• December 04, 2006
• Vol. 66
• No. 23

Cape Cod Murder

After Tense Deliberations, Christopher McCowen Is Convicted in the Killing of Christa Worthington

It took eight days of deliberation, including reports of a deadlock, but on Nov. 16 a jury in Barnstable, Mass., found Christopher McCowen guilty in the notorious murder of fashion writer Christa Worthington in 2002. For some observers the verdict was surprising. Initially the case had appeared to be a slam-dunk for the prosecution: Semen matching McCowen's DNA was found on the body. (McCowen, a garbage collector who was sentenced to life without parole, claimed that he and Worthington had had consensual sex.) But during the five-week trial, defense attorney Robert George managed to poke several holes in the state's scenario: Among other things, he introduced a witness who said he had seen a truck driven by a white man speeding away from Worthington's home around the time that Worthington was believed to have been killed.

In the end, though, the defense could not overcome a disputed statement that McCowen gave to police in which he admitted beating Worthington but claimed a friend had plunged the knife into her chest. (Police said the friend has an alibi for the night.) As for Worthington's daughter Ava, now 7, who as a toddler was found clinging to her mother's body, she is being raised by a childhood friend of Worthington's. As Worthington's cousin Mary Worthington told the court, the case was "about the loss of a loving, vibrant woman who had the best belly laugh in the world."

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A Break on Castro Valley Jane Doe?

Her murder touched the residents of Alameda County, Calif., who embraced the unidentified victim as "our little girl." Now investigators may be close to breaking the case of Castro Valley Jane Doe (PEOPLE, Nov. 14, 2005), the young woman whose body was found behind a restaurant in 2003. New witnesses have supplied "significant information," according to Sgt. Scott Dudek. Authorities believe the girl's name was either Adriana or Ariana and that she came from Mexico. Police are also searching for a "person of interest" in the case, a 27-year-old Mexican man who worked at the restaurant.