Closing arguments made in Worthington slay trial

BARNSTABLE -- Christopher M. McCowen is an innocent man put on trial for the brutal rape and murder of Cape Cod fashion writer Christa Worthington because desperate and overzealous detectives botched the investigation, then manipulated the evidence to fit their theory that McCowen stabbed her after drinking one Friday night in January 2002, his lawyer told jurors yesterday.

In closing arguments, defense attorney Robert George said Worthington was alive and well Saturday morning until someone else, a white man driving a dark car, killed her. Worthington's body was discovered at her Truro home on Sunday, Jan. 6, 2002.

But prosecutor Robert Welsh insisted that no innocent man would have told investigators that he punched her in the face, stomped on her, and wiped her body down. The defense, Welsh told jurors, is trying to distract them from the key evidence: the DNA report that links McCowen to Worthington and the incriminating statement that investigators say they took from McCowen.

Today jurors are to start deliberating McCowen's fate, facing the task of sifting through three weeks of testimony that left many questions unanswered, raised issues about how the police handled the 39-month investigation, and introduced many characters, including some who were publicly accused of having killed Worthington. Charged with burglary, aggravated rape, and murder, McCowen faces life in prison if convicted.

Despite all the twists and turns in this Cape Cod murder mystery, one legal observer said jurors generally tend to build their verdicts on the account that makes the most sense to them.

"I think they will know what belongs in that story," said Jeffrey Abramson, a jury specialist and professor of politics at Brandeis University. "Jurors are very good at not falling for 'Someone else did it,' " when faced with physical evidence of the crime.

McCowen, a former trash collector whose route included Worthington's house , gave police many versions of what happened that weekend. He told investigators he never had physical contact with Worthington, then said he had consensual sex with her, then admitted beating her during an argument, and finally said he watched his friend Jeremy Frazier stab and kill her.

George told jurors yesterday that his client had consensual sex with Worthington three days before she was found dead, which would explain why his DNA was found on her body. When investigators interviewed McCowen, he was high on marijuana and prescription painkillers, and because of his low IQ, he was easily manipulated, George argued.

"The statement is worth nothing and the DNA is worth nothing," said George.

Police also failed to thoroughly investigate the report by an eyewitness who saw a dark-colored car speeding from Worthington's driveway the afternoon before her body was discovered, George said.

Girard Smith, 83, testified that he saw the car, and described the man behind the wheel as white. Detectives testified that they eventually investigated his report, but nothing came of it.

George also reminded jurors that investigators never analyzed some evidence from the crime scene, including strands of hair, semen, and blue-and-white fibers found on Worthington's body, or a bloodstained towel and shower mitt found in her bathroom. Frazier, the man accused by McCowen, who testified that he had nothing to do with Worthington's death, was wearing a blue-and-white sweater the weekend she was killed. In his closing arguments, Welsh called Frazier a "perfect patsy."

"He's such a petty criminal, blaming him for a crime might be believable," Welsh said. But he added, "We are not going to charge Jeremy Frazier on the strength of an individual who changed his story nine times."

If jurors accept McCowen's story that Frazier was the one who stabbed Worthington, then they should find McCowen guilty for participating in a "joint enterprise" by aiding Frazier in the rape and murder , Welsh said . However, he told jurors that police are convinced that McCowen went to Worthington's house alone.

"At some point he became angry and he kicks and beats her to the point of helplessness," Welsh said, pointing to charts and autopsy reports on Worthington's injuries, including a brain hemorrhage. After dragging her to the house and kicking in the door, McCowen raped Worthington, Welsh said. Medical examiners could not find evidence of rape because she was unconscious and not fighting back, he said.

Welsh said McCowen stabbed Worthington because he wanted to get rid of the sole witness to her rape and the burglary.

Welsh urged jurors to focus on the most damning portions of McCowen's statement to investigators, including the statements: "I guess it could have been me," when confronted with DNA evidence, and "I can still hear her head hit the ground," when describing her beating.

He said that McCowen was not pushed to give a false statement by investigators and called the defense's allegations of a botched investigation "utter nonsense."

"If you look through all the lies," he told the jury, "you will see the truth."

Megan Tench can be reached at mtench@globe.com.