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

This book does its best to be fair and evenhanded. More than several hundred people were interviewed over a period of four years, some multiple times. Documents reviewed and re-reviewed amounted to some twenty running feet of files. Secondary materials, including news stories and editorials, magazine articles, books, and online blogs, were used for background on the law and legal procedure, as well as to ground the particulars of the McCowen case.

Plainly, a book of this kind cannot happen without sources, and for some Cape Codders talking to me was an alarming experience since my questions centered on a real-life murder that many felt (and still feel) has yet to be solved. Per their request, these individuals are not identified by name, but I want them to know that I thank them sincerely. In one case, I didnt want to take no for an answer and tried to get the source, an attorney whod been especially helpful, to change his mind:

No, you may not identify me, the lawyer responded. That was the deal we made going in, and I must insist on it. The Cape is a small place, the Superior Court much smaller still, [and] if you publicly acknowledge me there is a very strong likelihood Id be blackballed in that court, affecting my clients and my ability to provide for my family. My contribution is to try to help right a wrong, and I need no accolades for doing it. The villain in this story is OKeefe, and I believe his ending has not been written yet.

For editorial and research help my boundless gratitude to Susan Dooley Carey, Mike Iacuessa, and Rose Connors, who helped more than they know. Michelle Costantino once more came through with the transcribing. Lisa Baumgartel and Asya Passinsky kept things together in Berkeley. At Atria/Simon & Schuster my editors, Sarah Durand and Peter Borland, and Sarahs assistant, Sarah Cantin, more than held up their end, just as Jaime Wolfs vetting of the manuscript was as sensitive as it was prudent. Dan Strone at the Trident Media Group seemed to anticipate my every need, and I thank him, too.

No project of this kind can be completed without the assistance of town, county, and state libraries, historical societies, and various governmental agencies. Among those that contributed were the Truro Historical Society; Cape Cod Commission; Barnstable County Human Services Dept.; Barnstable County Human Rights Comm. (Ernest C. Hadley); Barnstable County Superior Court Clerks Office; Barnstable County 2nd District (Orleans) Court Clerks Office; Cape Cod NAACP; The Nickerson Research Center (North Chatham); Cape Cod Immigrants Center; Cape Cod Citizens Against Racism (David & Peggy Lillienthal, Mary Ann Barboza, Rev. Robert Murphy, Scober Frank Rhodes, Jacqueline Fields); Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health (Office of Substance Abuse); Center on Wrongful Convictions at the Northwestern University School of Law; the Innocence Project at New York Citys Benjamin Cardozo Law School.

My colleagues in the media were also helpful. Here, I would single out Beth Karas, Harriet Ryan, and Carl Liebowitz of Court TV; editor-in-chief Paul Pronovost and photo editor Jim Preston at the Cape Cod Times ; the Cape Codder s Marilyn Miller; Sally Rose, editor of the Provincetown Banner , the APs Denise Lavoie and Linda Deutsch in Los Angeles; Jonathan Saltzman of the Boston Globe ; Walter Brooks of Cape Cod Today and PlymouthDailyNews.com; Seth Rolbein of Cape Cod Voice ; David Frank, editor of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly ; Scott Button of Cape Media Networks, Jeff Blanchard, and Peter Robbins were also givers. Barry Levine, editor of the National Enquirer in New York, was kind enough to supply me with documents on Christopher McCowens criminal history that neither attorney Robert George nor the Cape and Islands DAs office appeared to have. It is rumored that veteran Boston WCVB-TV correspondent Amalia Barreda has covered more than one hundred major trials; her willingness to share her insights, not to say put up with my pesky neophytes questions about court procedure, were appreciated more than I can say.

Provincetowns George Bryant filled in a few cracks, much as he did for my last book, Ptown: Art, Sex and Money on the Outer Cape ; whether it is sociology, economic history, or whaling, George is a treasure trove of information who should be decorated for his lifelong study of the Cape. On the west coast, thanks go to Dr. Risa Kegan for her valuable guidance on the gynecology of rape.

My gratitude also to John Reinstein and Laura Rotolo of the ACLU Foundation of Massachusetts; Christopher Conte and Vince Gay of the National Rifle Association; Jan Constantine of the Authors Guild, and Sandy Baron, Executive Director of the Media Law Resource Center in New York. All gave of their time and support.

To Mary Jo Avellar, John Lawler, and Susan Jacobson, my thanks, as well; Lawler was always there for me. Members of the security staff and the personnel in the Court Clerks offices at both the 2nd District Court and Barnstable Superior were, almost without exception, more helpful than they had to be; I would be greatly remiss if I didnt acknowledge their assistance and good cheer.

Many friends listened to me while I was doing my research and writing, and were supportive when I found myself in that long surreal tunnel, looking at what felt like doomsday jail time: Jim and Denise Landis, Jeremy Larner, David Reid and Jayne L. Walker, Tom Goldstein, Nicholas Von Hoffman, Ishmael Reed, Charlotte Jerace, John Yingling, Dan Richter, Peter Bloch, David Fechheimer, Tom Luddy, Denne Abrams, John and Dagmar Searle, the late Charles Muscatine, and, especially, my dear friends Lizbeth Hasse and Joe Orrach. To all of them I owe an unforgettable debt of gratitude.

Thanks to Kyoungjoo Kim for help with case law, and to attorney David S. Hammer for his counsel and advice.

Joe Balliro and Kevin Reddington, gentlemen and master legal practitioners both, got me out of that particular mess, and I shall never forget them. In addition, during the trial I had numerous chats with Joe about the McCowen case that were so stimulating as to make me consider enrolling in law school.

Thanks also to Drs. John Shackelford, Alix Divigal, and Craig Bloom. Blessed be the healers; far too often do we take them for granted.

Chris Laffaille, one of Europes best investigative reporters, did some amazing spadework in London and Paris, the fruits of which appear in these pages. Merci, mon frre, camarade .

Most of all, this book could not have been done without the trust and cooperation of Robert George, a.k.a. Bobby. We worked together, became friends, fought the good fight side by side. Given our nonstop competitive banter, someone suggested that we should be doing a real-time TV show together, a latter-day Mutt and Jeff. One thing is sure: itd be great fun.

Finally, although words fail me, I must thank my dear wife, Anna Schenkelbach Avellar, who was unfailingly supportive throughout my year-and-a-half legal imbroglio that began with cops invading her home with shotguns. She never bargained for any of that, any more than she should have had to live with the nutsiness of my writers moods as this book yo-yoed its way toward completion. She is an angel worthy of Fra Angelico (or, better, he of her.)

Books

Albright, Evan J. Cape Cod Confidential: True Tales of Murder, Crime, and Scandal from the Pilgrims to the Present . Harwich, Mass.: Mystery Lane, 2004.

Berger, Josef (Jeremiah Diggs). Cape Cod Pilot . Cambridge, Mass., and London: MIT Press, 1969.

Blackmon, Douglas A. Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II . New York: Doubleday, 2008.

Bradford, William. History of the Plymouth Plantation . Boston: Wright & Potter, 1899.

Brennan, Susan W., and Diana Worthington. Images of America: Truro . Charleston, S.C., Chicago, Portsmouth, N.H., San Francisco: Arcadia, 2002.