MacDonald insists he’s innocent

Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va.

For nearly 50 years, Jeffrey MacDonald has consistently denied that he brutally killed his pregnant wife and two young daughters in their apartment on the Fort Bragg Army post in North Carolina.

Now 73 and still behind bars, the former Army surgeon whose case has inspired books and a television miniseries is pursuing what may be a final opportunity to clear his name.

MacDonald’s attorneys argued for his innocence in a federal appeals court Thursday, pointing to evidence uncovered since his 1979 trial that they say proves he wasn’t the killer.

MacDonald has long maintained that a group of hippies slaughtered 26-year-old Colette McDonald and their daughters Kimberley, 5, and Kristen, 2, during a drug-fueled attack in 1970 that left him severely injured.

Despite decades of failed appeals, MacDonald remains hopeful that he will be exonerated.

It became known as the “Fatal Vision” case, the title of a true-crime book MacDonald had invited author Joe McGinniss to write to demonstrate his innocence. Instead, McGinniss became convinced of his guilt. McGinniss eventually agreed to pay MacDonald $325,000 to settle breach of trust claims.

MacDonald is challenging a judge’s refusal in 2014 to grant him a new trial based on new evidence, including three hairs found at the scene that don’t match the family’s DNA, and a statement from Jimmy Britt, a deputy U.S. marshal who accused the prosecution of intimidating a key witness.

MacDonald is serving three consecutive life terms in Cumberland, Md. He is not eligible for parole again until 2020.