I'm not mistaken this is the longest running court fight over a murder conviction ever. It happened when I was 12 years old, about 15 miles from my home. Jeffrey MacDonald brutally murdered his wife and two daughters and tried to claim drug crazed hippies did it. He stayed free for an extended period before finally being convicted and going to prison. His charismatic personality has led to a cult following and conspiracy theories to spring up and keep his appeal efforts funded. The truth is he is a psychopathic narcissist. It would be great if this ended it, but in all likelihood it will not.

• February 1970, Army Capt. Jeffrey MacDonald’s wife, Colette, and daughters, Kimberley and Kristen are killed at the family’s Fort Bragg apartment.

• May 1970, Army charges Jeffrey MacDonald.

• October 1970, Army drops the charges.

• December 1970, Army gives MacDonald an honorable discharge.

• August 1975, federal grand jury in Raleigh indicts MacDonald.

• January 1976, 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismisses the charges on speedy trial grounds.

• May 1978, U.S. Supreme Court reverses the 4th Circuit.

• August 1979, MacDonald is convicted of three murders after a trial in Raleigh.

• August 1980, 4th Circuit dismisses the charges on speedy trial ground.

• March 1982, Supreme Court again reverses the 4th Circuit.

• January 1983, Helena Stoeckley, a drug addict who is said to have confessed to the killings, is found dead in South Carolina.

• March 1983, Joe McGinniss publishes “Fatal Vision.”

• March 1985, defense motion for a new trial fails in federal District Court.

• October 1986, Supreme Court upholds lower court.

• October 1989, Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz joins MacDonald’s appeals team.

• July 1991, another petition for a new trial denied by a District Court judge.

• June 1992, 4th Circuit rules against a new trial.

• November 1992, Supreme Court declines a review.

• January 1994, disbarred former MacDonald prosecutor James Blackburn sentenced to prison for felonies, including altering court documents.

• March 1999, a District Court judge grants MacDonald’s request for DNA testing of evidence.

• May 2003, Raleigh attorney Wade Smith joins the defense.

• March 2006, federal prosecutors say DNA tests do not support MacDonald’s contention that a group of hippies murdered his family.

• April 2007, as part of his latest appeal, MacDonald files an affidavit from Helena Stoeckley’s mother saying that the deceased woman confessed to the MacDonald murders.

• November 2008, the District Court denies a new trial.

• April 2011, 4th Circuit gives MacDonald another chance on the DNA issue.

• Sept. 2012, hearing begins in Wilmington on another MacDonald appeal for a new trial based on DNA and a statement from a retired U.S. marshal about possible misconduct in the original trial.

• July 24, 2014, District Court judge in Wilmington upholds the 1979 murder conviction

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/07/25/4...rylink=cpy

I read the Joe McGinnis (sp?) book on this about 20-25 years ago. Whenever I hear something about his guilt I think he's guilty. And whenever I hear something about his innocence I think he's innocent. Dawg, what do the locals think, or is this just old news?

Dam this case still had legs? Amazing.

I remember the TV movie. Had no idea JM was still alive or going thru the appeals process. Thanks for sharing.

(07-26-2014 11:43 AM)smn1256 Wrote:  I read the Joe McGinnis (sp?) book on this about 20-25 years ago. Whenever I hear something about his guilt I think he's guilty. And whenever I hear something about his innocence I think he's innocent. Dawg, what do the locals think, or is this just old news?

I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone local that thinks he didn't do it. The whole "hippies did it", "Acid is groovy, Kill the Pig" is so contrived that no one really bought it. Fayetteville is a military town, not a hotbed for hippies in 1970. There were plenty of drug addicts but calling them hippies would be a huge stretch. Helena Stoekley was just lost soul, not a murderer.

A Cumberland County detective summed it up best when asked on the stand his thoughts on the possibility of four, "drug crazed hippies" on acid committing the murders. He said, "four people on acid couldn't organize a trip to the bathroom."

Didn't his in-laws stick behind him for the longest time?

(07-26-2014 06:57 PM)Smaug Wrote:  Didn't his in-laws stick behind him for the longest time?

When he got on the Dick Cavate Show he said a lot of things they knew were just plain lies. The step-father in-law started reading all the reports and the transcript of the military trial. Then they knew he did it. He wouldn't let up until the Feds agreed to reopen the case. MacDonald's self-centered arrogance is what did him in.


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