In the early hours of February 17, 1970, at 3:42 a.m., Green Beret and physician Jeffrey MacDonald made a distress call from his home at 544 Castle Drive on Fort Bragg in North Carolina. The operator on the other end received a faint and urgent plea for assistance: “Stabbing! Hurry!”
Inside the home, a grim scene awaited. MacDonald’s wife, Colette, aged 26 and five months pregnant, was discovered lifeless on the floor of their master bedroom. In their respective beds were the bodies of their daughters, Kimberley, age 5, and Kristen, age 2. When compared to the severe injuries sustained by his family, Jeffrey MacDonald himself faced only minor wounds.
According to MacDonald’s account, four intruders invaded his home—three men and a woman. He stated that they murdered his family and rendered him unconscious. The woman, he described, had long blonde hair, donned a white floppy hat, carried a candle, and uttered the phrase, “Acid is groovy, kill the pigs.”
The case has been the subject of books, movies, articles, and numerous lawsuits. MacDonald was convicted of murdering his wife and daughters and sentenced to life in prison. He maintains his innocence and has never wavered from his claim that hippies murdered his family.
Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack discuss the case, examining the injuries suffered by Colette, Kimberley, Kristen, and Jeffrey MacDonald, and comparing the forensic evidence to the story told by the sole survivor.
[Feature Photo: Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald, left, speaks to the press as his attorney, Bernard Segal, right, listens outside U.S. Federal Building in Los Angeles, Aug. 22, 1980. MacDonald, convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and two daughters in 1970, was released Friday from federal prison on Terminal Island on bail posted by friends while his conviction is being appealed. (AP Photo/Lennox McLendon)]
