Westminster terror widow: I don’t hate my husband’s killer
THE injured wife of a man killed in the Westminster terror attack has said she does not hate the assailant, and even pities him.
Melissa Cochran had been visiting London from Utah with the “love of my life” Kurt, 54, to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary when they were caught in the carnage on Westminster Bridge.
But despite the murderous rampage unleashed by Muslim convert Khalid Masood, 52, in which he claimed four lives, she said she felt sorry for him.
In a tearful but dignified interview, she told the BBC: “I don’t feel any ill will towards him. I don’t know what he was feeling or thinking or anything that had been going on in his life so I can’t relate.
“I just know that unfortunately he didn’t have the qualities and the beautiful heart that my husband had so I actually kind of feel a little sorry for him and no hate.”
The interview came after she appeared in a wheelchair among 1,800 people, including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, at a service in Westminster Abbey two weeks after the attack.
Kent-born Masood drove a rental car into pedestrians before fatally stabbing Pc Keith Palmer, 48, in the Palace of Westminster’s forecourt on March 22.
Mrs Cochran, who suffered a broken leg and rib and a cut to her head, also spoke of her love for her husband.
“Kurt was probably the best man I have ever met, he was sweet and kind and I’m extremely proud of him and I am very happy that the world now knows what a wonderful man he was,” she said.
She told how she learned of her husband’s death when she asked her parents to find out his condition as she lay in a hospital bed recovering from surgery to her leg.
“My parents walked out of the room and came back in and both grabbed my hand and said that he didn’t make it, which crushed me,” she said. “But fortunately I have a wonderful family and I’m able to take their strength and recover.”