Conn. man held in slaying, two fires

Girlfriend's body is found in Mass.

WATERBURY, Conn. - A 38-year-old Waterbury man is accused of stabbing his girlfriend to death, dumping her body in Massachusetts, and setting his car and her apartment on fire to destroy evidence before being caught in New York City.

Vernon Cowan was being held on a $2 million bond in New York yesterday in connection with the killing of Whitney Bass, 20, of Waterbury. He awaited extradition to Waterbury, where he will face murder and arson charges.

Waterbury police said Cowan killed Bass during an argument at her apartment late Thursday or early Friday and drove to Otis, Mass., where he allegedly dumped her body in a wooded area off Route 8.

Police said he then burned his car in Hartford before returning to Waterbury and setting her apartment on fire.

The apartment fire destroyed the building on East Main Street, but no one was injured. Five people lost their homes, police say.

Waterbury police Lieutenant Christopher Corbett said Cowan is married but had been dating Bass for the past three months.

Cowan's wife, Anetha Baggett, 31, was arrested with him in New York early yesterday. She was held on a $750,000 bond and awaited extradition to face charges of hindering prosecution and aiding in an arson.

Corbett said Baggett did not participate in the killing, but helped Cowan cover up the crime and took part in the apartment arson.

Police said Cowan, who has past convictions for kidnapping, sexual assault, assault, and escape from custody, confessed to killing Bass and setting the fires. Details of those convictions were not immediately available, and it was not clear whether Cowan was on probation or parole.

Cowan is listed on Connecticut's sex offender registry, which says he was convicted of first-degree sexual assault in 1987. State records indicate that he has spent most of his adult life in prison, Corbett told The Republican-American of Waterbury.

Judicial Branch records show Cowan's latest conviction was in 2003, although it wasn't clear what the crime was.

Neighbors said they had heard Cowan and Bass arguing in the past. Bass's family told The Republican-American that she had tried to end the relationship several weeks ago and Cowan had been stalking her, but she didn't call police.

"How could he hurt my granddaughter because she didn't want to be with him?" Dianne White, Bass's grandmother, told the newspaper.

Relatives said Bass was to begin working at a Taco Bell next week after having graduated from an adult education program.

It wasn't clear whether Cowan and Baggett had lawyers.