Fatal Vision or Fatal Justice – The Case of Jeffrey MacDonald

At 3:42 a.m. on February 17, 1970, Green Beret doctor Jeffrey MacDonald made an emergency phone call from his base housing at 544 Castle Drive, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The dispatcher heard a faint message—a call for help: “Stabbing! Hurry!”

Inside the residence, MacDonald’s wife, Colette, 26 and five months pregnant, was found dead on the floor of the master bedroom. Their daughters, Kimberley, 5, and Kristen, 2, were found dead in their respective beds. Jeffrey MacDonald suffered only minor injuries compared to those of his wife and daughters.

MacDonald claimed that four intruders—three men and a woman—broke into his home, murdered his family, and knocked him unconscious. He said the woman had long blonde hair, wore a white floppy hat, held a candle, and chanted, “Acid is groovy, kill the pigs.”

The case has been the subject of books, movies, articles, and numerous lawsuits. MacDonald was convicted of murdering his wife and daughters and sentenced to life in prison. He maintains his innocence and has never wavered from his claim that hippies murdered his family.

Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack discuss the case, examining the injuries suffered by Colette, Kimberley, Kristen, and Jeffrey MacDonald, and comparing the forensic evidence to the story told by the sole survivor.

[Feature Photo: Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald, left, speaks to the press as his attorney, Bernard Segal, right, listens outside U.S. Federal Building in Los Angeles, Aug. 22, 1980. MacDonald, convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and two daughters in 1970, was released Friday from federal prison on Terminal Island on bail posted by friends while his conviction is being appealed. (AP Photo/Lennox McLendon)]