Cape Cod Murder Mystery Solved
Garbage Collector Charged In 2002 Stabbing Death Of Writer
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Play CBS Video Video Cape Cod Murder A garbage collector was charged in the murder of a fashion writer, but the way police cracked the case is being scrutinized. Sharyn Alfonsi looks at the 'CSI' approach vs. the Joe Friday approach.
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Video DNA Test Backlog Police in the Cape Cod case aren't the only ones drowning in a sea of DNA evidence. DNA testing is costly and time consuming, and Jim Stewart says hundreds of thousands of samples are in limbo.
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Video Cops Make Cape Cod Arrest DNA evidence led to an arrest in a three-year-old murder case on Cape Cod, Mass. The case generated much public scrutiny when police collected DNA samples from hundreds, Scott Rapoport reports.
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Christa Worthington was stabbed to death in her secluded home in 2002. (AP)
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Christopher McCowen, 33, of Hyannis, Mass., pleaded innocent to Worthington's murder. (AP)
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This is a view of the Cape Cod home of slain fashion writer Christa Worthington, seen in 2002. (AP)
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Interactive Cape Cod Murder Mystery Find out more about the people and events surrounding the murder case of Christa Worthington.
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Interactive DNA Dragnet Follow the clues that led to an arrest in the Louisiana serial murders and learn about the victims.
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In The Spotlight Maria Flook: "Invisible Eden" Maria Flook's book, "Invisible Eden," explores the life and death of fashion writer Christa Worthington.
A 48 Hours report in 2003 detailed a list of possible suspects worthy of an Agatha Christie book. Also on the list was a 29-year-old heroin addict and former prostitute, who was allegedly having an affair with Christa's 73-year-old father, a former Massachusetts assistant district attorney.
Worthington's family and friends offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
In January, as the three-year anniversary of the murder passed, investigators began randomly collecting DNA evidence from men in Truro, a town on the outer Cape with a year-round population of less than 2,000. Civil liberties groups were outraged, calling the practice "a serious intrusion on personal privacy" a demanding that it stop.
O'Boy declined to say whether McCowen had given his DNA.
A year after the murder, author and fellow Truro resident Maria Flook published "Invisible Eden: A Story of Love and Murder on Cape Cod," which became a New York Times and Amazon.com best seller. The book outraged those close to Worthington for its portrayal of her as sexually promiscuous and her family as aloof and remote.
In the book, Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe makes disparaging remarks about Worthington, prompting her family and friends to demand that he excuse himself from the case. He refused, but apologized to the family and appointed an assistant district attorney from neighboring Plymouth County to play a leading role in the investigation.
The Cape Cod Times reported that McCowen has a lengthy criminal history in Florida involving burglary, trafficking stolen property, grand theft and motor vehicle theft.
©MMV CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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