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McCowen murder trial: day 4
The prosecution's case was dealt a blow Monday as a medical examiner testified the time of Christa Worthington's death may have been later than suggested by authorities.
When her body was examined at 8 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2002, Dr. James Weiner, the medical examiner who was at the scene, reported her body was in full rigor mortis. Dr. Henry Nields, who testified in place of Weiner, said it usually takes 12 hours for a body to reach full rigor. It usually stays that way for another 12 hours and then begins to dissipate.
The prosecution's case against Christopher McCowen suggests she was killed in the early hours of Jan. 5, approximately 36 hours or more before the body was first discovered by Tim Arnold just after 4 p.m. on Jan. 6. When presented with testimony of EMTs that the body had not yet entered full rigor when they observed it over the next hour, Nields revised a previous estimate that she had been dead for 24 to 36 hours.
"I would estimate the time of death was closer to the time she was found than the 24 to 36 hours," he admitted to defense attorney Robert George during cross examination.
Adding to that, the rigor had not begun to dissipate as of arriving in Boston for a trace examination early the morning of Jan. 7.
Nields did add rigor mortis can vary greatly depending upon the individual's body and room temperature but he was not pressed by Asst. District Attorney Robert Welsh as to how possible it was Worthington was killed outside the normal time range.
Weiner, who performed the autopsy, was unable to testify due to an unspecified illness, which is why Welsh called Nields and Trooper Carol Harding instead. Harding watched Weiner perform the autopsy while Nields only reviewed Weiner's notes.
The testimony came on a day when both attorneys jockeyed for position, preparing for the most damaging evidence to come against McCowen, that he confessed to being at the scene when Worthington was murdered.
Welsh spent most of the day introducing evidence to fit McCowen's version of events that he gave police after being arrested. The statement will come under scrutiny by George, who is attempting a defense of false confession.
One of the elements of Welsh's case is that Worthington was involved in a scuffle outside and dragged inside where she was stabbed.
With testimony from State Police Lt. Monte Gilardi and chemist Robert J. Martin, who both processed the crime scene, and Kenneth Martin, who performed the trace examination, Welsh was able to demonstrate Worthington had grass in her hair and soil on both her shirt and the back of her vest. Eyeglasses, a barrette, two matching socks, car keys and a Stop & Shop receipt from Jan. 4 were all found outside the home.
A photo also shows two linear marks in the driveway consistent with someone being dragged leading from Worthington's car toward her front porch. Police say a nearby toy truck belonging to Worthington's daughter Ava did not create the marks.
George, meanwhile, continued to raise the prospect the crime scene was contaminated by the number of people who entered the home. Of the nine finger and palm prints collected by Gilardi, seven matched EMTs, police officers and Worthington herself. Two palm prints remain unidentified.
Although Gilardi said he collected prints of everyone known to have been in Worthington's home, when asked by George he could find no instance in his records that prints from Tony Jackett, Ava's father, ever were compared to the two unknown ones.
Among the matches were Truro Police Chief John Thomas, Truro Police Lt. John Lundborn and EMT Jeff Francis. In the four days of the trial, George has shown at least nine people entered the home before the scene was secured by state police.
While the prosecution also is trying to charge McCowen with aggravated rape, Nields admitted that, except for a small amount of blood in Worthington's vagina, there was no other evidence of rape.
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McCowen murder trial: Day 3
McCowen murder trial Day 2
McCowen murder trial: Day 1
Jury selection bogs down
30-year anniversary of the Patricia Marie disaster
In the News
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Oct 19th, 2006