Character References
Friends and relatives of Christopher McCowen, including his girlfriend and the mothers of his children, painted the defendant as a loving father in these letters to the judge.- Statement Order
This 13-page document outlines statements Christopher McCowen allegedly made to police, such as admitting he had sex with Christa Worthington and a description of how she was stabbed.
BARNSTABLE, Mass. — Jurors in the trial of a man accused of the rape and murder of fashion writer Christa Worthington heard Thursday from the victim's cousin, a volunteer emergency medical technician who was the first rescue worker to respond to a 911 call for help.
The witness, Jan Worthington, testified that she "knew immediately it was a family member" when she heard a dispatcher summon assistance for an "unresponsive, unconscious female" at an address on the rural Cape Cod road where several relatives lived.
She said Christa Worthington's ex-boyfriend, Tim Arnold, met her outside the writer's cottage and told her he had discovered her dead inside, perhaps from a fall down the stairs.
"I saw my cousin lying on the floor between the kitchen and the hallway. She was naked from the waist down and her legs had been pulled apart," Jan Worthington said.
The 54-year-old said a quick reading of the scene convinced her that the death was a homicide, and she looked desperately for a phone to summon law enforcement.
"I was frightened because I didn't know what happened. I went to look for a phone because I wanted the police to be there," Worthington said.
The man who collected Christa Worthington's garbage, Christopher McCowen, 33, is standing trial for murder, rape and burglary charges in the January 2002 death of the 46-year-old mother.
After a three-year investigation, DNA from the victim's body was matched to McCowen, a hulking ex-convict with an extensive history of threatening behavior towards women. His defense has suggested McCowen had consensual sex with the victim before her death, but had nothing to do with the murder.
Worthington's 2-year-old daughter, Ava, was found with the body. She was physically unharmed and had been attempting to nurse from her mother.
Jan Worthington recounted how she took the toddler from the crime scene, which was crowded with medical personnel and investigators, to her parents' home nearby.
"I told my father that Christa was dead and that something terrible had happened up there," she testified.
She said changed the girl's diaper, which was full, and gave her macaroni and a drink. Authorities believe Ava may have been alone with her mother's body for up to 36 hours.
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