Murder charges dropped

The state dismissed two first-degree murder charges against Thomas “Tommy” Cochrane Tuesday morning, with the lead prosector saying he didn’t feel he had enough evidence to prove the cases beyond a reasonable doubt.
A Jackson County grand jury handed down two first degree murder indictments in December 2006 against Cochrane, in the shooting death of Kenneth Powell and the stabbing death of Sabrena Tedder Powell.
The bodies of the couple were found in the aftermath of a 2003 fire that destroyed the trailer they lived in on Missouri Road north of Marianna. Cochrane was their neighbor.
At the time those indictments were issued, Cochrane was already serving a life term in the stabbing death of a man described at trial as his best friend of 30 years, Ricky Meredith.
Meredith was killed about 10 months after the Powells died — his body was found in Cochrane’s trailer. Cochrane’s lawyer argued unsuccessfully in that case that his client had stabbed Meredith in self-defense.
Cochrane is currently serving his life term on that second degree murder conviction at the Jefferson Correctional Institution in Monticello.
He was brought to Jackson County Tuesday for what was initially scheduled as a pre-trial conference on the Powell murder charges. But he was never taken into the courtroom.
Instead, he remained in a holding cell as prosecutor Stan Peacock advised Circuit Judge Bill Wright of the prosecution’s motion to dismiss.
Peacock said the decision was made after weeks of discussions with State Attorney Glenn Hess and other lawyers, and that it was one that he regretted having to make.
“I believe in my heart that he killed those people,” Peacock said. “But what I believe is not relevant. What I do know, based on the facts, evidence and statements, is that we couldn’t prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. I regret that.”
Peacock said he couldn’t point to a single issue that made the difference, but did acknowledge that the fire and the damage it caused to the couple’s remains “made it more complicated.” He also referenced problems with statements taken in the case.
“The only good thing about this is that he’s already in prison serving a life term for another murder, and that’s where he needs to be,” Peacock added. “I regret that I didn’t have sufficient evidence.”
He said that to bring the cases to trial would have been an expensive, time-consuming and manpower-intensive endeavor that he would have been more than willing to undertake if he felt that he could have prevailed.
“Those are secondary issues, and we would do whatever we had to do if we were confident that we had the evidence to go forward,” he said.
Kenneth Powell’s mother, Sneads-area resident Shirley Pelham, said she was shocked to learn of the dismissal. Finding out from a source other than the state attorney’s office a few hours after the cases were dropped, Pelham said she was devastated by the development.
“I cannot understand this. It just seems like to me that no justice is going to be done, that they don’t even care,” Pelham said. “I wonder if (Sabrena’s) mother even knows? They should have kept me aware of this, and they did not do it.”
Pelham said she kept in contact with the state attorney’s office on a regular basis as the cases progressed through the court system. Her last contact, she said, was in February.
“I feel he didn’t just learn this, that he knew in plenty of time to inform me.”
She said she will ask for a face-to-face meeting with someone in the state attorney’s office to try and get an explanation.
She finds no comfort in the fact that Cochrane is in prison for life without the possibility of parole for the Meredith murder.
“If anyone has ever lost a loved one, they know that can bring me no comfort. Should I be satisfied? He’s not getting justice for killing Sabrena and Kenny, but for brutally murdering another man,” Pelham said. “I want a judge to stand up and tell me that he’s found guilty and in prison for life, or getting a lethal injection, either one.
The facts of the case are what make it difficult for her to accept the prosecution’s decision.
“I wouldn’t be a mother if I didn’t want justice for my son. I gave birth to him, I knew what he was. They’re telling me with this that he’s not even worth having a trial,” she said. “My son was shot multiple times, my daughter-in-law was stabbed multiple times, and they were burned. He put gasoline on them ... how much more could you desecrate a body?
“I had a funeral, but there was hardly enough to bury. I told them, I can handle anything in the world, just get the person who did it. I feel that Tommy Cochran killed them, but I’m 65 years old and I may never live to see justice done. When I’m gone, only his children will be left to care, I guess.”
Pelham still sees her son’s children, now 19 and 12, on a regular basis. They spent Easter Sunday together, she said.
She will leave it to their mother to inform them of Tuesday’s decision, but she will be there to provide whatever comfort she can to her grandchildren.
Rachel Powell, Kenneth Powell’s ex-wife and the mother of his two children, said Tuesday she was also very upset by the dismissal and the fact that Pelham was not notified ahead of time.
“I just want to know, is this going to be the way Mr. Hess is going to run the state attorney’s office, not letting the victim’s families know what’s going on?” Powell said. “Up until now, my mother-in-law was notified of everything and had the opportunity to be there. This time, she didn’t know anything. This is a shock, to her, to me, to my children.”
She and Pelham have a good relationship, and knowing before the fact would have helped them prepare the children, she said.
“Now I’ve got to tell my children that the man that killed their daddy, nothing is going to be done about it.”
Powell said she still cared for her ex-husband and that he was a good father to their children throughout their marriage and after their divorce. He was also a “second father” to her oldest son with another man. That son, now grown, was about 18 months old when she married Powell, and was 16 when Kenneth was killed. Her oldest son had also maintained a good relationship with his birth father throughout his life, Rachel said, and Kenneth was there to comfort him when his natural father died of heart problems just a month before Kenneth was murdered.
She said the void left by Kenneth’s death will be felt for years to come. Tuesday’s dismissal of the charges, she said, only makes things worse.
“I just think that they should have let somebody know what was going on. I want to know why they did what they did. If they had enough to take it in front of a grand jury and get indictments, why all of a sudden is there not enough evidence for trial? Nobody ever deserves what happened to him,” she said.
She, too, said the facts of the case make the prosecution’s decision hard to swallow.
“My kids don’t have him, no home to remember him by, and now no justice,” Powell said. “After the fire, when they were through with the crime scene, we had to go out and pick through what was left. We got a few pictures, and a piece of a jacket that we knew belonged to him. My daughter keeps a picture of her and her father by her bed. Those are the things we have.
“I don’t care whether (Cochrane) is sick or dying or whatever, he should be held accountable for what he did. My children need to have justice for their dad, and a chance to say how they feel. Tommy, he’s living and breathing and his family can go see he anytime they want, but my kids will never see their daddy again.”