Cape man sells film rights to murder saga

Worthington, 46, was found stabbed to death in her Truro home Jan. 6, 2002. Daughter Ava, then 2, was clinging to her body, distraught but physically unharmed. The crime remains unsolved.

In the days that followed, Jackett, now 53, was propelled onto the front pages of gossip tabloids and staid newspapers. He was married with grown children, a popular town official, fisherman, and Provincetown native, and he had had a secret affair with a scion of an upper-crust, patrician family -- the Worthingtons of Truro -- that had produced a child.

He has never been named, or ruled out, as a suspect. Nor has anyone else.

In the aftermath, Jackett's wife of almost 30 years, Susan, stood by him as did most everyone in this windblown, blue-collar corner of Cape Cod.

Independent filmmaker Arthur Egeli says his movie would be a fictionalized account, focusing on Worthington's life in Truro, the affair and birth of her child, and how the Jacketts put their lives back together after the murder.

"All of the characters represent Everyman," Egeli said. "This is about how Tony's family got through this. It's about people searching for love and how events unfolded. It's not a whodunit."

Filming, which is planned primarily on Cape Cod, could begin by next fall.

Jackett said he agreed to sell his "depiction rights" because he realized the movie would be made anyway, and by being involved he could wield some influence. As a consultant on the movie, he will have no veto power over the script.

". . . If not [Egeli], it would have been someone else," Jackett said. "I'd rather be able to put my two cents in."

Neither Jackett nor Egeli would say how much Jackett will earn for sharing his story, but Jackett said it would be a percentage of the movie's revenue.

Egeli, 39, who spent his childhood summers in Provincetown, met Jackett in 1994 when the fisherman was an extra in Egeli's movie "Unconditional Love," filmed on Cape Cod.

The filmmaker remembered Jackett when he was watching a "48 Hours" segment in 2002 about the murder and how the Jacketts were coping. When he saw Jackett on the street in Provincetown that summer, they talked, and Jackett was candid about what he'd gone through.

"I couldn't believe someone hadn't bought his rights," Egeli said. "It was so obvious to me what an interesting story it was: Tony and his family and the storm that was revolving around them."

Despite cooperating, Jackett said he is nervous about the movie. After all, he pointed out, his infidelity helped earn him his infamy.

"Yeah, I'm nervous, because my story is, let's see, disgraceful. It's unsettling, but I've come to know that all of these things will pass," Jackett says.

Today, Jackett says his marriage is as strong as ever. Twice a month, he and Susan get to see Ava, who lives in Cohasset with one of Worthington's childhood friends, whom Worthington named in her will as Ava's guardian. Jackett dropped a custody battle for his daughter after agreeing that it was in the child's best interest to do so. He calls his unexpected youngest child "a gift."

As for who will play Jackett, Egeli said he'd like someone like Patrick Swayze. He said a Holly Hunter or a Julianne Moore would be his choice to play Worthington.