Lizzette Sue Muske-Fountain May 14, 1983 - Dec 4, 2002
Shot by boyfriend Thomas McCants in their Fitchburg apartment, McCants has always denied killing Lizzette.
On December 4, 2002, McCants called Fitchburg police to report that he had found Fountain lying in a pool of blood on their bedroom floor.
What emerged at his trial was a picture of a man who was unemployed while his girlfriend worked two jobs to support them, and a
man who sold drugs and stayed out all night. The morning that Fountain was killed, according to trial testimony, he had spent the
night getting high with friends and had been with another woman.
Prosecutors theorized that McCants shot Fountain after an early-morning argument about the fact that he was staying out all night.
Gunpowder residue found on McCants' clothing confirmed that he had at least been close to a fired weapon, but he maintains that the residue could have been transferred to him from Fountain's body as he tried to revive her.
Police said McCants' account of his whereabouts shifted often, and he constantly tried to find out, from the police and others, what the police knew about the shooting.
Assistant District Attorney Mary Ellen Karst noted that as Fountain lay dying from the gunshot wound to her chin and neck, she certainly suffered.
McCants was already serving an 11-year federal prison sentence for dealing cocaine that was found in the apartment during the course of the murder investigation. He said that even though the cocaine did not belong to him, he accepted responsibility for it. But he said he could not accept responsibility for Fountain's murder.
