Cape Fear

Inside the 300-year old Barnstable, Mass, courtroom, the people versus Christopher McCowen had gone to the jury. Even with DNA evidence and a damning statement to police that put him at the murder scene, it was not so clear-cut a case for the jurors.

Day one turned into day two. At the end of day three of inconclusive deliberations, courtroom spectators sensed they were in for a long jury watch.

Dennis Murphy [Dateline]: The pundits are out there saying "These guys are never coming back."
Karen [juror]: We were ... methodical in our deliberating.
Eric [juror]: A woman died and the guy is facing life in prison.  It wasn't something that we would we were taking lightly.

We talked to four of the jurors later about their tedious review of every bit of evidence presented them: photos, police statements, testimony as recollected in their personal notes.

There was a division in the jury: A ten-to-two split.

Eric: Two undecided. I can't speak for them.
Murphy: They were saying “’til hell freezes over”?
Eric: At times. At times. (laughs)

The jury sent the judge a note saying it was at an impasse. He sent them back into the jury room to give it another try.

These jurors told Dateline the biggest stumbling block was the statement McCowen gave to the police. Was it a confession or not?

Eric: It was very incriminating.  He was incriminating himself all over the place.

NBC video Look at the statement, says DA District attorney encourages jurors to use common sense when looking at McCowen's statements to police Dateline NBC

The problem was that the police had elected not to tape that interview so jurors had to rely on the officers' summary of the interrogation.

Jurors asked themselves, “What exactly did McCowen say?” It was a question they couldn't answer.

Dennis Murphy: His statement, which really implicated himself in the crime, was a wash for you?
Taryn [juror]: I really didn't use it.
Murphy: You didn't treat it as good evidence?
Taryn: No ... and I know there were other people in the jury room that felt...
Eric: Which I believe helped the defendant ... it probably helped him out.

Once they decided to discount the McCowen police statement, they turned to the box of evidence itself and spent a great deal of time studying crime scene photos, trying to understand for themselves what the pictures told them.

Taryn: We had actual testimony that Christa's foot had been placed inside of a bookcase ... In that, in her position.  And at the time of her death, her foot was still in the bookcase.

That single observation -- Christa's foot wedged awkwardly in the bookcase -- told them that she had been unconscious when raped.  There had been no consensual sex.

It was a point for the prosecution but the jurors also agreed with the defense's argument that the crime scene had been trampled upon and tainted and the authorities had failed to test critical evidence.

Taryn: Lack of testing that could have happened that didn't happen … It was extremely frustrating for me.

The closed-door debate went on for eight days. One juror was dismissed and an alternate put on. The courthouse bet was on a hopelessly hung jury.  But finally after one fresh-eyed review from top to bottom, the twelve took a vote and they had it. They had a unanimous verdict.

In court, it began: "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury..."

The defendant, Christa's friends and family, all were waiting to hear the words.

Dennis Murphy [Dateline]: Did you look at him as it was read?
Matt [juror]: I did, I did. I thought to myself “Hmmm… this guy's life about to change forever,” and it did.

The clerk read the verdict: guilty on all counts.

Despite their problems with the prosecution's case, the jurors believed the evidence they had -- and didn't have -- spoke loudly to the defendant's guilt.

His claim to police that his buddy Jeremy Frazier had actually plunged the knife into Christa's chest was thought not plausible.

Matt [juror]: We didn't find any evidence there that Jeremy Frazier was there ... other than Christopher McCowen saying that he was there. There was no fingerprints, no DNA, nothing.

The jury didn't buy into the defense's theory that an enraged former lover did it, and they rejected the defense claim that McCowen and Christa had had consensual sex days before her murder and that’s how his DNA was on her.

Laura [juror]: Previously, he had said that he never had any prior contact with her, that she would decide to bring a person into the house with a two year old daughter.
Dennis Murphy: So the circumstances of this alleged contact didn't make sense to you?
Laura: Right.

In the end, the critical piece of evidence for the jury was what had always been at the center of the case.

Taryn: The evidence of the DNA, and the testimony of the DNA specialist.

And there was only disgust for the defense's playing of the race card.

Eric: Cheap shot.
Taryn: It was insulting to us as a jury.
Eric: I think, of course, he was going to say something like that but I think it's a cheap shot.

Troubling as it was to send a man to prison for what would turn out to be a life sentence, they could not forget their impressions of Christa Worthington's final moments in the gray house by the sea and her confused daughter finding the body.

Taryn: I have a two-year-old at home, I used to go home every night and look at him and think if this happened to me, what would he do?

Ava is eight now, under the care of Krista's friends, a married couple, as stipulated in her will.

Her father, Tony Jackett, says he sees his daughter on a regular basis.  But he still feels bitter that his custody claim evaporated in the weeks following the murder, when he was a figure of interest, as the cops say.

Dennis Murphy [Dateline]: You've kissed off any dreams that she's going to be raised by you?
Jackett: Yeah. I've accepted that. I made a decision, even though I did it under duress. I felt bullied into it and I felt it was wrong.

For Christa's friends, who spent time with her in that place where land meets sea, there are only memories left.

"I remember her on the beach in Truro with Ava … that area is famous for its light and it's a luminous place and she was that kind of person also, and I remember thinking of her as very much a part of that landscape."

The Cape with its roiling seas is emerging from gray, leafless winter. The shingled house above the pond, the family cottage that once offered a world-weary woman solace, waits like the others for the return of the luminous light.

Since the trial ended, two of the jurors have claimed the deliberations were tainted by racism.

Both have filed affidavits in court claiming some of their fellow jurors made racist comments about the defendant.

Earlier this month, the judge ordered a hearing to explore the claims of racial bias.

To find out more about the Worthington family history on Cape Cod, check out the following library online:

The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University

The Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute collects manuscripts, books, and other materials essential for understanding women's lives and activities in the United States. Among the library's holdings are the papers of important women in history, including suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony and aviator Amelia Earhart; a collection of more than 2,500 unique manuscripts of individuals, families, and organizations; and a culinary collection spanning five centuries and several global cuisines. The library's collections and services encourage research and promote knowledge of United States history in all its dimensions. For more information, visit www.radcliffe.edu.

MORE FROM CRIME STORIES

Crime stories Section Front

The Night Mary Jane Disappeared The Friday the 13th Mystery Mystery at Lost Dog Road Slideshow: Photos in the Bob Duke case When The Smoke Clears Slideshow: The Christie Fleming murder Through The Pouring Rain In Plain Sight: Jaycee Dugard Bad Chemistry Bad Chemistry: Photos in the case Crime stories Section Front   Add Crime stories headlines to your news reader: