They were successful, and a grand jury indicted MacDonald for murder the following year. Bettmann/Getty ImagesA neighbors dog and MP guards securing the MacDonald property. WS: For me to say that he is innocent would require magic. Shortly after relocating to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he was made Group Surgeon to the Green Berets. Maybe more than I would have thought as a teen. The list of misfortunes goes on: exculpatory evidence withheld; possible prosecutorial misconduct; and fallible humans who twisted the MacDonald story to fit their own agendas. MacDonald, bloody but alive, was next to his wife, who had been pregnant with their third child when she was stabbed 16 times with a kitchen knife and 21 times with an icepick. While both Detective Inspectors want to reiterate this is rare, it is also their worst fear, and what they are working to stop. Additionally, much of what Morris introduces as new evidence was already including in the trial that convicted MacDonald. Jeffrey MacDonald, a bright young man with everything in life to look forward to, lost his wife and children to senseless, horrific violence. He worked first in a stove factory, a physically taxing and low-paying job, and later became a molder in a factory making brake shoes for the railroad. MacDonald, bloody but alive, was next to his wife, who had been pregnant with their third child when she was stabbed 16 times with a kitchen knife and 21 times with an icepick. This was about 31% of all the recorded Kassab's in USA. Investigators identified at least 240 leads in the casebut the evidence continued to point back to the MacDonald. Friends since grade school, he and Colette Stevens began dating as teenagers, and grew serious during college. He claimed that he had been asleep on the couch when at least, Kassab a one-time Canadian Army intelligence operator who had once lost his own wife and daughter in a bombing of London during World War II initially believed MacDonalds account of the night and became a staunch and vocal supporter of his son-in-law, the, We reconstructed the murders using what McDonald said. And absolutely nothing fit, Kassab told the Orlando Sentinel in 1989. The chanting blonde, meanwhile, had not been found. He wanted his son-in-law to stay on the east coast and pursue the killers. But of the evidence that Morris presents, perhaps most convincing is the piece cited in MacDonalds 2017 federal appeal. Freddie Kassab and CID investigators returned to the crime scene in 1971 to contrast MacDonalds claims with the evidence and found his narrative implausible. Its a scary, spooky story that sounds made up. Which leaves one of the five families the Tibas. And a victim falls on the concrete. Eventually, after pressure from Colettes family, MacDonald was indicted and found guilty of the three murders on August 29, 1979. To do so, they are increasingly trying to appeal to the maternal side of these families, and helping mothers and their children escape the criminal elements in their home, before another brood is infected. Detective Inspector Wayne Newman, from the North-West Metro region, says there has been an increase in higher ranking organised crime figures in the area insulating themselves from possible harm by using youth networks to do the grunt work. In 1920 there were 5 Kassab families living in Pennsylvania. Who else is going to fight this thing if not me? Freddy Kassab said of his years-long quest to put his son-in-law Jeffrey MacDonald behind bars for killing his stepdaughter and two young granddaughters. The ONeills befriended him and altered the course of his life. Some said he should never have taken the case because his former son-in-law was the prosecutor in the original army hearing. There were few major drug or weapon importations in the state that police could not, in some way, trace back to these families. I think that one of the problems MacDonald had was that they expected him to undertake to find these killers, to go on a mission to find them. However, his American dream suddenly became a nightmare in 1970 when his family was found brutally stabbed to death in their home. @2022 - AlterNet Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. 26-year-old Colette MacDonald had been stabbed nearly forty times with an icepick and a knife while pig was scrawled on the headboard of her bed in her own blood. Colette had been stabbed 16 times and punctured 21 times with an ice pick, while 5-year-old Kimberley was killed by six blows to the head and eightto 10 stab wounds, according to a1998 Vanity Fair article. In 1984 I was glued to the TV, like millions of other Americans, watching the popular miniseries based on McGinniss book. Judge James Fox, a close friend of Dupree's and quite elderly himself, has taken over and has dismissed appeals. Their second child Kristen was born in May 1967. This collection is a part of a larger collection that has been divided into more specific collections. I was keeping Freddy happy, he said, according to Vanity Fair. Mr Oueida has been overseas for most of the time since the attack, predominantly in Lebanon and Dubai a haunt for a string of Australian organised crime figures. This can drive a surge in shootings, and then be forgotten again just as quickly, said Detective Inspector Stephen Clark of the armed crime squad. Worse still, Judge Franklin Dupree seemed to have his mind made up before the trial began. And she told him she had been there, at the MacDonald home, the night of the murders. Some criminal networks were recently identified as having more than 1000 members, of various ages and ethnic backgrounds; unlike the five families, they were not simply the first generation of children born in Australia to parents hailing from northern Lebanon. In a 2011 press release, the Innocence Project stated:. You trust him. Anybody could. While none of the hairs found at the scene matched Stoeckleys DNA or that of any of her known associates, MacDonald maintains they prove something more essential to his freedom that someone else was there that night. He claimed there was insufficient evidence, while civilian defense attorney Bernard Segal argued the CID had improperly handled the scene and that alternative suspects like local drug addict Helena Stoeckley, believed to be the blonde woman at the scene, continued to roam free. Now deceased, she remains a pivotal figure in the case. Although Kassab didnt join the family until Colette was a teenager, he had always been close with his stepdaughter. The couple sued MacDonald in 1987 to try to prevent him from profiting from Joe McGinniss book Fatal Vision, which served as the inspiration for the mini-series. The defendant has no obligation to prove anything whatsoever. Take a guy like MacDonald. His relentless persistence prompted the government to open a second investigation. WebThe Kassab family name was found in the USA in 1920. "There's a lot of luck good and bad in a non-fatal shooting, You can be shot once and die, or you can be shot five times and live. Helena Stoeckley confessed many times that MacDonalds willingness to turn heroin addicts in to the police infuriated local drug dealers. After 3 a.m. on Feb. 17, 1970, dispatchers at Fort Bragg received an emergency call from the MacDonalds 544 Castle Drive address. But it is also hard to feel any empathy, or concern as Victorians do about other crimes against more innocent victims that it could happen to them. Evidence the defense never saw. Two possibilities: MacDonald is a monster, or he is a victim of terrible injustice. He did interviews. Mica remembered seeing a woman who fit this description while en route to the scene but said the Armys Criminal Investigation Division (CID) omitted this during their subsequent inquest. MacDonalds relationship with his father-in-law, who had been a staunch supporter, became strained. Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Kassab surname lived. We would frequently meet at the crime scene and brainstorm the whole scenario. WebIn July 1974, a Federal judge acted on a citizen's criminal complaint by Kassab and others, by putting the case before a grand jury. Others relate to significant organised crime figures, and their businesses, such as tattoo parlours. Tragically, the comparisons to the Sharon Tate killing were striking. When the show was over, I retired to the security of my bed, safe from unpredictable evils. McGinniss stark rendering of Picture #1 stuck in my mind until recently when a friend from North Carolina told me that Errol Morris had published a book suggesting MacDonald was innocent. Steve Liss/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesJeffrey MacDonald behind bars in Terminal Island federal penitentiary. The Tibas, Haddaras, Chaouks, Kassabs, and Kheirs are north-west Melbourne's version of the Five Families, the major players in the New York mafia. Jeffrey MacDonald, a Princeton-educated Green Beret doctor with no history of violence and a sterling record, butchered his pregnant wife and two young daughters using a knife, ice pick and club. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. She knew this world, and was herself a police informant. They grew to become serious forces, in part, because of failures by police to respond to the problem. He also tried to get the case dismissed, claiming double jeopardy and starting an appeals process that would delay his trial for years. Years after he was blasted with a shotgun by a crime figure who continues to wield influence in the north-west, one victim is still dealing with his injuries. Enough somethings to fill the long, solitary chapters of a mans life unfolding behind prison walls. The lead prosecutor for the case, Jim Blackburn began to analyze every piece of evidence from the trial, including MacDonald's pajama shirt, which was draped over Colette's body, and the bedsheet she was wrapped in. He remained haunted by the horrific way his stepdaughter and grandchildren had lost their lives. As I read Morris meticulous examination the evidence, the picture in my mind became less clear. It ultimately concluded that MacDonalds wounds were self-inflicted, and his story entirely fabricated. Because that's what crime figures do in the north-west, most of the time. Did Jeffrey MacDonald Brutally Slay His Pregnant Wife And Daughters Or Did The Cops Get The Wrong Guy? In 1989after Freddy Kassab had been diagnosed with emphysemahe decided to videotape his arguments against MacDonalds release and arranged for the tape to be played, if necessary, in front of a parole board after he died, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Weve always understood the importance of calling out corruption, regardless of political affiliation. With their encouragement, he graduated from dental school in Philadelphia in 1895 and set up a practice in Chester. Colette had been stabbed 16 times and punctured 21 times with an ice pick, while 5-year-old Kimberley was killed by six blows to the head and eightto 10 stab wounds, according to a. Jeffrey MacDonald had also been at the home at the time, but he suffered only minor injuries compared to what his family endured. It has witchcraft in it. He awoke to the sound of screaming and found three male intruders being overseen by a blonde woman. But then I felt uneasy. But there is a reasonable doubt, and because there is a reasonable doubt it is absolutely clear that he should be set free. They were hardly as connected as the mob in Manhattan, but they had serious clout. In 1970 America was gripped by the horror of the Manson murders a fact used against MacDonald because he subscribed to Esquire magazine, which had run a story about the dark side of hippie culture. At some time before 3.30am someone brutally attacked the MacDonald family in their home at 544 Castle Drive on what was then the open military base of Fort Bragg. His memoir first describes the family history, especially the career of his uncle Salim Kassab. View all records. I thought the world of Judge Dupree. MacDonald has had mostly good lawyers, though not always the appropriate ones. This was about 31% of all the recorded Kassab's in USA. The CIDs five-month-long interrogation (referred to as an Article 32 hearing) began in April, with officials intent on using only physical evidence and MacDonalds own statements to form their view. That got my attention: the Oscar-winning Morris, whose film The Thin Blue Line exonerated a Texas man wrongfully convicted for murder, is one of the worlds great documentary filmmakers. Next, his trial in Raleigh, North Carolina presided over by Judge Franklin Dupree began on July 16, 1979. Steve Liss/The life Images Collection/Getty ImagesJeffrey MacDonald behind bars for killing his stepdaughter with evidence. All-Access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and story! The picture in my mind became less clear was about 31 % all. 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