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:: Monday, September 6th, 2010Cape Cod Murder
“Murder is not the crime of criminals, but that of law-abiding citizens.” - Emmanuel TeneyArchives for: November 2006
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Those problematic fibers
Interesting story in the Cape Cod Times on Saturday under the headline, "Post-trial: DNA tests, appeal in works."
"Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe said yesterday he would test some of the DNA samples in the state police crime lab that were not previously tested, but not because he expected to gain any new information," wrote Times staff writer Hilary Russ.
"'I have asked that certain testing be done only because it became such a huge issue at the trial," O'Keefe is quoted as saying. "I want to see that those who have questions, even though we may not feel that they are persuasive at all, attain some level of satisfaction."
Russ goes on to write that "one piece of evidence in particular -- the external vaginal swab collected from Worthington's body -- came up in trial when an expert for the defense, Richard Saferstein, pointed out that though it tested positive for semen, it had never been DNA tested for a match to McCowen or anyone else."
O'Keefe (shown in the photo above) described this as "a red herring" and said the protocol at the crime lab "is to test only internal vaginal samples, which can prove penetration and hence rape charges," Russ writes. On this point, O'Keefe said, "the laboratory's experience is that what comes out is a seepage or a drainage."
But whether DNA from the external swap matches with convicted killer Christopher McCowen was one of several areas of uncertainty raised by Saferstein, who spent 20 years working for the New Jersey state police crime lab and wrote a widely-used text on forensic science now in its ninth edition (the sperm found in Worthington's vagina did match with McCowen's DNA, to a 1-in-199.8 billion chance it wasn't his).
Saferstein also pointed out that white and blue fibers found on Worthington's genital area were not tested by the crime lab -- and as those who followed the trial are aware, Jeremy Frazier, the Wellfleet man alleged by McCowen to have killed Worthington, was wearing a white and blue sweater on the night the prosecution believes Worthington was murdered.
"But O'Keefe said he had no intention of testing those fibers," Russ writes. "I don't find those persuasive," O'Keefe said. "Fibers are very generic. Many people have sweaters with blue and green or whatever the colors were. You can conjure up any kind of expert these days to say anything."
But Frazier was not the only person wearing white on the night of the murder. So was McCowen, who can be seen clad in white pants on video footage taken at the Juice Bar. And that fibers from Frazier's sweater could have transferred to McCowen's clothing, and then to Worthington, is hardly beyond the realm of possibility.
O'Keefe deserves credit for taking a risk in ordering further tests of the evidence, and I won't be surprised if the external swab matches with McCowen's DNA, thereby demolishing one of the doubts in this case. But I wish O'Keefe had gone a step further and asked for the fibers also to be examined for a possible match with Frazier's sweater. Yet O'Keefe is not alone in declining to make this request.
Another person with a prominent role in the trial -- arguably the most prominent -- could have asked for the fibers to be scrutinized for a match, and chose not to: Robert George, McCowen's attorney.
Nor did George seek for any other forensic evidence to be further examined during the trial. Nor, for that matter, was such a request made by prosecutor Robert Welsh III.
That O'Keefe wasted little time in requesting more DNA testing -- only one day after the verdicts against McCowen were announced -- shows that the issue hovered like a pall over the prosecution's case, and O'Keefe is moving quickly to resolve it before the case is heard on mandatory appeal or possibly overturned.
But it was George with much more at stake in leaving the issue unresolved -- the potential for his 34-year-old client to spend the rest of his life in prison. Perhaps an arcane rule of law would have prevented state police analysis of evidence during the actual trial, but even so, nothing would have prevented George from filing a motion to that effect. Even if his motion was rejected by Judge Gary Nickerson, George would have been on record as wanting the issue resolved, and let the chips fall where they may. And whoever filed the motion would have put the other side in an inherently defensive position when it came to the forensic evidence.
That George chose not to take this path means, at least as I interpret it, that he could not be certain of the results. Faced with this uncertainty, George apparently decided it was preferable to leave doubts in the minds of jurors about the work of the crime lab, rather than seek further analysis that may have only further incriminated McCowen.
(photo credit, Barnstable Patriot)
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Worthington vs. McCowen: the Civil Suit
Civil Lawsuit Remains In Worthington's Murder
Christopher McCowen was convicted last week in the Truro murder of fashion writer Christa Worthington but now another trial looms.
In May 2005, the executors of Worthington's estate filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Barnstable Superior Court seeking $10 million from McCowen and Cape Cod Disposal Company. The company employed McCowen when Worthington was killed in January 2002. Bruce Bierhans represents Cape Cod Disposal owner Donald Horton. Bierhans says the recent guilty verdict could affect the civil suit, but there are different issues involved, such as whether the plaintiffs can prove the company could've prevented Worthington's death... Read the rest of this WCSH-TV story here.
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Doubts still voiced about police interviews
McCowen's lawyer, Robert George, began building his case for reasonable doubt. He focused the jury's attention on two other men who were once suspects, challenged the aggressive interrogation of McCowen by police and accused authorities of zeroing in on McCowen because of his race. He also called a witness who claimed he saw a white man speeding out of Worthington's driveway in a dark-colored truck about 12 hours after police believe Worthington was killed... Read the next post directly below.
Coleman's coverage in NY Post and other post trial reports
Our own Jack Coleman covers "the trial" for the New York POST
PIECE OF TRASH GUILTY OF MURDER
By JACK COLEMAN in Barnstable, Mass., and RITA DELFINER in New York
"This is about a little girl losing her mother in the most heinous way imaginable," Christa's cousin Mary Worthington told the court after the verdict against killer Christopher McCowen.
Mary Worthington she read two victim impact statements - one from the family and one from the now-7-year-old child's guardian.
Christa Worthington, a former New Yorker, was found lying half-naked on the floor of her Truro cottage on Cape Cod on Jan. 6, 2002, a day after she was fatally stabbed. Her 2-year-old daughter, Ava, was found lying next to her, smeared in her mother's blood and trying to nurse.
Ava "endured more than a day and a half that was so traumatic and so horrific that to say Ava was not brutally victimized would be an understatement," Mary Worthington said, reading an account from the guardian who said she has emerged from that horror to be a "very bright, confident and engaging child."
"Christa was robbed of the privilege and the right of raising Ava," she said.
The case is also about the loss of a "loving and vibrant" woman who "had the best belly laugh in the world," Mary Worthington said. "People ask about closure, but there can never be closure because Christa can never come back to us."
McCowen, 34, walked into the courtroom with tears in his eyes and then shook his head from side to side as the seven-woman, five-man jury found him guilty of first-degree murder.
"Your honor, all I can say is I'm an innocent man in this case," he said hours later. Judge Gary Nickerson then imposed the mandatory sentence of life in prison with no parole for the murder and concurrent life sentences for rape and burglary.
McCowen was arrested in 2005 after his DNA was linked to semen found in Worthington's body.
The trash collector told cops he had consensual sex with her and beat her - but that it was a friend accompanying him who plunged the knife into her chest.
The friend was never charged and jurors were told they could find McCowen guilty of murder even if they believed his account.
The complicated case left the jury deadlocked Monday after five days of deliberating.
On Tuesday, the jury began looking at the evidence from scratch when the judge booted a juror who told her jailed boyfriend in recorded phone calls that cops were "dumb." She was replaced with an alternate juror.
Yesterday's verdict stunned some observers who speculated whether the ousted juror might have been the sole holdout.
Peter Manso, who is writing a book about the case, wondered if the entire verdict hinged on the removal of that juror, saying there was "plenty of reasonable doubt."
Defense lawyer Robert George, who is filing an automatic appeal, hinted at possible misconduct in the timing of the juror being dismissed from a deadlocked panel and a verdict being reached just two days later. "A lot has happened between taking that juror out of the deadlock and to where we are today," he said. See the original in the NY Post here.
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CHRISTA TWIST
JUROR BOOTED FOR 'DUMB COPS' CRACK
By Jack Coleman for New York Post
BARNSTABLE, Mass - A judge yesterday kicked a woman off the jury in the Christa Worthington rape-and-murder trial after she was recorded in phone calls telling her jailed boyfriend that cops are "dumb"... Read this Post story here.
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Defense lawyer in Cape Cod slaying known for aggressive style
When a black trash collector was arrested in the killing of a well-known fashion writer in her Cape Cod home, some thought the police had a slam dunk.Christopher McCowen's DNA was found on the battered body of Christa Worthington, and he allegedly told police he helped a friend beat her. Although McCowen insisted that it was his friend, Jeremy Frazier, who killed Worthington by plunging a knife into her chest, police believed McCowen acted alone.
But when the case went to trial, McCowen's lawyer, Robert George, began building his case for reasonable doubt. He focused the jury's attention on two other men who were once suspects, challenged the aggressive interrogation of McCowen by police and accused authorities of zeroing in on McCowen because of his race. He also called a witness who claimed he saw a white man speeding out of Worthington's driveway in a dark-colored truck about 12 hours after police believe Worthington was killed...
George, 51, started out as a prosecutor, but after two years switched to criminal defense work. Over the last 20 years, he's represented a string of high-profile clients, including: Francis "Cadillac Frank" Salemme, the former head of the New England Mafia; John Martorano, a hitman for fugitive gangster James "Whitey" Bulger; and William Bennett, who became the prime suspect in the Charles Stuart murder case after Stuart claimed in 1989 that a black man had killed his pregnant wife. Stuart later jumped off a bridge and his death cleared Bennett.Read the rest of this Globe story here.
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Spotlight on defense in Cape slaying
When a black trash collector was arrested in the killing of a well-known fashion writer in her Cape Cod home, some thought the police had a slam dunk. Christopher McCowen's DNA was found on the battered body of Christa Worthington, and he allegedly told police he helped a friend beat her. Although McCowen insisted that it was his friend, Jeremy Frazier, who killed Worthington by plunging a knife into her chest, police believed McCowen acted alone.
But when the case went to trial, McCowen's lawyer, Robert George, began building his case for reasonable doubt. He focused the jury's attention on two other men who were once suspects, challenged the aggressive interrogation of McCowen by police and accused authorities of zeroing in on McCowen because of his race. He also called a witness who claimed he saw a white man speeding out of Worthington's driveway in a dark-colored truck about 12 hours after police believe Worthington was killed... Read the rest of this MetroWest story here.
McCowen's Lawyer eyes retrial, Controversial Worthington Juror's Lawyer Speaks
Reports from The Globe, WCVB, WCAI, and Times of London
Alleged threats to jury are under investigation
As former trash collector Christopher M. McCowen faces life behind bars for the rape and murder of Cape Cod fashion writer Christa Worthington, McCowen's lawyer, Robert A. George, said yesterday he is confident that the jury's decision can be reversed on appeal and that the case will be retried. "Mr. McCowen has a very powerful appellate argument for reversal, in particular for the things that occurred in the past few days," George said, referring to a cellphone call received by a juror, which led to her being dismissed from trial deliberations.
As jurors reflected on the decision to convict McCowen yesterday, Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe said his office is investigating threats to the jury made by someone connected to McCowen. After the verdict was read, O'Keefe said a female telephoned the courthouse and his office with threats that he declined to specify.
"There is nothing to suggest any juror is in any danger at all," O'Keefe said, adding that it's not unusual for someone upset by a jury verdict to lash out. But the incident prompted Superior Court Judge Gary A. Nickerson to impound names and addresses of the jurors until the matter is fully investigated... Read the rest of The Globe story here.
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Controversial Worthington Juror's Lawyer Speaks
Juror No. 4's Boyfriend Arrested After Shooting
She was known as Juror No. 4 and her dismissal from the Cape Cod jury that eventually found Christopher McCowen guilty of murder raised more questions in a case already full of strange turns. When the verdict finally came down, an emotional juror who was removed from the panel two days before McCowen was found guilty watched from her lawyer's office.
"She was more surprised not what the jury said, it was my impression in reading her, that they returned a verdict," said attorney Drew Segadelli. The former juror is Rachel Huffman, a 22-year-old switchboard operator at Falmouth Town Hall... Read the rest of this WCVB-TV story and view the VIDEO here.
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The complete daily coverage from WCAI/WNAN/WKZI
Read Elizabeth White's daily blog from WCAI here.
Thursday. November 16, 2006 5:30 PM
Following sentencing, Defense attorney George and then Prosecutor Welsh spoke to the legions of assembled press. George said he smelled a police plot to remove Juror #4 after the jury reported a deadlock on Monday. Juror #4 was dismissed on Tuesday after the prosecution presented cell phone calls between Juror #4 and the father of her child, who was being held in the Barnstable County jail in connection with a shooting in Falmouth over the weekend. George said inmates are not allowed to call cell phones from jail, and vowed to investigate the matter. George said the police investigation of Worthington's murder was sloppy and inadequate. In particular, George said there is no excuse for not recording a suspect's interrogation... REead the rest here.
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Stroll down to see the complete trial coverage by cctoday.
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Dustman convicted on Cape Cod
Controversial DNA dragnet traps the man who raped and killed author
A dustman arrested after a controversial “DNA dragnet” has been convicted of raping and killing a prominent fashion writer who had retreated to live the simple life on Cape Cod.
Christopher McCowen, 34, received an automatic life sentence for the murder of Christa Worthington, 46, a contributor to Vogue and Elle magazines as well as The Independent, in a case that inspired a bestselling book. “Your honour, all I can say is I’m an innocent man in this case,” McCowen told the judge when the verdict was announced on Thursday.
Ms Worthington retreated from the glamorous fashion world to a secluded hilltop bungalow in the affluent Cape Cod town of Truro, where she had spent summers as a child...
McCowen’s lawyer contended that police charged him with rape only because they could not believe that Ms Worthington could have had sex voluntarily with an uneducated black dustman. “The black man didn’t get justice. I really believe that,” McCowen’s friend Janice Randall said.
The original jury was deadlocked for five days before a woman juror was removed after being recorded telling her jailed boyfriend on the telephone that the police were “friggin’ dumb”.
The young woman, thought to be sympathetic to McCowen, was replaced by a grandmother with university degrees, leading to a swift conviction... Read the rest if this Times of London report here.
GUILTY at high noon on all counts
Jury: On 1st Degree Murder charge - GUILTY. On AggravatedRape charge - GUILTY. On Robbery charge - GUILTY
Sentenced to Life in prison without the possibility of parole
BULLETIN: three minutes before noon today the jury returned with a guilty verdict on all counts against Christopher McCowen.
- Guilty of murder in the First Degree
- Guilty of aggravated Rape
- Guilty of Robbery
The Cape Cod jury in the Barnstable trial of Christopher McCowen for the murder, rape and robbery of Truro fashion writer Christa Worthington, found the trash collector guilty a few minutes before noon today, Thursday, November 16th, 2006.
McCowen wept as jury read the verdict
As the jury filed in to read it verdict, observers say tears running down Christopher McCowen's face, and as they spoke he lowered his head a shook it from side to side. NECN offers several video clips including one of McCowen addressing the court here, and there are links to to today's stories in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Register, Standard-Times and Upper Cape Codder below as well as Christopher McCowen's statement to the court..
The panel of seven women and five men found Christopher M. McCowen guilty on all counts; guilty of murder with extreme atrocity and cruelty and murder while committing felonies and aggravated rape and burglary. The jury had been deliberating for eight days, but only a little over fifteen hours since Rachel Huffman was discharged and an alternate chosen to replace her on Tuesday.
Was the expelled juror the only hold-out for acquittal?
With the addition of the alternate, the jury began deliberating from scratch on Tuesday. They shifted through almost three weeks of testimony from an over three year police investigation that included a DNA dragnet collecting samples from all the men in the small town of Truro but missing McCowen who lived elsewhere at the time.
Speculation was rife around the courthouse since Tuesday that the juror dismissed was the only one holding out for acquittal.
Juror Rachel Huffman was discharged Tuesday after the court heard audio tapes of her jailhouse calls from Kyle Hicks (on right) who was charged in a Falmouth shooting over the weekend. Judge Gary Nickerson said the tapes showed she had not been truthful about the extent of her relationship with Hicks, the father of her child, and that she had a bias against police. She was heard on the tape calling them "stupid".
Jdge Nickerson had sequestered the jury Monday is what some observers said was a silent signal for them to work faster. The trial has cost the state over $100,000 so far according to reports.
Whether the judge's actions in both sequestering and removing that juror was motivated by knowledge that she was the obstacle to conviction is idle speculation, but the result was the same.
Christa Worthington, 46, was found in her home in January 2002 lying half-naked on the kitchen floor, dead from a stab wound to the chest with her toddler, Ava, clutching her mother's body, unhurt but smeared with her mother's blood.
The jury could have convicted McCowen of a variety of charges, including aggravated rape and aggravated burglary. For Worthington's death, the jury had to decide between first or second degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, or battery manslaughter.
Sentenced to life without parole
At 2:30 p.m., Judge Gary Nickerson sentenced Christopher McCowen to three concurrent life sentences in prison which was what the prosecution had requested.
In the Bay State all first-degree murder convictions carry automatic sentences of life in prison without parole, and they are automatically appealed.
Before he was sentenced, McCowen thanked the judge and court officers for their courtesy to him, and said he was an innocent man. You can read his complete statement at the bottom.
Before sentencing, Mary Worthington, Christa's cousin, read victim impact statements from the Worthington family and from Amyra Chase, guardian to Christa's daughter Ava. "This is a case about the brutal rape and murder of Christa Worthington and nothing else. This is about a little girl losing her mother in the most heinous way imaginable. It’s about the way Christa Worthington fought for her life and tried to protect her daughter," Worthington said.
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Trash Collector Guilty in Cape Cod Slaying
A trash collector was convicted on Thursday in the 2002 rape and murder of Christa Worthington, a fashion writer who was stabbed to death and was found in her bungalow on Cape Cod with her 2-year-old daughter clutching her body...
The killing of Ms. Worthington, 46, who had lived in New York and Paris before moving to the quiet beach town of Truro, attracted international news coverage, in part because of the grisly and poignant elements of the crime. The police said Ms. Worthington’s daughter, Ava, may have spent up to 36 hours at the bloody scene before she was found trying to breastfeed from her mother. It took the police more than three years to make an arrest. They initially focused on several of Ms. Worthington’s former boyfriends, including Ava’s father (Tony Jackett), a married man...
Mr. McCowen, who picked up the garbage at Ms. Worthington’s house each week and who had spent time in prison in Florida from 1993 to 1998 for auto theft and burglary, was an early suspect. He agreed to submit a DNA sample, but did not do so for two years. A year later, the crime lab analyzed the sample and linked it to DNA found on Ms. Worthington’s body. Mr. McCowen was arrested in April 2005 at a rooming house in Hyannis... Read the rest of the New York Times story here.
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Cape killer gets life: McCowen guilty of rape, murder
Often on the brink of tears, an exhausted juror in the Christa Worthington murder trial said the once-deadlocked panelists worked tirelessly to settle their differences to find Christopher McCowen guilty yesterday in the rape and murder of the Truro fashion writer. The Cape Cod community’s “pressure” on jurors to reach a verdict, up or down, was always on her mind, she said. So, too, was the brutal rape and stabbing death of Worthington, who was found dead on the floor of her home, her little girl clinging to her body. “Any human being’s feelings would go out to her family and the defendant as well,” said the juror, who asked to remain anonymous so she could resume a “normal life”... Read the rest of this Upper Cape Codder story here.
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Ava’s loss resounds as trial ends
By Joe Dwinell
After the books are out and the made-for-TV movies aired, the murder of Christa Worthington will forever be about “a little girl losing her mother in the most heinous way imaginable.” It’s a heartbreaking reality that was read for all to hear - especially convicted killer Christopher McCowen - at the close of the murder trial yesterday in Barnstable Superior Court. This murder, cousin Mary Worthington told the court in a solemn tone, is about young Ava Worthington’s innocence lost. The little girl was 2 when her mother was brutally raped and murdered in their Truro home... Read the rest of this Register story here.
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Trash collector guilty in slaying
A former trash collector was convicted yesterday in the rape and murder of a fashion writer who was found lying in a pool of blood in her Cape Cod home with her 2-year-old daughter clinging to her body. Christopher McCowen, 34, was found guilty of first-degree murder, rape and burglary in the January 2002 killing of Christa Worthington, 46, by a jury that deadlocked after five days and was forced to start deliberations anew Tuesday after one member was replaced. "I never meant for this to ever take place," said McCowen, who admitted to police that he had consensual sex with Worthington and beat her but maintained his friend killed her... Read the rest of this Standard-Times story here.
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Trash collector guilty in Truro murder
Lawyer questions juror's dismissal
A jury convicted trash collector Christopher M. McCowen yesterday of the brutal rape and murder of fashion writer Christa Worthington, ending a sensational case that thrust a small, affluent beach town on Cape Cod into the national spotlight. Before live television cameras and a packed courtroom, the panel of seven women and five men found McCowen guilty of murder, aggravated rape, and burglary in one of the most notorious slayings in recent Massachusetts history.
After the proceedings, McCowen's lawyer, Robert A. George, questioned the verdict, speculating that the dismissal of a juror earlier in the week might have been pushed by the prosecution to remove someone sympathetic to his client. But the juror's lawyer rebutted that in an interview last night, saying the juror had not made a decision about McCowen... Read the rest of this Globe story here.
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McCowen's statement at the sentencing
For the last six weeks, I've sat here in this courtroom and listened to what everybody else said about me.On my behalf, I would like to say thank you to you, and the court officers, because you all showed me respect.
This case here is a very horrendous case. I feel sorry for the victim's family, her daughter and her family.All through this whole trial, I sat here, thinking to myself, why me? I know there's nothing I can say to change your mind about life in prison without a possiblity of parole. There's nothing I can say.
Your Honor, I'd like to say I'm an innocent man in this case, and, that's all I gotta say, because all this time I've been innocent. And thank you, your honor.
Jury returns ... Deadlocked
With the dismissal of the errant juror on Tuesday, Judge Gary Nickerson instructed the jury to begin their deliberations anew. By then the panel had deliberated over the course of six days. To start from scratch meant jurors were not coming back with a verdict Tuesday or Wednesday.
ut today marks the third day of deliberations for the reconstituted (albeit slightly) jury, and jurors did not finish Wednesday until close to 4:45 p.m., well after their usual 4 p.m. quitting time before they were sequestered for a third night.
Wednesday was also the second day in a row jurors deliberated past their usual 4 p.m. quitting time -- perhaps signaling to the judge that jurors are willing to go longer during the day to avoid repeating the same number of days as the initial jury. If the jury doesn't come to a decision today or Friday, they are looking at a weekend sequestered from home, and of deliberations stretching into another week -- one in which we'll celebrate Thanksgiving (yeah, hard to believe it's almost here).
But assuming that jurors are extending their discussions longer each day to avoid adding another week, why my expectation of a second deadlock?
Because those pushing for acquittal are motivated by a powerful incentive -- the palpable fear of sending an innocent man to prison for the rest of his life. And those pushing for conviction are motivated by an equally powerful incentive -- the haunting prospect of a killer being set free, to possibly kill again.
These are exceedingly difficult beliefs to dislodge, and every juror can feel secure in the knowledge that his or her conscience guided the person to this decision.
Hence, jurors are under no obligation to change their minds, and deadlock is the result, followed by Nickerson requesting jurors make one last attempt to reach a verdict -- followed by the jury coming back deadlocked yet again and a mistrial is declared.
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Starting over, jury returns to judge with question
Can police record interrogations even if a defendant waives his right to have them recorded?
from WCVB-TV Boston Channel Five
BARNSTABLE -- A once-deadlocked jury ordered to start over their deliberations in the case of a murdered fashion writer asked the judge Wednesday if police could record interrogations even if a defendant waives his right to have them recorded.
The question relates to admissions police say Christopher McCowen made to investigators when he was interviewed about the slaying of Christa Worthington, 46, who was found beaten and stabbed to death in her Truro home in January 2002.
Read the rest of the WCVB story here and comment below.
Juror #4 dismissed in McCowen trial; complained to jailed boyfriend
Juror Complained to Jailed Boyfriend
by John Springer for Court TV from the CNN site
BARNSTABLE, Massachusetts (Court TV) -- A day after a jury announced it was deadlocked in the case of murdered fashion writer Christa Worthington, the judge kicked a juror off the panel for discussing the deliberations with her jailed boyfriend.
The boyfriend is a suspect in an attempted murder over the weekend.
Juror No. 4 appeared nervous but composed when Superior Court Gary Nickerson informed her that she was being discharged because of tape recordings that revealed she had violated his instructions not to discuss the case or monitor news coverage.
Read the rest of the story on the CNN site here and comment below.
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Juror Removed from Worthington Panel
Judge listens to telephone tape recording
from WCVB-TV Boston
A woman serving on the Christa Worthington murder case jury on Cape Cod was removed from the panel Tuesday morning after the judge presiding over the trial listened to a telephone recording between the juror and her boyfriend, who was arrested over the weekend.
The attorney for defendant Christopher McCowen protested the decision, saying it was "outrageous" to take the juror off the panel after it had been deliberating for five days. Robert George said the move destroyed his client's right to a fair trial and he called for a mistrial. Judge Gary Nickerson denied the motion.
Read the rest of the WCVB article here and comment below.
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Juror in Cape Cod murder trial dismissed after talking to jailed boyfriend about the deliberations
by John Springer for Court TV
BARNSTABLE - A day after a jury announced it was deadlocked in the case of murdered fashion writer Christa Worthington, the judge kicked a juror off the panel for discussing the deliberations with her jailed boyfriend, a suspect in an attempted murder over the weekend.
Juror No. 4 appeared nervous but composed when Superior Court Gary Nickerson informed her that she was being discharged because of tape recordings that revealed she had violated his instructions not to discuss the case or monitor news coverage.
Read the rest of the Court TV article here and comment below.
The mysterious 12:03 a.m. phone call from state police
With jurors in the Worthington trial deadlocked and sequestered on the same day, it would come as no surprise for the case to end in a hung jury, followed by a retrial. And with a retrial, one of the holes in the prosecution's case to be patched is the mysterious phone call to Jeremy Frazier from the Yarmouth state police barracks at 12:03 a.m. on Saturday Jan. 4, 2002.
Defense attorney Robert George made frequent references to the call as part of a broad strategy of raising doubts about the state's case against accused killer Christopher McCowen. Frazier, when he testified, denied receiving any call from state police that night, nor that he had any relationship with police.
But jurors also heard testimony from Shawn Mulvey that he suspected Frazier of setting him up to be charged with selling drugs, as well as testimony from two police officers that McCowen told them Frazier was a drug dealer, a tip conveyed to police more than three years before McCowen was charged in Christa Worthington's murder.
While jurors wrestle with reasonable doubt as they head into a sixth day of deliberations, there's little doubt around Barnstable Superior Court that Frazier and the police had some type of relationship as of January 2002, and the alleged basis for this was illicit drugs.
Seen through this prism, the most plausible explanation for the 12:03 a.m. phone call to Frazier from state police becomes clear -- and it has nothing to do with Worthington's murder.
Recall, for example, the testimony of Tom Bilbo, the young man who hosted the party at his house in Eastham on the night of Friday, Jan. 2, 2002. Bilbo testified that he saw McCowen, Frazier, Mulvey and Chris Bearse arrive at the party sometime between 11 and 11:30 p.m. Shortly thereafter, a fight broke out, one indisputably involving Frazier and Mulvey.
Something else happens shortly thereafter -- the phone call at 12:03 a.m. to Frazier's cell phone from state police. This was established by attorney George obtaining copies of Frazier's phone records and entering them into evidence (George also sought to establish that Frazier tried to call state police 25 times on Jan. 4 and 5, but was less successful on that score).
What is known beyond dispute is that Frazier, drinking heavily that night, was looking for a specific person at the Bilbo party, and became embroiled in a fight soon after arriving between 11 and 11:30 p.m. -- and within an hour, someone at the Yarmouth state police barracks was calling Frazier.
Is it such a stretch that state police were calling Frazier in response to Frazier calling them to implicate the subject of his wrath as a drug dealer, real or imagined?
Recall also, if you will, the scenario outlined by George in his closing argument to the jury -- Worthington stabbed to death between 1 and 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4, with the killer fleeing in the large dark vehicle that catches the attention of Girard Smith. But if the person seen by Smith was Worthington's killer, the call to Frazier from the state police went out well over 12 hours before Worthington's death.
Just who was calling Frazier, and why, are two questions that a new trial might answer, as well as the identity of the motorist in the large dark vehicle.
Judge Nickerson's comments to jurors after receiving word the jury was deadlocked
"Jurors, I have received the following communication from you -- 'After weighing all the evidence over the past five days, we the jury have come to the conclusion that we are deadlocked in coming to a unanimous decision for not guilty or guilty on any of the charges. What is the court's recommendation for further deliberations?'"Jurors, I have found that you have indeed undergone due and thorough deliberations. You are not the first jury certainly in the history of Massachusetts jurisprudence to report this type of situation to a court.
"And over the years, through experience with many cases, courts have developed a response to your concerns, and it goes like this -- the principal mode provided by our Constitution and laws for deciding questions of fact in criminal cases is by the verdict of a jury. In a large proportion of cases -- perhaps, strictly speaking, in all cases -- absolute certainty cannot be attained, nor is it expected. A juror's verdict must be his or her own, the result of his or her own convictions and not mere acquiescence in the conclusion of your fellow jurors.
"Yet in order to bring 12 minds to a unanimous result, you must examine the question submitted to you with candor and with a proper regard and deference to the opinions of each other.
"You should consider that it is desirable that the case be decided; and that you are selected in the same manner and from the same source from which any future jury must be.
"There is no reason to suppose that the case will ever be submitted to 12 persons more intelligent, more impartial or more competent to decide it; or that more or clearer evidence will be produced on the one side or the other. And with this view, it is your duty to decide the case if you can conscientiously do so.
"In order to make a decision more practicable, the law imposes the burden of proof on one party or the other in all cases. In the present case, the burden of proof is on the Commonwealth to establish every part of the case beyond a reasonable doubt. If you are left in doubt of any part of the case, the defendant is entitled to the benefit of the doubt and must be acquitted.
"However, in conferring together, you ought to pay proper respect to each other's opinions and listen with a disposition to be convinced to the other's arguments.
"Thus, where there is disagreement, jurors for acquittal should consider whether a doubt in their minds is a reasonable one if it makes no impression on the minds of others who are equally honest, equally intelligent and who have heard the same evidence, with the same attention, with an equal desire to arrive at the truth, and under the sanction of the same oath as themselves.
"On the other hand, jurors for conviction ought seriously to ask themselves whether they may not reasonably doubt the correctness of a judgment that is not concurred in by others with whom they are associated, and distrust the weight or sufficiency of evidence that fails to carry conviction to the minds of their fellows.
"These are the words that time and experience in other similar situations have been recommended to jurors over the years. Those are the words I leave you with and return you to your deliberations. Thank you."
Jury in McCowen trial deadlocked at the end of day five
Deadlock in Cape slay trial
by Joe Dwinell for the Boston Herald
After five days of deliberations, the jury in the Worthington murder trail announced today they are deadlocked.
The defense has now moved to sequester the 12 jurors and two alternates for the evening in hopes of nudging them to come to a decision. The motion is being considered now.
Cape trash man Christopher McCowen stands accused of murdering Truro fashion writer Christa Worthington Jan. 5, 2002, in her Cape Cod home.
Read the rest of the Herald article here and comment below.
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Judge sequesters jurors deliberating in case of slain writer Christa Worthington
by John Springer for Court TV
BARNSTABLE - Hours after jurors announced that they are split in the case of a garbage collector accused of raping and murdering fashion writer Christa Worthington, the presiding judge ordered the panel sequestered for the remainder of the trial.
Judge Gary Nickerson told jurors, several of whom appeared upset, that his order was not related to their announcement. The order appeared to stem from a closed hearing Nickerson held Monday morning. The subject of the hearing was not disclosed.
"I have done this for several reasons. I have done this in the interests of justice," Nickerson said. "Jurors, I apologize for this. I am well aware this is an enormous inconvenience for you."
Read the rest of the Court TV article here and comment below.
Will this tape self-destruct?
Among the unfortunate legacies of the Worthington case are the mixed signals being sent to police about audio and videotaping of interrogations.
The lack of such a record could determine whether jurors send 34-year-old Christopher McCowen to life in prison without parole for the murder of Christa Worthington.
The prosecution's case against McCowen appeared to suffer a setback during the discussion among Judge Gary Nickerson, prosecutor Robert Welsh III and defense attorney Robert George about Nickerson's impending instructions to the jury, which he delivered Tuesday morning. At issue was whether state police needed McCowen's consent to electronically record his 6-hour interrogation after McCowen's arrest on April 14, 2005.
Nickerson's reading of the state's wiretap statute was that consent was not needed, only the knowledge conveyed by police to McCowen that he'd be recorded. Just as a bank need not obtain my consent, Nickerson said, when he called to check on his balance and was told his call may be recorded. It's knowledge, the judge said, not consent.
But with all due respect to Judge Nickerson, a jurist setting the gold standard for judicial decorum in this case (title for possible blog post: "The Second Best Form of Government -- the Benevolent Dictator"), I can see where police would err on the side of caution when it came to taping McCowen.
In a June 23, 2005 story in the Cape Cod Times by staff writer Karen Jeffrey under the headline "Suspect's Lawyer: DNA 'unreliable,' " Jeffrey described a ruling by the state's Supreme Judicial Court that could have profound implications for the Worthington case.
"By law, police in Massachusetts cannot record interviews with a suspect, unless the suspect gives permission," Jeffrey wrote (emphasis added). "A September 2004 ruling by the Supreme Judicial Court set prescribed guidelines police must follow when interrogating suspects. Included in these is asking the suspect whether he wants to be recorded. If the answer is no, police must make a record of this refusal."
Which is just what the police did in this case, and the form signed by McCowen indicating he declined to be recorded was entered into evidence. The SJC ruling came only seven months before McCowen was arrested, and would presumably have been of keen interest to police investigating homicides.
What if state troopers Christopher Mason and William Burke decided to ignore McCowen's request and record his interrogation anyway -- can there be much doubt that attorney George would have aggressively challenged the legality of this "egregious" violation of the state's wiretap law? After all, George would point out, the SJC made "a major ruling" along these very lines a mere seven months before McCowen was arrested -- how could Mason and Burke not be aware of such an "important precedent?"
But even had a recording been made, with McCowen's consent and with no doubt as to its legality, the notion it would prove definitive in court is wishful thinking. Graphic footage of JFK's assassination has been in the public domain since March 1975, since it was first broadcast on Geraldo Rivera's old television show, "Good Night America." Decades later, we're still arguing over what happened in Dealey Plaza, despite the filmed record obtained by Abraham Zapruder.
Even though McCowen never testified, his voice was heard when brief portions of two phone conversations he had while in jail were played in court. Between the poor audio quality and McCowen's Oklahoman drawl, it was difficult to decipher more than a few words, at least for this observer.
Just as there is little doubt to me that George would have challenged the legality of a police recording of McCowen obtained without his consent, I can also see George fighting tooth-and-nail over McCowen's exact words through the entirety of a 6-hour interrogation -- especially considering the "questionable quality" of the videotape and McCowen's "thick, folksy drawl."
Among the positive legacies of this trial would be an explicit mandate from the Legislature requiring that police tape all interrogations after informing a person under arrest that his or her statements will be recorded. A number of other states have already done this, as have municipalities across the state, including several on the Cape.
Such a mandate would better serve not only the interests of the defendant, but that of the police and future prosecution by potentially refuting bogus allegations of coercion. And with those on both ends of the criminal justice spectrum better served, it goes without saying the result would be something closer approximating justice.
The problem now is that police have gotten mixed signals about the legality of recorded interrogations, based on the SJC ruling followed by Nickerson's interpretation of the wiretap statute. Better a clear mandate from the SJC -- make that a clearer mandate -- seeing how current law remains open to interpretation, and in a venue where it matters most.
(photo credit, rickmaybury.com)
Worthington jury asks judge about reasonable doubt
Jury asks Judge Nickerson two questions on day four of deliberations
by Megan Tench for the Boston Globe
The jury in the Christa Worthington murder trial asked the judge two question this morning as the 12-member panel began its fourth day of deliberations.
In both questions, jurors asked for clarification about the definition of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
Read the rest of the Boston Globe story here and comment below.
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Jury in Christa Worthington case ponders the meaning of reasonable doubt
By John Springer for Court TV
BARNSTABLE - Jurors deliberating the case of a garbage collector accused of the rape and murder of writer Christa Worthington asked the judge Friday to clarify the meaning of "reasonable doubt."
The panel of seven women and five men have been deliberating since Tuesday afternoon in the case of Christopher McCowen, who is accused of killing Worthington in her Cape Cod cottage while her toddler daughter was in the home.
Read the rest of the Court TV story here and comment below.
Second day of deliberations in Worthington trial
Update: Day two of jury deliberations
Deliberations continue in Worthington slay case
from WCVB-TV Boston
BARNSTABLE -- Prosecutors in the trial of a trash collector accused of killing fashion writer Christa Worthington insist he acted alone and made up a story about his friend being the real killer.
But under the state's joint criminal venture theory the jury could still convict Christopher McCowen even if they believe his story that Jeremy Frazier stabbed her, even though Frazier was never charged.
Jurors deliberated a second day Wednesday in the trial of McCowen, 34, who is charged with raping and killing Worthington on Jan. 5, 2002.
Read the rest of the story on the WCVB-TV website here and comment below.
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Jury deliberates a second day in Christa Worthington murder trial
by John Springer for Court TV
BARNSTABLE -- Did prosecutors prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Christopher McCowen, or someone acting in concert with him, was responsible for the 2002 slaying of fashion writer Christa Worthington in her Cape Cod beach house?
Jurors wrestled with that question for a second day Wednesday, but so far have been unable to reach a unanimous conclusion about the 34-year-old garbage collector's guilt.
Read the Court TV analysis here and comment below.
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Worthington prosecutor nominated for judgeship
by Megan Tench for the Boston Globe
While jurors in the Christa Worthington murder trial spent their second day deliberating, the district attorney who prosecuted the case discovered today that he may go into the family businesses.
Assistant District Attorney Robert A. Welsh III learned that he had been nominated for a state judgeship. His father currently serves as a judge in Orleans, and Welsh's grandfather and great-great father both served on the bench.
"I'm honored," Welsh said today in the Barnstable County Courthouse while he waited for the Worthington to come back with a verdict.
Read the entire Boston Globe story here and comment below.
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Keep up-t0-date with Jack Coleman's trial analysis here at CapeCodToday:
With a strong defense, why cut corners? click here (11/8/06)
Explaining those white and blue fibers click here (11/5/06)
With a strong defense, why cut corners?
Something I noticed about the Worthington trial within days of following it in the courtroom -- the closer the proximity of an observer to the trial, the more likely the person accumulated doubts about the prosecution's case. There are plenty of exceptions, to be sure, namely among partisans on each side, but I'm not the only person who's noticed this.
Which makes it all the more curious why defense attorney Robert George (above right) trimmed so many corners in his closing argument. By that point in the three-week trial, George had punctured plenty of holes in the prosecution's contention that Christopher McCowen raped and killed Christa Worthington, and acted entirely on his own. The last blog post I wrote here pointed out that the failure of state police to check for matches of certain evidence might be enough, in and of itself, for jurors to acquit McCowen.
During Monday's closing arguments, I took many pages of notes, then listened to the arguments a second time that evening after having recorded them on Court TV. Since then I have listened again to excerpts from both. All of which left me with the impression that George would have prevailed with the better argument -- had he not so often fudged with the facts.
Among the more glaring examples was when George recounted the testimony of Truro resident Girard Smith, who saw a a "large dark" vehicle barrel out of Worthington's driveway between 1 and 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 5, one day before her body was found. This was the most likely time that Worthington was murdered, George told jurors.
To George, the persistence of prosecutor Robert Welsh in pinning down Smith as to exactly what he saw, persistence not unlike that of George toward numerous witnesses, was an example of the prosecution "attacking" Smith and impugning his integrity.
"Is he lying about the dark truck coming down the driveway?" George asked jurors. "Did he identify Matthew Frazier's truck? (emphasis added) Did he say there was a plow just because someone threw a picture in his face?," an allusion to police showing photos of vehicles to Smith one month after the murder in an effort to determine the model of the vehicle. "The guy is telling the truth!"
Yet elsewhere in his closing argument, George pointed out that the list of vehicles sought by police from the Registry of Motor Vehicles, based on the description supplied by Smith, was not compiled until May 2002. The photos of trucks were shown to Smith in February 2002. With the list of suspect vehicles not available until May, how would it be possible for police to steer Smith toward identifying any specific owner of a vehicle -- such as Matthew Frazier, the uncle of Jeremy Frazier, the man McCowen alleges killed Worthington?
Simply put, it's not possible, and the problem here is not a simple error in chronology. What George is doing, and I'll cite other examples as well, is what Welsh described in his closing argument as the magician's ploy of "misdirection" -- getting you to look "here" while the trick is performed "over there."
Not only was it impossible for police to push Smith toward identifying any vehicle or owner in the absence of the list from the Registry, it is not the police or prosecution who have any incentive to conjure up the specter of Jeremy Frazier at the scene of the murder via Uncle Matt's truck. The incentive for this comes entirely from the defense, starting on the night of McCowen's arrest when he can no longer lie about his alleged lack of physical contact with Worthington and concocts an evolving series of stories culminating with Frazier killing Worthington -- Frazier being a man McCowen had already seen engaged in violence, the fight at the party in Eastham, on the same night Worthington was later stabbed to death.
Of the mysterious driver in the dark vehicle, George asserted that "one thing is clear -- that person who killed Christa Worthington, or had something to do with killing Christa Worthington, was white, in his late 30s to early 40s -- and he wasn't Chris McCowen."
But the only part of George's claim remotely "clear" is that McCowen isn't white, and for George to assert that the driver was wholly or in part responsible for killing Worthington is clearly speculation. One could just as plausibly claim the driver was someone who happened upon the scene, then fled in panic for fear of being accused of a horrific murder he didn't commit. People occasionally don't come forward after learning of a crime because to do so might compromise them for reasons apart from the crime itself -- such as the guy in bed with his mistress on the afternoon of Nov. 22, 1963 who hears four gunshots outside, looks through a window and sees a man he'd later recognize as Lee Harvey Oswald fleeing from a dying Dallas police officer. Years later, after the man's marriage fell apart, he came forward to describe what he witnessed.
George said of Worthington's former boyfriend Tim Arnold that "his hairs were all over Worthington's body" -- while George also claimed at another point in his closing argument that state police failed to analyze the hairs found on Worthington to determine who they came from. But if police failed to analyse the hairs, how can George say they came from Arnold?
Another example of misdirection by George -- the unidentified DNA of "three other men, at least," found under Worthington's fingernails, "none of whom are Christopher McCowen." Operative word here -- "other." In fact, McCowen's DNA was found under Worthington's fingernails -- along with that of at least three men "other" than McCowen. But based on George description of this evidence, someone unfamiliar with the case might come away with the impression that McCowen's DNA was not found under the victim's fingernails -- which it was.
Another example -- George's description of the meeting in Orleans between police and McCowen as a drug informant on Jan. 7, 2002, only one day after Worthington's body was found. Contrary to the police claims that they did not first make contact with McCowen until two months after the murder, George said, "in fact, they talked to him for the first time 24 hours after this happened when four cops were in a police car with him down in Orleans. And all they can remember is how big his hands are."
Yet in his very next statement, George refutes his own claim of alleged police amnesia about the meeting. It turns out that McCowen had detailed information about a specific alleged drug dealer on the Outer Cape, George points out, a guy named Jeremy Frazier. Yet even with this information from McCowen, George said, police fail to pursue Frazier's alleged drug-dealing.
Contrary to George's assertion two breaths earlier about "all" that police remember about their encounter with McCowen, the two police officers who testified about the meeting recalled Jeremy Frazier's name being cited by McCowen -- the same name McCowen evoked three years later after his arrest. If this is not the single most unlikely coincidence in the entire case, it's pretty damn close.
The police officers who testified also recounted how McCowen provided them with a multitude of details about Frazier's suspected drug-dealing, and one of them, Lloyd Oja, testified that McCowen seemed nervous.
More examples: George describes how McCowen's hairs and fingerprints were not found in Worthington's house -- after having lambasted police for not scrupulously analyzing every possible hair and fingerprint at the scene. McCowen has a shaved head, not incidentally, and I don't recall if it was established that McCowen's lack of hair is limited to the upper half of his body. That McCowen may have worn a hat on a chilly night in January is hardly a stretch, seeing how there's not much hair up top to begin with, nor that a trash hauler might be acquainted with winter apparel known as gloves.
George claimed the prosecution has "nothing" putting McCowen at the scene -- "except proof that he had consensual sex with Christa Worthington at some point that week."
Yet another example of misdirection -- the DNA link between McCowen and Worthington, based on his semen in her vagina, isn't proof of consensual sex, it's proof of sexual contact -- big difference. Physical evidence of rape is lacking in any number of scenarios -- such as when a woman is beaten senseless before she is sexually assaulted (and if after this trial there's a surge in rapes preceded by women being rendered unconscious, we'll know why).
That George may harbor doubts about his client became clear with the Freudian slip toward the end of his closing argument. "McCowen sits here asking you to acquit him," George said," not because of your sympathy, not because he is poor, not because he is not that smart, not because he's the victim of a false statement, and not because he had sex with Christa Worthington at some point in time."
"He is asking you to find him guilty ... " -- yeah, that's what George said -- " ... as the government's case is based on nothing but reasonable doubt, it's based on assumptions that aren't true, and it's based on incorrect and ignored evidence."
All of which, if true, should give rise to a defense not guided by misdirection.
Defense rests, jury to begin deliberations tomorrow
McCowen Trial Update
The defense has rested in the Christa Worthington murder trial. As expected, the defendant, Christopher McCowen did not take the stand in his own defense.
The jury will be sent home after closing arguments and will return to the Barnstable Courthouse tomorrow to hear instructions from Judge Gary Nickerson before deliberations begin.
The jury will weigh evidence and testimony to determine whether or not Christopher McCowen is guilty of the 2002 murder of Truro resident Christa Worthington. McCowen is also charged with burglary and aggravated rape.
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Jurors set to weigh case against accused killer of Cape Cod writer Christa Worthington
by John Springer of Court TV
BARNSTABLE - A jury will begin deliberations Tuesday in the case of a garbage collector accused of raping and murdering fashion writer Christa Worthington.
Christopher McCowen faces up to life in prison without parole if convicted of first-degree murder, but jurors may be allowed to consider the less-serious charge of misdemeanor manslaughter.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Monday afternoon. The defense is expected to insist that McCowen, 34, was merely the last and least intelligent person in a series of men police tried to pin the sensational 2002 murder on.
Read the rest of the Court TV coverage on their site here.
Explaining those white and blue fibers
Assume for the sake of argument that Christopher McCowen is telling the truth -- a big assumption -- when McCowen told forensic psychologist Eric Brown that he had sex with Christa Worthington on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2002 -- three days before she was found murdered.
The basis for McCowen's claim, at least to being in Worthington's house, isn't far fetched. He was her trash hauler and visited the property every Thursday. McCowen was so well-regarded along his route that other customers baked cookies for him, according to McCowen's boss. It was the first week of the New Year and a Christmas tree remained in Christa's living room; presumably she wanted it removed after the holidays. Who better to perform this task than the trash man, especially since Worthington didn't bring her trash to the transfer station, as do many other Truro residents, but had it removed by a private hauler.
Once McCowen is in Worthington's house that Thursday, one thing leads to another and McCowen and Worthington have sex. The following evening, McCowen is drinking with friends. It's a chaotic night of boozing, fights and frequent changes in venue. After a fracas at the bar in Orleans, McCowen and one of his friends, Jeremy Frazier, end up at a crowded party in Eastham. A fight breaks out here as well -- was there a full moon that night? -- and Frazier plays an almost comical role, apparently not getting in a punch but damaging much of the furniture. McCowen and Frazier leave together, Frazier simmering with a full head of steam.
I know where we can go cool off, McCowen tells Frazier, a house owned by a nice lady I've gotten to know in Truro. When they get there, Worthington is startled. She recognizes McCowen but not his friend, and her 2-1/2- year-old daughter is trying to sleep. Sorry for the late hour, McCowen explains sheepishly, but come to think of it, I never removed that Christmas tree of yours. Warily, and against her better judgment, Worthington lets the men into her house.
It's awkward at first -- McCowen barely knows Worthington and Frazier not at all. Frazier excuses himself and goes to the bathroom; McCowen and Worthington engage in another tryst in the living room. Frazier hears them and after leaving the bathroom, goes into Worthington's office to steal from her. Worthington, aware of this, confronts Frazier after the two men leave the house. Frazier punches her, McCowen following suit, both men hitting and kicking Worthington. She hits her head so hard on the ground that she temporarily loses consciousness.
Frazier and McCowen drag and carry Worthington back into the house, McCowen then hastily leaving. But Frazier decides that since his friend has had sex with Worthington, he will too. Wasn't that, after all, the point of the evening -- going to the Juice Bar, then to the party in Eastham, and now here?
Frazier pulls down Worthington's pants and then his own and tries to have intercourse with Worthington, his white and blue Nautica sweater brushing against her pubic hair. But this besotted fireplug of a man, prematurely balding in his early 20s, is hardly the picture of health, unlike McCowen. The years of dissolution have taken their toll; Frazier is impotent.
Worthington regains enough consciousness to realize that Frazier is trying to rape her, but is incapable of penetration. Whether Worthington mocks him or Frazier becomes aware of her realization -- either way, the angry frustrations of yet another pointless evening for him reach the boiling point. In drunken rage, Frazier reaches for a knife and stabs Worthington so hard the blade passes through her body.
After pulling up his pants, Frazier starts to wipe the blood from Worthington's body, as does McCowen, who has returned to the house to find out what is keeping Frazier. Upon seeing Worthington's bloodied body, McCowen is in a state of shock. Asked later by police to describe what happened, after DNA evidence had proved McCowen lied when denying any physical contact with Worthington, McCowen recounts the visit to the house as best he can recall, leaving out Frazier's attempt to rape Worthington because he had not witnessed it.
But perhaps there is physical evidence of this -- fibers from Frazier's sweater on Worthington's body, for example, or seminal fluid on her genitalia that might match Frazier's DNA.
In fact, evidence exactly along those lines is found by police -- sperm in Worthington's vagina that proves McCowen had intercourse with her, along with blue and white fibers and sperm found on her genitalia -- proving what? We don't know, because police did not examine the latter two pieces of evidence to determine if they matched with Frazier's sweater and semen.
One can't help but wonder if these two gaps in the investigation are enough alone to surpass the threshold of reasonable doubt for jurors to acquit McCowen.
With a man facing possible life in prison for a murder he may not have committed, is it unreasonable to want this evidence tested for a match, however belatedly, to resolve these doubts once and for all -- or for that matter, to bolster Frazier's claim of innocence?
This scenario explains the presence of McCowen's sperm in Worthington's body after she is found on Sunday -- sperm possibly left there three to five days earlier, according to expert testimony. It would explain why the sperm in Worthington's vagina did not match with Frazier's DNA -- his sperm was never there to begin with. And in this scenario, it is entirely plausible Frazier would have left seminal fluid on Worthington's genitalia, along with fibers from the white and blue sweater he wore that night.
McCowen is haunted by what has happened. He hasn't killed Worthington -- but he is surely complicit in her death. Had McCowen never suggested going to Worthington's house that night, Frazier may never have met Worthington, let alone killed her. It's all part of a pattern for McCowen -- he's never had trouble attracting women, but something always seems to go wrong. How else to explain those five restraining orders against him from five different women -- all ploys to finagle Section 8 housing vouchers from the state?
The police track down McCowen, as he knew they would, the garbageman with frequent and familiar access to the house of the wealthy woman who's been murdered. Asked by the police if he had any contact with Worthington, McCowen lies, repeatedly, just as he would had the same question been asked by police in his native Oklahoma. As McCowen remembers, the notion of a black man having sex with a white woman is almost as bad as murder to many people where he is from. The same is probably true in this isolated stretch of country along the coast, where McCowen noticed residents eying him warily long before he was charged with murder.
McCowen's only security, or so he thinks, is in lying to police and hoping they examine the evidence closely enough to corroborate his claim -- the parts of it that are true, and others McCowen simply isn't aware of.
Testimony excluded from jury in Worthington Trial
Judge refuses to let jury hear McCowen's claim that he had sex with Worthington the Thursday before her death
by Megan Tench, from the Boston Globe
BARNSTABLE -- Tension gripped the packed courtroom in the murder trial of Christopher McCowen in the slaying of Christa Worthington yesterday, as the judge refused to let the jury hear testimony that the defendant had said he had a sexual encounter with the Cape Cod fashion writer on the Thursday before the weekend she was killed.
Jurors were excused from the courtroom in Barnstable Superior Court yesterday morning in the middle of testimony from forensic psychologist Eric Brown, while defense lawyer Robert George insisted that Brown be allowed to give details of a recent interview he had with McCowen, a trash collector accused of the January 2002 slaying.
Read the rest of the Globe story here and comment below.
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McCowen Trial, Day 13
Update from the Provincetown Banner by Michael Iacuessa
Christopher McCowen told a psychologist he had consensual sex with Christa Worthington on Jan. 3, 2002, the day before he is alleged to have murdered her.
However, after a lengthy debate that has raged behind the scenes since the start of the trial, Judge Gary Nickerson ruled Friday the jury would not hear the statement.
Read the rest of the Banner story here and comment below.
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Defense focuses on interrogation tactics
by Marily Miller for the Cape Codder
BARNSTABLE - The defense in the trial of Christopher McCowen began its case Wednesday with a lead-off witness whose testimony was to point up how police interrogation tactics are designed to unnerve and intimidate suspects.
The prosecution earlier in the day had rested its case against McCowen, who is charged with the rape and stabbing murder of Christa Worthington in her Truro home Jan. 5, 2002.
Defense attorney Robert A. George called to the stand Keith Amato, the former son-in-law of Tony Jackett, the shellfish warden who fathered Worthington's daughter during an extramarital affair, and questioned him about his treatment by police during his interrogation as a suspect.
Read the rest of the Cape Codder story here and comment below.
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Daily Cape Cod NPR coverage from WCAI
Stay up to date with Elizabeth White's daily blog from WCAI here.
Also from WCAI, hear the testimony of Dr. Richard Ofshe and Dr. Eric Brown here.
Police failed to test DNA of all evidence at scene
Jury may get the case on Monday, Jury won't visit crime scene
McCowen's girlfriend takes stand but doesn't testify, Witness testifies some DNA not tested
At the close of the trial in Barnstable on Thursday, Judge Gary Nickerson (on right) spoke to the jury and told them that the testimony is moving along faster than expected, and that they might get the case as early as Monday afternoon.
Judge Nickerson addressing the jury late Thursday>>>
Earlier the defense withdrew its request for the jury to visit the crime scene.
Later in the afternoon, Catherine Rio Cisneros (shown below on right) who was and still is Christopher McCowen's girlfriend took the witness stand, but aster a sidebar conference, she was not sworn in and left the court.
She was seen weeping outside.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Monday.
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LISTEN and SEE NECN video of trial here.
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Evidence hit in Cape slay trial
Forensic expert alleges omissions
BARNSTABLE -- Investigators in the slaying of Cape Cod fashion writer Christa Worthington never analyzed a bloodstained towel and a shower mitt found in her bathroom, or semen and hair found on her body, evidence that could have shed light on her killing, a forensic expert told jurors in the murder trial yesterday.
National forensic science consultant Richard Saferstein, who has written textbooks and had headed the New Jersey State Police crime lab for 21 years, acknowledged in Barnstable Superior Court yesterday that some DNA collected at the crime scene matched that of the defendant, Christopher McCowen, the trash collector accused in the 2002 murder. But Saferstein , testifying for the defense, strongly criticized investigators for not analyzing more evidence collected at the scene and said they left other important evidence behind.
"I have a problem with some serious omissions in terms of physical evidence collected [and never tested] and of physical evidence left at the crime scene," Saferstein said.
Investigators will never know if semen collected on Worthington's body matched someone other than McCowen, he said. A strand of hair found on her breast clearly did not belong to McCowen, who is African-American, and DNA analysts made no effort, Saferstein said, to compare blue-and-white fibers found on Worthington with a blue-and-white sweater worn by Jeremy Frazier, the man McCowen says killed Worthington...
Read the rest of this Globe story here.
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Toddler's Accounts Of Worthington's Murder Revealed
NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that the jury also heard the words of Worthington's daughter, Ava, who desperately tried to help her mortally injured mother.
"Do you recall reviewing a report with a direct quote from Ava, 'Mommy won't get up. Tried to get mommy up. Mommy dirty. Tried to clean mommy'?" prosecutor Robert Welch asked a defense forensic expert.
It was the first time Ava's words after her mother's murder had ever been revealed. The 2 ½-year-old was found clinging to her mother's dead body... See the WCVB channel 5 video and story here.
__________________________________
Defense witness: Key piece of evidence untested at scene of Christa Worthington's murder
BARNSTABLE, Mass. — Investigators probing the rape and murder of fashion writer Christa Worthington failed to test a key piece of evidence, a defense witness testified Thursday.
The evidence — a swab from outside Worthington's body that tested positive for the presence of semen — was one of four pieces of evidence that should have been analyzed in the months after the January 2002 killing, said Richard Saferstein, a forensic expert who has written and lectured extensively on the subject.
"I think there were some very serious omissions," said Saferstein, former head of the New Jersey State Police crime lab.
found outside the victim's body would have been useful>>>
Sperm found inside the 46-year-old victim's body matched defendant Christopher McCowen's DNA. The 34-year-old garbage collector told police he had consensual sex with Worthington days before the killing; later, he said a friend named Jeremy Frazier plunged a knife in her chest...
Christa's cousin testifies about relationships of victim
Worthington's cousin testified Thursday that Worthington would have told her if she was romantically involved with anyone. Called to testify for the defense, Pamela Worthington-Franklin said she was in shock and does not recall telling police the day after the killing that Worthington was not concerned about a man's looks, social, economic or marital status.
"I don't recall saying those words," she said.
Defense lawyer Robert George appeared to be trying to counter his fear that jurors could convict McCowen if they believe a sophisticated, wealthy white woman would never consent to sex with a black garbage collector with an IQ below 80...Read the rest of this CourtTV story here.
__________________________McCowen's 76 IQ impaired his understanding of Police questioning
Keep up to date with Elizabeth White's blog at WCAI, the Cape and Islands NPR station.
Dr. Eric Brown (on right) was on the stand when courted ended for the day. Brown is a forensic psychologist who examined McCowen for a total of over fourteen hours while McCowen was at the house of corrections. Brown testified McCowen's verbal IQ is 78. By definition, 100 is an average IQ. Brown testified that McCowen's IQ would "severely limit" his ability to focus, remember, and respond meaningfully during a six hour interrogation (the length of time McCowen was questioned following his arrest in April of 2005, during which time he told police he'd had sex with Worthington and watched his friend stab her). Brown said "McCowen lacks a good understanding of language and conversation." Brown has yet to be cross-examined.
Jury won't visit crime scene
The defense retracted its request for the jury to view the Worthington property. Judge Nickerson said that testimony could be over by tomorrow and closing statements could be given on Monday...
Dr. Richard Saferstein has just testified regarding what he characterized as an incomplete forensic analysis of the Worthington crime scene... Saferstein said that, in addition to the internal vaginal swabbing, the semen contained in the external genital swabbing of Worthington should have been subject to DNA analysis because it would have shed light as to the time of deposition. Saferstein also said "it would have made a whole lot of sense" to compare the blue and white fibers found in Worthington's pubic hair to the blue and white fibers of the Nautica sweater Jeremy Frazier was to known to be wearing on the alleged night of the murder; the sweater was turned over to the crime lab following McCowen's arrest. Saferstein tapped a pointer on a large cardboard display which enumerated items found at the crime scene which he felt should have been tested further. Among them were blood found on the bathroom sink, and a bloody washcloth on the bathroom floor... Read the rest of this blog here.
Specter raised of rogue cop, Globe, CourtTV, other reports
Six Different stories about yesterday's Court Session
Amato alleges harsh interrogation by police
Special to cctoday by Jack Coleman
The first witness for the defense, Keith Amato, ex-husband of Tony Jackett's daughter, today described a three-hour plus interrogation by state police that left him bathed in sweat and puking outside the Truro police station afterwards.
Amato also testified that despair in the months following Christa Worthington's murder drove him to attempt suicide, not because of Worthington's death, but due to his family being "caught up" in the investigation.
Asked his whereabouts on the weekend of Jan. 4-6, 2002, Amato said he was working a construction job from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., then "flipping pizzas" at High Toss Pizza from 5:30 to 10 p.m. "all weekend long."
Amato testified that he went to the Truro police station for what would be his third interview with police after the murder, unaccompanied by an attorney and met with state troopers Jack James Mawn and Christopher Mason. Once the three men were in a conference room, Mawn said police had found inconsistencies between Amato's previous statements and phone records obtained by police. The next 45 minutes were spent going over a long list of phone records, Amato said.
"Trooper Mason said I was lying, basically," Amato said from the stand today.
Amato said he denied having lied to police, that he had declined to provide more information about his personal life that "I felt comfortable with."
Did the interview then get loud, asked defense attorney Robert George?
"It got very loud," Amato answered, claiming that Mawn slammed his hand down on table and said "this is a murder investigation and if we so choose, we will turn your life inside and out."
Given the sudden change in tenor of the discussion, Amato said, "I had a hard time keeping my thoughts together." Amato said he remembers starting to sweat, his pulse racing, and becoming dizzy.
Mawn also challenged a previous statement Amato told police about using Worthington's outdoor shower, Amato said, calling Amato "a liar" and adding, "we don't believe anything you say."
Asked by George to describe his state of mind, Amato said it was "deteriorating." "I was turning into a suspect, I felt like," Amato said.
Amato said he agree with the troopers' assertions that he had previously lied to police only in an attempt to stop their aggressive questioning.
Mason asked about Amato's mental state in the months after the murder and Amato said he'd been "a little depressed."
Mason reacted scornfully, Amato testified today, saying he was aware that Amato had attempted suicide.
"I felt like someone had come up behind me and hit me with a stick," Amato said. "I was floored." This was known by only three people, Amato said -- his therapist, his ex-wife in Colorado, and her father -- Tony Jackett, the father of Worthington's daughter, Ava.
At that point, Amato said, it appeared to him that "people were talking about me" and he was getting "quite nervous." He described his state at this point in the interrogation as his body being drenched in sweat, his head spinning, pulse racing.
Mason alleged that Amato's suicide attempt was tied to his guilt about Worthington's murder, which Amato denied, according to his testimony. It was not Worthington's murder that drove him to despair, he said, but his family being sucked inexorably into the investigation that followed.
At that point, Amato testified, State Police Sgt. William Burke entered the room and told Mason and Mawn to leave, which came as an immediate relief to Amato. "I thought Sgt. Burke was manna from God, that he was going to rescue me from these guys," Amato said.
Amato knew Burke from a previous investigation against a neighbor of Amato who was charged and convicted of assaulting one of Amato's children.
After entering the conference room, Burke told Amato that police had initially believed him, but now had their doubts, and it was at this point that Amato could decide whether the wanted to spend 25 years in prison or the rest of his life.
At that point, Amato testified, he felt like he would throw up, and decided he would no longer continuing speaking to police.
"You are not going to pin this murder on me," Amato said he told Burke, indicating that the interview was over and walking out of the police station. Once outside, Amato said, he threw up.
Asked by George how long the interrogation had lasted, Amato said it was 3 and 1/2 hours.
His next contact with police would not come until several months later, Amato said, when he ran into Mawn at Orleans District Court. Hey, remember me, Amato recalled telling Amato, the guy you were asking so many questions about the Worthington murder -- you guys planning to get back to me about that, Amato said he asked, the sarcasm obvious.
To which Mawn responded, according to Amato, that after the interrrogation in Truro, "we knew you didn't do it." Updated, 1:30 p.m. (as seen on Court TV, not first-hand in the courtroom).
Is prosecution losing its case against McCowen?
Update, 11:30 a.m. -- after prosecution rests its case this morning, defense attorney Robert George files two motions: the first calls for Judge Gary Nickerson to dismiss case based on alleged inconsistencies in evidence presented to grand jury in June 2005 (Nickerson takes motion under advisement), and second motion calls for Nickerson to find Christopher McCowen not guilty of all charges due to lack of evidence (motion denied).
First defense witness now on stand -- Keith Amato, ex-husband of daughter of Tony Jackett, the father of Christa Worthington's daughter, Ava.
(As seen on Court TV)
Update, 10:40 a.m. .... more potential doubt raised by defense attorney Robert George -- George asks State Police Sgt. William Burke if state police took possession of the clothing worn by Jeremy Frazier on Jan. 4-5, 2002.
Yes, Burke said. Burke said the clothing included a white Nautica sweater "with some type of dark stripe in it." Prodded by George, Burke said the sweater "may have been blue and white."
"Were blue and white fibers found in Christa Worthington's vaginal area?" George asked Burke.
"I'm not aware of that," Burke answers.
George shows Burke a police report about Frazier's clothing and asks again, "does it appear that blue and white fibers were found on Worthington's body?"
"That's what it says, yes," Burke answers.
"Could you tell us where they were found?" George asks.
Burke, reading from report -- "Trace material was recovered from Christa Worthington's pubic hair."
Was the blue and white Nautica sweater examined by police?, George asks.
"I believe the clothing was examined, yes," Burke answers.
Do you know if the fibers from Frazier's sweater were ever compared to those found in Worthington's vaginal area, George asks.
"I don't know that," Burke responds.
"If I told you they weren't, would that refresh your memory?" George said, prompting an objection from prosecutor Robert Welsh, with George then withdrawing the question. The prosecution rests its case shortly after 10:30 a.m.
(As seen on Court TV)
*************
Initial posting, 10:12 a.m. -- two more revelations right out of the gate in the Worthington murder trial this morning -- defense attorney Robert George, cross examining State Police Sgt. William Burke, who was involved in investigating the death of Christa Worthington from the day her body was discovered, asked Burke if Truro police sergeant Dave Costa also took part in the murder probe.
Yes, Burke responded, Sgt. Costa became the Truro police liaison with state police as of the second day, as Burke recalled.
Could Sgt. Costa pursue leads on his own, George asked. Yes, but he was expected to report to us afterwards, Burke said.
Were you aware, George asked, that Sgt. Costa went to the storage locker rented by Worthington at Magnum Movers on Jan. 10, 2002 (her body was found four days earlier) and removed property owned by Worthington?
"No, I wasn't aware of it," Burke answered.
Were you aware that Costa was seen a few days after the murder in the woods near the Worthington home with a metal detector?
Burke said he was also not aware of that.
Magnum Movers, as established by Burke's testimony yesterday, employed Jeremy Frazier -- the man accused killer Christopher McCowen claims killed Worthington -- Shawn Mulvey, the former Eastham resident who claims Frazier stayed overnight at his house on the night of the murder -- and Dave Murphy, a former Somerville man and convicted killer who was released from state prison in 2000 after serving nine years for a murder manslaughter rap.
At some point after his release from prison, Murphy moves to Cape Cod and is hired by Magnum Movers, according to Burke's testimony yesterday. Murphy had also allowed Jeremy Frazier to sign up for a cell phone in his name, the phone Frazier was using at the time of the murder, Burke's testimony established yesterday.
After George finishes his questions with Burke, prosecutor Robert Welsh spends little time asking Burke about Costa's alleged actions. Did Costa need state police authorization to pursue leads? No, Burke responds, Costa remained under the authority of the Truro police chief. From there, Welsh moved on to questions about the night of McCowen's arrest in April 2005. (As seen on Court TV)
________________________________
Mystery car described at death scene
Keep up to date with Elizabeth White's blog at WCAI, the Cape and Islands NPR station.
Wednesday November 1, 2006 6:00 PM
Truro resident Girard Smith testified this afternoon that he saw a "large, dark vehicle" speeding out of Worthington's driveway sometime between 1 and 3 PM on January 5th 2002, the day before Worthington's body was discovered. Smith said he was walking near Worthington's 50 Depot Road and that "I could hear a car coming down the driveway and he was coming at a very high speed." Smith estimated he was 15 feet from the vehicle as it exited the driveway. Smith said the driver didn't look or stop before pulling into the road so he only saw the driver's profile. Smith described the driver as a white male in his late 30s or early 40s...
Smith notified police, who showed him pictures of different vehicles. Smith said he didn't recall the vehicle beyond that it was a van or a truck because he was "concentrating on the driver." Police did not show Smith pictures of people, and did not contact him further after February 2002. McCowen's employer at Cape Cod Disposal Co., Donald Horton, also took the stand. Horton confirmed McCowen picked up Worthington's trash on Thursday January 3rd 2002, the day before the prosecution alledges the murder took place. Horton testified that McCowen "did a pretty good job" but that he tested positive for marijuana once. Horton said many customers on McCowen's garbage route "loved him", baked him cookies, and are "still asking for him". Horton is being sued by the Worthington family for $10 million for negligent hiring... Read the rest of this WCAI blog here.
____________________________________
Defense begins in Cape Cod slaying trial
BARNSTABLE — Attorneys for the trash hauler accused of killing a Cape Cod fashion writer started building their case for reasonable doubt yesterday, calling as their first witness a man who was questioned as a suspect in her death.
Keith Amato, one of several men investigated by police in the 2002 murder of Christa Worthington, said police badgered and confused him so much during an interrogation that he vomited in the parking lot of the police station...
Read the rest of this Standard-Times here.
____________________________________
Defense says police pursued other confessions
Witness in Cape trial alleges harsh tactics
BARNSTABLE -- The lawyer representing the man accused of killing Cape Cod fashion writer Christa Worthington began his defense yesterday by suggesting that police had aggressively sought confessions from two other men before focusing on his client.
Robert George's first witness for the defense, Keith Amato, testified that Massachusetts state troopers accused him of having an affair with Worthington, questioned his sexuality, threatened him with prison, and applied so much pressure on him to confess to her brutal slaying that he vomited after investigators let him go.
Amato, a casual acquaintance of Worthington, is the second witness to testify during the trial of Christopher McCowen, who is charged with killing her, that police used overzealous tactics in an effort to gain confessions in the January 2002 slaying.
"It got very loud," Amato said of the questioning, which took place in June 2002. "Trooper [James] Mawn slammed his hands on the table and said: 'This is a murder investigation. If we so choose, we will turn your life inside out.' "
It grew so intense, Amato said, he told police he had lied to them in earlier interviews even though he believes he had not .
"I wasn't able to hold a thought together," he said. "I was becoming very confused. I was starting to sweat. My heart was starting to race. I was feeling a bit dizzy. . . . I would have told them anything at that point to end the interview."
Amato is the former son-in-law of Tony Jackett, a shellfish constable on Cape Cod who fathered Worthington's daughter, Ava... Read the rest of the Globe story here.
_______________________________________________
Prosecutor: Garbage collector's changing stories prove his guilt in Christa Worthington's murder
BARNSTABLE, Mass. — Prosecutors rested their case Wednesday against a garbage collector accused of murdering fashion writer Christa Worthington by reminding jurors of their strongest evidence — the defendant's own admissions that he had sex with the victim on the floor where she was found half-naked and dead.
Massachusetts State Police Sgt. William Burke told jurors about the constantly changing stories offered by defendant Christopher McCowen, 34, after he learned last year that his DNA matched genetic material from semen found on Worthington's body.
According to Burke, McCowen abandoned his claim that he barely knew the 46-year-old woman and instead told police that an acquaintance plunged a knife into her chest after McCowen had sex with her... Read this CourtTV story here.
About This Blog
Christopher McCowen is being tried for the brutal murder of fashion writer Christa Worthington. This blog aggregates the news about the trial and offer readers the opportunity to give their opinions.
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