Convicted of murdering a man who in fact had committed suicide
John D. Cochran was convicted in Wabash County in November 1888 of the murder the previous month of John Buchenberger and sentenced to life in prison. The conviction rested solely on the testimony of Charles Reese, a horse thief who claimed Cochran had admitted killing Buchenberger. Cochran was pardoned in August 1890 by Governor Joseph W. Fifer after the discovery of a suicide letter that Buchenberger had written to his wife saying that he “was about to part from the world of mortals to dwell with his heavenly father.” — Rob Warden
