Naman Shrestha
A Ponzi scheme led by Natalie Cochran turned out to be the root of everything that went wrong with the Cochran family, which consisted of her husband, Michael Cochran, and their two kids, Nicole and Ashton Cochran. One day, they were living lavishly in Daniels, West Virginia; the other day, a tragedy befell with the sudden death of Michael. In quick succession, the two kids lost their father and then their mother, who was charged with fraud and later, murder. The complicated case is covered in length in ABC’s ’20/20: Small Town, Big Con’ and NBC’s ‘Dateline: The Devil’s in the Detail,’ featuring the intense and emotional court proceedings that followed the crimes.
Nicole and Ashton Cochran Had Polarizing Relationships With Michael Cochran
Michael and Natalie Cochran were high school sweethearts who made their relationship official in 2000. A few years later, around the mid-2000s, they became parents for the first time as Nicole was born. After three years, they gave birth to a son named Michael Ashton Cochran and completed their family. Soon, the family of four relocated to Daniels, West Virginia, where Nicole and Ashton grew up. Both attended Shady Spring Middle School, which was just a few minutes away from their house. While growing up, Ashton had a great relationship with his father, who used to coach his football and baseball teams. As for Nicole, she claimed that her relationship with Michael was rather distant, and she was “starved” for her father’s attention.
Both of them noticed that their father was on his computer for most of the day, looking for contracts. Between 2017 and 2019, the Cochran family enjoyed a wealthy lifestyle, thanks to the Ponzi scheme Natalie had been running behind the facade of two family companies — Tactical Solutions Group (TSG) and Technology Management Solutions (TMS). On February 6, 2019, Natalie reportedly injected Michael with insulin when the risks of him finding out about her fraudulent scheme increased. At that time, 13-year-old Nicole and 10-year-old Ashton were at school. It was when they returned home that they learned about their father’s concerning condition. They lost their beloved father a few days later, on February 11, while he was in the hospital.
Nicole and Ashton Cochran Testified For Their Mother at Her Murder Trial
From that point, the lives of Nicole and Ashton Cochran only got worse. A few months after losing their father, they also witnessed their mother, Natalie, arrested for running a Ponzi scheme and defrauding people of millions of dollars between 2017 and 2019. After she was convicted and sentenced for the fraud, the investigators also accused her of injecting her husband with insulin, which led to his demise. During her murder trial in January 2025, both her children took the stand and gave testimonies for the defense. When they were asked about the family business, the siblings claimed that they would find Michael on the computer working on government contracts for TSG. Upon being questioned about her father’s supplement consumption, Nicole claimed he took roughly 40 supplements in pill form every morning.
She stated, “He would lay all of his pills out on the counter, and there would be so many of them that they would just sit in a whole circle, and it looked like the size of a dinner plate. Then he would scoop them handfuls at a time into his mouth and use the sink water to drain them down, and then he would take the steroids as well.” She claimed that he had told her that the steroids were from Mexico, and he took them via a dropper. Contrary to her claims of Michael taking steroids orally, Ashton said that Michael used to inject “anabolic steroids.” However, he denied ever seeing him inject himself with insulin. As per Ashton’s account, his late father had shown signs of aggressiveness and forgetfulness in the months prior to his demise, indicating his deteriorating health. After Natalie was found guilty of first-degree murder in connection with Michael Cochran’s death, Ashton asked the jury to grant his mother mercy.
He said, “I just hope you all understand that it’s not just her life that y’all are picking and choosing to mess with, it’s the kids too and the whole families and a lot of us want our mom back, really want her back, I just beg that you give her mercy, she’s a great woman.” Describing her mother as her best friend, Nicole also pleaded to show Natalie some mercy. She addressed the jury: “I’m begging you to give her mercy, so I don’t have to miss more, I want her at my birthdays in the future, I want her there when I get married, when I have kids if I’m able, I want her there for all the major milestones in my life that I have left.” However, they were devastated when the jury decided to show no mercy on January 29, 2025, and sentenced their mother to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Nicole is Pursuing a Degree in Accounting, Whereas Ashton Loves Baseball
After their mother’s trial, Nicole and Michael Ashton Cochran have been trying to come to terms with the conviction. The elder sibling, 20-year-old Nicole, is currently in her sophomore year at a University in West Virginia, where she is majoring in Accounting and Finance. Set to graduate with a degree in 2026, she also appears to be in a healthy romantic relationship. On the other hand, 17-year-old Ashton is studying in High School in Lewisburg, West Virginia, where he is an integral part of the high school’s baseball team. Residing in Daniels, West Virginia, both siblings seemingly rely on each other emotionally as the tragedy of their father’s death and their mother’s conviction brought them closer.
Read More: Natalie Cochran’s Ponzi Scheme, Explained
