Unveiled – New Details About Todd Kochutin’s Death in “Deadliest Catch”

Viewers of “Deadliest Catch” are no strangers to tragedies. From the time the show premiered in 2005 to this day, fans have witnessed the highs and lows of the commercial fishing crews making a living on the dangerous Bering Sea.

One of the most recent tragedies suffered by “Deadliest Catch” stars has been the loss of Todd Kochutin, a crew member of the vessel Patricia Lee, who sadly lost his life while working on the ship. The news of his passing was disheartening, but it also brought up many questions about the cause of his demise, and the conditions he was working under at the time.

So what else is there to know about Todd Kochutin’s sad death, and who was he when “Deadliest Catch” cameras weren’t around? Stay here to find out!

Update About His Death

Todd Kochutin died in early 2021, but clear information about his situation and cause of death wasn’t featured in “Deadliest Catch” until April 2022. As the 18th season’s episode “Crushed At Sea” showed, Todd suffered an accident while working as a deckhand on board the Patricia Lee, as he sustained serious injuries after a crab pot hit him.

As reported by People, a crab pot weighs around 800lbs, meaning that Todd’s situation was life-threatening, and he was in ‘a lot of pain’ as a result. The US Coast Guard was quick to go help him after receiving the call for medical evacuation, but the chance of survival was very low from the beginning, as the episode showed.

Todd sadly died on 26 February 2021 at 30 years old, leaving his fellow fishermen and loved ones heartbroken. His passing is also a reminder of the dangers to which crews on the Bering Sea are exposed while making a living.

The Reaction Of The Crew

Todd Kochutin’s appearances in “Deadliest Catch” were scarce, yet he was well-remembered by his co-workers on the Patricia Lee, and fishermen from other vessels.

As seen in the episode covering Todd’s passing, Captain ‘Wild’ Bill Wichrowski was evidently worried about Todd’s condition after hearing the news of a crewman getting injured on the Patricia Lee. Back in late 2020, the Captain had welcomed Todd into his crew in the Summer Bay for a couple of seasons, thus the news of his passing was disheartening for him. The Summer Bay’s deck boss Landon Cheney had a similar reaction, given how he and Todd were good friends during the time they worked together on the vessel.

Other Captains reacted to the news, including Northwestern’s skipper Sig Hansen, who affirmed that there was a sense of community among the crews on the Bering Sea, leading them all to know each other and being affected by the bad news. A similar sentiment was mirrored by Saga’s skipper Jake Anderson, Wizard’s Keith Colburn, and Cornelia Marie’s Casey McManus.

Who Was Todd Kochutin?

While fans of “Deadliest Catch” might remember Todd Kochutin mostly for the show’s coverage of his tragic demise, there’s a lot more to be known about the late deckhand than was revealed in the  TV series.

Todd was a native of Anchorage, Alaska, born on 15 August 1990. His parents were Deanna Kochutin and Robert Olsen, and he had two siblings named Dwayne and Ayla.

As seen in Todd’s now-memorialized Facebook account, in 2010 he started working as in the dock staff at the Alaska-based company Trident Seafoods, which owns some vessels featured in “Deadliest Catch” such as the Southern Wind and Barbara J, though there are no reports of Todd working on said boats. Todd also worked as a deckhand on several boats, including one named Voyager.

Though Todd marked 2020 as the year he officially joined the Patricia Lee, pics from 2018 let us see that he had already spent some seasons on board the ship before that. According to his obituary, Todd was a man of a ‘pleasant personality’ whose biggest passion was spending time at sea. Besides dedicating several years of his life to working on fishing vessels around the Bering Sea, he was also a big fan of video games and music.

At the time of his death, Todd didn’t have any immediate family alive.

Was He Friends With Nick McGlashan?

Good fans of “Deadliest Catch” remember the name Nick McGlashan very well. He worked as a deck boss on the Summer Bay for many seasons, though he also took some time off fishing to go to rehab in 2016, when his addictions to alcohol and drugs had taken a toll on him. Nonetheless, Nick was also known for his hard work on the high seas, starting his career as a fisherman at 13 years of age.

As crewmen working under Summer Bay’s Captain Wild Bill Wichrowski, Todd Kochitin and Nick McGlashan were good friends. In fact, it was Nick who invited Todd to work on the boat in 2020, as seen in the episode “Crushed At Sea”.

Unfortunately, Nick passed away from drug-related issues on 27 December 2020 at 33 years old. His crewmates and other stars of the show posted their condolences on social media, while Todd posted a pic of Nick, Landon Cheney, and himself on his Facebook the day after Nick’s passing. That was the last pic posted by Todd on any social media, as two months later he would tragically lose his life on board the Patricia Lee.

While the unfortunate passing of Todd, Nick, and many other fishermen is a constant reminder of how dangerous the Bering Sea is, there are no doubts that their memories remain alive to their loved ones, and many fans of the well-named series “Deadliest Catch”.