Convicted double-murderer Leonard Cochrane almost came up with a compelling story to explain how his DNA ended up at the scene where two Calgary men were murdered nearly three decades ago.

The problem for Cochrane, however, is that “almost” doesn’t work when the tale you spin doesn’t jive with all the evidence in the case.

While it was plausible Cochrane was in the wrong place at the wrong time when Calgarians Barry Buchart and Trevor Deakins were fatally shot in their basement suite in the early morning hours of July 11, 1994, his explanation began to unravel once Justice Keith Yamauchi examined all the evidence in the case.

Cochrane was placed in the unenviable spot of trying to explain how his DNA ended up at the crime scene where the two men were killed.

The Crown’s theory always was that Cochrane and an accomplice stormed into the residence while masked in a bid to rob the drug-dealing Buchart of cash and narcotics and he was injured in an altercation which preceded the fatal shootings.

That’s why his blood was left on Deakins’ sock, a machete found under Buchart and in a trail of droplets leading from the scene.

But Cochrane’s explanation was that he had met........

© Edmonton Sun