Murder On The Cape

A Woman Is Killed And Almost Everyone Could Be A Suspect

(CBS)  While the jury in the Christa Worthington murder trial deliberated, the case was still being tried in the court of public opinion. And everyone in town’s had an opinion. "I think the preponderance of the evidence indicates that he’s guilty," one person said. "He deserves every bit of reasonable doubt if it’s there," another said.

Days went by and the clock ticked on without a verdict.

Christopher McCowen’s lawyer Bob George is taking an optimistic view, insisting that time, and the evidence, are on his side. "If you can’t trust what you find at the crime scene because the scene has been corrupted, if you can’t trust the statement because it’s unreliable, and if the DNA doesn’t mean anything 'cause the defendant could have been involved in a consensual relationship with the victim, then what happened?"

For five agonizing days, the jury, including two African Americans debated that very question.

Then, on day six, there was a shocker, when the judge announced he was throwing one juror off the panel - a white woman whose boyfriend was arrested in an unrelated crime. In a phone call with him, she was taped criticizing the police and there’s concern about bias.

Two days after a new juror was seated, the logjam was broken and the jury rendered its verdict.

Christopher McCowen was found guilty of first degree murder.

"He was was devastated by the verdict. Anyone with eyes could see that he was terribly hurt by what happened," says his attorney, Bob George.

Hours later, before he was sentenced, he addressed the court for the first time. "This case here, is a very horrendous case. I feel sorry for the victim’s family, her daughter, and her. I have never meant for this to ever take place," he said.

But he still claims he had nothing to do with Christa Worthington’s death. "All I can say is that I am an innocent man in this case…and that’s all I got to say," he told jurors.

But the court didn't buy it and sentenced McCowen to life in prison, without the possibility of parole.

"Did I want a not guilty? Of course I wanted a not guilty…you know, my belief in McCowan’s innocence is what drove me. I believed he was innocent and still believe he’s innocent and will believe he’s not guilty until the day I die," says his attorney.

Even after the verdict, Bob George refuses to give up. He’s a little suspicious about what really happened to get that juror removed. "You’ve got a juror receiving phone calls from her cell phone from someone who’s incarcerated in a deliberating deadlocked jury, in a major murder case, from the jail!" George says. "You don’t have to be Oliver Wendell Holmes to figure out there’s something strange about that! We’ll find out what happened.

Eric Williams, who has covered the case from day one, says while replacing the juror confused things, in the end he’s confident in the jury’s decision. "There was enough evidence, it seemed, to push them, to unanimously agree. And for most Cape Codders, that’s good enough," he says.

Tony Jackett, Ava's father, says this case has changed his life dramatically. "Kind of like being in a dark tunnel and wondering if you’ll ever see the light again."

Now finally cleared as a suspect in Christa’s murder, Tony Jackett is relieved at the verdict, although remarkably, he isn’t sure the jury got it right.

"I felt there was reasonable doubt all over the place," he tells Spencer.

Tim Arnold is happy it’s finally over but to this day, he is haunted by what happened. "Sometimes the weight of events forces you to look back. Whether you want to or not. It’s just something that’s always there," he says.

Ava, seven years old today, lives still with her legal guardians and by all accounts is doing well.

Ava never will remember those happy times, but Christa’s friends are determined that one day she will know how much her mother loved her.

"How would you want to tell her about the past?" Spencer asks Jackett.

"A little bit at a time," he says.

"Ava won’t have her. That’s the enduring tragedy of the whole thing," Arnold adds.

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Attorney Bob George claims he has evidence of racial bias on the jury and has filed a motion for new trial.