Jeffrey Macdonald

In Fort Bragg, North Carolina, during the early hours of February 17th, 1970, military police responded to a distress call made at 544 Castle Drive. On arrival, military police checked the front door, and when there was no response, they went to the back door. Inside the house, they found a gruesome scene: the bloody body of 5-month pregnant Colette MacDonald, age 26, lying on the floor in the master bedroom. She had been stabbed numerous times in the neck and chest. Colette's husband, Green Beret Captain Jeffrey MacDonald, age 26, lay by her, with his head on her shoulder. Jeffrey was conscious and asked the police to check on their children. In the other bedrooms, the police first discovered the body of the oldest daughter, Kimberly, age 5, lying in bed. She had been stabbed in the neck and face, and her skull was fractured. Next, they found the body of Kristen, age 2, also lying in bed. Kristen had been stabbed many times in the chest and back. Colette, Kimberly, and Kristen were already dead when the police arrived. Jeffrey was taken to the hospital. His wounds included a small wound to the right side of his chest, a bruise on the left side of his forehead, and a stab wound to the abdomen and upper left arm. His chest wound collapsed part of his right lung.

MacDonald claimed that a band of Manson-like intruders had burst into the apartment and killed his wife and two daughters. He described the intruders as wearing hippie-style clothes: one female wearing a big floppy hat, one African American man, and two Caucasian men. Despite this claim, however, MacDonald was considered the prime suspect in the vicious murders.

Jeffrey and Colette had been childhood sweethearts, married in September 1963. Their first daughter, Kimberly, was born shortly thereafter, in 1964. MacDonald had been the all-American boy, very bright, energetic, and charming. He attended Princeton University and then Northwestern University medical school. He completed his internship at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City in June 1969 and was inducted in the Army in July 1969. In September 1969, Jeffrey was assigned duty as a medical officer at the Green Beret headquarters, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was considered a dedicated doctor and good solider.

In 1979, 9 years after the brutal murders, a federal court found Jeffrey MacDonald guilty of the crimes and sentenced him to three consecutive life terms. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals later overturned the verdict, after MacDonald had spent a year in prison, because they ruled that he had been denied a speedy trial. In March 1982, however, the United States Supreme Court voted to reverse the lower court's decision, and MacDonald returned to prison, where he remains to this day.