Pain still fresh for family of murder victim - WLOX.com - The News for South Mississippi

Pain still fresh for family of murder victim

Pasquale Martin, the uncle of Annamarie Cochran, said the emotion and pain of losing her nearly four years ago is still fresh in his memory.

In March of 2010, Cochran was found in the basement of the home in Granby she shared with her wife, Cara Rintala. Investigators said she was strangled.

Rintala was charged with her murder and faced two trials, both ended with a hung jury. The latest decision came Tuesday morning. Rintala may be tried a third time, but that decision wasn't expected until next week.

Martin praised the Hampshire County district attorney's office Thursday, saying they did a great job in both trials. He believed the trial should have been held outside of Hampshire County because the jury pool was biased. He suggested some jurors were motivated by an agenda instead of facts. He said if the suspect who killed his sister had been a man, the jury would have had no hesitation making a judgment of guilt.

He said it was extremely difficult listening to defense attorneys take shots at the character of his niece and her friends during the trials. Martin also said hearing the details of her murder was getting more difficult to process.

He said he hoped nobody would ever have to go through what his family has had to face, even Rintala. Martin urged Rintala to come clean.

"Put on your big girl pants. You did it, we all know you did it, you know you did it, own up to it," he said.

For the jurors who couldn't find Rintala guilty, Martin warned she will hurt someone else's mother, daughter or sister if she is set free.

He said if he could speak to his niece after all that has happened, he would tell her, "I'm not going to give up on you honey. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you that day but I'm here now. Until someone pays for this crime I will do what I can to protect her."

Prosecutors were talking with Cochran's family to see if they wanted to pursue a third criminal trial.

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