NC - MacDonald family murders at Fort Bragg, 1970 - Jeffrey MacDonald innocent?

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mickey2942 said:
My biggest issue with McDonald, is the fact that he continues to double down that he is an innocent victim.

At least Chris Watts acknowledged that he did kill his pregnant wife and two young daughters.
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True, but Watts is a very dim bulb compared to MacDonald.
Not a smart guy, Watts, who thought he could fool the local LE, her family, his family and others, but no-o-o-o-o, it didn't work for 5 minutes.
MacD, a Narcissistic sociopath, thought he was smarter than LE and the Army CID, but he wasn't. Heck, he didn't even fool his wife for long.
 
borndem said:
True, but Watts is a very dim bulb compared to MacDonald.
Not a smart guy, Watts, who thought he could fool the local LE, her family, his family and others, but no-o-o-o-o, it didn't work for 5 minutes.
MacD, a Narcissistic sociopath, thought he was smarter than LE and the Army CID, but he wasn't. Heck, he didn't even fool his wife for long.
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Dear @borndem,

Thank you for this insightful post!

I find it extremely difficult that anyone could believe he is not guilty.
 
zencompass said:
Dear @borndem,

Thank you for this insightful post!

I find it extremely difficult that anyone could believe he is not guilty.
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bbm
So do I, and there are a goodly little bunch of believers out there -- proving he is a silver-tongued liar, and his good looks don't hurt his cause, and my-goodness! he's a doctor and a Green Beret -- no one like that would ever hurt his family -- poor guy.
Gag! GMAB!
Well, at least he's still in the slammer for now -- two 2nd Degree Murder convictions and one 1st Degree Murder -- and the killing of his wife also ended the hope for a son and brother for this family. He only deserves to be let out of there horizontally and in a box. JMO.
 
This applies to both the TV version of Fatal vision and the Watts movie but how much were the child actors told about the murdered little girls they were playing?
Dyanne Iandoli famously couldn't play JonBenet lying on a morgue slab
 
zencompass said:
This article from Vanity Fair (1998) has likely already been posted on this thread. However, I want to post it again as it captures the essence and evidence in the case, in my opinion.

The Devil and Jeffrey MacDonald
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That's a good article, and that chilling final line pretty much sums up Jeffrey MacDonald.

There are many reasons that I believe MacDonald is guilty (his account of the crime is absolutely preposterous), but my favorite is the hair that was found in his wife's hands. He insisted for years that if it was only tested, it would prove who her killer was because it wasn't his. They finally tested it . . . and it was his hair after all.
 
It was a horrific and truly fiendish act committed by a horrific fiend. I wonder if Jeffery has actually started to believe the delusion he still tries to sell or if it's simply an advance case of "that's my story and I'm sticking to it".
 
Catmommy said:
It was a horrific and truly fiendish act committed by a horrific fiend. I wonder if Jeffery has actually started to believe the delusion he still tries to sell or if it's simply an advance case of "that's my story and I'm sticking to it".
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I don't know. That is an interesting question. Especially when he was actually eligible for parole in the 90's, and yet, his continued denial about his guilt was a huge sticking point with the parole board. Obviously, not rehabilitated, if he doesn't acknowledge his crime.

Maybe, by this time he has completely disassociated himself from the crime. Compartmentalized the memory? Who knows...I have no question about his guilt. My Dad was in the army, and he would have wiped the floor with any guys who broke into our house. Seriously.
 
Catmommy said:
It was a horrific and truly fiendish act committed by a horrific fiend. I wonder if Jeffery has actually started to believe the delusion he still tries to sell or if it's simply an advance case of "that's my story and I'm sticking to it".
Click to expand...
I think he's an arrogant pathological liar who will never admit he is guilty because it dismantles the persona he tries to sell. However, I also don't think he believes the bullcrap he peddles.

I couldn't actually finish Fatal Vision because the chapters from his perspective were so annoying. It was all about how great and wonderful and amazing he was and what little he said about his family was incredibly disinterested.

I think it genuinely baffles him that people want to focus on the fact that he murdered his family instead of his professional accomplishments of going to highly ranked schools and becoming a doctor for the Green Berets, but I think he has enough social skills to know that this isn't something you say out loud.
 
No release for MacDonald! Oh, what a pity for the man who killed his entire family.

From WRAL, Raleigh, NC
--------------------------------------
State News

Judge denies release for 'Fatal Vision' killer during pandemic

Tags:

Posted April 9, 2021 5:10 p.m. EDT
Updated April 9, 2021 5:19 p.m. EDT
RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal judge on Friday denied a "compassionate release" request filed on behalf of 77-year-old Jeffrey MacDonald, who is serving life prison sentences for the 1970 murders of his pregnant wife and two young children at Fort Bragg.

MacDonald's lawyers had asked that he be released from federal prison due to his deteriorating health during the coronavirus pandemic.

"He’s very near to the end of his life," attorney Elliot Abrams told U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle in arguments last month.
--------------------------
More here:
Judge denies release for 'Fatal Vision' killer during pandemic :: WRAL.com
 
borndem said:
No release for MacDonald! Oh, what a pity for the man who killed his entire family.

From WRAL, Raleigh, NC
--------------------------------------
State News

Judge denies release for 'Fatal Vision' killer during pandemic

Tags:

Posted April 9, 2021 5:10 p.m. EDT
Updated April 9, 2021 5:19 p.m. EDT
RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal judge on Friday denied a "compassionate release" request filed on behalf of 77-year-old Jeffrey MacDonald, who is serving life prison sentences for the 1970 murders of his pregnant wife and two young children at Fort Bragg.

MacDonald's lawyers had asked that he be released from federal prison due to his deteriorating health during the coronavirus pandemic.

"He’s very near to the end of his life," attorney Elliot Abrams told U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle in arguments last month.
--------------------------
More here:
Judge denies release for 'Fatal Vision' killer during pandemic :: WRAL.com
Click to expand...

Dear @borndem,

Thank you so much for sharing this news!

It is such a relief to hear that this monster will not ever leave prison alive.
 
Catmommy said:
It was a horrific and truly fiendish act committed by a horrific fiend. I wonder if Jeffery has actually started to believe the delusion he still tries to sell or if it's simply an advance case of "that's my story and I'm sticking to it".
Click to expand...
bbm
I think it's a little of both for him -- if people who are ashamed of something they did, children included, keep telling themselves and others that they didn't do it, sometimes that action -- however fragile -- works. And MacD has been doing it for years and years. He may be as smooth at convincing himself he is innocent, as he is with convincing his many loyal fans.
It does work better with children, as one would probably assume, but I think MacD may have spun himself to himself.
At least he's still in the slammer, his latest pity-party did not fly with the powers that be.
 
I just finished watching A Wilderness of Error, it could easily have been 2 hours of programme instead of 5 episodes but still, totally sure JM did it. Helena S is a very strange red herring/diversion. I do kind of what to know what the other items are that they have that could be DNA tested, is it the weapons? The forensics and timeliness demonstrate JM guilt imo. Was he actually on drugs? Or what motive is there?
 
Just finished watching A Wilderness of Error. Solid 5-part documentary that commingled news footage/interviews/home movies related to the case/era, more modern interviews of those who were involved in the case years ago, and re-enactments.

The only "miscarriage of justice" here was that JM didn't go to prison for the rest of his life back in 1970. He had 9 years of living in freedom before he was finally convicted of this heinous crime - even though the conviction should have happened years earlier. I'm appalled that he got cleared back in 1970...but not surprised.

I did not know a whole lot about this JM case before seeing this doc., other than thinking that JM was clearly guilty. And, AWOE just solidified this belief. Some points:

-All of the blood/DNA evidence points to JM being the only killer, and there is 0 evidence of any intruders that night. Going along with this, it was interesting to note that everyone defending JM (both the defense lawyers & others) couldn't & never tried to explain the complete lack of physical evidence showing that three/four other "killers" were @ the apartment that night.

-I completely discount anything that came out of HS's mouth. She had 0 credibility. I felt she was:

1) Just seeking attention/notoriety that she got due to being connected to such a famous case. The LE officer/investigator Prince B. sounds like he was feeding her information so that her story would sound more convincing.
2) Was on drugs ATT so just "imagined" she was at the house when the crime occurred.
3) Was mentally ill.
4) A combination of all of the above.

In the interview she gave when she "confessed" to being there when the crime occurred, she got the details all wrong. She said that those with her who assaulted JM & his family used their fists, when in actuality the family was killed by knives, clubs, and ice picks. And, she alternately said she was there, and then that she wasn't there. I definitely think she was confused, and there is 0 evidence that she or any other 'intruders' were in the house that night.

That being said, she was clearly troubled & it's sad that she died @ age 32.
 
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Part 2:

-I also found it very significant that Freddy K. (JM's father-in-law) and Joe McGinniss (the author of Fatal Vision) both thought JM was innocent at one point, and then as time went on - realized that he was actually guilty.

-If it hadn't been for FK's relentless pursuit of justice & opening the case up again so that JM would finally go on trial, I'm convinced JM would still be walking around free today. Though JM's being in jail from 1979-the present is due to many people's work/efforts, it's obvious that FK's persistence & insistence that the case be re-opened started the ball rolling & directly led to the conviction.

-It was interesting that the "Death to P." sentence written in blood was written by someone that used a surgical glove - to avoid leaving fingerprints. So, drug-crazed hippies will have the presence of mind to use this in order to cover their tracks?! I somehow doubt this.

-These "crazed killers" left all of the murder weapons directly outside the house - on the ground, and they were all conveniently next to each other.

-As far as a motive, I don't think this was necessarily a premeditated crime. I suspect JM & his wife got into a huge fight/argument that night (possibly related to his sleeping with other women, which he confessed during the trial) & things escalated horribly from there.

However, I do think that JM wanted to get out of his marriage & family life - so once his family was dead he decided that injuring himself & blaming it on someone else would work. And, it did - for a while.
 
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