Christa Worthington was a Vassar grad from a prominent family, living on her own on Cape Cod. She had left behind her career as a fashion writer for a simpler life, having a daughter on her own and raising her on the Cape. Then, in January 2002, forty-six-year-old Christa was found stabbed to death in the kitchen of her cottage with her toddler daughter clinging to her body but unharmed.

Join us at the quiet end for The Burden of Bias. After Christa’s murder, suspicions pointed toward several local men she’d known. But in 2005, investigators arrested Christopher McCowen, a thirty-four-year-old African American garbage man. According to the police, McCowen gave inconsistent stories. He was convicted in a trial that was filled with conflicting testimony and police misconduct. But in January 2008, a hearing was held to determine whether racism was a factor in the jury’s decision to convict McCowen. Three jury members testified that fellow jurors made racist remarks during deliberations, raising questions about whether his trial was fair and unbiased. Since then, there have been two distinct sides to this story as McCowen’s attorneys work to get him a new trial.

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Sources

A Killing on the Cape podcast, ABC News, 2017

COMMONWEALTH vs. CHRISTOPHER M. MCCOWEN, 458 Mass. 461, 5/7/2010-12/10/2010, https://law.justia.com/cases/massachusetts/supreme-court/volumes/458/458mass461.html

Massachusetts Supreme Court Rejects McCowen’s Appeal of Conviction for Christa Worthington Murder, Lefteris K. Travaykis, Esq., 12/16/2010, https://www.bostoncriminallawyersblog.com/massachusetts-supreme-court-re-2/

Murder on the Cape, 48 Hours, S30 E8, 11/19/2017

Reasonable Doubt: The Fashion Writer, Cape Cod, and the Trial of Chris McCowen by Peter Manso

Revisiting the Christa Worthington Murder 20 Years Later, Caitlyn Flynn, 6/2/2022, https://crimereads.com/revisiting-the-christa-worthington-murder-20-years-later/

Where are they now? Key players in the Christa Worthington murder case 20 years later, Cape Cod Times, Eric Williams, 1/5/2022