NEARLY 16 YEARS AFTER A-LIST FASHION WRITER CHRISTA WORTHINGTON WAS MURDERED ON CAPE COD, THE MAN CONVICTED OF KILLING HER IS SEEKING A NEW TRIAL
“48 Hours” Investigates “Murder on the Cape”
Saturday, Nov. 18, 9:00 PM, ET/PT
(L-R) Christa Worthington and Christopher McCowen
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Nearly 16 years after A-list fashion writer Christa Worthington was murdered in her Cape Cod home, the man convicted of killing her is seeking a new trial. 48 HOURS and Susan Spencer investigate in an updated encore of “Murder on the Cape” to be broadcast as part of a double feature, Saturday, Nov. 18 (9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
48 HOURS has been covering the case since 2002 when Worthington was found stabbed to death in her Cape Cod, Mass. home, while her 2-year-old daughter was in the house. Worthington had ditched the glamorous New York fashion world for the slower pace of Truro, Mass. There, she dreamed of being a mother.
Soon after she arrived, she met Tony Jackett, a married father of six. They fell in love, and eventually the two had a daughter, Ava. Worthington reportedly found everything she wanted on Cape Cod.
That changed on Jan. 6, 2002, when she was raped and brutally murdered. She was found 24 hours later by an ex-boyfriend returning a flashlight. Ava’s bloody handprints were all around the house. She was unharmed.
Investigators started checking on suspects, including Jackett. The investigation extended to Jackett’s son-in-law, who took showers outside at Worthington’s home, and a past lover with whom she had a contentious relationship. By the spring of 2005, locals were beginning to believe the police would never crack the case, despite having DNA evidence. The district attorney then took the unusual step of seeking DNA samples from every man in town.
That move produced a hit. Christopher McCowen, a local trash collector, was arrested and charged with murder. He admitted having what he said was consensual sex with Worthington, but he said a friend killed her. He was convicted in 2006. He’s maintained his innocence ever since.
However, the case was – and remains – far from over. The verdict in McCowen’s trial was called into question over allegations over racial bias in the jury, resulting in all 12 being summoned back to court for questioning. The judge upheld the 2006 decision. Today, though, even after three denied appeals, McCowen’s legal team is pushing for a new trial.
48 HOURS: “Murder on the Cape” is produced by Patti Aronofsky, Josh Yager and Martin Zeid. Linda Martin is the update producer. Greg McLaughlin, Gary Winter, Kent Harrington, Mary Alfieri, Phil Tangel and Marcus Balsam are the editors. Anthony Batson is the senior broadcast producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Susan Zirinsky is the senior executive producer.
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A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN VANISHES IN NORTH TEXAS AND IS LATER FOUND DEAD WRAPPED IN A SHEET – COULD IT BE ANYTHING BUT MURDER?
“48 Hours” Investigates in “Taken Away”
Saturday, Nov. 18, 10:00 PM
(L-R) Gary and Jessie Bardwell, Jason Lowe
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Jessie Bardwell, 27, was a beloved daughter and friend when she seemingly vanished from the Texas home she shared with her boyfriend, Jason Lowe. Fearing the worst, her father traveled from Mississippi to Texas to start the search for his daughter. Bardwell’s body was later found in a remote spot of farmland wrapped in a sheet.
Police suspected murder, but was it?
Maureen Maher and 48 HOURS investigate the disappearance and death of Bardwell and the case against Lowe in “Taken Away” to be broadcast Saturday, Nov. 18 at 10:00 PM, ET/PT as part of a Saturday night double feature on the CBS Television Network.
“This story is about a young girl,” Richardson, Texas Detective Eric Willadsen tells Maher. “Thinks she finds love and it turns out he’s pure evil.”
Jessie Bardwell was fun-loving and outgoing, say friends and family. She lived in Orange Beach, Ala., where she worked at a local hotspot. Then she fell for Lowe. To the surprise of her family, one day she moved to Texas. Turned out she was following Lowe, who had landed a job in Dallas. She suddenly disappeared in May 2016.
“I knew she was dead,” Bardwell’s father, Gary Bardwell tells Maher.
Bardwell said he had nightmare before his daughter disappeared. “And I felt it – she was not on this earth anymore.”
Richardson, Texas investigators had a sense something was wrong in Lowe’s home the minute they arrived to follow up on Bardwell’s report that his daughter was missing. There were things out of place and the unmistakable scent of death. Soon after, Lowe was arrested and charged with murder.
Lowe later claimed Bardwell’s death was an accident. His attorney had a plan, and he put together a mock trial to test the defense theory. The result of the stand-in jury? Lowe was innocent. Prosecutors, however, maintain it was murder and Lowe tried to hide her body.
“I think about what I think happened to her. And I couldn’t protect her,” Bardwell tells Maher. “It’s just unimaginable. It’s unthinkable. It’s unforgivable.”
What happened to Jessie Bardwell? 48 HOURS and Maher report the story through interviews with her family, her friends, investigators, Lowe’s defense team and an exclusive interview with Lowe himself. 48 HOURS: “Taken Away” is produced by Liza Finley. Claire St. Amant is the development producer. Lauren White is the associate producer. Richard Barber is the producer-editor. George Baluzy, Michael Vele and Diana Modica are the editors. Patti Aronofsky is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Susan Zirinsky is the senior executive producer.
48 HOURS: “Taken Away” is the second part of a Saturday night double feature that starts at 9:00 PM with “Murder on the Cape,” an investigation into the 2002 murder of fashion writer Christa Worthington in Truro, Mass., the unusual path prosecutors took to find her killer, and the convicted man’s ongoing quest to get a new trial.
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