BARNSTABLE, Mass. — A prosecutor and defense attorney accused each other of trying to lead jurors away from the truth during closing arguments Monday in the trial of a garbage collector accused of raping and murdering fashion writer Christa Worthington in 2002.

Delivering his summation first, defense attorney Robert George accused police of coercing false and incriminating statements from defendant Christopher McCowen because he is black, because Worthington was white, and because McCowen's semen was found inside the victim's battered body. (VIDEO)

McCowen, 34, became the primary suspect only after police failed to implicate several of Worthington's ex-boyfriends and acquaintances, the lawyer charged.

"They botched the investigation ... I'm not saying they are dishonest. It's all part of the game," said George, who spoke to the 12 jurors and two alternates for nearly an hour. "They are trying to make the evidence fit their case. That's what it's all about, and it started from the beginning to this case ... When the evidence didn't fit, they turned away from it. They didn't follow the evidence."

Assistant District Attorney Robert Welsh III, however, urged jurors to follow evidence they heard during more than three weeks of testimony. He reminded them of McCowen's constantly changing story before and after police informed him that his DNA profile matched the semen recovered from Worthington's half-naked body.

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Welsh focused on McCowen's last statement to police, made during a six-hour interrogation when he was arrested on April 14, 2005. During the interview, McCowen went from claiming he barely knew the victim to admitting he had sex with her to being present when another man, Jeremy Frazier, stabbed her through the chest.

"The most compelling piece of evidence, even beyond the DNA, is the statement," Welsh said. "The defendant wants you to either accept or reject the whole statement. You don't have to do that." (VIDEO)

Welsh accused the defense of playing "the race card" and of intentional "misdirection." He pointed to McCowen's statements implicating Frazier, and extensive testimony about McCowen's low IQ and a speeding car seen in the area, as examples of defense attempts to cast doubt on McCowen's guilt.

"Trials are forums to determine the truth. They are not chat rooms to discuss side issues," Welsh said.

Referring to expert defense testimony about the correlation between below-average intelligence and false confessions, Welsh said McCowen was smart enough to find someone else to try to lay the blame on. He implicated Frazier once during a narcotics investigation and again when the homicide investigators on the Worthington case came calling, the prosecutor noted.

"Jeremy Frazier is the perfect patsy in this case. What a coincidence he named Jeremy Frazier the stabber in this case," Welsh said. "He's enough of a petty criminal that naming him for the crime might be believable. That's pretty intelligent for a person with a 78 IQ."

Even if jurors believed that Frazier actually stabbed Worthington, McCowen's statement to police that he was there, participated in the burglary and helped clean up evidence makes him guilty of felony murder, Welsh said, explaining for jurors the meaning of "joint venture" murder in state law.

"You look through all the lies, ladies and gentlemen, and you can see the truth. [McCowen] went up there looking for sex," Welsh said. "Even if you believe Jeremy Frazier was with the defendant, this defendant is guilty of murder, because he aided Jeremy Frazier under his version."

George asked jurors to set side McCowen's police statement entirely. The defendant's below-average IQ, coupled with marijuana and painkiller use, made anything he said to police unreliable, George said.

"The guy can't remember a story from the first line to the fourth line," George said about his client. "He can't even read fairy tales to his kids."

Based on testimony about a large dark-colored vehicle seen speeding away from the crime scene about the time experts placed Worthington's death, it is more likely that someone else killed Worthington, George said. The driver, who was described by a neighbor as white and in his late 30s or early 40s, probably knew Worthington well and killed her for reasons that may never be known, he said.

"If that story makes any sense based on what happened in this case, that's reasonable doubt. That story makes more sense than any crock of bull that the prosecution is going to put before you in the Commonwealth's closing argument," the defense attorney said.

In great detail, George spoke about evidence and leads that police failed to fully explore. For example, he mentioned an external vaginal swab that tested positive for the presence of semen. George said it could have been the real killer's, but was never analyzed for DNA.

"They fit the case and they fit the evidence. You heard what a botched investigation this was," George said. "It was not done right ... I'm telling you it was not Mr. McCowen."

When the trial resumes Tuesday morning, Judge Gary Nickerson will instruct jurors about what prosecutors are required to establish to support convictions for first-degree murder, aggravated rape and burglary. Nickerson is also expected to explain the "joint venture" murder alternative, lesser degrees of murder, and finally manslaughter.

Jurors listened intently to both closing arguments, and several took copious notes.

If convicted of the most serious charges, McCowen faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The trial is being shown live by Court TV Extra.