Thursday, 4:30 PM
Witness: police tried to force a confession in Worthington case
By Megan Tench, Globe Staff, and Andrew Ryan, Globe Correspondent
The defense called its first witness in the Christa Worthington murder trial today in an attempt to paint a picture of an overzealous investigation that tried to force confessions out of several other suspects before focusing on Christopher McCowen.
The first witness, Keith Amato, described a three-hour interrogation in which police accused him of having an affair with the victim; questioned his sexuality; and applied so much pressure he vomited after investigators let him go.
"I wasn't able to hold a thought together," said Amato, who was a casual acquaintance of Worthington. "I was becoming very confused. I was starting to sweat. My heart was starting to race. I was feeling a bit dizzy."
The state troopers who questioned him said that if he cooperated with investigators and confessed to Worthington's murder right then he would be spared life in prison, Amato testified.
"I would have told police anything at that point in the interview," he said.
The prosecution rested earlier today in a case that has draw media from around the globe. McCowen, 34, is accused of rape and murder and could face life in prison. Police have testified that McCowen told investigators that he helped beat Worthington, 46, in her Truro home after they had consensual sex. McCowen, however, accused another man of being the killer, they said.
Defense attorney Robert George has been trying to cast doubt on a six-hour statement that his client gave police, which investigators did not record.
Amato is the son-in-law of Tony Jackett, a shellfish constable on Cape Cod who fathered Worthington's daughter, Ava.
In two brief interrogations shortly after the murder, police accused Amato of having an affair with Worthington. Amato said that pressure from police, coupled with financial and marital problems, prompted him to try unsuccessfully to commit suicide.
It was after his suicide attempt that police dragged him in for more than three hours of questioning, Amato said. Investigators told him his attempted suicide made him look guilty and repeatedly accused him of having an affair with Worthington.
When he continued to deny sleeping with the fashion writer, Amato testified that one of the officers called him by a derogatory name for gays and asked if he liked to have sex with men.
