
with
my life. I was completely devastated and it has
taken a full year for me to start working on my son's
brutal murder again. Their
website still has Mike's murder
listed
as an unsolved murder as well as the Maine State Police
website for
unsolved
homicides. Gerald Coleman, a great Maine State
Police detective, was assigned
Mike's case in 2002, 21 years after his murder. He
starting investigating
Lionel
Cormier and told me Cormier was guilty of Mike's murder.
But Cold Case Foundation Arson Investigator
Bryan Crumb told me that
Maine
fire investigators (32 year
veteran Fire
Chief Norman Herrin and forty three year veteran Fire
Inspector Wilbur Ricker ) didn't do a good
job of
investigating the fire. Crumb denigrates these two Maine
experts that were at the arson/murder scene and makes himself the expert
while saying it was just an accident. And to top it all off Cold Case
Foundation Deputy Executive Director Dean Jackson tells me to find something
else to do with my life.
Recent communication from Maine Attorney General's Victim Advocate. I put
this here to show that this also contradicts Cold Case Foundation's
finding that Mike's death was an accident and that I need to do something different
with my life.
From:
Date: February 6, 2024 at 2:10:45 PM EST
To: mcbreairty03@yahoo.com
Subject: Connecting
Good afternoon,
I am reaching out to you this
afternoon as I have been assigned as the victim advocate to the
unsolved homicide cases in our office....
I’d like to introduce myself and offer to set up a time to talk
by phone, if you’d like.... I would like to share my hopes and
intentions as well as learn more about Michael. If you
would like to set up a time to talk further, please let me know
what days and times work best for you. If you prefer to email,
that works as well. I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you.
