New questions have been raised about the death of Charles Cochran since my previous posts about it. I started to reply to each one individually but decided readers would be better served by having them all discussed here in one more post about the suicide that still has more questions than answers.

From Michael, in response to Revisiting Charles Cochran:

I believe that the argument isn’t that the murder was premeditated. There are many murders that happen that aren’t premeditated. Although, admittedly, I know next to nothing about this case aside from the news articles and comments, any kind of “fishiness” found in a suicide usually turns out to be quizzical; and this case oozes fishiness. Knowing our police department, this could have easily been an “authoritative power” kill.

The argument then is he was arrested legitimately but officers took things a bit too far and badly injured or killed him, then staged the hanging to cover their butts. This is a plausible argument, and raises further issues that need to be addressed by the GBI or Sheriff’s Office.

The cell where he died had no cameras for “privacy” but there are security cameras in other parts of the jail, so if he was abused outside the cell one of those might have evidence of it. If the SO wants to clear its name they should release any and all tapes from every camera in the jail between the time he was brought in and the time his body was found. Refusal to do so might be an indicator of guilt on their part, or at least an indicator of plain old “don’t give a rip.”

Hopefully the GBI and its autopsy will find any injuries that would suggest mistreatment, but I’m not sure if the GBI can be trusted any more than local law enforcement agencies. Mr. Cochran’s family, if they really feel like something fishy happened, should get a private autopsy – once his body has been turned back over to them it’s well within their rights to have one done, assuming they can afford it or get some donations to cover the costs.

From Michelle, in response to A Hanging Question:

I think that if he did HANG his self they should have took pictures of his body when he was found dead to prove there was no blood…no bruises and ect!!

That’s one thing done during an autopsy; taking photos of the body as part of evidence collection. The SO/jail would not be expected to do that and it is completely proper for them to turn over to the GBI and its forensics lab every aspect of the investigation, including photographing the body.

i know that some family members say when they saw his body before he was laid to rest and checked to see if they could find anything other then the mark around his neck and they did.. his NOSE actually looked like it had been broken…and there was a big bruise on the left side of his face that makeup did not cover up. also a cut right above his lip!

Those injuries might be from mistreatment and abuse, but those alone don’t necessarily prove he was abused or killed. A broken nose, or appearance thereof, could be from attempts to resuscitate him either at the jail or by paramedics using CPR or a ventilator. After death noses often don’t go back to normal shape after being vented. Bruising, nose deformation, and a cut lip could also be related to resuscitation attempts, from his body being cut down in a hurry, or from Mr. Cochran’s violent behavior and restraint before he was put in the cell. An autopsy or rough handling of the body after death could also cause some marks or minor damage.

my question is the 22 year old that was takin to walker county with him that night had also been drinkin but was ALSO booked around 11:30 that night if they wait till the inmates sober up why did she get booked and not him because i know a female being drunk is not gonna sober up faster than a man that weighs alot more than her…

We don’t know that they were equally drunk, or if the girl was drunk at all. The Messenger said she “was also arrested that night where the incident occurred” but didn’t indicate why she was arrested, how she was involved, or if she was drunk/high at the time. If she was sober, or more sober than Cochran, and cooperative, then she didn’t need to sleep it off before being booked.

and also i heard from SOME family members that the walker county sherrifs office never called once or even said IM sorry for the LOSS

I have no doubt of this; officers at the Walker SO aren’t going to call up the dead prisoner’s mom and apologize over the incident. Department lawyers would probably stop any attempt to do so (if anyone wanted to) because that might appear like an admission of guilt or responsibility. I wouldn’t read much into that, it’s just how the world works. Indifference or a lack of concern for the deceased’s family doesn’t equate to being guilty of abuse or murder.

Beyond the comments from Michael and Michelle, six other posts from six other site visitors echoed sentiments found in comments on the Messenger site. However, a closer analysis of those postings reveals some shenanigans: all six were submitted from the same network IP address, meaning they were written within the same building, likely on the same computer, and very possibly by the same person. This suspicion is strengthened by all six users giving obviously fake e-mail addresses and repeating the same basic argument in their comments.

All six comments, boiled down to their essence, repeatedly make the points listed below. The argument is in italic, followed by my response:

• Cochran was a nice guy. This is irrelevant. Nice people kill themselves sometimes.
• Other unnamed persons in the jail heard Cochran being abused. Nobody who heard this directly has spoken up. Indirect testimony quoting anonymous witnesses isn’t worth much.
• The jail and/or jailers are corrupt and regularly beat prisoners. Most people who have been through the jail have probably been treated roughly, pushed around, or verbally abused – but that’s a stretch from being beaten to death and hanged. If prisoners were regularly injured while staying at the Walker jail it would be found out and investigated.
• He could not have hanged himself if he was restrained. He had to be restrained after arrest and during transport, but officers can’t strap somebody down and leave them in a holding cell all night. If Cochran had been handcuffed or restrained in the cell for 6 or 8 hours he’d be alive today and suing the county for mistreatment.
• The drunk tank cell has nothing he could have hanged himself from. There is more than one holding cell at the Walker Jail and the description I received indicates there are a few places in them where someone could jam or hang a shirt hard enough to commit harakiri.
• Jailers could have watched Cochran and stopped him from committing suicide. It doesn’t take long to hang yourself. One or two guards watching dozens of inmates in the middle of the night can’t continually monitor any one prisoner.
• Cochran’s body had bruises or other marks on it. I think we already covered this one above.
• The family wasn’t called in to identify his body before the autopsy because the SO has something to hide. In some situations identifying a body isn’t necessary; the officer who arrested him could have done it, or they might have confirmed ID with his drivers’ license. A body only has to be identified once before burial and it could just as well been done at the funeral home instead of at the morgue. An autopsy and investigation had to be done regardless of who the body belonged to, double checking his identity was less of a priority than figuring out how he died.

I think there are some very deep unanswered questions about Charles Lee Cochran that need to be answered, and hope they can be resolved through a full and unbiased investigation. However, raising those questions through fake postings, unsubstantiated evidence, and questionable logic doesn’t help the case at all, and might ultimately obfuscate the truth – or at least make those who question the “suicide” verdict look mentally unbalanced.

Hopefully everything will come out soon, good or bad, and allow the Cochran family to have some peace about this and move on with their lives.