On Thursday, lawyers for Jeffrey MacDonald — the former Green Beret surgeon convicted of the 1970 murders of his wife and two daughters — argued his innocence before an appeals court.
The hearing took place before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia and was over by 10 a.m. A decision could take months.
One of MacDonald’s attorneys said he was pleased with how the hearing went.
“The judges carefully listened to both sides,” Hart Miles tells People. “They asked probing questions and certainly have a lot of material to consider. We remain hopeful that Jeff will prevail on his appeal.
The hearing took place before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia and was over by 10 a.m. A decision could take months.
One of MacDonald’s attorneys said he was pleased with how the hearing went.
“The judges carefully listened to both sides,” Hart Miles tells People. “They asked probing questions and certainly have a lot of material to consider. We remain hopeful that Jeff will prevail on his appeal.
- 1/26/2017
- by Nicole Weisensee Egan
- PEOPLE.com
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For the past 47 years, Jeffrey MacDonald — the former Green Beret surgeon convicted of the 1970 murder of his pregnant wife and two daughters — has been the subject of thousands of news articles as well as multiple books and movies.
Some have portrayed him as a sociopath. Some have portrayed him as an innocent man allegedly railroaded by inexperienced Army investigators. Mostly, it’s the negative portrayals that have stuck.
However, MacDonald’s defenders are quick to point to an extensive battery of psychological tests by different prominent forensic psychiatrists, all of which have shown no signs of a sociopathic or psychopathic personality disorder.
Some have portrayed him as a sociopath. Some have portrayed him as an innocent man allegedly railroaded by inexperienced Army investigators. Mostly, it’s the negative portrayals that have stuck.
However, MacDonald’s defenders are quick to point to an extensive battery of psychological tests by different prominent forensic psychiatrists, all of which have shown no signs of a sociopathic or psychopathic personality disorder.
- 1/23/2017
- by Nicole Weisensee Egan
- PEOPLE.com
When military police officer Ken Mica arrived at Jeffrey MacDonald’s Fort Bragg, North Carolina apartment on Feb. 17, 1970, he saw MacDonald in the master bedroom, lying on his stomach next to his bloodied wife, Colette.
“I see he’s still alive and I lean down next to him and say, ‘Who did this?’ ” Mica tells People. “And he starts describing three guys and a woman.”
The woman he described — long blonde hair or wig, a floppy hat and knee-high boots — resembled a woman Mica had passed on the way to the apartment belonging to MacDonald, a Green Beret surgeon. Mica...
“I see he’s still alive and I lean down next to him and say, ‘Who did this?’ ” Mica tells People. “And he starts describing three guys and a woman.”
The woman he described — long blonde hair or wig, a floppy hat and knee-high boots — resembled a woman Mica had passed on the way to the apartment belonging to MacDonald, a Green Beret surgeon. Mica...
- 1/20/2017
- by Nicole Weisensee Egan
- PEOPLE.com
Jeffrey MacDonald, convicted of murdering his wife and two children in 1979, has been eligible for parole since 1990.
But the one and only time the former Green Beret surgeon applied for it was in 2005 — after he married longtime family friend Kathryn Kurichh.
“I didn’t want to go to the hearing,” he tells People. “But I was newly married — three years at the time with a loving and supportive wife. And I had new attorneys offering encouragement saying, ‘Times are changing and you never know.’ ”
But in order to get parole, he would have had to admit to the murders. That...
But the one and only time the former Green Beret surgeon applied for it was in 2005 — after he married longtime family friend Kathryn Kurichh.
“I didn’t want to go to the hearing,” he tells People. “But I was newly married — three years at the time with a loving and supportive wife. And I had new attorneys offering encouragement saying, ‘Times are changing and you never know.’ ”
But in order to get parole, he would have had to admit to the murders. That...
- 1/19/2017
- by Nicole Weisensee Egan
- PEOPLE.com
Watch: Former Green Beret Surgeon Jeffrey MacDonald Talks About Murders of His Family Under Hypnosis
In 1979, before his murder trial, Jeffrey MacDonald agreed to be hypnotized, hoping it would enable him to come up with more detailed descriptions of the intruders he has always said killed his family.
The defense had hoped to use the four hours of tapes of him under hypnosis at trial, but U.S. District Judge Franklin Dupree ruled against the admission of any psychiatric testimony in the case.
In the hypnosis session, Richard Doucet, a former FBI agent and expert hypnotist, “regressed” MacDonald, according to Jerry Allen Potter and Fred Bost’s book Fatal Justice.
• For more on the Jeffrey MacDonald case,...
The defense had hoped to use the four hours of tapes of him under hypnosis at trial, but U.S. District Judge Franklin Dupree ruled against the admission of any psychiatric testimony in the case.
In the hypnosis session, Richard Doucet, a former FBI agent and expert hypnotist, “regressed” MacDonald, according to Jerry Allen Potter and Fred Bost’s book Fatal Justice.
• For more on the Jeffrey MacDonald case,...
- 1/18/2017
- by Nicole Weisensee Egan
- PEOPLE.com
For the past 47 years, Jeffrey MacDonald’s account of what happened the night his entire family was murdered has stayed the same.
So has the case against him, built largely on blood-type testing — he, his wife and two children all had different blood types — that seems archaic by today’s standards.
But since his 1979 conviction, MacDonald has painstakingly gathered a body of evidence — some of which was suppressed by prosecutors — via Freedom of Information Act requests that he believes prove him right.
“I am innocent,” he says in an exclusive jailhouse interview in this week’s issue of People magazine.
So has the case against him, built largely on blood-type testing — he, his wife and two children all had different blood types — that seems archaic by today’s standards.
But since his 1979 conviction, MacDonald has painstakingly gathered a body of evidence — some of which was suppressed by prosecutors — via Freedom of Information Act requests that he believes prove him right.
“I am innocent,” he says in an exclusive jailhouse interview in this week’s issue of People magazine.
- 1/18/2017
- by Nicole Weisensee Egan
- PEOPLE.com
Jeffrey MacDonald’s defense team is preparing to go to court, again, to argue for his innocence in the murder of his family nearly 47 years ago.
His case was featured on Monday night’s season finale of People Magazine Investigates, on Investigation Discovery. As MacDonald’s lawyers explained on the People Magazine Investigates After Show following the episode, some evidence has stuck with them for years.
“Helena Stoeckley has haunted this case ever since she was discovered as a potential suspect,” defense attorney Hart Miles said on the after show, which is available to stream, along with the full episode,...
His case was featured on Monday night’s season finale of People Magazine Investigates, on Investigation Discovery. As MacDonald’s lawyers explained on the People Magazine Investigates After Show following the episode, some evidence has stuck with them for years.
“Helena Stoeckley has haunted this case ever since she was discovered as a potential suspect,” defense attorney Hart Miles said on the after show, which is available to stream, along with the full episode,...
- 1/10/2017
- by peoplecomproducer
- PEOPLE.com
Jeffrey MacDonald has fought a nearly 40-year fight against his murder convictions in the slayings of his wife and two young daughters, in 1970. But he hasn’t been alone in his claims of innocence, which will go before an appeals court later this month.
MacDonald’s wife, Kathryn, has worked alongside Jeff’s friends to advocate for his exoneration. She runs a website about the case. The case was featured on Monday night’s season finale of People Magazine Investigates, on Investigation Discovery.
In an after-show, available now on the People/Entertainment Weekly Network (Pen), Kathryn appeared with Jeff’s...
MacDonald’s wife, Kathryn, has worked alongside Jeff’s friends to advocate for his exoneration. She runs a website about the case. The case was featured on Monday night’s season finale of People Magazine Investigates, on Investigation Discovery.
In an after-show, available now on the People/Entertainment Weekly Network (Pen), Kathryn appeared with Jeff’s...
- 1/10/2017
- by peoplecomproducer
- PEOPLE.com
The controversial case of former Green Beret surgeon Jeffrey MacDonald, convicted in 1979 of murdering his wife and two daughters in 1970, is now before an appeals court.
Oral arguments are scheduled for January 26 in Richmond, Virginia.
The case, which has captivated the nation for nearly half a century, is the focus of the upcoming People Magazine Investigates episode “The Accused,” which airs Monday night at 10 p.m. Et on Investigation Discovery. Ahead of that broadcast, People Senior Editor Alicia Dennis sat down on Friday’s People Now to preview the episode and talk about aspects of the case.
“Jeffrey’s defense...
Oral arguments are scheduled for January 26 in Richmond, Virginia.
The case, which has captivated the nation for nearly half a century, is the focus of the upcoming People Magazine Investigates episode “The Accused,” which airs Monday night at 10 p.m. Et on Investigation Discovery. Ahead of that broadcast, People Senior Editor Alicia Dennis sat down on Friday’s People Now to preview the episode and talk about aspects of the case.
“Jeffrey’s defense...
- 1/6/2017
- by Nicole Weisensee Egan
- PEOPLE.com
When Colette and Jeffrey MacDonald arrived in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in August 1969, they quickly became close friends with another military couple, Rick and Judy Thoesen.
They came to the MacDonald’s home many times over the next several months and spent Thanksgiving with the family while Colette whipped up a tasty Thanksgiving meal for about 25 people.
They quickly found their friendship tested.
On Feb. 17, 1970, MacDonald’s wife, Colette, 26, and daughters Kimberley, 5, and Kristen, 2, were brutally murdered at their home. Jeffrey was the sole survivor.
• For more on the Jeffrey MacDonald case, watch “The Accused” on our 10-part true crime show,...
They came to the MacDonald’s home many times over the next several months and spent Thanksgiving with the family while Colette whipped up a tasty Thanksgiving meal for about 25 people.
They quickly found their friendship tested.
On Feb. 17, 1970, MacDonald’s wife, Colette, 26, and daughters Kimberley, 5, and Kristen, 2, were brutally murdered at their home. Jeffrey was the sole survivor.
• For more on the Jeffrey MacDonald case, watch “The Accused” on our 10-part true crime show,...
- 1/6/2017
- by Nicole Weisensee Egan
- PEOPLE.com
It’s been nearly 50 years since former Green Beret surgeon Jeffrey MacDonald’s wife and two daughters were brutally murdered at their Fort Bragg, North Carolina, home.
MacDonald claimed that on that 1970 night, four intruders killed his wife, Colette, 26, and daughters Kimberley, 5, and Kristen, 2. But MacDonald was convicted of the murders.
He has maintained his innocence, and on January 26, an appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, will hear oral arguments on his “actual innocence” claim, a legal term that sets a high bar for exonerations.
The case is the focus of the upcoming People Magazine Investigates episode “The Accused,” which airs Monday night at 10 p.
MacDonald claimed that on that 1970 night, four intruders killed his wife, Colette, 26, and daughters Kimberley, 5, and Kristen, 2. But MacDonald was convicted of the murders.
He has maintained his innocence, and on January 26, an appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, will hear oral arguments on his “actual innocence” claim, a legal term that sets a high bar for exonerations.
The case is the focus of the upcoming People Magazine Investigates episode “The Accused,” which airs Monday night at 10 p.
- 1/5/2017
- by Nicole Weisensee Egan
- PEOPLE.com
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