Going West: True Crime - Christa Worthington // 139

Episode Date: September 22, 2021

In 2002, a fashion writer and mom living in the small Cape Cod town of Truro, Massachusetts was found murdered in her home. After an intense search across the area that lasted years, police finally found a DNA match. But was the investigation mishandled? And did it cause them the arrest the wrong person? This is the story of Christa Worthington.  BONUS EPISODES patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES https://www.bestplaces.net/people/city/massachusetts/truro https://heavy.com/news/2017/11/chris-mccowen-christa-worthington-trial-arrest-podcast/ https://www.capecodtimes.com/article/20030105/news01/301059950 https://murderpedia.org/male.M/m/mccowen-christopher.htm https://abcnews.go.com/US/murder-case-fashion-writer-christa-worthington/story?id=50595995 https://www.capecodtimes.com/photogallery/cc/20171128/photogallery/112809998/PH/1 http://archive.boston.com/news/specials/worthington/ https://abcnews.go.com/US/killing-cape-murder-christa-worthington-episode/story?id=51146582 https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ma-supreme-judicial-court/1547834.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on to crime fans, I'm your host Tee. And I'm your other host, Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Thank you so much everybody for tuning in today. This is the case that we were supposed to cover last week before we discovered Gabby Petito's developing and tragic case. So I'm excited to go to New England today and tell you about a different tragic story. This case I think is really, really interesting. There's a lot of different suspects and potentially a wrongful imprisonment.

So I'm really interested to see what you guys think about this one. Make sure to follow us on social media. We love getting comments and messages from you guys after listening to a story and hearing your kind of theories and thoughts. So thanks for tuning in today. All right guys, I don't want to waste any more time. So this is episode 139 of Going West. So let's get into it. In 2002, a fashion writer and mom living in the small Cape Cod town of Turo, Massachusetts

was found murdered in her home. After an intense search across the area that lasted years, police finally found a DNA match. But with the investigation mishandled, and did it cause them to arrest the wrong person? This is the story of Krista Hulsey. The Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas Christmas you know, quaint and affluent town in the Boston metropolitan area.

And living in such a nice town, you can probably guess that Christa had a pretty privileged upbringing. And she did, because her father, Topey, was a successful lawyer and had gone to Harvard, and he had previously been a civil prosecutor for the State Attorney General's Office. Christa grew up having a lot of friends and was very passionate about writing. So after graduating from Hingham High School in Hingham, Massachusetts, which is right on the coast, Christi headed off to Vassar College, which is a private liberal arts college in Pekipsey, New York, to study English.

And just four years later, she graduated with honors. Within months of her graduation, she began her career as a fashion writer and eventually an editor and a journalist. And this career would take her all over the world, mostly to Paris, London, and of course, New York City. So because of her job, her life was very fast paced. She kind of had to be perfect, but she loved it. She loved her life as a Paris editor of Women's Wear Daily, followed by Cosmopolitan, L, and Harper's Bazaar. On top of all of this, she had co-written three different books revolving around fashion,

in an absolutely consumed her life. She was almost obsessed with working, as well as being independent. She was more so the person to have flings and partner after partner, versus settling down. She kind of just wanted to keep her options open, and she liked it that way. So those close to Krista stated that she eventually just got to the point where she was ready to do something else, like slow down. But the mid 1990s, Krista was approaching her 40s. She was unmarried, and she didn't have any children.

She had an amazingly successful career thus far, but she found herself wanting something to come home to and focus on other than just her work for the first time. And she also allegedly felt extremely regretful that she had waited to start a family. She was also losing interest in the fashion world. Yeah, and that's why before leaving, she tried to dabble in writing as an antique and collectibles colonist for the New York Times, but she just wasn't into any of it anymore. At this point, Christy didn't have anyone special in her life, so she came to the conclusion that she wanted to have a child on her own, and she was really happy with that decision.

But the way she planned to do this was actually to date various men and try to get pregnant through them secretly since she had a hard time trying alternative methods. But even so, she still couldn't get pregnant. So, she went to the doctor to discover that she had premature menopause, meaning she would not be able to conceive a child, which was just absolutely devastating for her. Because at this point in her life, that's really all she wanted. And with that, Chris moved into a small cottage in Turo, Massachusetts, which is an extremely safe town

on the northern tip of Cape Cod, right next to Provincetown, which you'll recognize as the town that the new season of American horror story takes place in. Yeah, so just picture that if you've watched it. If not, we posted photos. It's a beautiful little area. So she moved to a small, very new England-style light blue cottage right near Pamette Harbor.

Many of Christ's family members had also lived in Turo. So it was a place that she was familiar with and comfortable with. And Turo has a population of under 2000 residents and is very affluent and like Daphne said, a little kind of small coastal town, which Christa was really used to. She was loving life in Truro and became quite laid back. It's a town where people swim in the water, go kayaking and paddle boarding, and sometimes hit up the yacht and tennis club. And while living in Truro, she met a man named Tony Jacket, who was the shellfish constable of both Provincetown

and Turo. Have you heard of a shellfish constable? I have not heard of that, no. And I know that kind of sounds like it would be something kind of funny, but it's actually someone who is appointed by the board of Selectmen. And as a shellfish constable, you basically monitor clam diggers and make sure everyone has their proper license and aren't doing anything illegal. And they also test the water to assure quality of clams. And for

reference, shellfish constables make between 65 to about 73,000 dollars a year in Cape Cod. So anyway, back to Tony Jacket. He was a local resident of Cape Cod and he was married to a woman named Susan and had six children at the time that he met 42-year-old Christa Worthington in 1998 right there in Turo. At this time, Tony was about 47 years old and he was born and raised right there in Provincetown as the grandson of a Portuguese harpooner. So Christa thought that he was very handsome. He had black curly hair like this golden skin and was extremely friendly and helpful. So Tony started going over to Christa's house to help her with some things and have tea

and then after a few times they realized they liked each other. She even wrote about him in her diary, saying on June 13, 1998, quote, �If there were a sweeter person on earth between the hours of 8 and 915 last night, I would not believe it. Tony became tender and we were made new, spellbound. I love him." Another entry discussed ordering pizza in public and how it was like a thrill for her, she says, That is adultery when ordering pizza became a thing of beauty. So the affair continued for nearly two years and Tony was able to keep the secret from

all six of his children and his wife because they didn't see each other too often. But Tony didn't have plans on leaving his family, so when Krista told him that she was pregnant, he was completely caught off guard. And I mean, Krista was shocked herself that she was pregnant due to her premature menopause, but she was elated, she was super happy about this. But Tony, on the other hand, was under the impression that it was impossible for her to have kids, so he was very concerned as to how he would keep this

from his family. So he ended things with Krista. Although Krista had deep feelings for Tony, what she really wanted was a baby, and now she had one, but these feelings changed his time past. She felt upset that Tony wasn't a part of it, because her pregnancy was tough. So she felt like she wanted some help and support,

and she was also angry that Tony was not really caring about the situation. But in Tony's mind, he didn't even know pregnancy was possible for her, and he didn't want to have a child with her. So they were both coming from different angles, and both just not happy with the other person's point of view. But in May of 1999, Krista gave birth to her daughter Ava, and she was absolutely head over heels for her. After Ava was born, Krista moved to a new house on Deepa Road in Turo, and her parents owned this house and before them, Kra's grandmother. So it had been in the family for a little while and she was really happy to be there. The house was a four-bedroom, two-bathroom, very charming brown shingle house with a covered porch, you know that classic coastal vibe.

And it was just about a mile or a four-minute drive from the beach. But her house was surrounded by lush trees in a more rural area to kind of give you a visual. For the next year and a half or so, Tony Jacket's wife Susan still didn't know about Eva, and even though Tony wasn't in her life, he was feeling a lot of pressure from Christa. She had been, quote, nagging him for child support and help with life and medical insurance for Ava, etc. Christ even hired a lawyer to help convince Tony to sign an agreement that he would pay child support, or else they would garnish his wages.

Tony later said that he was worried if he didn't sign it, she would tell Susan everything. Christa wrote in her diary, I turned the boom box up and sing loudly to fill the void, and wonder if it will always be like this. The emptiness around me, miles and miles of it, while my lover lies with his wife. Although many believe she was the one to expose their affair, it was actually Tony Jacket himself. He said that he didn't want Krista to have this power over him, and the secret was really just getting to him. So he told Susan in the spring of 2001.

But Susan didn't kick him out of the house, and she also didn't leave him. She just asked that he stay in another bedroom while she figured out what she was going to do. And eventually she just accepted it, and remained with him. They actually started seeing a therapist, and then Tony added Ava to his health insurance like Krista had asked. And Susan accepted this as well and came to terms with the fact that Ava and therefore Krista were a part of the family and they would all spend time together.

Susan later stated to ABC News, I liked her, I enjoyed her company and I just felt sorry for her dilemma, for Ava's dilemma, my dilemma, I enjoyed her company, and I just felt sorry for her dilemma. For Ava's dilemma, my dilemma, my children's dilemma, and if Tony and I are gonna stay together, we have to make this work. Before this, and after ending things with Tony, Krista began dating a man named Tim Arnold. In the fall of 1999, by the way, a few months after Ava was born, and he was described as a quote, very pleasant person who was educated a visual artist and had even authored a couple books.

And they were children's books that had a slightly darker theme to them, like the Winter Mittens, which is about happy children in the snow who grow fearful of a blizzard, especially when the girl can't take her mittens off. So bit of dark side to those, but Crystal liked that he was literary and moved into her house within a few months of dating, and things were going great. But after some time, he felt like he was just a babysitter, and even Ava started to call him Tim Mom because he was like he was just a babysitter, and even Ava started to call him Tim Mom because he was like her other mother. Things were very intense between Christa and Tim at first, but then she

apparently started to become kind of too critical of how he was around Ava, and maybe not too critical, because you know she's the mom and she can say what she wants and raise her child the way she wants to, but Tim thought that it was a bit too critical. So Tim has double vision and Krista would make comments that she was afraid that he was going to fall on Ava. Tim also liked to hum and Krista didn't like that because she didn't want Ava to develop a humming habit, even though Tim just hummed when he was happy. So, you know, from his perspective, he's like, I'm just humming because I'm in a good mood and you have a problem with that. But that's just what she wanted. So they parted ways.

But Tim remained in Ava's life, and he and Christa became just friends. But still, Tim was very hurt over their split because he felt rejected and just not good enough for her. Yeah, and I can understand this as well because he obviously developed a connection with Ava as well and kind of felt like, you know, he was this other parent in Ava's life. Yeah, so he was, you know, he had some qualms in the relationship just as she did, but he still didn't really want it to end, but it did. In January of 2002, so about a year and a half after Christus and Tim's split in just eight months after Susan found out about Christa and Tony's affair, something absolutely horrific occurred in small, beautiful, true-ro. Tim Arnold's father lived essentially a football field's distance away from her house. But as a reminder, Christus House was in a more rural area on a bigger piece of land.

In all the houses near her were like this as well, so she was pretty secluded. Yeah, like you couldn't see her house from Tim's dad's house, and she was surrounded by trees, so obviously at the end of her driveway was a road, and people would drive past that road or walk up and down that road so it's not like she was in the end of her driveway was a road, and people would drive past that road or walk up and down that road, so it's not like she was in the middle of nowhere, but her house was secluded in the sense that it was surrounded by trees

and not directly next to anybody else. Right, right, that makes a lot of sense. So Sunday, January 6, 2002, was a gloomy winter day in Truro, and Tim and his father had been casually watching the Patriots game, and Tim was doing laundry when he called Krista to confirm their dinner plans for that night, but she didn't answer so he left a message. After the game ended, his father Robert suggested Tim bring back the flashlight that he had

borrowed from Krista. By the way, some reports say that Tim lived with his father, and others say that he had his own house, but this day he was at his father's house. So it doesn't really matter where he lived, all that much, but that day he was spending it with his dad. So just before 4.30 pm, Tim headed over to Christ Christ's house to return a flashlight that he had previously borrowed from her. And by the way, the previous spring, Tim had undergone brain surgery.

So between that and his double vision problem, he wasn't able to drive, meaning his dad had to help him a lot, which is why it makes sense that a lot of articles say that he live with his dad because, you know, he had a lot of issues going on at this time. But according to many reports, his father did not drive him over to Christa's and Tim walked. And as he approached the house, he noticed that there were two newspapers on the front lawn, and then he realized something strange as he approached her door. The storm door, which is, you know, that outside door that's right over the top of your actual front door, was closed.

But the interior door was open. It looked as though the deadbolt had been forced in and the lights in the house were on. Tim looked through the window and saw 46-year-old Christa Worthington laying between the family room and the kitchen, and she appeared to be dead. Tim went inside and felt Christa's face, which was cold. Her almost three-year-old daughter, Ava, was sitting by her side unharmed, but Christa had been brutally stabbed to death. And sadly, Ava had actually been trying to clean Krista up using cotton swabs,

just completely unaware that her mother was dead, because she was so young she just didn't understand what was happening. This is like the most horrible thought I could possibly think about in my mind. And Tim and even mentioned that Ava was nursing from Krista as well, so just a very, very heartbreaking situation. Krista was only wearing a shirt and no pants, and Tim rushed to find a phone inside, but he couldn't find one. So he used a wooded pathway to run back to his dad's house with Ava and called the police. As soon as he told his dad what he'd seen, Tim's dad said,

Tim, did you do it? Tim denied any involvement and just seemed completely distraught. So a couple things, some people report that Tim's dad drove him to Christus house like I mentioned, but in more articles it says that Tim walked over himself, but either way the other details are all the same. And second, he basically saw in double vision unless he was covering one eye, like covering one eye would make it look normal, so I just can't imagine how awful that was, but he was trying to manage it. And also here's a couple voice mails from Tim so you can hear his voice a bit.

These are two, Krista, and there's a bunch that are in a row but these aren't like one after the other. These are just various voice mails from him. Hi, I think I'm gonna head back over to Wellfleet and not particularly comfortable here with this non-stop stream of stuff Not that it matters much, but I hope you had a nice day. Bye Hi, just point to Texas. you have plans for the night yet. Hi, Sunday morning, around 8.

Would you like to go? Have coffee or your round, I thought you would be up with the movie? Is that a problem? Is there like calls really, there's a feeling that this is one of those things where you say you'll call back, you're not going to? And I wondered what is all about if anything. So give me a call to Cameljume. Thanks. Well, I think you've made it very clear where you stand on the issue of friendship. So I, at this point, don't affect me to be around. Hi Chris, just to clarify, if you wanted to call to try to arrange for a time for me to

see Eva that would be fine and I will see what I can do. But I don't really think that we should see each other even briefly. Bye. So some people believe he had a seeming obsession with Christa, which we'll touch on a bit later, but also regarding these voicemails again. You know, this is one sided, and these didn't all come in one after the other, so it might seem a little more creepy, I guess, or more persistent than they actually maybe were. But I don't know. I feel like it has a lot to do with the tone of his voice as well and the way he speaks.

He seems like very sorrow in all of those voice mails. So take it how you will. I will note that it does seem like his voice mails become a little bit more angry as time goes on. Yeah, like, and that's why I said, you know, he didn't want the relationship to end, but at this point it had been over for a little while. But he still clearly wants to see her and gets upset that she's not really reciprocating. So after Tim found Krista's body and called the police, he brought Ava over to Christ's uncle's house up the street, John Worthington.

And actually the first on-call emergency medical technician to arrive at Christ's house was her own cousin, Janet Worthington, who lived just across the street. Two police officers arrived shortly after as well as other rescue personnel, and the night turned very, very stormy. John Worthington, again the uncle, called Tony Jacket that evening regarding Christa and Eva, and in Tony to come pick Ava up. Tony said, come on, we're gonna go pick Ava up and something's happened to Krista. Susan then asked Tony, did she fall? Is she okay? How long will we have Ava? And Tony replied, Susan, she's dead. And they both just allegedly sat there in shock. Tony and Susan had just seen Krista at a party together, and according to her, they all had a great relationship up to Christ's death.

When Tony was questioned, he explained that he had been in nearby Pammett Harbor that morning, which is in Turo, and then later had gone into the neighboring town of Province town, where his son Luke was shell-fishing with one of his friends. He then went to his father-in-law's for the Patriots game, and then went home to have dinner. And then after dinner, he received the call about Krista. But Krista's body was already stiff, so they believed that she had been killed a couple days earlier, so they also asked Tony what he was doing on Friday January 4th. He said he went to see the royal tenimbombs at the Cape Cod Mall cinemas in high-annice

Massachusetts, and then they also went to see another film the next day, a beautiful mind, both of which were confirmed, and reports came out later that Krista was seen at a grocery store with Ava on Friday, so please believe that she died either that Friday evening or sometime the following day. So back at Christ's house, please notice some of her personal items outside and toys were scattered everywhere. Christ's car was parked outside, and there appeared to be skid marks in the driveway that looked like drag marks as if there had been a scuffle and someone was dragged. Other than being stabbed to death, she had defensive wounds on her hands.

The murder weapon was apparently not in the house, but it's been said that the knife on the cutting board could have been the weapon. Sadly, this investigation was very much botched from the start, and I mean, they even covered Krista's body with a blanket from the house, which could really affect DNA evidence, and they didn't tape off the scene at all, so this was a huge disaster. So frustrating. Because once you blow it, like, you can't get it back.

Yeah, you can't go back. So, it's believed that it was so botched because it was such a small and safe community that they didn't know how to really handle something of this caliber. Christus' cell phone was found on the counter, and the number 9 had been dialed which tells us she was probably trying to call 911 when she was attacked. It also had appeared that Christa had sex before she died after Seaman was found on her body, but it's unclear if she was raped or if it was consensual. But we can probably guess the former, since Christa was left without pants on. There was also saliva found on her body, and police took the DNA and compared it

to Tim Arnold and Tony Jacket, but they didn't end up being a match. But still, many people around Cape Cod were suspicious of both Tim and Tony, but they also wondered if this had something to do with Chris' father. At this time, Chris' father, Topey, who was 72, was dating a 29-year-old former sex worker named Elizabeth Porter, and Christa apparently was very upset about their relationship because she felt that Elizabeth was using him for his money. So she was very much trying to get him to kind of break up with her, so police wondered if Elizabeth killed Christa to get her out of the way. And both Toppy and Elizabeth didn't pass Polygraph tests, but this didn't really prove to bring anything and...

and suspicion still really lied on Tim and Tony. And for Tim, police noticed his seeming obsession too. He told them that he liked seeing Eva because it gave him the opportunity to see Christa. Also, on one occasion, Tim stopped by Christa's house unannounced, which Christa asked him not to do. And when she didn't answer the door, he peered into her window, and she saw him looking into her window, and she was really upset by this, it kind of freaked her out. Yikes, that's kind of, yeah, that doesn't look good.

Yeah, I think from Tim's perspective, he was just like, oh, I was just seeing if she was home, but she's on the other side of the glass like why are you peering into my home? But Tim told this to police because he wanted them to know that if there were fingerprints at or outside her house That was why and Tim did three interviews with police and then he hired a Cape Cod lawyer At this point even though his DNA didn't match, which is obviously very huge, we also know that police weren't super careful with the crime scene, so it's hard to know if the DNA evidence can really even be trusted. But either way, investigators were still suspicious of Tim.

Since one, he was the one who found her body, two, he seemed to be a little obsessed with her, and three, his excuse for going over two, he seemed to be a little obsessed with her, and three, his excuse for going over to her house was to return a flashlight, which seemed pretty odd, especially if he supposedly had dinner plans with her that night, which we can't even confirm. Maybe he had just asked her to go to dinner and she didn't reply.

But either way, his dad's house wasn't far, so popping over there after not hearing from her may not be too strange. Even though Tim had a lot of feelings for Christa and seemed pretty suspicious from the outside regarding this case, a lot of people around town that knew him just didn't see him doing this.

He was a nice guy and he was very well-liked, and DNA didn't put him at the scene of the murder. And Tim's psychologist was even worried about him because of how upset he was that police thought that he was a suspect and that Krista was dead. So he had to go to the Cape Cod Hospital's emergency room for a bit. Which is like being this upset makes sense. I mean you walked in, you found a body, so I can understand that. Yeah, I mean he had to go to the psych ward wing of the hospital because he was just so,

so overcome with emotion, which really tells you a lot about how he was feeling at that time, because I mean, I can't imagine because if he's not involved, he's being suspected of murdering this woman that he loved, and the woman he loved is dead. And although police still felt that he could have killed Krista, investigators started looking in other directions. Tony and Susan Jacket were both given polygraph tests, and they passed. As we also mentioned, their DNA wasn't found at the scene, and their alibis for the days leading up to Krista's murder checked out.

And we say this every time we talk about polygraphs, but I know there's a bunch of people out there who are like We shouldn't even mention that because it doesn't mean anything. Yeah, but I always just like to add it because why not? So also since the secret had been out for many months police wondered what either You know Tony or Susan's motives would even be to kill Christa. Yeah, because it kind of seemed like they all got along really well. Yeah, so if she was going to be murdered by one of them, it probably would have been like way over a year earlier, you know, it just, it didn't really make sense. Susan, like Keith just said, I mean, she had a good relationship with Christa and had accepted

her. And by killing Christa, who is no longer even romantically involved with her husband Tony at all and hadn't been for years at this point, that would mean that Susan would suddenly likely have to take care of Ava herself and same with Tony. It didn't seem to really make sense as a motive and I mean sure you can turn it around and say well maybe they loved Ava so much and wanted her for themselves, but we have to remember that Ava was alone in that house with her deceased mother for between 24 to 48 hours or so with no food or guidance.

So if they killed Krista to get Eva, why would they leave her in potential danger for all that time? Yeah, that just wouldn't happen. Also, they didn't even end up raising Eva. She was actually taken in by one of Krista's friends and was raised by her and her husband since it was in Christ's will. Tony did try to get custody of Ava, but he wasn't awarded that in the beginning since

he could not be ruled out as a suspect. But in the end, Tony received a joint custody agreement where Ava would live with Christ's friend, a Myra Chase and her husband, but the jackets would be able to see Ava would live with Christa's friend, Amira Chase and her husband, but the jackets would be able to see Ava and be a part of big life decisions regarding education, healthcare, etc. And for those wondering, a DNA test was conducted in February of 2002 to prove that Tony was the father and he is. DNA samples were taken from Tony's son Kyle, as well as Tony's son-in-law Keith Amato,

but neither of their DNA matched with the crime scene either. Months later, on August 8, 2002, police continued DNA testing Christus X. Boyfriends, including a man named Thomas Churchill, who was a magician. They pressured him on this because they didn't have many leads left, but there wasn't any evidence that he was involved and he also denied it. Months passed and police still didn't know who killed Krista Worthington, so police decided to conduct a DNA dragnet, which meant all male residents of Truro would give their DNA. They don't have to, but essentially if you don't volunteer your DNA, you're kind of looked at as a potential suspect.

Because if you don't want to help, they figure you're hiding something. But dragnets are incredibly controversial, because many believe it's an invasion of privacy. Turo is definitely the kind of town that's desolate in the winter and filled with tourists in the summer. So it took a long time to conduct this dragnet, and in April of 2005, so three years after Chris's murder, they finally got a match. 33-year-old Christopher McCowen was Christopher Worthington's Waste Collector, aka her garbage man, and lived in Provincetown at the time of Christ's murder.

He had voluntarily provided a DNA sample the year prior in March of 2004, and on April 15, 2005, police showed up to his house in the nearby town of Hiannest, Massachusetts, and arrested him for the murder of Christa Worthington. Christafer was apparently having mutual sex with multiple women on his trash route, but when he was questioned by police, he first stated that he didn't really know Christa. Again, it's believed that Christa was either killed late

on the night of Friday, January 4th, 2002, or early in the morning on Saturday, January 5th. Christa's trash pickup was on Thursdays, by the way. Now, it's not uncommon to not know your trash guy, even in a small town like I don't know my trash guy, you know. So someone comes and picks it up every week and you don't really know the person if you were outside often enough to catch them when they came by. So this isn't like a super strange thing

that he wouldn't know, Krista, but of course, because there was a DNA match, they just felt like he had to be lying. And Krista wasn't super well-known in the area either. He was pretty quiet and he worked as a mover before becoming a garbage collector. He's a father and at the time of his arrest, he had three children

from three different women. Even though he wasn't extremely well-known, there were still of course locals who knew him and knew him well. And they showed up for him because they truly felt that there was just no way that he could have committed this crime. He was not known to be aggressive, he was very mellow, and they just didn't think that he was capable of such a horrific act. And Chris is a black man, so there was a lot of speculation that this is why he was being targeted. Because for reference, only about 1% of people in Turo are black, while 97% are white. So it's definitely a very concerning thought that he was being racially targeted. Yeah, I mean, especially since we know the crime scene was so botched and don't know if we can

really trust the DNA evidence that was there. But still, I mean, his DNA did match the samples they had, so that's gotta mean something, but does it mean he killed her? It's hard to say that the evidence proves that. It just at least kind of proved that he was with her and potentially had a sexual encounter with her. Because Seaman on her body matched his DNA, but even investigators admitted that the sperm had deteriorated, meaning it was many days old. So did they have sex on Thursday when he came by to collect the garbage, and then someone else killed her, I mean, it's entirely possible. But also, Chris does have a criminal record.

He had multiple restraining orders against him from women who claimed he strangled them during sex and it scared them, and that he could be quite violent in that kind of regard. So this was a huge red flag to police as well. So after interviewing him intensely, Chris stated that he did no Christa. He said that he went to her house on Friday night and they had sex. He also allegedly admitted to beating her, but not killing her, that his friend Jeremy Frazier had killed her. He said that the day before this, Thursday, January 3rd, he was doing his normal trash route when Chris had asked him to come into the house and help remove her Christmas tree.

He then said that one thing led to another and they had mutual sex for the first and last time. So kind of confusing confession here. And also the charge of rape didn't come up until they arrested Chris. No other person of interest was accused of raping her. As we know, he did have various flings with women on his trash route, so it was Chris to just one of the women he had consensual sex with. And Chris later admitted that when he was originally questioned by police, he was under the influence

of Perkiset, Cocaine, and Marijuana. He said, they kept on switching everything up. I was so intoxicated off all of the drugs that I really didn't know what the hell was going on. Also, he was later asked why he told police that he and his friend Jeremy Frazier went to Christus house that Friday night. And he said, quote, That's what police said that I did.

I didn't do that. The police's version of events is that Chris said that after getting drunk that Friday night at a place called Juice Bar, his friend Jeremy drove him over to Christus, and Chris and Christa went upstairs to have consensual sex. And while this was happening, Jeremy stole some items from Christa's house and took them out to the car. And then when they're done, Christa noticed various things were gone and confronted Jeremy

in the driveway. And with that, he started beating her up with Chris too, dragged her into the house, and Jeremy stabbed her to death with the kitchen knife. And Chris says that none of this happened and he wasn't ever at Chris's house on Friday. And for some reason, Chris opted out of being recorded during his interviews with police, which makes it significantly harder to know who to believe because it's just a he said he said. And even scarier, the investigators

only had about 20 some odd pages of conversation written down when there should have been like five to ten times more than that. So what are we not getting? Later the following year in November of 2006, Christopher McCowen was put on trial for Christ's rape and murder, as well as for aggravated armed burglary. Christ was described as not being, quote, smart enough to defend himself. His attorney said, this is a person with a 76-78 IQ on his best day, meaning on a day where he's not using drugs and alcohol, not under pressure. And by the way, that is known to be a below average IQ. It's pretty low. Like under 70 is typically described as mentally deficient, so 76 to 78 isn't much more than

that. But a very, very harsh comment from his attorney otherwise. Well, I think he was just trying to say it as, you know, he's not able to defend himself in front of police during an interrogation where, you know, as we know, interrogations can be extremely intense. And police are known to get people to admit to doing something they didn't do. I'm not saying that happened here,

but I'm saying it could have happened here. And that's what his attorney was saying was that he is a low IQ, like of course he said all these things, like that could only make sense because he can't defend himself. Which is really sad, because you put someone with a lower IQ into a room and you let police interrogate him to hell and who knows what he'll say. I mean, even people with a higher IQ likely wouldn't be able to withstand that kind of immense pressure and manipulation that is an intense interrogation.

Chris's defense argued that because of the drugs he was on during his first interview with police, he wasn't in a clear mindset and therefore was not able to properly articulate what he did and didn't know about Christa or her death. The defense also argued that nothing specifically ties Krista to her murder, and that his semen only connects to him having sex with Krista at another time, i.e. when he apparently helped her with the Christmas tree and had sex with her the day before she was likely killed, which was Thursday during his trash pickup route. But back to DNA evidence once again, because there's

another important aspect to this. Police found DNA evidence for three people under Christus fingernails, which is very alarming. None of the DNA matched Christus DNA, and you would assume that the DNA under her nails would be from her attackers, so this is just pretty bizarre. And does this mean that three people attacked her? Or who's DNA was this? Police just didn't really know at this point. On top of this, there were white and blue fibers found on Christ's body, indicating her attacker was wearing

white and blue clothing. And to be clear, Chris McCowan was wearing a red and black sports jersey on the night that Christa is believed to have been murdered, again Friday January 4th. He was seen at a place called the Juice Bar that night since they were holding a rap contest, and there's actually video footage of him there that someone took of the rap battle he's just kind of in the crowd, and he's not wearing blue nor white clothes. His friend Jeremy, who is a white man if you're wondering, was a part of the rap battle, and weirdly enough, he was wearing a blue and white

sweater and a blue baseball cap. We posted the video on our socials if anyone wants to see it by the way, because it's just kind of, you know, puts you in the scene. But Jeremy claims that he also had nothing to do with her murder, and that after the rap battle, he stayed the night at a friend named Sean's house, and Sean even confirmed this in court, saying that Jeremy was very drunk, so he wanted to take him home so he wouldn't drive under the influence. In court, one of Christ's neighbors who was on a walk around 1pm on Saturday, January 5th, noticed a dark-colored car speed out of Christ's driveway.

No one has come forward regarding this, so if it's true, it seems very suspicious. The witness described that the vehicle was large, but he didn't pay much attention to it because he was focused on the driver. He said the driver was quote, Caucasian, a little dark, but he was not black. He said the person had an oval face and brown hair. And this isn't a point in blame at Jeremy because the information regarding his car has not been released, but Jeremy had very short blonde hair at this time. And as we remember, Tim couldn't drive, and Tony had black curly hair, so this description really doesn't match anyone.

And by the way, when I say anyone, I mean, the people that we've talked about in this story. In a jury of 12, only one person was black, and she was doing her best to give Chris the benefit of the doubt. But she later stated that the jury was convinced that he was guilty from the jump, and they really never strayed from that despite the fact that the evidence was severely lacking. And of course, I mean we're aware that his DNA was absolutely found at the crime scene, and there's no denying that, so it's not like they have absolutely nothing on him and

he's on trial for a murder for no reason. He was the only DNA match that they had, so of course they're going to think that he was there, it does make sense. We're just trying to highlight some other areas that are questionable to make sure that this man is getting a fair chance here, and it seemed like the prosecution mainly had circumstantial evidence to work with, and the restraining orders to help prove to the jury that he had violent tendencies, and of course as well, that DNA sample.

But the jury did deliberate for eight whole days, so it seems like they battled on this quite a bit. But on November 16, 2006, 34-year-old Chris McCown was found guilty of the rape, murder, and aggravated armed burglary of Christa Worthington and her home, and he was given three life sentences, meaning he will be in prison for the rest of his life without the possibility of parole. When the verdict was read, Chris dropped his head and began to cry heavily. I personally feel like he should not have been given such a severe conviction based on the evidence. Again, I totally get the DNA evidence that's super important,

but it's not like his DNA is on the murder weapon or his blood is on her or anything like that, so he really could have had consensual sex with her before the murder even happened. And I just wish that would have been considered more in this case because I don't think the evidence they had is enough to say he definitely 100% murdered Christa. And I know it's very divided, some people think he really did it while others believe an innocent man is behind bars, but he has done interviews since and has reiterated his innocence. And that doesn't mean he's innocent because people lie all the time, but I just don't believe

there was enough personally to convict him for the murder just based on the semen. Especially because there are witness statements that don't line up with it, and there are three other people's DNA under her fingernails. And even a few jurors came out later saying that they felt pressured into giving a guilty verdict because of some of the other jurors, even though they themselves just weren't sure. Yeah, and there was even emotion for a new trial because of potential racial bias in the jury and the prosecution because of certain words that the prosecution used like calling him

a big black man and calling him scary. But in 2010, the judge rejected that. It's hard because I feel like it's weird that there was three people's DNA under her fingernails and it doesn't match anyone's. And if you think about that, they did that DNA drag net. So they tested so many samples against the DNA that was found on her. So none of those people being the DNA that's under her fingernails is really bizarre to me. But I also think about the witness who was walking by her house on the morning of Saturday, January 5th,

and how he saw a big, dark car, you know, speeding out of her driveway, which is really suspicious, especially after finding out what happened to her. And then to add on top of that, you have the fact that the police, you know, botched that crime scene. I mean, using it, using a blanket from, you know, the victim's house is a big no-no. Yeah, that's what I mean is, there's a lot of weird stuff in this case, but then I think with the way that this case was and the investigation was botched, I'm just like, I don't know who did this or who could have done this because I just don't feel like anybody's motive is quite strong

enough, nor do they match up with witness statements and DNA. So I don't know, this is a tough one. Yeah, and I do think it's very, very interesting that you mentioned the jury, or a couple people from the jury, later saying that they felt pressured into this guilty verdict. I mean, that kind of says a lot. I agree, and I don't personally know if Jeremy committed

this crime, because again, I think about the witness statement the next morning saying that somebody sped out of her driveway with dark hair and an oval face and who was Caucasian but maybe a little more darker skin than Caucasian but not black. Jeremy doesn't fit that description at all like I said he was white, he was blonde, but there's some very horrifying details that came out about him in the summer of 2017. So 34-year-old Jeremy Frazier was charged with the rape of a 5-year-old girl, but his charges were dismissed in 2018 because the only evidence against him was the girl's words

or a quote, young child's words. He had been arrested on multiple charges including rape, assault, and battery with a dangerous weapon, strangulation or suffocation, and reckless endangerment of a child which is horrifying, and he was released on $10,000 cash bail. So Jeremy is definitely not looking good in our eyes and there's another kind of suspicious thing about him. So on the night that Christa is believed to have been murdered, again, Friday, January 4th, he received a call from police around midnight. And many believe that he had a connection to police and was possibly given special treatment.

So that's kind of weird, but those phone records were apparently destroyed, so we cannot confirm this for sure, but that is what has gone around. So again, I think the car is speeding out of her driveway the next morning. Hey, it could have been somebody who pulled into the wrong house. That could absolutely not be connected, but it seems kinda weird to me. Tony Jacket is still married to Susan and they both still live on Cape Cod, and they've also been interviewed over the years regarding Christus' case, as has Tim Arnold. So to this day, Chris McCowan sits behind bars, but the New England Innocence Project

is apparently reviewing his case. They had said that back in 2010, which is why I say apparently because I'm not sure if they still are, but people are still fighting for a new trial for Chris McCowan. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode and next week we'll have an all new case for you guys to dive into. I just really can't figure out why someone would want her killed and we know that she knew a lot of people, she was in the fashion industry, she had a successful career, she could have gotten some enemies along the ride.

But for years she was just living in Cape Cod and, you know, living there had really chilled her out a bit, she was just relaxing, raising her daughter. And although it seemed like there were a lot of men who were very interested in her, I just don't see why someone would kill her, so that's why this case is really, really crazy to me because I just don't really have a theory, I don't really have an idea. I don't personally know if it was Chris, but I just don't know why he would kill her, like what would his reasoning be. So this case just stumps me.

Yeah, I think it's really interesting, you know, given all the different DNA and the different players within this case, the different persons of interest or suspects. I think, you know, none of it really makes a lot of sense. And I wish we had a lot more clear answers, but I do believe that, you know, Chris should have gotten a fair trial, which to me means that there would have been more evidence to prove his guilt. Right, or to convict him so heavily like he's three life sentences on that little evidence to me personally I just I don't see it. I'll be interested to see what the

innocence project does for him. Yeah I agree. So thank you so much for listening everybody today. Thanks for checking out going west. We appreciate all of our new listeners, all of our old listeners. Just everybody who's tuning in means the world to us. We're just trying our new listeners, all of our old listeners. Just everybody who's tuning in means the world to us. We're just trying to shed some light on some stories here and and appreciate your ears. So also thank you so much to everybody who has joined Patreon in the last week. Patreon is where you can get 49 full length ad-free bonus episodes. And we just released one last week on the disappearance of Jessica Small. So if you're interested in hearing some more international cases, we typically highlight

international cases on our Patreon and on over to patreon.com slash going west podcast. So thank you so much to Tiff, Julian, Janice, Rebecca, Annette, Sav the Fix Witch, and Maria. Big thanks going out to Lindsay, Jeremy. Big thanks going out to Courtney, Sarah, Sandra, Jessica, Carmen, and Diana. Thank you so much to Anna, not Fable. Thank you to Devin, Kelsey, Dana, Ciara, Stephanie, Haley, Amanda, Samantha, Zoe, Sammy, and Donna. And thank you to Allison, Amanda, Rachel, Mary, Elizabeth, Katherine, Emily, thank you, Nikki, thank you, MC, and Sarah.

Thank you so much, you anabelle, thank you, Jake, Melissa, Rachel, Patty, Plant Girl, another Devon, thank you Gracie, Mariah, Jessica and Emily. And a big thanks going out to Monica, Sarah, Amy, Cassie, thank you Mark, Kristen, Stephanie, Percy, Alicia and Lauren. And last but not least, thank you so much to Jennifer, Whitney, Danielle, Michelle, thank you, Alan, Allison, Erin, Brandon, OG, Booby Miles, Anna, Grimfan, thank you Danielle, Kristen, Katie, Julie, Jessica and Taylor. We love you all so much. Wow, thank you all for joining this week.

Love having you over there and really appreciate the support. It really keeps going, West going. And I say this every time if you guys have any case suggestions or any stories you want us to cover on real crime, let us know. So for everybody out there in the world, cheerio and don't be a stranger. you