The Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald
Colette, Kimberley, and Kristen Updated on July 16, 2019 On this day in 1979, the trial of former Army doctor Jeffrey MacDonald for the murders of his wife Colette and their daughters, five-year-old Kimberley and two-year-old Kristen, began. On February 16, 1970, MacDonald had claimed that four hippies had broken into the MacDonald home in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and attacked him and his family. While Jeffrey MacDonald walked away from ordeal with a few minor stab wounds, the other members of the MacDonald family had each been stabbed at least 20 times. Investigators doubted MacDonald's story, due to very little evidence of the struggle that he claimed to have had with his attackers. They believed that he had read a story about the Manson murders in Esquire magazine and had attempted to make the murders look like a copycat killing. Despite there being lots of blood and fiber evidence, the forensic investigation was severely bungled and a three-month military hearing ended w...