Appellant McCowen Brief - Mass Cases

inquired about Arnold's leering at Worthington through
her bedroom window, leaving fingerprints, after she
ejected him from her home and about his attempt to break
down her door. Tr. 743-5, 766-80. Police accused Arnold
of the murder. Tr. 780. They also suspected Ava's
father, Tony Jackett, Jackett's son-in-law Keith Amato
and others. Tr. 728.
FOr more than three years, police made no arrest
and located no witnesses. Responding witnesses described
the victim naked from the waist down, wearing a green
bathrobe, evidence never found. Tf. 617-618, 792-3, 864,
947. Palm and fingerprints were lifted from the scene,
DNA from three unidentified males were scraped from
under the victim'e fingernails, blue-and-white fibers
were recovered from Worthington's vaginal area, and
multiple hairs were found at the scene. Nothing
connected Christopher McCowen to the crime. Tf. 1512.
Authorities swabbed DNA from the victim's vagina,
breasts and a blanket used to cover her body. The
blanket's DNA matched Tim Arnold's. Tr. 1489.
Over the following months, police interviewed a
raft of witnesses. Within 48 hours of the murder,
McCowen approached police about an unrelated matter. A
trash collector who served time in Florida for non-
violent theft offenses, MCCOwen had become an informant
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