Real Crime Stories/Paranormal Hauntings/Conspiracy Theories Book II

Fatal Vision/Justice: Jeffrey R. MacDonald (Part I)

Jeffrey Robert MacDonald (born October 12, 1943) is a former American physician and United States Army officer who was convicted in 1979 of murdering his pregnant wife and two daughters in February 1970.

Early life

Jeffrey MacDonald was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York City, the second of three children of Robert MacDonald, known as "Mac," and his wife, Dorothy (née Perry). Raised on Long Island, he attended Patchogue High School, where he was voted both "most popular" and "most likely to succeed," and was Senior Class President and captain of the football team. MacDonald's grades were high enough for him to win a scholarship to Princeton University. While there, he resumed a romantic relationship with Colette Kathryn Stevenson, his high school sweetheart. On September 14, 1963, upon learning she was pregnant with his child, they married. Their daughter, Kimberley, was born on April 18, 1964.

After attending Princeton for three years, MacDonald and his family moved to Chicago in 1964, where he was accepted to Northwestern University Medical School. Their second child, Kristen, was born on May 8, 1967. The following year, upon his graduation from medical school, he completed an internship at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York. MacDonald joined the United States Army on July 1, 1969, and the entire family moved to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he held the rank of captain. He was assigned to the 6th Special Forces Group as a Group Surgeon in September 1969.

The murders

At 3:42 a.m. on February 17, 1970, dispatchers at Fort Bragg received an emergency phone call from MacDonald, who reported a "stabbing." Four responding military police officers arrived at his house located at 544 Castle Drive, initially believing that they were being called to settle a domestic disturbance. They found the front door closed and locked and the house dark inside. When no one answered the door, they circled to the back of the house, where they found the back screen door closed and unlocked and the back door wide open. Upon entering, they found MacDonald's wife Colette and his daughters Kimberly and Kristen dead in their respective bedrooms.

Five-year-old Kimberly was found in her bed, having been clubbed in the head and stabbed in the neck with a knife between eight and ten times. Two-year-old Kristen was found in her own bed; she had been stabbed 33 times with a knife and fifteen times with an ice pick. Colette, who was pregnant with her third child and first son, was lying on the floor of her bedroom. She had been repeatedly clubbed (both her arms were broken) and stabbed 21 times with an ice pick and sixteen times with a knife. MacDonald's torn pajama top was draped upon her chest. On the headboard of her bed, the word "pig" was written in blood.

MacDonald was found next to his wife alive but wounded. His wounds were not as severe nor as numerous as those his family had suffered. He was immediately taken to nearby Womack Hospital. MacDonald suffered cuts and bruises on his face and chest, along with a mild concussion. He also had a stab wound on his left torso that a staff surgeon described as a "clean, small, sharp" incision that caused his left lung to partially collapse. He was released from the hospital after one week.

MacDonald's account

MacDonald told investigators that on the evening of February 16, he had fallen asleep on the living room couch. He told investigators that he did so because Kristen had been in bed with Colette and had wet his side of it. He was later awakened by Colette and Kimberly's screams. As he rose from the couch to go to their aid, he was attacked by three male intruders, one black and two white. A fourth intruder, described as a white female with long blonde hair and wearing high heeled boots and a white floppy hat partially covering her face, stood nearby with a lighted candle and chanted, "Acid is groovy, kill the pigs."