JEFFREY MACDONALD

Jeffrey MacDonald stated that when he went to the hall bathroom to check his wounds, "there wasn't even a cut or anything."  For more detail regarding his injuries, see wounds.

Told Dr. Sadoff in April 1970 that he had had his nose broken four times in high school.

Told Dr. Sadoff in April 1970 that he was the first Patchogue High School student graduate in more than 20 years to attend any Ivy League college.

Described making love to Colette on the infield of the Saratoga racetrack during Happy Pappy week- end or a later spring visit to Skidmore.

Described 15 days between completion of his in- ternship and the date of his reporting to Fort Sam Houston as time spent on a vacation to an island he thought might have been Aruba.
 

Described a "most memorable" lovemaking session with Colette, on the living room couch at the Kassab's Washington Square apartment during Thanksgiving vacation of Jeffrey MacDonald's freshman year at Princeton.

During the 1974 grand jury proceeding, MacDonald testified that with regard to his brother Jay, "when I questioned him it was apparent that he had been speeding--taking amphetamines--for a long time that I hadn't been aware of."  MacDonald also said "It never occurred to me that my brother would be taking amphetamines."

Provided a tape to Joe McGinniss in which he "talked at considerable length and in extraordinary detail about how the night before his wedding he'd had to drive one of the bridesmaids home to New Jersey, but she could not remember where she lived and they had become lost for several hours and as a result he had arrived extremely late for his own bachelor party."

During his Army physical examination MacDonald claimed there were no problems with his back.

 

In a document believed to have been written circa 1994, MacDonald claimed that "[Colette] was so enamored with the two subsequent volunteering episodes, that of becoming a paratrooper, and then a Green Beret."







 

At trial in 1979, MacDonald was asked about a weekend he had spent in San Antonio in December 1969 as part of a Special Forces group:

Q  During that weekend, did you meet a woman you spent any time with or had any sexual rela- tions with?
A  We spent some time.  We did not have any sex- ual relations.

At the grand jury in 1974, MacDonald claimed that Colette liked the stereo-color TV he had bought.




 

Richard Thoesen was at a post gymnasium with MacDonald on the afternoon of February 16 and stated that Jeffrey MacDonald left the gym for his residence at about 6:00 p.m.




 

During the 1974 grand jury proceeding, MacDonald said that after playing basketball, "...I went home, picked up both the children, and went down to feed the Shetland pony.  And we had dinner at home and Colette split for class."








 

On Feb. 19, 1970, MacDonald told FBI Agent Ca- verly that Colette left for classes at North Carolina State University at Fort Bragg at about 6:20 p.m.

 

At trial in 1979, MacDonald was asked if he and Colette talked about school and the class she was taking. MacDonald said, "We normally did.  I do not recall at this time specific sentences, but we normally talked about her class and what she was studying at that time and that had been going on for years."

In his "diary" (a reconstruction of events, prepared by MacDonald with the idea that a book may be written about the case), MacDonald had written that he would be traveling to Russia as physician for the boxing team, and that Colette had been "pleased" about this.
 

At trial on August 23, 1979, MacDonald said that he had arranged for a doctor to care for Colette during her third pregnancy.

Told CID investigators on Feb. 20, 1970, that after Colette departed [for class], he remained in the residence with Kimberley and Kristen, and put Kris- ten to bed at 7:00 p.m.
 

Told CID investigators during the Feb. 17-20 inter- view that Colette came home about 9:40 p.m.
 

Told CID investigators on Feb. 17 that Colette went to bed at about 11:30 p.m.
 

Jeffrey MacDonald claimed that he and Colette did not argue on the night of Feb. 16 or in the early morning hours of Feb. 17, 1970.









 

Claimed that he put Kristen to bed at 7:00 p.m. During the Larry King Live interview on Oct. 24, 2003, MacDonald said, "And when I went up to go to bed...my youngest daughter had gotten into our bed in the master bedroom and wet my side of the bed."

Claims that it was Kristen who wet the master bedroom bed.

Claimed that Kristen had wet the master bedroom bed to such an extent that he didn't want to sleep there.

Claimed to have taken Kristen from the wet master bedroom bed and carried her back to her own bed.

During the grand jury proceeding in 1974, when asked about Kristen's bedwetting, MacDonald said, "the bed-wetting was a relatively infrequent thing...it was kind of an infrequent thing or a weekly thing by now..."

Claimed that Kimberley, age 5, had stopped wetting the bed at about age two.
 
 

Told CID investigators that at 1:00 a.m. he began to read a novel, he finished it about 2:00 a.m., then from about 2:00-2:30 a.m. he washed the dishes, and went to bed about 2:30 a.m.

During the April 6 interview, Shaw asked, "At any point during the night...did you wear a pair of gloves?"  MacDonald replied, "Did I wear a pair of gloves?"  Shaw said, "Yeah.  You."  MacDonald replied, "Oh, yeah, to do the dishes."  "What kind of gloves were they?"  Shaw asked.  MacDonald replied, "She usually had two pairs laying there.  A yellow, thick dish glove and - and a pair of my surgeon's gloves.  I don't know which ones I used. I don't remember."  Shaw asked, "But did you use gloves to wash the dishes?"  MacDonald replied, "Yeah."

Jeffrey MacDonald claimed that he did not know that the April 6, 1970 CID interview with Grebner, Ivory and Shaw was being taped.

 

MacDonald claimed that during the April 6, 1970 CID interview, the investigators turned a light into his eyes as an interrogation tactic.

MacDonald claimed that he was not read his rights prior to the April 6, 1970 CID interview and that the investigators were taken aback when he told them that he would take a polygraph.  MacDonald stated that Grebner initially reacted with stone silence, then suddenly became nervous, and insist- ed that he first would need to find a polygraph operator to administer the test.

Claimed that he went to sleep on the living room couch.  There is some doubt about who, if anyone, actually slept on the couch that night, since Co- lette had indicated to her child psychology class that MacDonald wanted her to sleep on the sofa.















 

MacDonald has always said that the reason he went to sleep on the couch was because his side of the bed was wet.

Told CID investigators on Feb. 17, 1970, that he fell asleep on the sofa and woke because he heard his wife Colette screaming, "Jeff, Jeff, why are they doing this to me?"  Also claims that, at the same time, he heard his daughter Kim screaming, "Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy!"

Jeffrey MacDonald claims that at least four "intru- ders" attacked him and killed his family.








 

On Feb. 17, 1970, told CID investigators that he saw a single black male, two white males and one white female.














 

During the 1974 grand jury proceeding, MacDonald testified that "I never said I saw hippies.  I never said that."




























 

During the Pruett and Kearns interview in February 1971, MacDonald was asked about the female in- truder.  "You said she was holding a candle?"  He replied, "I never said that."  During the grand jury proceedings in 1974 he testified, "And I never said I saw candles either."

Also claimed during the Pruett and Kearns inter- view that "I never saw the light in her hand.  I never said I did."


 

In his submission to the parole board in early 2005, Jeffrey MacDonald claimed that post-trial, it was discovered that fresh wax drippings were found by investigators, but this information was not made available to the defense or jury at trial.

As late as December, 2005, 35 years after the murders, MacDonald still claimed that unsourced wax in his apartment could be seen as corrobora- tion for his contention that the intruder with the long blond hair appeared to be carrying one or more lit and dripping candles.
 

On February 17, Jeffrey MacDonald told the hospi- tal orderly, as well as his friend Ron Harrison, that the female intruder wore white boots.



 

It was raining on February 16-17.  On February 17, MacDonald told CID Agent Connolly that when he woke up, and again when he was knocked on the floor, that when he looked, he could see that "the water was just dripping off these people."  He also told CID investigators that the female intruder was wearing boots that were "wet, but not bloody." 
 

Claimed the female intruder was chanting, "Acid is groovy.  Kill the pigs."









 

Claims that the black male assailant was 5' 10" to 5" 11" tall and that the intruder lifted his arms and raised a club high in preparation for a blow.
 

Claims that just after being hit for the first time, he felt a sharp pain in his right chest, and thought another attacker was "throwing a hell of a punch." Looking down, he saw the glint of a blade, and realized he had been stabbed with either a knife or ice pick.  A small, 1-cm. wound was noted in his right chest area, causing a pneumothorax which was easily treated.

Jeffrey MacDonald told Dr. Sadoff and others that he had suffered a hemopneumothorax, a more serious condition than a pneumothorax.

During the Feb. 17-20 interview, MacDonald re- peatedly referred to the wooden weapon as a "club," and said he was attacked with this club as he awoke from sleep on the couch.


 

Claimed no knowledge of the 31"-long piece of wood used as a club in the murders.



 

During the February 17, 18 and 19 CID interviews, MacDonald claimed that he fought the intruders as he was on the sofa, even including in his account a description of how he reached out to grab the club in the black male's hands.  He described con- tinuing to fight the male intruders in the hallway, during which they tore his pajama top.  He claims he then lost consciousness, and woke up to find the pajama top wrapped around his wrists.

During the 1979 hypnosis session, MacDonald said that one of the assailants wore rough-grained gloves, also saying that "They are worker rubber gloves--gardening gloves or dishwasher gloves--
coarse..."








 

Told CID investigators that as he was pushing two of the assailants toward the hallway, both assail- ants were tearing his pajama top.

Claims that his pajama top must have been torn over his back as he struggled with the intruders.



 

Claimed to have been stabbed repeatedly in the living room while he was on the sofa (the number of stab wounds seems to vary with each telling).
 

Told CID investigators on February 17 that he no- ticed that one of the assailants had a knife or ice- pick while he was struggling with the three male assailants in the hallway, after he fell off the couch.

Claimed that with his pajama top wrapped around his wrists, he used the top as a shield, repeatedly thrusting it outwards in attempts to deflect the stabbings.










 

Across the back of the pajama top there were 17 holes that looked as though they had been made with an icepick.

On Feb. 17, 1970, told CID investigators that he was fighting with three male assailants.

Claimed to have suffered two to three puncture wounds in the upper left chest during the attack, and three puncture wounds in the upper left bicep, all of which he believed were icepick wounds.  Also claimed to have suffered "approximately 10" ice- pick wounds across the abdomen.

 

Claimed to have fallen off the end of the sofa dur- ing the attack, with his legs still bound in the af- ghan.


 

On Feb. 17, 1970, Jeffrey MacDonald described the "female intruder" as being a Caucasian female, 16 to 25 years old, 5’ 2" to 5’ 4" tall, 110-130 lbs., long light blonde hair hanging to the middle of her back, wearing a large floppy hat, dark colored high brown or black fake leather boots, and wearing either shorts or a skirt.

Claims he was unable to fight the intruders be- cause he could not free his hands of the pajama top, and could not free his legs from the light- weight afghan on his legs.
 

During the 1979 trial (August 24), in answer to Blackburn's questions regarding the supposed "struggle" with intruders, Jeffrey MacDonald gave the following testimony:

Q  Well, have you ever told anyone that you actu- ally struggled with them in the hallway?
A  Not in the sense that there was a fight back in the middle of the hallway; no.
Q  How about towards the end of the hallway-- towards the steps?
A  No; we never had a discussion with anyone about a struggle in the hallway.

MacDonald claims to have fallen unconscious in the hallway.



 

MacDonald claims to have struggled with intruders in the hallway and to have fallen unconscious at the west end of the hallway.  He said his torso was on the south side of the hallway and his legs were on the steps, extending into the living room.  A crime scene photograph shows a pile of coats and/or clothing on the hallway floor exactly at the place where MacDonald claims to have fallen.

When asked during the April 6 interview how long he had struggled with the intruders, he said, "I'm sure it didn't take more than eight or ten seconds, when I think back about it...I'm sure this was a matter of seconds."  Also claimed that he did not know how long he had lain unconscious in the hall- way after the attack.
 

Claimed no knowledge of the ice pick used in the murders and denied that it came from his house.





 

The CID Final Report (covering the period Feb. 17, 1970 - April 10, 1972) reflects "He could recall nothing further of the attack and woke and heard a gurgling sound."  Also: "...he then heard gurgling sounds again coming from Kristen's room and she was 'gurgling like a person who has blood in their lungs.' He attempted to aid her, picked her up and then put her back down..."  Per the interview with CID Agent Connolly, "The only time I detected any emotion at all was when [MacDonald] described how he heard a 'gurgling' coming from his youngest daughter's bedroom and he went in to try to help her."

During the Larry King Live show, MacDonald said, "When I came to, the house was silent.  And my first memory, as strange as it sounds, is the smell of Johnson's floor wax.  My face was on the floor, and to this day, if I walk in a room that's recently waxed, I get a very weird feeling..."
 

Told the hospital orderly that he woke up in the hallway and that he could see his wife.





 

During the April 6, 1970 interview, MacDonald said, "...and I -- my wife was lying on the -- the floor next to the bed."




 

Claims his pajama top was on his body when he went to sleep on the sofa, was still on his body (torn and wrapped around his wrists) when he woke in the hallway, and remained on his body until he removed it as he was going into the master bedroom to check on Colette.







 

MacDonald has claimed that the pocket from his pajama top probably fell off when he tossed the top aside in the master bedroom.
 

Claimed he was not wearing his (torn) pajama top when he examined his family.


 

MacDonald states that he never got close enough to the bed in the master bedroom to even notice that the word PIG was written in blood on the headboard.

Attempted to explain the fibers found in all three bedrooms as perhaps having come from his pajama bottoms.  Two fibers were found under Kristen's bedcovers.  Fourteen fibers were found under the bedclothing with which Kim had been covered.
 

Colette was injured most severely in Kristen's room but was found in the master bedroom, lying face up on the floor.
 

Denies wrapping Colette in the master bedroom sheet and carrying her back to the master bed- room.  Claims that he never touched the master bedroom sheet at all during or after the murders.
 

Per Jeffrey MacDonald's website (quote copied on June 9, 2004): "Colette MacDonald's attacker is believed...to have been left-handed...Two...path- ologists...researched the fatal blows suffered by Colette and concluded that they were inflicted by a left-handed person."  As of December 2005, MacDonald’s website still claimed that "Dr. Ronald Wright of Broward County, Florida, researched the fatal blows suffered by Colette and concluded that they were inflicted by a left-handed person."

Jeffrey MacDonald claims to be right-handed.  His father-in-law, Freddy Kassab, said MacDonald is ambidextrous.


 

Claims he placed his torn pajama top on Colette to keep her "warm" and treat her for shock.

When interviewed by the CID and Robert Caverly (FBI) on Feb. 17, 1970, MacDonald said that he covered Colette with a pajama top and a towel.

During the April 6, 1970 interview with criminal in- vestigators, Shaw said, "Well, this towel was lay- ing right across [Colette's] abdomen, the abdomen and upper thighs area."  MacDonald replied, "Well, then I must have--either I put it there or the medic put it there."

MacDonald testified during the 1970 Article 32 military hearing that in giving aid to Colette, "...I just sort of checked her again and looked at her chest wounds, and then I got up and realized that I had--you know, no one else except me, you know, and the alleged assailants were--were aware of what happened, so I picked up the phone in the bedroom."

Claims that he pulled the dull, bent Geneva Forge knife from Colette's chest.












 

MacDonald claimed no knowledge of the bent- bladed Geneva Forge knife found in the master bedroom.
 

MacDonald claimed that Colette appeared to be dead when he saw her.  When a pulse can be felt, but a person is not breathing, mouth-to-mouth is given (the chest is not compressed, as it is when performing CPR).  On April 6, 1970, MacDonald told the CID that he merely gave Colette mouth-to- mouth resuscitation: "All I did was see her and" - he cleared his throat - "take the knife out of her chest and breathe into her mouth, really."

During the 1970 Article 32 proceeding, MacDonald testified that in giving Colette mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, he "just sort of laid her flat and opened her mouth and cleared out her mouth."

Told CID investigators during the Feb. 17 interview that after waking in the hallway, he first went to Kimberley's room, then checked Kristen in her room, then went to the master bedroom, checking Co- lette last.
















 

During the Article 32 hearing, said that when he went to Kimberley's room, he could see her chest and neck.

On April 6, 1970, MacDonald told investigators that he approached Kim from the side of the bed with the window because the record player and other items obstructed the entry on the other side.

Claimed to have placed one arm under Kimberley and performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on her as she lay in her bed.




 

During the Article 32 hearing, said that he stopped mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Kim because air was coming out of her chest.

Claimed he was not wearing his pajama top when he went to Kimberley's room to check her.



 

Claimed he was not wearing his pajama top when he went to Kristen's room to check her.

 

Claimed that he went to Kristen's room and saw that she was covered in blood.


 

Claimed that the bloody footprint (shown to be Jeffrey MacDonald's and not disputed by him or the defense) in Kristen's room, which was made in Type A blood - Colette's blood type - might have been made as he entered that room after checking the body of his wife in the master bedroom.

Claimed that he was not carrying anything as he exited Kristen's room.
 

Claimed to have done mouth-to-mouth resuscita- tion on all victims.

 

Jeffrey MacDonald denies staging any part of the crime scene.












































 

Claimed he was not wearing his glasses while checking his family's injuries.

 

Realizing that the speck of Type O blood (Kristen’s blood type) was incriminating, at the Article 32 hearing in 1970 MacDonald claimed that this blood on the outer lens of his eyeglasses must have got- ten there when he treated an automobile accident victim at Cape Fear Valley Hospital on the night of February 15-16, 1970.
 

Claims he wore no gloves while checking his fami- ly's injuries, and that after checking his family's injuries, he used the master bedroom phone and then the kitchen phone, to call for help.

Was told by the operator during the first call from the master bedroom that he needed to call the MPs for help.

Claimed that between 3:40 and 3:42 a.m., be- tween his first and second phone calls, he had looked out the back door for signs of the intruders, had gone to the hall bathroom to check his own wounds, had washed his hands, had looked into the hall closet for medical supplies, had returned to Colette and checked her again, had admini- stered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on each victim, had checked for pulses at various points on both of his daughters' bodies, had collapsed to his hands and knees and possibly crawled for a time, had gone to the kitchen, and perhaps washed his hands at the kitchen sink.

MacDonald stated he had to get down on his hands and knees to catch his breath prior to mak- ing the second phone call to dispatch.

MacDonald claims the intruders had inflicted his chest wound during the fight, then he lay uncon- scious for some time.  Shortly after MPs and med- ics arrived, he claimed he had trouble breathing. He also claimed that during the checking of his family, he had to get down on his hands and knees at least twice, because he was having trouble breathing.

Claimed to have twice spent time on his hands and knees after the attacks, presumably trying to re- cover his equilibrium.  Also dropped both phones as he was calling for help, presumably due to his weakness and/or injuries after the attacks.

During the April 6, 1970, interview, claimed that he entered the kitchen only as far as the telephone.

During the Article 32 hearing, claimed that he was at the kitchen sink either before or after he used the kitchen phone.

Claimed he was "thinking more like a doctor" during the checking of his family's injuries; that he was attempting to help them.


























 

When MPs arrived, MacDonald was found lying be- side his wife, in a pose meant to suggest that he had fallen unconscious.  He was lying with his head on Colette's shoulder and one arm across Colette's chest, and his legs were fully outstretched.

When MPs arrived at the crime scene, MacDonald told them to check his children because "I heard my kids crying."

 

Claimed to have neither made nor received any telephone calls during the evening hours of Feb. 16 or during the early morning hours of Feb. 17.  He was also asked specifically if he had placed a call to Mrs. Kane, the wife of his former commanding officer.  He denied making such a call.

 

MacDonald implies that he was confused during the initial interviews at the hospital, due to the seda- tive medications he'd received.  At the grand jury on August 16, 1974, he was asked, "Well, did any- one that came to see you that first day, and I as- sume there were a number of people that came in that day, remark to you that you seemed to be a little bit confused?"  MacDonald replied, "Oh, a lot of people."

MacDonald at first claimed that before calling for help he had examined himself in the bathroom mirror, and "there wasn't even a cut or anything." Weeks later, he described quite a few "wounds," claiming they were "little" and "small" and even "small, small" wounds.  Over the years, the number and severity of his wounds has increased, even to the point where he has claimed he nearly died from them.











 

Jeffrey MacDonald claims that one of his wounds went down to the fascia.

 

MacDonald told CID investigators that his friend Ron Harrison brought champagne to MacDonald's hospital room because everyone was "down" and Harrison thought it might cheer them up.

Claimed on the Dick Cavett show (Dec. 15, 1970) that he was in intensive care for "several days."


 

MacDonald stated that he told his mother and Ron Harrison about what transpired the night of the murders.

Jeffrey MacDonald claimed that a suede coat be- longing to Colette MacDonald was missing from her personal effects.



 

After the murders, MacDonald demanded and con- tinued to demand that the CID return a sapphire ring to him.  MacDonald also implied that a heart- shaped ring was missing from his house, presum- ably trying to imply that it had been stolen from his house during the murders.

During the interview MacDonald gave to the CID in 1971, he claimed that none of his patients that he counseled was angry with him on the day of the murders.

Trying to show that the CID did a poor job of in- vestigating the murders, MacDonald claimed, "It is the most preposterous - they had no evidence that Ron Harrison was in my house...."

MacDonald claimed that the CID was so inept that they failed to find evidence that Colette's parents, the Kassabs, had been in his house.

MacDonald claimed that the CID failed to find evi- dence that MacDonald's mother, Perry (a.k.a. Dorothy) had been in his house.

MacDonald claimed that the CID failed to find evi- dence that MacDonald's brother, Jay, had been in his house.

After MPs arrived at the crime scene, a wallet was stolen from the living room by an ambulance driv- er, James Paulsen.  MacDonald has always used this incident as an example of the CID's incompe- tence in maintaining the crime scene.









 

Referring to errors made during the original investi- gation, Jeffrey MacDonald claims the CID investi- gation was incompetent.
 

At the Grand Jury, MacDonald claimed that the FBI's forensic analysis was "ridiculous" and that, "at this point," the FBI could "do anything they want."

On August 23, 1979, MacDonald was asked at trial why he did not return to his home after he was released from the hospital.  He replied, "Well, num- ber one, I wouldn't have returned to the home." "Why not?" he was asked.  He replied, "I wouldn't want to return to that scene.  I wouldn't want to live in the house again.  And, number two, it was apparently still being processed."
 

At the 1974 grand jury, Woerheide referred to a letter MacDonald had written in November 1971, and asked "You talked in the letter about writing a book.  At that time were you involved in the writ- ing of a book?"  MacDonald replied, "...All these supposedly helpful friends of mine wanted me to write a book.  I didn't want to write a book.  So you keep putting them off, you know?"

During the Article 32, MacDonald drew a diagram for Newsday, showing the interior of 544 Castle Drive, with stick figures to represent himself on the couch and the bodies of his wife and children in the locations in which he said found them. "In his handwriting there were identifications of the various rooms, such as 'Kristy's,' 'Kim's,' 'L.R.'"

When asked during the 1974 grand jury proceed- ing, "Was there a girl who would come in and have sexual relationships with you during the period that you were in custody in your BOQ?" MacDonald re- plied, "No."



 

On February 17, 1973, in a telephone conversation taped by Freddy Kassab, Kassab told MacDonald that he had an affidavit from Linda Mathews, the girl with whom MacDonald had had sex while con- fined to the BOQ.
 

MacDonald claims that the the Army investigated him (1970 Article 32 hearing) and then exonerated him of any involvement in the murders.














 

Claimed in a Newsday article published Oct. 20, 1970, that "I plan to do a lot of writing and inves- tigating.  We hope to get either the appropriate civilian agency or to get our own investigators so we can find the real killers."
 

In November 1970 MacDonald told Freddy Kassab that he had tracked down and killed one of the intruders.  He claims that he told Freddy this be- cause he was "desperately to provide some relief" to the Kassabs.
 

At the grand jury in 1974, MacDonald claimed "And I went to the justice department in December [1970] and banged on a desk, and they even re- fused to interview me.  I had a congressman with me.  Okay, they wouldn't even talk to me; they wouldn't even give me the courtesy of saying hel-lo.  It was by a phone from down the hall.  They rejected any information we could give them." Woerheide then asked, "You went to the Depart- ment of Justice in Washington, D.C.?"  MacDonald replied, "That is correct."  Woerheide said, "Who was the congressman?"  MacDonald replied, "Con- gressman Allen [Allard] Lowenstein."

Jeffrey MacDonald claims that his in-laws, Freddy and Mildred Kassab, who had previously supported him, turned against him because he decided to move to California and start a new life after the murders.

MacDonald claimed that in the years after the 1970 Article 32 military hearing, his financial re- sources were drained and he was "curtailed in his associations or subjected to public obloquy."

Per Jeffrey MacDonald's website (quote copied June 9, 2004): "There were no scratch or gouge marks found on Jeffrey MacDonald."


























 

Jeffrey MacDonald's defense team claimed that a piece of skin found in Colette's fingernail scrapings may have proven him innocent.



 

Sometime between February 28, 1970, and De- cember 19, 1970, as the government concedes, the piece of skin, if there was one, was lost. MacDonald claimed that his due process rights were violated because the government lost valua- ble evidence.






 

MacDonald alleged that the failure to disclose Agent Ivory's statements relating to the skin amounted to suppression.


 

MacDonald claimed that his defense was hampered because he did not have access to FBI Agent Tool's February 21, 1970, report of the briefing of the FBI by the CID, regarding the alleged existence of a "half-filled bloody syringe," and that he had discovered this document years after trial, through the FOIA.

MacDonald contended that the government sup- pressed the existence of a half-filled bloody sy- ringe which could have proved that he did not commit the murders.






 

Jeffrey MacDonald claims that Dr. Jacobson testi- fied at trial that "he did not believe that the stab wound in [MacDonald's] lung was self-inflicted."
 

Regarding the only serious wound MacDonald re- ceived on the night of February 16-17, 1970, a tiny, neat, "clean" 1-cm. chest wound, MacDonald claims that this wound was not self-inflicted.

 

Jeffrey MacDonald and his followers claim that unidentified female hairs found in Kimberley's and Kristen's hands prove the existence of outside assailants.




 

Regarding testing of the hairs found under the children's fingernails, the MacDonald camp often refers to Janice Glisson's words that "they will not be reported by me."
 

Through the plastic windows of his jeep on the rainy morning of Feb. 17, MP Kenneth Mica claims to have seen a female in a raincoat and rain hat by a phone booth on his way to the crime scene.
She was alone.
 

Per Jeffrey MacDonald's website (quote copied June 9, 2004): "[Helena Stoeckley] was seen by military police, standing at a street corner on post, as they rushed to the crime scene."
 

MacDonald claims that "...the 'cult' members remained together immediately after the murders..."

The MacDonald camp claimed that during the 1970 Article 32 military hearing, Kenneth Mica was ordered by Captain Somers not to say anything about the girl Mica had allegedly seen on the street corner.

Jeffrey MacDonald claimed that Helena Stoeckley and her friends committed the murders.  Per Mac- Donald's website: "Helena Stoeckley made state- ments that suggested she had been involved in the murders."









 

MacDonald claims that the defense located Helena Stoeckley during the trial.

 

MacDonald claimed that the crimes were commit- ted by Stoeckley and several other intruders who were apparently seeking drugs.

During the Larry King Live interview in 2003, Mac- Donald claimed that the intruders "were so high on five different drugs, they were on barbiturates, they were on LSD, they were on heroine, they were on opium and they were on -- one more, which escapes me at the moment."

On August 17, 1979, MacDonald gave a statement to the press.  As reported in the Raleigh Observer on August 18, "MacDonald told reporters outside the courtroom that he recognized Miss Stoeckley - 'The voice as much as the face' - as one of the intruders who bludgeoned and stabbed his family and attacked him on that night."

Jeffrey MacDonald claims that Helena Stoeckley wore a white or oyster colored floppy hat during the murders.







 

Attempting to bolster his argument about the fe- male intruder's boots, Jeffrey MacDonald claimed that in early 1971, by way of Mrs. Garcia, the CID came into possession of bloody clothes and beige boots belonging either to Helena Stoeckley or to Cathy Perry Williams.  MacDonald alleged that the government never disclosed any information re- garding the bloody clothes and boots to the de- fense team.








 

Jeffrey MacDonald has long proclaimed that saran fibers found at the crime scene came from Helena Stoeckley's blonde wig.  During the Oct. 24, 2003, Larry King Live interview, MacDonald said, "And the government record shows the evidence.  It shows wig fibers from Helena Stoeckley's wig."





 

MacDonald has consistently maintained that a hair he described as being clutched in Colette's hand could only have come from her murderer.

During the Oct. 24, 2003, Larry King Live interview, MacDonald said, "And the government record shows the evidence...It shows brown hair in my wife's hand that was--secretly tried to match to me."

The Case Facts section of Jeffrey MacDonald's website states: "A brown hair was found clutched in Colette's hand.  Greg Mitchell had brown hair (Jeffrey's was blonde).  Despite the discrepency in color, the CID lab tried to source the hair to Jeffrey anyway, but failed."

 

On May 18, 1995, MacDonald wrote that when the CID was plucking him for hair samples, William Ivory was smirking.

MacDonald thoroughly chastised the CID for not obtaining hair samples from the victims.
 

MacDonald claims that Greg Mitchell was one of the "intruders" who attacked him in the living room.











 

MacDonald claims that Stoeckley's description of the rocking horse in Kristen's room is something she would only know about if she had been pres- ent during the murders.


 

Per MacDonald's website (2003), "Helena Stoeckley identified and described items within the MacDon- ald home in great detail, including a jewelry box found in the master bedroom..."

In the years since the murders, rumors have con- tinued to circulate that one or more "bloody fingerprints" were found on the jewelry box.

 

As late as May 2005, in his submission to the parole board, MacDonald still claimed that with regard to fibers found on the murder club, "in 1989 these fibers were examined again by the govern- ment and found to be black wool, not blue cotton from Jeff MacDonald's pajama top, as stated at trial to the jury."

 

In October 1980 Helena Stoeckley gave a signed "confession" to Ted Gunderson and P. E. Beasley.
Jeffrey MacDonald claims that because Stoeckley was described as being a "reliable" police informant her "confession" should also be considered to be reliable.

Among other statements that were found not to match MacDonald's accounts or the physical evi- dence, Helena Stoeckley said that she and her friends forced MacDonald to make a phone call to try to obtain drugs.  When confronted with the fact that his version and Stoeckley's version of events were different, MacDonald claimed retro- grade amnesia.

MacDonald claims that during a conversation with Bryant and Norma Lane, Greg Mitchell confessed to the murders of Colette, Kimberley and Kristen.





 

To support his claim of "intruders," MacDonald relies on Helena Stoeckley's claim that she was with Greg Mitchell on the night of the murders.
 

Referring to the supposed "intruders" Helena Stoeckley and Greg Mitchell, during the Larry King Live show MacDonald said, "The other two are dead.  They died mysteriously in the 80's, both of them within two weeks of having been visited by the FBI."
 

Referring to Cathy Perry, one of the supposed "intruders," during the Larry King Live show Mac- Donald said, "[Cathy Perry] is living in Florida.  She has been interviewed several times by the FBI. She never recanted the confession."

 

Almost 10 years after the murders, James Milne, who had lived within 100 yards of Castle Drive, testified at trial that at about midnight on Monday, February 16, he had seen two white men and one white woman with long blonde hair, all wearing sheets and all carrying candles, walking past his doorway toward Castle Drive.  He also testified that the woman "had very beautiful hair."

The New York Four were roommates of Jeff's brother during the summer of 1969 and Jeff visited his brother during that time period.  During his visit Jeff went out with his brother to the Shortstop Bar in Long Island and a number of bar patrons wit- nessed Jeff in the presence of individuals who matched the descriptions of the New York Four.

All of the New York Four had ironclad alibis for their whereabouts on the night of the murders. Their descriptions, however, matched virtually identically with the descriptions MacDonald had provided of the "intruders."

During an interview with Dr. Brussel on August 13, 1979, MacDonald was asked "How many of [your] friends and neighbors saw these people enter the apartment?"  MacDonald answered, "Several."

MacDonald implies that he was prevented from inspecting the crime scene.  During the 2003 Larry King Live interview, he said that the apartment "was kept for about 15 years, and then when we wanted entry, when the defense finally was close to getting an order from a judge to go into that apartment, they wrecked it."

During the grand jury proceeding, Woerheide asked MacDonald about the psychological exam he had been given, asking how long it lasted: "Could it have been more than three days?"  MacDonald replied, "I would say that would be the upper limit. It was parts of two or three days."

MacDonald claimed that the defense was unaware at the time of the 1979 trial of Dr. Brussel's prior consultation with the CID.
 

During the 1974 grand jury proceeding, Woerheide asked MacDonald whether he was interviewed by anyone else in April 1970 when he went to Phila- delphia: "Specifically, were you given a polygraph test?"  MacDonald replied, "We had some discus- sion about it, but the answer is no."








 

In March, 1971, MacDonald was asked by investi- gators if he would take a sodium amytal exam.

During the grand jury proceedings, MacDonald was asked by Woerheide if he would submit to a sodium amytal exam.  Testimony was given that this exam could help him if he was innocent. 

Jeffrey MacDonald claims he was convicted of triple homicide in 1979 because of his failure to explain the physical evidence.






 

Per Jeffrey MacDonald's website (e-mail): "Dr. MacDonald voluntarily surrendered his license...His license was not revoked...the California licensing board...did not revoke his license, and, upon the surrender of the license, wrote to say the door would be open for his eventual release and return to medicine...Dr. MacDonald surrendered his li- cense in deference to the sentence he was fac- ing..."
 

Per Jeffrey MacDonald's website (e-mail): "Dr. MacDonald was...never disciplined or investigated by the Medical Board."




 

Per Jeffrey MacDonald's website (quote copied June 9, 2004): "...thousands of pages of govern- ment reports...prove the existence of outside assailants..."

Jeffrey MacDonald claimed during the 60 Minutes interview (Sept. 18, 1983) that he "never physi- cally assaulted someone in my life, and certainly not my wife and my two children."























 

In the article he wrote for Soldier of Fortune mag- azine ("Adrift In The American Gulag") in July 2000, MacDonald claims that with regard to the DNA testing, prosecutor Brian Murtagh "has delayed and obstructed these tests..."

Claimed to have been completely satisfied and happy in his marriage and to have loved his family.


















 

CONTRADICTIONS

Colette (who was five months pregnant), Kimberley and Kristen MacDonald were brutally murdered, suffering many horrific wounds from a club, icepick and knife.

This is a false statement according to Fatal Vision, p. 616.

This is a false statement according to Fatal Vision, p. 616.
 

The Saratoga racetrack is open only during August when Skidmore is not.
 

There was only a single weekend between the completion of his internship and his reporting to Ft. Sam Houston.  Jeffrey MacDonald spent this week- end moving Colette and the children from the Ber- genfield apartment to Patchogue.

The Kassabs did not move to the Washington Square apartment until the following year.

Colette did not date Jeffrey MacDonald at all dur- ing his freshman year at Princeton.  She was see- ing Dean Chamberlain during this time.

MacDonald's mother testified at the grand jury that during his freshman year in college Jay had apparently begun to use amphetamines to curb his appetite, and said that "I learned later from Jeff and Judy both that [Jay] was probably taking much too much Dexedrine and that they were both aware of it..."

Contrary to his story on the tape, on the night before his wedding he had actually been back in Patchogue, putting a red-and-black negligee on the front seat of Carol Larson's (aka Penny Wells's) car.


 

During the Article 32 hearing in 1970, MacDonald said, "I had had a herniated lumbar disk, playing football, and I told less than the truth on my Army physical."

Years earlier, on a tape sent to Joe McGinniss, MacDonald told a different story: "...I remember I called Colette later that night or the next day and sort of announced rather than asked that I'd been offered this chance to go airborne and go to para- trooper school and join the Green Berets.  And I remember there was a little silence at the other end of the phone...I remember there was a little silence and then Colette's next question was, 'Well, why in the world would you want to jump out of airplanes and be a Green Beret?'...Colette was uncomfortable about my becoming a Green Beret..."

Judith DeWitt, the WAC with whom MacDonald had "spent some time," told investigators that she and MacDonald had been nude together and fondled one another.

Mrs. Kalin, the next-door neighbor, told investiga- tors that probably in December 1969, Colette asked if Mrs. Kalin had heard her screaming at MacDonald.  Mrs. Kalin replied that she hadn’t, and Colette went on to explain that MacDonald had bought an expensive color TV set/stereo combina- tion and related that Colette said, "I just blew up."

On February 17, told CID investigators that on February 16 he had arrived home between 5:00 and 5:30 p.m.

In the detailed account MacDonald prepared at the request of his military attorney in early April 1970, MacDonald wrote, "We ate dinner together at 5:45 p.m. (all 4)."

During the Larry King Live interview on October 24, 2003, MacDonald said, "I came home at 5:00 o'clock."

On February 19, 1970, MacDonald told a different story, claiming that he had fed the pony and then had gone home.  He told FBI Agent Robert Caverly that he "played basketball until approximately 4:45 or 5:00 p.m.  He left the gymnasium and went to feed his horse which is on a--behind a store locat- ed on Bragg Boulevard in Fayetteville and arrived home between 5:00 and 5:30 p.m."

On February 20, 1970, MacDonald told CID investi- gators that after work and playing basketball, he returned to his residence, showered and ate the evening meal.  No reference at all to the pony was made.

During the interview on April 6, 1970, MacDonald said nothing at all about feeding the pony.

Elizabeth Ramage, who was in the same child psy- chology class as Colette MacDonald, stated that Colette picked her up at her residence on the evening of February 16, 1970 at about 6:10-6:15 p.m. and they drove to their evening class.

Colette was taking a child psychology class, and on a calendar in the MacDonald kitchen she had written a notation of "Psych" for the date of Feb- ruary 16.  On April 6, 1970, MacDonald told CID investigators Grebner, Ivory and Shaw that Colette was taking a class in "something literature."
 

Contrary to MacDonald's assertion, Colette appar- ently had not been pleased about the supposed trip.  She mentioned her apprehensiveness to a Long Island friend in January 1970, and to a friend who had begun to accompany her to her child psychology class in early February, who told investigators that Colette had said she didn't like being away from MacDonald, and "sort of dreaded the thought of being separated again."

Two days before the murders, Mildred Kassab spoke with her daughter on the telephone and Colette told her that she was not doing very well and was upset because her husband was going to be out of the country when their third child was born.  She told her mother that she would "like to come home."

On August 22, 1979, Jeffrey MacDonald's mother testified at trial that with regard to the alleged trip to Russia, "Well, [Colette] was upset because it would mean a separation again."

Sherridale Morgan, the boxing coach, told CID investigators that no trip to Russia had ever been planned or even discussed.

Mildred Kassab testified at trial that Colette told her she was concerned because she did not have a doctor.

Rosalie Edwards, a neighbor of the MacDonald's who lived about 50 feet from the MacDonald apartment, stated that Kristen came to visit her on the evening of the 16th and stayed until past 7:00 pm and that this was normal for her to do.

During the Larry King Live interview on Oct. 24, 2003, MacDonald said, "My wife came home about 9:00 o'clock..."

During the Larry King Live interview, MacDonald said, "And Colette went to bed about 11:00
o'clock."

Mrs. Kalin, the next-door neighbor, testified during the 1974 grand jury proceeding that in the early morning hours of February 17, 1970, "I came out of a deep sleep and heard Colette's voice...and it woke me up.  The voice I heard was mad enough to kill."  She was not able to distinguish the words, but said, "I got the gist of it, and I would swear on the Bible that it - that what - what it was like she was saying was, 'What do you think I'm going to be doing, while you are doing all of this?  Do you think I am going to be standing here doing noth- ing?  If you touch one hair of those children's head or my head, I'll kill you!'" 

Told CID investigators on February 17 that he put Kristen in the bed with Colette when Colette re- tired at 11:30 p.m.


 

The urine stain on the master bedroom sheet was shown to be Kimberley's urine, not Kristen's.

Later said that Kristen was not that wet, that there was just a small amount of urine on her pants.

No urine was found on MacDonald's pajama top.
 

Told CID investigators on April 6, 1970, that with regard to Kristen's bedwetting, "This happened all the time."

The babysitter testified that Kristen "would wet the bed pretty often." 

A nurse with whom MacDonald had had intimate relations told investigators that MacDonald had told her that Kimberley suffered from enuresis (bedwetting).

During the 1979 hypnosis session, MacDonald said, "I'm reading--It's Mickey Spillane--It's almost 2--2 am--and I turned the FM off--Get ready for bed..."

During the Larry King Live interview on Oct. 24, 2003, he said, "And when I went up to go to bed somewhere probably around 12:30 or 1:00..." 

During the 1974 grand jury proceeding, Woerheide said, "Well, if you had the rubber gloves on while you were doing the dishes, how come some fin- gerprints were found on the dishes."  MacDonald replied, "I have no idea."  Woerheide said, "Your fingerprints."  MacDonald replied, "I didn't say I had them on.  You keep asking me if I had them on.  I said I don't know."



 

CID Investigator William Ivory said, "The interview was tape recorded and then transcribed.  [Mac- Donald] later made an issue about not knowing that it was being taped, but the machine was right by his elbow and he saw Joe Grebner turn it on."

CID Investigator William Ivory said, "The only light that was on Joe's desk was an old desk light with a green shade that wasn't even turned on."

Grebner read MacDonald his rights prior to the interview, Grebner's voice was apparantly even and controlled, and Grebner's immediate response to Jeff's bluster was not that he had to find a polygraph operator.  Grebner actually explained the polygraph process to MacDonald and told him that if he passed it, he would shake his hand, and tell him that he was sorry he bothered him.

Per Kassab's notes: "Jeff normally slept with a pil- low.  Why did he not have one on the living room couch?"

MacDonald's response when questioned by Grebner on April 6 about where the attack had actually taken place was hesitant.  He replied, "Right - right at the end - right at the, ah, foot of the couch."

Three times during the April 6, 1970, interview, MacDonald used the word "bed" when he appar- ently meant to say "couch."

Twice during the Article 32 hearing MacDonald had to correct himself after he said "bed" instead of "couch."

During the 1974 grand jury proceeding, Mildred Kassab testified that when MacDonald described the attack to her, he told her that "when he pitched forward off the end of the sofa, he re- ferred to it as the bed through most of the time when he spoke of it..."

MacDonald says he may have used a leopard-print sofa pillow as a bed pillow. The sofa pillow was of the type that held impressions, but no impressions were found on it.

During questioning at the grand jury, MacDonald claimed that he and Colette didn't have "specific sides" of the bed.

Told the hospital orderly that the "children were saying, 'Daddy, Daddy'."

Told CID investigators on Feb. 18, 1970 that he heard both children saying, 'Daddy, daddy, daddy!' repeatedly.

At the time he claims he heard these cries, the weapons with which Colette and Kimberley were attacked were, according to MacDonald, being used against him in the living room.

With at least four intruders in the living room, and at least two others in the bedrooms who were supposedly attacking Colette, Kim and Kristen, this means a minimum of ten people were in the apartment during the attack.  Yet aside from an overturned coffee table, an overturned flower pot, Jeffrey MacDonald's eyeglasses under the draper- ies, and a bedroom lampshade slightly askew, nothing was disturbed in this small apartment.

No conclusive physical or circumstantial evidence of any intruders was ever found in the apartment.

Physician's assistant Michael Newman testified at the 1970 Article 32 hearing that MacDonald had told him "that there were two colored males, one white male and one white female."

SGT Kenneth Gillespie, a medical corpsman on duty at the hospital, furnished a written statement to the CID stating that he noted that "while he was in Jeffrey MacDonald's company he heard him say that his assailants were two Negro males, one male Caucasian and one female Caucasian..."

SSG Wallace Henniger, another medical corpsman on duty at the hospital, furnished a written state- ment to the CID which said that MacDonald told him "that in addition to the female there were two Negro males and a male Caucasian..."

On February 18, 1970, MacDonald told the CID investigators that he did not remember seeing all four assailants together.

MP Richard Tevere, the first person to enter the apartment, was questioned at the 1979 trial about MacDonald's description of the intruders.  Black- burn said, "...You have told us both this morning and this afternoon that Dr. MacDonald said that the attacks on himself and on his family were com- mitted by a group of hippies; is that right?"  Te- vere replied, "Yes, sir."  Blackburn asked, "Now are those your words describing what Dr. MacDonald said; in other words, is that your word, 'hippie,' or is that Dr. MacDonald's word, 'hippie'?"  Tevere replied, "It was Dr. MacDonald's word."

MacDonald told the hospital orderly that the intruders wore "hippie-style" clothing.

SSG Wallace Henniger, a medical corpsman on duty at the hospital, furnished a written statement to the CID which said that MacDonald told him "that in addition to the female there were two Negro males and a male Caucasian and all were dressed in hippie clothes."

Ron Harrison, MacDonald's best friend, told the CID that when he visited MacDonald in the hospital on the morning of February 17, 1970, MacDonald re- ferred to the alleged intruders as "hippies."

An FBI report states that "Capt. MacDonald... ad- vised crime committed by four 'hippies'..."

During the grand jury, Woerheide said to Dr. Sa- doff, "...[Jeffrey MacDonald] used the term hippies or longhairs...Did he interject the word hippie or did you interject the word hippie?"  Dr. Sadoff re- plied, "Those are his words."

Told MPs at the scene that the blonde female was holding a candle.

Told an orderly at the hospital that the female was carrying a candle.

Told surgical resident Benjamin Klein at the hospital that the blonde female was holding a candle.

Told Dr. Jacobson that he remembered seeing a female who was holding a candle.

Told Mildred Kassab (Colette's mother) at the hos- pital on February 17 that "when he pitched forth off of the sofa he saw this woman carrying a can- dle..."

Told Ron Harrison at the hospital on February 17 that the "girl was carrying a candle."

Told CID investigators on February 17 that the fe- male was holding a lit candle in her hands in front of her body.

During the cross examination of CID Chemist Dillard Browning at trial, the defense introduced testi- mony that wax was found in three locations. There is no evidence to support MacDonald’s embellish- ment that the wax was "fresh."

MacDonald has never described the female intruder as carrying three different candles, nor did he ever say any of the male intruders held candles.

In the same December 2005 motion, MacDonald admits the fact that the unsourced candle wax came from three different candles.

If MacDonald is trying to claim that Helena Stoeck- ley carried three candles, or that any of the male "intruders" carried candles, then that would be completely at odds with Stoeckley's statement that "I was the only person who carried a candle."

No wax trails from any dripping candles were found in the apartment.

Colette was fond of candles, and testimony was given that during the crime scene investigation candles were found in nearly every room of the house.

It can be assumed that candle stubs from candles the MacDonalds burned were thrown out, which of course precludes them from being matched to wax found in the apartment after the murders.

The wax on the coffee table was found to be old and filled with household debris.

The wax in Kimberley's room was found to be con- sistent with that of birthday candles.

When questioned by investigators on the day of the murders, MacDonald said that the female in- truder wore brown or black fake leather boots.

During the 1970 Article 32 military hearing, when asked about the color of the boots, MacDonald said his initial impression was that they were light brown.

On Feb. 19, 1971, Kearns questioned MacDonald about the color of the boots.  MacDonald said he didn't know what color they were.  Asked again what color the boots were, MacDonald said, "I was under the impression that they were darker red than lighter, the boots."

During the Larry King Live interview on October 24, 2003 (long after MacDonald had learned that the boots the CID had were beige), MacDonald de- scribed the boots: "They were light in color..."

According to the testimony of the first people to enter the house no puddles nor water spots nor any other indications of wet-footed intruders were found anywhere in the apartment.

During the Pruett and Kearns interview on February 19, 1971, Jeffrey MacDonald was asked about the female intruder's boots.  He said, "It could have been wet or it could have been the vinyl-type thing.  That was just again an instantaneous im- pression, similar with the candle thing.  I don't know if they were wet."

The word "groovy" was an old word at this time, very outdated and not likely to have been used.

Persons under the influence of LSD would not par- take in such continued deliberate strenuous activ- ity and would be lethargic.

Per the words of a newspaper reporter who cov- ered the Article 32 hearing, "four people who are doing acid couldn't organize a trip to the toilet, let alone organize a murder of three people."

None of the other intruders spoke at all, or at least MacDonald has never mentioned any words spoken by any of them.

Assuming the intruder was an average height of 5' 10", the living room ceiling was too low for the attacker to have raised a 31" club to strike Mac- Donald.

The small, 1-cm. stab wound was described as be- ing a "neat, clean" incision, not the type of wound likely to have been inflicted during the frenzy of a struggle.

Jeffrey MacDonald's pajama top contained no cuts which matched the wound which caused the pneumothorax.

Medical records support the fact that MacDonald did not have a hemopneumothorax.
 

The murder club was a 1-½" x 1-½" piece of wood which came from the MacDonald apartment.  De- spite the presence of wood splinters from the club which were found in all three bedrooms (including Kristen's, even though she had not been attacked with the club), no splinters were found where MacDonald said he was attacked.

This piece of wood was found to be identical in type, grain, and annual growth rings to a bed slat in the south (Kimberley's) bedroom.  It was also found to bear paint identical in chemical composi- tion to paint on MacDonald's sidewalk, bookshelves and other items in the apartment.

Six weeks later, during the April 6 interview, Mac- Donald claimed that his pajama top actually had became wrapped around his wrists at the start of the struggle, while he was on the sofa, and that he used the top as a shield to fend off blows.



 

Fragments of a rubber glove were found in the master bedroom, and these fragments were found to be of the same composition as the surgical gloves which were kept in a lower kitchen cabinet (the cabinet in front of which Jeffrey MacDonald's blood type was found).  One fragment had been used to write the word "PIG" on the headboard of the master bedroom bed.  A total of five whole gloves were found: two were dishwashing gloves, and the other three were cloth oven mitts (potholder-type gloves).

On February 17, 1970, MacDonald told Agent Caverly that the black male intruder's hands were wet and slippery.

Told Dr. Sadoff that his pajama top was ripped over his head as he struggled with intruders on the sofa.

Later claimed no knowledge of when his pajama top was torn.

The pajama top was torn on the left shoulder and was ripped down the front seam, as though some- one had reached out and torn it as MacDonald was standing and spinning away.

According to his story, no intruders were behind him as he was being attacked.

No fibers from the pajama top were found where MacDonald claims to have been attacked.

None of Jeffrey MacDonald's or anyone else's blood was found at the spot where he was attacked.

Type B blood (Jeffrey MacDonald's blood type) was found in front of the kitchen sink, the 13th stop in MacDonald's "rounds" while checking his family.  No blood of any type was found where he says he was stabbed, yet his blood was found in the kitch- en, which was the last place he went before going back into the master bedroom for the last time.

During Jeffrey MacDonald's 1979 hypnosis session, he said that "I saw a blade," and that he saw this before he fell off the couch.

 

A cut was found in the webbing of one hand. MacDonald testified at his 1979 trial that he had no other wounds on his hands, wrists or forearms.

MacDonald claimed that upon awakening in the hallway, he made his way to the master bedroom where Colette lay, removing the pajama top from his wrists as he entered the master bedroom.  He says that at some point afterwards, he put the pajama top on Colette to keep her warm.  When found, the left sleeve of the pajama top was not on Colette's body, but was trailing off to one side. The sleeve had no ice pick holes in it.

The holes in the pajama top were perfectly round, with no tearing at the edges, indicating that the holes were made while the top was stationary.

Jeffrey MacDonald had no wounds in his back.

 

On Feb. 18, 1970, told CID investigators that he was fighting with two male assailants.

The emergency room orderly and the chief of sur- gery both testified that Jeffrey MacDonald had no icepick wounds on his body.

Staff surgeon Merrill Bronstein testified that when Jeffrey MacDonald’s pajamas were removed he examined MacDonald "from head to toe," and that MacDonald "absolutely did not have any icepick wounds anywhere."

MacDonald did not say anything about having re- ceived eight or ten icepick wounds in his abdomen until the Article 32 hearing in the summer of 1970.

The afghan was found on the sofa when investiga- tors arrived.

Despite the seriousness of what was happening to him, he told Dr. Sadoff that everything went "funny," and that he was laughing as he fell off the couch.

Merrill Bronstein, staff surgeon who attended Mac- Donald, testified at trial that MacDonald had told him the female intruder had long, light brown hair.

According to MacDonald’s accounts, the female he saw was facing him at all times and didn't move, so he would not have been able to see that her hair came to the middle of her back.

At the grand jury on August 15, 1974, MacDonald testified as to his recollection of the female intrud- er: "It was in the midst of a dark room and over a period of ten to twenty to thirty seconds, and I never really saw her."

Despite many times having described this intruder as being female, he told Dr. Sadoff that the female intruder could have been a long-haired male.

Both of Colette's arms were broken in her attempt to defend herself, and Kristen also had at least one defensive wound, down to the bone of a fin- ger.  Yet two pieces of fabric supposedly prevent- ed MacDonald from fighting back.

Told CID investigators on February 17, 1970, that he noticed that one of the assailants had a knife or icepick while he was struggling with the three male assailants in the hallway.

During the April 6, 1970 interview, MacDonald said "We were kind of struggling in the hallway right there at the end of the couch..."

 

If MacDonald had been knocked unconscious, he would have little to no memory of the events pre- ceding the blow that rendered him unconscious. Also, depending upon long he was unconscious, his memory of events afterward would also be im- paired.

Despite many tellings of his various accounts of the night of the murders, MacDonald has never de- scribed falling upon any coats or clothing.

Despite his account that he fought with intruders in the hallway, the crime scene photograph shows that the clothing does not appear to have been disturbed.

MacDonald later seems to have recollection that incidents took place in about half an hour, saying, "I wish that I had served my country in a combat zone rather than on Fort Bragg.  Maybe I would have served the twelve months in a combat zone and come out a lot better than a half hour or whatever it was in, uh, 544 Castle Drive with at least four intruders."

The babysitter claims she did use the icepick to aid in removing popsicles and other treats from the freezer, for the children.

Lt. Harrison, Jeffrey MacDonald's best friend, said that during a Thanksgiving visit, MacDonald asked, "Where's the icepick?" and that MacDonald even attempted to look for it in an outside storage shed.

Mildred Kassab (Colette's mother) saw an icepick in the apartment and used it during their Christmas 1969 visit.

CID agent William Ivory reported on Dec. 17, 1971, that "Jeffrey MacDonald, when initially interviewed by a CID and an FBI agent, stated that he had an icepick in the house..."

MacDonald very quickly dropped the references to "gurgling" from his accounts of the murders, and never mentioned it again.  Subsequent accounts reflect his statements that the house was silent when he woke.







 

During the Article 32 military hearing, CID investi- gator Robert Shaw was asked about the floors and the condition of the hallway floor.  He testified that "...it was dirty, it was dusty.  There were some minute spots that I could see with my flash- light.  I didn't know what they were.  I could tell they weren't waxed or that sort of thing."

During the April 6, 1970, interview, Shaw said, "You said when you woke up you could see your wife."  MacDonald said, "Well, I could see - yeah."  Shaw asked, "You could see in there?"  MacDonald replied, "Right."  Shaw said, "You could see your wife.  Was that because the light was on in there?"  MacDonald replied, "Well, I - I didn't say that I could see my wife when I woke up."

During the same interview, MacDonald seems to have a different idea about where Colette was when he found her (and believed her to be dead). Shaw asked MacDonald, "Did you try to move her any place?"  MacDonald replied, "Geez, I don't know sir.  I don't think so.  I mean maybe.  There was a green chair there.  Maybe she was leaning against it."

There were 10 blood stains from Colette that were on Jeff's pajama top before it was torn.  Six stains were located on the pajama top pocket which was torn from the jacket and ended up at Colette's feet.  The remaining four stains were located on the left front seam, left shoulder, left sleeve, and left cuff of Jeffrey MacDonald's pajama top.

15 entangled fibers were found under that flipped up portion of the rug. The fibers consisted of 7 pajama fibers and 8 carpet fibers. This indicates that a person wearing a blue pajama top grappled with someone in the master bedroom near the flipped up rug which resulted in fibers becoming entangled.

Colette's blood was found on the face of the pock- et in six locations, but that portion of the pocket was found on an unbloodied section of a throw rug at Colette's feet.  The six stains did not soak through the double layer of the pocket, indicating that Colette's blood was on the pocket before it was torn from the jacket.

Fibers from Jeffrey MacDonald's pajamas were found in all three bedrooms, including underneath the headboard of the master bedroom bed (where the word "PIG" had been written in blood), and underneath the covers of the children's beds.

22 fibers from Jeffrey MacDonald's pajamas were found on top of the bed, and multiple fibers from his pajamas were found on the floor at the foot of the bed.

The pajama bottoms were torn along the seam in the crotch area.  Had they shed, they would have shed sewing threads, not fabric fibers.

MacDonald was asked at trial if he had at any time gotten onto the bed with Kim.  He said he had not done so.

When questioned on April 6, 1970, MacDonald agreed with Grebner, Ivory and Shaw that hippies would not have moved the bodies.

If, despite her severe injuries, Colette managed to make her way to the master bedroom after the attack, it is not logical that she would have landed face up when she fell.

Bloody imprints from Colette's and MacDonald's pa- jamas were found on the sheet, as well as bloody handprints, a chin imprint and the bloody imprint of what appeared to be a bare left shoulder.  This indicates that these stains were placed on the sheet at the same time and that Colette was wrapped in the sheet by someone who was wear- ing Jeffrey MacDonald's bloody pajama top.

The defense’s expert witness, Dr. Thornton, agreed with the prosecution that the imprints of MacDonald’s bloody pajama cuffs were on the sheet.

In the wadded-up master bedroom bedspread a blue seam thread matched to Jeffrey MacDonald's pajamas was found entwined around a bloody hair of Colette's.

In Dr. Wright’s declaration he stated that "In ana- lyzing the severe blow to Colette MacDonald’s head, the handedness of the person cannot be determined with certainty.  Individuals intoxicated with psychomimetic drugs or enraged by their wife cannot be presumed to strike with their handed side.  Therefore, while perhaps slightly more often forceful blows delivered from a deceased’s right to left are delivered by left handed folk (adjusting for their minority status); it is certainly not unusual to see such a blow delivered by a right handed indi- vidual."

The autopsy report for the children states: "...a determination as to whether the assailant(s) stab- bing the victims were right or left handed could not be made since the relative position of the as- sailant(s) to the victims is unknown.  The only one in which there is a suggestion of position is in Kim- berly where an impression is that the wounds ex- tended to the neck area.  If she was on the right side of the bed as found during the crime search and lying on her back, then it is suggested that these wounds were inflicted by a right handed person."

MacDonald says he believed Colette to be dead when he first saw her.  Why treat for "shock"?

When questioned six weeks after the murders during the April 6, 1970 interview, MacDonald said he didn't remember seeing the towel.

When asked during the 1970 Article 32 hearing if he had covered Colette with a towel, he replied, "No, sir, not that I remember."

When asked during Grand Jury testimony on Jan. 21, 1975 if he remembered seeing a towel, Mac- Donald replied, "No."

At trial on Aug. 24, 1979, MacDonald said he re- cognized the towel but didn't recall where it was, and didn't recall placing it on Colette's body.

Why didn't MacDonald allow the possiblity that "intruders" might have put it there?
 

MacDonald's use of the word "alleged" in describing the assailants is very strange.  Had there actually been intruders with whom he had struggled, why would he describe them as "alleged"?


 

As a doctor, MacDonald would have known that pulling a knife from a wound is directly contrary to accepted medical practices; the knife should re- main in place until X-rays can be done, since it provides a "plug" for the wound and also because it may be near vital organs which might be dam- aged should the weapon be removed.

No fingerprints were found on the Geneva Forge knife.

Forensic studies showed that it was exceedingly unlikely that any of the stab wounds in Colette's body were made with the Geneva Forge knife.

No holes in Colette's pajama top were made by the Geneva Forge knife.

The babysitter claims that she did see this knife in the kitchen drawer and also on top of the kitchen counter.  She recognized and remembered it be- cause of the bent blade.

When no pulse can be felt and a person is not breathing, cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (with chest compression) is performed.  On August 16, 1970, during the Article 32 hearing, MacDonald was asked why he took the knife out of his wife's chest, and now his explanation was that he per- formed cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, explaining: "...you have to compress the chest to give artifi- cial respiration and the knife was in the way."

Colette was found with her mouth closed (as were the children).

 

Told the hospital orderly that he woke up in the hallway, that he could see his wife, and that he crawled to her.

Said during the April 6 interview that after he woke up in the hallway, everything was quiet, and he started remembering that he heard screaming, "so I was - I really didn't even like look ahead.  I - I went into the bedroom and then I saw my wife."

Told his military lawyer on April 20 that he had fallen unconscious in the hallway and had then made his way from the master bedroom to Kimberley's room.

During the grand jury proceeding in 1974, when Woerheide asked how MacDonald's footprint, which was made in Type A blood (Colette's blood type) came to be exiting Kristen's room, MacDonald replied, "Well, I had been in the master bedroom first, Mr. Woerheide."

During the hypnosis session in July 1979, prior to the start of trial, MacDonald described going to Colette first, then Kimberley, then Kristen.

How could he have seen Kim's chest and neck when she was covered to the neck with a blanket?
 

Kimberley was found with her face pointing away from the window side of the bedroom and away from the side MacDonald said he approached in order to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

As a doctor, MacDonald would have known that mouth-to-mouth resuscitation would not be ef- fective on a child of Kimberley's size while the victim is on a soft surface; a hard surface is needed in order to have no resistance when pushing down on the chest.

Kimberley was found with her mouth closed, as were Colette and Kristen.

Kimberley had no chest wounds.

 

Kimberley's blood was found on the pajama top.

A fiber from Jeffrey MacDonald's pajamas was found underneath one of Kimberley's bed pillows; a 20½" fiber from his pajamas was found on top of the same pillow; and 14 of his pajama fibers were found underneath her bed covers.

A fiber from Jeffrey MacDonald's pajamas was found underneath Kristen's fingernail, and two of his pajama fibers were found underneath her bed covers.

Kristen's room received no light whatsoever from the hall bathroom or any other source, and was completely dark.  MacDonald could not have seen her covered in blood since there was no light at all in the room.

The footprint was exiting, not entering, Kristen's room.  No footprints leading into her room were found.


 

Study of MacDonald's footprint showed that he was carrying something relatively heavy as he exited Kristen's room.

Both children were found lying on their sides, with their mouths closed.  MacDonald could not have performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on them in the positions in which they were found.

The only disturbance in the living room where MacDonald claims to have struggled with several "intruders" was a coffee table lying on its edge, an overturned plant and pot which an ambulance driver set upright, and MacDonald's eyeglasses which were found face down on the floor under the living room window.  Investigators conducted numerous experiments and found that no matter how many times they kicked the coffee table it never landed on its edge; it was top-heavy and always landed on its top.

Under the edge of the coffee table, magazines were neatly stacked, including an Esquire maga- zine which had an imprint on it in the shape of a fingertip; the imprint was made in Colette's or Kimberley's blood.  As Grebner told MacDonald dur- ing the April 6, 1970 interview, "There's an Esquire magazine laying there.  There's a box laying of top of it. And on the edge, right underneath that box, there's blood on the edges of the pages.  This whole thing here was staged."

MacDonald's house slippers were found with the toe of one slipper perched on top of one of the coffee table legs.  It is not likely that during a violent struggle the slipper would have ended up in such a position.

The existence of Kimberley's blood and brain serum in the master bedroom showed that the most se- vere injuries had taken place there.  Yet she was found lying on her left side in her bed, with the massive injury to the left side of her head being against the pillow.  After being placed in her bed, she had been clubbed on the right side of her head and stabbed several times in the neck.  When found, she was covered with the bedclothes and had been tucked in with a "security blanket" she slept with habitually.

As CID Investigator William Ivory noted, "With Kristen, she was positioned as if she was sleeping, with a baby bottle next to her mouth.  With stab wounds to her front and back we know that could not be true."

Forensic studies showed that Colette had suffered the most massive injuries while in Kristen's room, and that she had been carried back to the master bedroom in an attempt to make it appear that she had been attacked there.

A small spot or speck of Type O blood (Kristen's blood type), was found on one lens of his glasses, which were lying face down on the living room floor under the draperies.

MacDonald was seen professionally by LTC (Dr.) F. W. Pierce, optometrist, on February 16, 1970, the afternoon before the murders.  If there had been blood on the lens, the optometrist would have noticed it, and since optometrists routinely clean lenses during an examination, it is highly unlikely that a speck of blood would have remained there after the office visit.

Per MacDonald's attorney, Bernie Segal, during closing arguments at trial: "If anything you have learned physically about Dr. MacDonald is what--is he a sloppy man?  Is he a man likely to walk around with a blood spot on his reading glasses having to read for several hours?  It does not seem to me that there is evidence to sustain such a conclusion."

If Segal was trying to imply that the blood on the glasses was put there as it was flung off of one of the "intruders" during the struggle on the sofa, why was no other blood of any type, cast-off or otherwise, found in that area?

No blood or fingerprints were found on the master bedroom phone or the kitchen phone.

 

Despite claiming to want to help his injured family, he disobeyed the operator and laid the phone down, fully aware that no help was on the way.

Kassab walked, then walked through more quickly, then ran through the actions MacDonald claimed to have performed.  It was not possible to have done all of those things within the two-minute timespan.








 

No bloody handprints or transfer stains from Mac- Donald's pajama bottoms were found on either the hallway or dining room floor.

He had a chest wound which impaired his lung but apparently didn't have any breathing problems while he was giving mouth-to-mouth to his family.




 

He had apparently recovered full equilibrium as MPs and medics arrived; he was alert and agitated, and strong enough to struggle with medics.

 

Type B blood (Jeffrey MacDonald's blood type) was found on the floor in front of the kitchen sink.

Per Kassab's notes: "If it was before, why was no blood found in the sink?  If after, why was there no blood on the phone?"

After discovering the bodies of his wife and chil- dren MacDonald says he continued to walk around the apartment, checking each member of his family again, checking his own injuries, washing his hands, etc., later stating no less than three times during the April 6 interview that all the while he was doing these things, he was fully aware that no help at all was on the way.

At no time after discovering the bodies of his wife and children did he yell or scream for help.  He said he did not want to bother the neighbors about it because he "didn't know them that well."

During the April 6 interview, MacDonald said alert- ing the neighbors would be futile.  "And I remember I--it flashed through my mind to go next door to my idiot neighbor, but I realized that would be futile, and--"

Ivory asked, "Why was that?"

MacDonald replied, "Well, our neighbors are--she's the kind of a lady that sits in her window with bi- noculars and watches the girl across the street undress and stuff like that, you know.  And she comes over and she says, 'Now, don't leave your windows open because there's a lot of rapists and people around here.'...So that's the type of person that--that, you know, I just--I said, 'Shall I go next door or should I try to call again?'  And I de- cided I should try to call again."

If MacDonald had fallen unconscious, his body would not have been capable of landing in such a position, particularly if he had been checking Colette (who lay prone on the floor) as he claimed to have been doing.

According to what he later told investigators, MacDonald knew by the time the MPs arrived that his children were dead because the had checked them for vital signs, had found none, and, being a doctor, it was clear to him that they were dead.

Mrs. Kane executed a written statement wherein she discussed certain details of a telephone call she received at her residence at about 3:20-3:30 a.m. on February 17.  She said the caller was a male but she could not identify his voice or recall his conversation due to her sleepy state.

Mrs. Kane's telephone number was found written on the wooden club used in the murders.

When asked "Would you tell us specifically who?" MacDonald's reply was, "I mean I just went--I really wasn't making any sense to anyone.  I was--it seemed to me that--no, I honestly can't say that someone said to me, gee, you sound con- fused.  Is that what you're asking for?"  Woerheide replied, "Yeah," whereupon MacDonald said, "I don't remember hearing those specific words from anyone."

MacDonald's vital signs were normal upon his ar- rival at the hospital.  Treatment consisted of a Vaseline gauze bandage for his chest wound, and some sedative medications.  A chest tube was inserted to treat a pneumothorax, a second chest tube was implemented due to a malfunction of the first one, and he made a quick and uneventful recovery.

A statement was made by medical corpsman Hen- ninger that MacDonald could have walked into the hospital and it wouldn't have done him any harm.

On the evening of February 17, the Kassabs visited MacDonald in the hospital and noted that he was sitting up and eating supper with apparent enjoy- ment.

Dr. Gemma testified that the only reason MacDonald stayed in the hospital after his chest tube was removed was because the investigation was continuing and MacDonald "had no real home to go to to relax and recuperate."

Dr. Gemma testified at trial that "There is no re- cord that this, in fact, is true...Dr. Jacobson, at least, in what I reviewed in the record, did not show that wound going to the fascia..."

Ron Harrison told CID investigators that MacDonald asked him to purchase a bottle of champagne for him.  Harrison obliged and delivered the champagne to MacDonald's hospital room.

Merrill Bronstein, staff surgeon who attended Mac- Donald, testified during the 1974 grand jury pro- ceeding that MacDonald was transferred out of intensive care the day after arriving at the hospi- tal.

MacDonald admitted that his mother commented to him that there were differences between the story told to her and the story he had told to Harrison.

On May 19, 1971, a re-examination of the crime scene was accomplished.  During this activity, a dry cleaning receipt was found in a wallet with Colette MacDonald's identification papers.  The receipt indicates that a suede coat was placed in a Fayetteville cleaning establishment in November 1969 for cleaning.

If indeed the CID had had such a sapphire ring, which MacDonald seemed to believe, then obvi- ously it could not have been stolen by intruders.

There seems to be no corroboration that any sap- phire ring ever existed.  If it did, there is nothing to contradict the possibility that it was misplaced or lost prior to the murders.

On March 9, 1970, the Army gave MacDonald a heart-shaped ring that had come from his house.

On April 6, 1970, MacDonald agreed with CID in- vestigators that nothing had been stolen from his apartment.

During the 1979 trial, MacDonald claimed that an addict he had treated was furious with him.

On the CBS 48 Hours television program, "Time for Truth," aired on Nov. 6, 2005, MacDonald said, "If you were a physician, an Army physician, you were under orders to turn in drug-abusing patients." Asked whether he thought someone he turned in might have been involved, he says, "Sure, that’s one of the thought processes we immediately went through, of course."

In the excerpts of Fingerprint identification data it states quite clearly that: Exhibits L-13 and L-25 were identified as belonging to Ronald H. Harrison.
 

A blue hairbrush in the house belonged to Mildred.
CID records also show that Mildred's hairs were found in two hairbrushes in the MacDonald home.

When MacDonald's mother and brother were asked by the CID to provide fingerprint and hair samples for purposes of elimination, they refused to do so.

When asked by the CID if he had ever visited the MacDonald's Fort Bragg apartment, Jay answered "no."

MacDonald's lawyer, Bernard Segal, addressed this issue in his closing arguments at trial, but his statements were inexplicable, being at odds not only with the facts but also with MacDonald's own claims: "Mr. Ivory did say that a wallet that was believed to have belonged to Dr. MacDonald was stolen from the desk over near the door.  He even mentioned a man's name.  There is not the slight- est word of evidence to support that.  It is abso- lutely unsupported.  We have never heard any proof of that.  Was anybody prosecuted for the theft of that?  Can you imagine someone stealing an officer's wallet in the Army and not being pro- secuted?  That is just absolutely Government talk without the facts or evidence to back it up."

MacDonald's defense lawyer, Bernard Segal, told Judge Dupree during the 1979 trial, "Your Honor cannot here entertain or consider the suggestion that the [CID] investigation was incompetent."

MacDonald's sister Judy said he told her that the FBI were the best investigators in the world.

 

Per the phone conversation between Mr. Bidwell and Sgt. Wilson (CID) on December 31, 1970, they were informed "that at one time, and we do not know exactly when, that MacDonald was very anxious to get back into his quarters.  The reason given by MacDonald was 'for one last nostalgic look.'  This prompted a letter from the Dept. of Justice, demanding that the scene and the scene [sic] and the evidence be preserved."

During the Article 32 hearing in 1970, Jeffrey MacDonald contacted several authors with regard to writing a book about his case.




 

During the grand jury proceedings in 1974, Woer- heide asked MacDonald if this drawing represented his work product in any way.  MacDonald replied, "No, sir...I believe this was a drawing furnished the news media by the provost marshal."

During the Article 32 hearing, MacDonald, while confined to Bachelor Officers' Quarters (BOQ), had entered into a sexual relationship with Linda Mathews.  When questioned, she said she had visited him in his room throughout the summer and fall, and that the relationship "certainly wasn't a secret."  She said she could not recall specifically how many times they'd had sex, but it was more than once and less than "dozens of times."

At the grand jury in 1974, Woerheide asked MacDonald about this conversation:

Q And you say Freddy purported to have affida- vits from fifteen girls?
A That's the sense of the conversation.  Fifteen.

Judge (now Justice) Blackmun summed up the function of an Article 32 proceeding in one sen- tence: "The proceeding was what its description indicated, namely, an investigation."  As the Dept. of Justice noted, "The investigating officer merely recommends whether or not a court-martial should be convened and his recommendation that charges be dismissed for lack of evidence did not consti- tute a 'trial' which precluded civilian trial of the serviceman."

Per MacDonald's attorney, Bernard Segal, "The point is, [Colonel Rock] is not a judge.  He is an investigating officer."

Despite his claims that the Army "exonerated" him, the MacDonald camp also implies that the Army was involved in a vast conspiracy and was deter- mined to blame the crimes on him.

The outcome of the 1970 Article 32 hearing, which took place before much of the evidence was known, was that the charges were dismissed for lack of evidence.  Jeffrey MacDonald was not exonerated at the Article 32 military hearing.

When asked by Woerheide during the grand jury proceeding if MacDonald had in fact hired investi- gators, MacDonald replied, "I never hired investi- gators, no."  When asked, "Were you personally seeking out the perpetrators?"  MacDonald replied, "Only in a very ineffectual manner."

At trial in 1979, MacDonald said he had a "sense of guilt that if [Kassab] was going to continue that type of search, that I should be helping him." Blackburn then asked, "But in your heart of hearts, you had no will for it?"  MacDonald replied, "None whatsoever."

Three months earlier, in August 1970, MacDonald told family friend Bob Stern the same story of tracking down and killing one of the intruders.

Jeffrey MacDonald later admitted that his story of tracking down and killing one of the intruders was a lie.

In Freddy Kassab's "A Denouncement of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit,” he writes, "While it may be true that his attorneys wrote the Department of Justice, requesting termination of the investigation (2 letters) MacDonald never in person went to the Dept. of Justice.  In his state- ment he claims to have done so accompanied by (former) Congressman A. Lowenstein.  Mr. Lowen- stein has stated to me that no such occurrence ever took place."


 

Freddy Kassab wrote, "MacDonald's fatal mistake was made when he told me in a phone conversa- tion which I recorded, that he had caught and killed one of the alleged assailants.  That was the beginning of the end for him."

By 1975 it had been determined that since 1970 MacDonald's assets had increased approximately $100,000 and his salary had multiplied approxi- mately seven times.

At his bail reduction hearing, a multitude of new friends and associates came forth to testify as character references, and later put up their own money as bail so that MacDonald did not have to use any of his own.

From October 1970 to January 1975 MacDonald stood under no accusation against which he had to defend himself.

MP Kenneth Mica and others testified that they did see scratches on MacDonald's chest.

During the Pruett and Kearns interview, MacDonald told Pruett, "There was a scratch on my left upper chest."  Pruett then asked, "The scratches then, you are saying are on the side, the left, in which direction?  The left portion of the chest?" Macdon- ald replied, "Yes, but it wasn't on the outside.  It was on the inside of the nipple."

Kearns asked MacDonald, "Were these wounds bleeding?"  MacDonald replied, "My left hand was, but not--it was a scratch really.  It wasn't--it didn't require sutures."

During the Article 32 military hearing, Captain Somers asked MacDonald to describe his injuries. Among other things, MacDonald said, "There were several, what appeared to me to be small, small puncture wounds, on the left of the chest and some scratches..."  He also said, "I had a scratch on my right arm."  During the same hearing, Mac- Donald's lawyer Bernie Segal asked: "Now, did you have any others?  Just describe each one as you recall discovering or finding on your body now." MacDonald replied, "Yes, sir.  I had some scratch- es on my left pectoral region, the upper left chest
..."

On August 16, 1974, during the grand jury pro- ceeding, MacDonald said, "I had--there was a scratch somewhere on my right shoulder."

It has not been proven that this "piece of skin" ever existed.  CID Investigator William Ivory testified that he had found a box that was marked as fingernail scrapings taken at Womack Army Hospital, and that he had taken some vials from this box and placed them under a microscope so that he could see through the vials and observe the contents.  He thought he observed a small piece of skin, drawing his conclusion from seeing the oily texture of the substance.  During subse- quent laboratory examinations of the fingernail scrapings, no piece of skin was found.

Despite Jeffrey MacDonald's belief that this piece of "skin" could exonerate him, the defense obvi- ously chose not to ask witnesses Ivory, Browning, Hawkins, Gammel, Chamberlain or Glisson about it on cross examination, nor was the "skin" men- tioned in the defense’s closing arguments.

In 1985, the court found that "[William Ivory's] observation and the significant amount of physical evidence which contradicted MacDonald's version of the murders diminishes the possibility that the skin found under Colette MacDonald's fingernail  would have exonerated MacDonald.  Because there is no evidence to support a finding that the gov- ernment acted in bad faith in losing this potentially valuable evidence and its exculpatory value is open to serious doubt, the court concludes that the loss of the piece of skin did not violate Mac- Donald's due process rights under the Fifth Amend- ment to the Constitution."

In 1985, the court found that Ivory's statements would have been of little use to MacDonald in light of the questionable exculpatory value of the evi- dence and that their use for impeachment pur- poses would merely have been cumulative.

In 1985, the court found that the CID laboratory report of August 31, 1971 was sufficient to put the defense on notice that the substance no longer existed.  The court concluded that there was no suppression of evidence.

This document was part of the report of Special Agent Lacy Walthall, and as such, was made available to defense attorneys Segal, Eisman, Malley and Douthat during the Army's Article 32 hearing in 1970.

As the Government wondered, "Since the FBI report released under FOIA deletes all references to the names of the FBI Agents conducting the interview, how did counsel know the name of the interviewing FBI Agent, unless he already had a copy of the report?"

Investigative agents having firsthand knowledge of the contents of the hall closet state, or would have stated if called to testify at trial, that no "bloody half-filled syringe" or other half-filled sy- ringe was found in the closet.  Moreover, the chemist who processed the hall closet for blood  stains, Craig Chamberlain, and the agent who in- ventoried the medical supplies in the closet, Hagan Rossi, state without reservation that no half-filled syringe of any kind was found during the crime scene investigation.

The strongest evidence that a bloody syringe was not found at the crime scene, and hence wasn't suppressed, is the fact that the Government didn't offer any evidence of this item at trial.  If a bloody syringe had been found in the linen closet (which did contain movant's blood type on the sliding
door) this wouldn't have exculpated him.  Rather, the presence of such a syringe would only have strengthened the links in the chain of circumstan- tial evidence, which proved that after inflicting an incision on himself with one of the disposable scal- pel blades from the linen closet, he used a hypo- dermic needle to penetrate his chest wall and complete the injuries necessary to make it appear that he had sustained a "life threatening wound to his lung."

When questioned about this at trial, Dr. Jacobson was asked by the defense, "As a matter of fact, you saw no evidence of that; did you?"  Dr. Jacob- son replied, "I don't know."

At the grand jury, Dr. Fisher was asked, "Could a doctor, with surgical training and working towards being a surgeon, inflict a pneumothorax on himself under controlled conditions that would not imperil or endanger his life?"  Dr. Fisher replied, "Oh, I think so.  Certainly."

The hairs were dissimilar, were not compared to the hair of Colette, Kimberley or Kristen, and were compared to only three of nine sample hairs from the body of Jeffrey MacDonald.

The two hairs were hair fragments.  Hair fragments do not contain enough distinguishable character- istics for microscopic comparisons. Therefore there is no forensic basis for claims of intruders being the source for those two hair fragments.

Study of Janice Glisson's FBI note (R-11) shows that it actually says, "...did not label all the vials containing fibers and hairs (#1, #7, #8), but gave #'s and slide comparisons to these #'s, since they will not be reported by me."  This is because Jan- ice Glisson was not assigned to do those compari- sons.

Mica's patrol partner, Dennis Morris, testified at the 1970 Article 32 hearing but said nothing about this alleged sighting.

In no description of the assailants has Jeffrey MacDonald ever said the female intruder was wearing a raincoat or rain hat.

MacDonald claims the female intruder was accom- panied by at least three males.

The woman Mica claims to have seen on the street corner was never identified.

In none of Helena Stoeckley’s statements did she ever describe standing on a street corner after the murders.

If MacDonald believes this, then obviously he doesn't believe that Stoeckley was seen standing alone on a street corner after the murders.

When asked for advice on testimony by any gov- ernment witness, Captain Somers told them the best technique was not to volunteer any informa- tion but to be truthful and to answer questions to the best of their knowledge.

When MacDonald was shown Stoeckley's photo in 1970 and again in 1971, he didn't recognize her.

Helena Stoeckley several times denied being at 544 Castle Drive on the night of the murders, and testifed to this at trial.

Helena Stoeckley said she was at 544 Castle Drive on the night of the murders, and that she saw MacDonald committing the murders.

Stoeckley was a hard-core drug user who was shown to be a confabulator due in part to her need for affection and approval.  The facts show that her "confessions" were false and were, more- over, directly at odds with MacDonald's own ac- counts of the murder night.

Fingerprints from Helena Stoeckley which were obtained by Nashville police officer Jim Gaddis did not match any prints in the MacDonald apartment.

DNA test results publicly released March 10, 2006 showed no match to Helena Stoeckley's DNA.

Stoeckley was actually located and arrested by FBI Special Agent Frank J. Mills, who was execut- ing a Material Witness Warrant issued by the Court on the Government's motion.

Although MacDonald had a linen closet filled with a great number of hypodermic syringes, ampheta- mines and other drugs, nothing was taken.

Examination of the word PIG written on the head- board of the master bed showed that the writer was in complete control of his motor sensory facili- ties (in other words not under the influence of drugs).
 

There were no lights on in the living room at the time MacDonald claims to have been attacked.

MacDonald is nearsighted and wasn’t wearing his glasses during the alleged attack.

At the 1970 Article 32 hearing, MacDonald de- scribed seeing the female "intruder" and said, "Yes, because I saw her probably the least.  It was the briefest glimpse and this is why I only have, really, an impression."

At the grand jury on August 15, 1974, MacDonald testified as to his recollection of the female intrud- er: "It was in the midst of a dark room and over a period of ten to twenty to thirty seconds, and I never really saw her."

On August 17, 1979, Helena Stoeckley was 9½ years older than she was in 1970, she was much heavier with a fuller face, and had jet black hair.

MacDonald claims that Helena Stoeckley gave her floppy hat to P. E. Beasley, a Fayetteville detec- tive.  Beasley said that the hat Helena gave him was black.

Dwight Smith told FBI Special Agent Raymond Madden that it was his recollection that after the murders, Helena Stoeckley started wearing a brown floppy hat which was kind of a joke among the drug scene in Fayetteville, as it was felt she was merely wearing the hat to gain attention and a possible connection with the MacDonald murders.

Jeffrey MacDonald's military lawyer and Agent Ivory both signed statements listing the items that were submitted for examination and subsequently returned.  No clothing appears on the list.

In 1985 the court found that MacDonald, through two of his former attorneys, knew that the CID once had possession of the boots.  The court also found that the boots were properly returned to the woman who gave them to the CID because they
did not match MacDonald's description of those worn by the female assailant and a laboratory analysis of the boots yielded no evidence connect- ing the boots to the crimes.

Per Jeffrey MacDonald's website (quote copied Oct. 10, 2005), he claims that Stoeckley "burned the hat, wig and boots...," leading to the conclu- sion that he believes that the boots were burned and that they were not burned.

At no time did Mrs. Garcia, Mr. Nance, Mr. Kirkman or Cpt. Douthat furnish to the CID or advise them of the existence of any bloodstained clothes al- leged to belong to Cathy Perry.

James Nance, Jr., who represented MacDonald's legal counsels in any actions introduced in the State and Federal Courts of North Carolina during the 1970 Article 32 military hearing, told CID Agents Ivory and Kearns that while there was no apparent connection with the MacDonald murders, he was trying to humor Mrs. Garcia.

MacDonald told CID investigators that the female intruder was wearing boots that were "wet, but not bloody."

Three blonde synthetic hairs were found in a clear- handled hairbrush.  The hairs differed in chemical composition and the longest of the three hairs was matched with doll hair found in the FBI exemplar collection.

Platinum-colored synthetic hair was found in a clear-handled hairbrush and a blue-handled hair- brush.  The two hairs were identical in chemical composition and were matched to a fall owned by Colette.

Black synthetic fibers were also found in a blue- handled hairbrush, which were matched to a hair- piece owned by Mildred Kassab.

In 1971 Dianne Cazares, a friend of Stoeckley's, was asked by the CID "[On the night of the mur- ders] was [Helena Stoeckley] wearing a blonde wig?"  Cazares replied, "No.  I'm sure about that.
She didn't even own a blonde wig...I never saw her wear a blonde wig of any kind."

Stoeckley told P. E. Beasley that she once had a blonde fall (a hairpiece) but that she had given it to Cathy Smith or some other girl.  The fall was described as being chin-length.  Stoeckley testi- fied at the 1979 trial that she did not wear her blonde wig [fall] on February 17, 1970 because Greg Mitchell did not like how it looked on her.

Although this hair was initially found not to match MacDonald, it was not tested against hairs from the children's heads, nor was it tested against hairs from all parts of MacDonald's body.

The unidentified hair was classified by Dillard Browning, Janice Glisson, and Paul Stombaugh as the distal portion or the tip of a limb hair.  Limb hairs are microscopically uncomparable, so there was no forensic basis for MacDonald's claim that the hair was Greg Mitchell's.

This hair was known to the defense as early as the 1970 Article 32 hearing where it was reported.

Jeffrey MacDonald was described as having brown hair in the Criminal Investigation Division report: "MacDonald: 12 Oct 43; Jamaica, NY; M; Cauc; 71 in; 175 lbs; brown hair; green eyes; medium build; discharged from US Army 4 Dec 70..."

DNA test results showed that this hair was Jeffrey MacDonald’s own.

At trial on July 25, 1979, Bernie Segal asked Ivory if he was present when the hair samples were obtained.  Ivory stated that he was not present.

Defense attorney Bernard Segal tried to enjoin the Army from obtaining MacDonald's hair samples for comparison purposes.

MacDonald filed a pre-trial motion to suppress hair samples obtained at the exhumation of the victims' bodies.  The motion was denied.

The Court noted that "The law does not allow [Jeffrey MacDonald] to use some of the hair evi- dence as a sword, and then hide behind the shield of property rights."

Mitchell voluntarily appeared at the Charolotte FBI office to be intereviewed about the murders.

There is no credible evidence to dispute the ac- count that Mitchell gave, when alive, that he was at his parent's home on the night of the murders.

Greg Mitchell passed a polygraph which indicated that he was being truthful when he denied being involved in the MacDonald murders.

Despite MacDonald's claims that Mitchell was in the living room while MacDonald was allegedly be- ing attacked, MacDonald also claims that Mitchell was in the master bedroom at the time, stabbing Colette.

DNA test results publicly released March 10, 2006 showed no match to Greg Mitchell's DNA.

A photo of Kristen’s room and the rocking horse appeared in the Fayetteville Observer on the day of the murders.

Before testifying at trial in 1979, Stoeckley had been shown a photo of the rocking horse, which was displayed to her by MacDonald's attorney, Bernard Segal.

Before testifying at trial in 1979, Stoeckley had been shown crime scene photos of the master bedroom, which were displayed to her by MacDon- ald's attorney, Bernard Segal.

Helena told the FBI that in approximately early December, 1980, Gunderson and Beasley took her out to various stores looking at jewelry boxes, and that she eventually recalled signing another state- ment for Gunderson which was very similar to the first, but was more specific regarding the descrip- tion of a jewelry box.

On February 17, 1970, the fabric-covered jewelry box found on the dresser in 544 Castle Dr. was ex- amined by US Army CI Lab chemist Craig Chamber- lain.  A stain found on the inside surface of the box lid was tested at the crime scene on that date by Chamberlain and found not to contain human blood.

As the government noted in its response: "Essen- tially MacDonald has persistently sought to convey the false impression that blue cotton fibers, which Government experts described at trial matched the composition of MacDonald's pajama top, were misidentified because the same fibers are actually composed of dark wool.  In fact these exhibits contain both blue cotton fibers (which match the pajama top) and dark wool."

If, as has been stated, Helena was a reliable police informant, why did she not report that the 'cult' was planning to murder the MacDonald family?

Despite the fact that Helena Stoeckley had sup- plied the names of people she said accompanied her to the MacDonald apartment on the night of the murders, neither Gunderson nor Beasley tried to locate or interview those people.

After obtaining this "confession," Gunderson and Beasley kept it for six months, not turning it over to any police department or law enforcement agency.

Defense witness Brisentine testified on voir dire at trial that during his interview of Stoeckley, "she asserted that she had been lying when she admit- ted knowing who committed the murders...Further, that her rationale was based on the fact that four hippies could not have entered Captain MacDon- ald's home without being observed by neighbors or causing dogs to bark."

As one of the trial jurors said when interviewed by a reporter, "A confession by a pathetic acid head such as Helena Stoeckley does not deter for an instant from the mountains of evidence against MacDonald presented at the trial."

The facts show that Stoeckley's post-trial state- ments are inconsistent with MacDonald's account, inconsistent with each other, inconsistent with physical evidence from the crime scene, and were obtained under false pretenses and duress.

In a statement dated March 1, 1971, Beasley de- clared that "Helena would do anything to get me to pat her on the back and act proud of her."

In Beasley's statement about Helena (Dec. 12, 1980), he related that "the remark was made that now that [Gunderson] had everything he needed he couldn't care less if [Stoeckley] was run over by a truck."

Stoeckley stated that Detective Prince Beasley, of the Fayetteville Police Department, had told her, "tell them anything, just get them off your back."

Stoeckley later recanted her "confession."

The examination by Dr. Sadoff in April, 1970, re- vealed that MacDonald wasn't repressing any of the events he claimed happened.

MacDonald didn't mention anything about this epi- sode during the hypnotic session that produced the 1979 composite drawings.

Bryant Lane told an FBI agent that Mitchell never brought up any conversation about Captain Mac- Donald or the killing of MacDonald's family.  Lane related that on one occasion, a year or two before Mitchell died, Lane's wife stated that she did not think that MacDonald killed his family and Mitchell agreed.  Lane said that this is the only conversa- tion that he can recall having with Mitchell con- cerning MacDonald.

In 1971, Stoeckley admitted to CID investigator Richard Mahon that her story of being with Greg Mitchell on the night of the murders was a fabrica- tion.

Neither Greg Mitchell nor Helena Stoeckley died under mysterious circumstances.  Mitchell died of liver failure and Stoeckley died of pneumonia, brought on by cirrhosis of the liver.  MacDonald has never been able to explain how the FBI could induce deadly liver symptoms upon Mitchell and Stoeckley.

Cathy Perry’s confession did not match the known physical evidence.

Jeffrey MacDonald was shown Cathy Perry's photograph in 1971.  He did not recognize her.

Perry currently lives in Florida, and did recant her confession to the FBI after receiving Thorazine treatment for her schizophrenia.

It was raining and therefore it is not logical that people outside would be carrying candles.

Jeffrey MacDonald has described the "intruders" many times, but has never said that any of them were wearing sheets, nor has he ever said that three of them were carrying candles.

MacDonald claims that the female "intruder" had unkempt, stringy hair.

During the Article 32 hearing, CID agent Bennie Hawkins described the New York Four.  Their descriptions matched the descriptions MacDonald had given of the so-called "intruders."  During his Grand Jury testimony, MacDonald called the Article 32 testimony of Bennie Hawkins "bizarre" and denied ever being aware of the New York Four.

In December, 1970, ten months after the murders, MacDonald reviewed arrest records of the New York Four.  Despite the fact that they matched his descriptions of the intruders, he said nothing to anyone about it.

No person in this case has ever stated or testified to seeing anyone enter the MacDonald apartment on the night of the murders.
 

In June of 1979 Bernie Segal, Joe McGinniss, John Thornton, and James Osterburg spent five hours inside 544 Castle Drive in preparation for the trial.

The Court found that the defense "had every reasonable opportunity to inspect this crime scene at any reasonable time during the last thirteen years..."

In fact, there had been only a single, three-hour interview by this psychologist.



 

On May 17, 1971, Bernard Segal and Jeffrey Mac- Donald were forwarded a letter identifying Drs. Brussel and Silverman as the CID's experts to re- view MacDonald's Rorschach tests.

John Reid administered a polygraph to MacDonald. As described by MacDonald, Reid was "not satis- fied with my results...they were not conclusively proving my innocence...and...he had a consulta- tion with Bernie, and Bernie uh, sort of abruptly dismissed him...the results were not conclusive of my innocence."

Cleve Backster, a polygraph examiners hired by the defense, testified at the Jeffrey MacDonald vs. McGinniss civil trial that he had administered a polygraph to Jeffrey MacDonald and that in his opinion MacDonald had failed.  Despite Backster's testimony at the civil trial, MacDonald continues to claim that he walked out on that test and it was never completed.

MacDonald refused to submit to such an examina- tion.

MacDonald refused to submit to a sodium amytal examination, stating that it would cause him to "relive" the night of the murders, which would be too traumatic for him.

Jeffrey MacDonald was not convicted because he failed to explain the evidence.  He was convicted because the physical evidence proved beyond a reasonable doubt that he was the only possible criminal agent, and because the physical evidence when coupled with his conflicting account of in- truders and his attempts to disassociate himself from the instrumentalities and other trace evi- dence of the crime, was sufficient as a matter of law to sustain the jury's verdict.

Research by Crime & Justice forum members re- flects that the Medical Board of California shows "License Status: LICENSE REVOKED" as a matter of public record.  Jeffrey MacDonald's medical licens- es in both California and North Carolina were re- voked.

"Voluntary surrender" means to tender through counsel after a formal hearing which ultimately re- sulted in a finding of revocation.

Research by Crime & Justice forum members shows that the NC medical board did mete out discipline:

Presumptive Maximum Discipline: Revocation of license

Presumptive Minimum Discipline: Indefinite suspension of license 

No proof of any outside assailants has ever been produced.

 

During a fight with his brother, Jay, MacDonald had once "almost killed" Jay.

During a sporting match it was reported that he flew into an uncontrollable violent rage against another player, and had to be physically pulled away by others because he kept beating the man even after he was down.

June Reich, a friend of Colette's said that once when they were dating each other, she witnessed an incident when MacDonald had hit Colette.

During a visit with a female friend and her child in which they were boating, he became so enraged at the boy that he threatened to crush the child's skull against the dock, and ended up throwing him into the water. 

During his testimony at the 1970 Article 32 military hearing, MacDonald's lawyer Bernard Segal asked him how long the alleged struggle in the living room had lasted. MacDonald replied, "Well, that's a rough--my only experience would be in other fist fights, and the time seems like it's dragging and it hardly ever is..."

He told Woerheide during his grand jury testimony that at the Shortstop bar, he initiated a fight with someone he believed to be selling drugs to his brother Jay.  He told the grand jury that "...the words got a little heated and I pushed him and he pushed me and I hit him."

MacDonald was obviously familiar with fighting be- havior, since he asked Woerheide during the grand jury proceeding whether Woerheide wanted him to recount "every little fistfight."  He also informed Woerheide that after such incidents, "You leave before the MP’s get there."

The truth appears to be that Jeffrey MacDonald's own lawyers delayed the testing by filing numerous motions, each one of which had to be addressed before testing could continue.
 

During the April 6 interview, told investigators that "When I woke up, the first thing I thought of was - you know, I'm ashamed to say - myself."

Attempted to revive Carol Larson's (a.k.a. Penny Wells's) interest in him on the day before he mar- ried Colette and on the day after Kimberley was born.  When MacDonald moved to California in June 1971, she picked him up at the airport upon his arrival and he temporarily took up residence with her.

When shown Colette's wedding ring at trial, Mac- Donald didn't recognize it.

MacDonald had numerous intimate relations with other women while married to Colette.

During an examination by Dr. Mack, MacDonald "began to verbalize some of his feelings that he had had of feeling trapped in marriage and caught up in responsibilities that he had assumed."

Told Dr. Sadoff that he felt "relief" that his family was gone, but was ashamed of that feeling.

Told Dr. Mack that "he was aware that in some sense [the murders of his wife and children] pro- vided him with relief..."

Jeffrey MacDonald was convicted in 1979 of the brutal clubbing and butchering of Colette, Kim and Kristen MacDonald and remains incarcerated today, serving three consecutive life sentences for those horrific crimes.

DNA test results publicly released March 10, 2006 show that the hair in Colette's hand was matched to Jeffrey MacDonald himself, and that no DNA of Helena Stoeckley's or Greg Mitchell's or any other "intruder's" matched that in any exhibit.