The "Truth" Regarding Jeff MacDonald - "False Witness"

[DarkDante]

Okay I never saw this case previously to the airing today and besides offering it up as the next topic of discussion for the group, I have a few questions to ask and some observations to add.

For those who may have missed today's noon broadcast it was basically dominated by the case of a Ft. Bragg "Green Beret" doctor named Jeff Macdonald who was first accused, then had the case against him dropped and was later convicted of murdering his wife and two young children in 1970. Jeff Macdonald has been imprisoned for almost 25 years now still maintaining his innocence and offers a version of the story which if true would not only clear him but point as stiff finger at military cover-up

Macdonald's version of the story that on the night of the murders he was awakened by four individuals - two white males, a black male and a ashen faced woman who assaulted him on his couch (these individuals could be described as hippie SLA like extremists which were a presence in our country in the late 60s/early 70s) while the men assaulted Macdonald the woman shouted "Kill The Pig, LSD is groovy" - The assault was so severe (using weapons such as a baseball bat and an ice pick) that the doctor suffered a punctured lung and numerous contusions about his face and body. After rendering the doctor unconscious the intruders brutally murdered his wife and children.

However the Military Police saw things quite differently - they found no evidence of a "beating" in the living room and said to have only found Macdonald's blood in the rooms where his wife and children were found. They also noted that there was blood in the bathroom sink and alleged that Macdonald tried to clean himself up before placing an urgent telephone call for help also alleging that the blood in the bathroom could come from wounds that Macdonald inflicted upon himself in the bathroom therefore also backing up their claim that the wounds on Macdonald’s body were self-inflicted. (Macdonald himself agrees with the fact that he washed off the blood on his body in the bathroom sink but alleges that this was not to cover up any guilt on his part but merely to get the residual blood off his body)

The case was thrown out eventually and Macdonald relocated to California. At one point he gave an interview to Dick Cavett lambasting the military's handling of this case. According the Macdonald it was this interview which so enraged the military that the re-opened the case against him eventually bringing it to trial in 1979 in which they presented the evidence (listed above) which was enough to convince the jury to sentence Macdonald to three life sentences in federal prison.

However some strange developments also began to occur which seems to back up Macdonald's plea of innocence. It seems that Jeff Macdonald had run afoul of radical groups on the base by refusing to supply them with methadone (since a lot of these people were heavy drug users) - A woman came forth named Helena Stoeckley who claimed incredibly that she was part of the party that killed the doctor's family in 1970. She said that she was part of a satanic cult and was a heavy drug user and she and her friends were worried that Macdonald was going to inform on them to his superiors. Ironically even eerily Helena Stoeckley matched perfectly the description that Macdonald gave to police of the "ashen faced woman" he saw on the night of the attacks.

Helena Stoeckley gave a full confession in both writing and on videotape (as part of a documentary called "False Witness") stating several bombshells. (It is also important to note that Stoeckley would have made an “official confession” in court if granted immunity – the government denied this request)

1) The party including herself and her boyfriend never intended to murder the Macdonald family. They only meant to throw a scare into the doctor, however they were strung out on several types of narcotics at the time and things were taken too far.

2) The reason for the "ashen glow" was due to the fact that Helena Stoeckley was holding a candle up to her face at the time that Macdonald was being attacked. There was also evidence of wax found at the scene of the crime.

3) Helena Stoeckley was wearing a blond wig and an unusual getup of white go-go boots, a floppy white hat and gloves. She later admitted to burning all of these items after confessing to a friend who was a police officer and he stated he couldn't get her off for murder.

4) The reason for her approaching the officer was that Helena Stoeckley was an informant for the police helping them round up several suspected drug dealers and pushers.

5) Helena Stoeckley and company were seen near the residence around the time and after the murders took place

6) A mental patient called the residence while the murders were being committed and the drug induced Helena Stoeckley answered the phone, not knowing what to do she began laughing maniacally into the receiver until another voice told her to "hang up the phone" - this patient corroborates Helena Stoeckley's story that someone besides Macdonald and his family did answer the phone in his household around the time the murders were taking place.

7) Helena Stoeckley was the daughter of a respected military colonel.

The last point is especially interesting when you consider that per the UM the prosecutors attempted to cover up several key pieces of evidence starting with a bloody palm print and a finger print on a bottle of chocolate milk stuffed in one of Macdonald's daughter's mouths after the murder, (both which to today remains unidentified) the writing of the word "PIG" in blood on the headboard of Macdonald's wife's bed (the writing apparently according to a handwriting expert matches Helena Stoeckley's), skin fibers found under the victim's fingernails (which sadly were discarded and are lost to history) and articles of black thread and what appears to be synthetic blonde hair around the home which survive to this day (it is likely that the blonde hair actually was part of Helena Stoeckley's wig and she also has admitted to wearing black clothing that night) - Also the prosecutors did not allow the defense to see any of this evidence to the eleventh hour and the crime scene was also compromised - Now here is something that was withheld from the UM broadcast

At least two of the alleged intruders inside the Macdonald residence that night were related to high ranking military officials (ie: they were their children) - This could be a direct motive for the military focusing it's investigation of Macdonald and Macdonald alone as to not throw the spotlight on the children of several high ranking officials. It is also important to note that two other people in the party Greg Mitchell and Cathy Perry Willaims have both confessed to taking part in the murders of the Macdonald family - All but Perry are have since passed away from lung related diseases.

All of this "evidence" however was never heard by a jury for reasons ranging from Helena Stoeckley being an unreliable witness (when she was still alive prior to 1983) to evidence such as the blonde wig fibers being introduced by the defense too late in the investigation (during an 1989 appeal) - It is also key to note that in the very least FBI agent James Reed misspoke himself when he told defense council during an appeal that a key doctor who had examined the crime scene evidence and determined that Mrs. Macdonald was killed by a blow from the left hand (Jeff Macdonald was right handed) had recanted his statement - When questioned after the appeal the doctor stated "At no time, and to no one, including Special Agent of the FBI, James M. Reed, have I ever recanted my declaration of February 15, 1984"

This becomes key in that one of the alleged intruders, Greg Mitchell was left handed. Other physical evidence also points to the fact that Helena Stoeckley and company were at the residence that night - In 1981 a sober Stoeckley recounted two key things that only a person who had been at the house the night of the murders could have known

a) She noted several items in the house in painful detail including a jewelry box on Mrs. Macdonald's nightstand and a broken hobby house in one of the children's rooms

b) She said that the phone call caused such a panic among the group that they instantly ran around the house and discarded the weapons in the backyard (where they were later found by the MPs)

Even with all this evidence supporting Macdonald's claim of innocence the questions as to why his blood appears all over the household except for the room in which he was assaulted is very key and damaging to his entire claim - Also damaging is the fact that until their dying day his in-laws did not believe his story and believed that Macdonald himself murdered their daughter and grandchildren. There is however one striking piece of evidence that supercedes any of the physical evidence or evidence of intruders in the house that evening and that is MOTIVE!

What motive did Macdonald have to kill his family? - The military was never able to come up with a pure motive besides saying he flew into a blind rage killing his wife and then assaulting his children - this is very hard to believe from a man who had no history of mental illness and even if he did in fact kill his wife in a rage there was no reason to kill at least one of his children as she was still asleep in her bed at the time when the military claims Macdonald slayed his wife.

It is also again important to note that their are many instances of a botched "cover up" in this case from key evidence and documents being either destroyed/suppressed and some of the key prosecutors in the Macdonald case have since been sent to prison themselves on charges of fraud, falsifying documents etc.

To this day Jeff Macdonald, although newlywed to his second wife sits in prison with all of his appeals exhausted. His hope clings to DNA tests that were granted to him in 1997 by Judge James Fox - The events of 9-11 have apparently held up the testing and as of last spring Macdonald is still awaiting the results although he and his attorneys expect them to materialize in 2005. These DNA tests should conclusively prove whether or not other individuals were in the Macdonald residence the night of the murders. Whether this is enough to grant Macdonald a new trial and eventual exoneration - my guess is as good as anyone’s?

So now some questions - Did Jeff Macdonald brutally murder his family in the winter of 1970?

If not then why is his blood found all around the crime scene of the victims and yet none where he claims his lung was punctured and he was brutally lacerated and beaten by his assailants? (the living room)

If so then isn't his manufacturing of a tale so convincing of his innocence truly amazing and beyond words?

If Jeff Macdonald did not murder his family in the winter of 1970 - who did? - Was it Helena Stoeckley and members of an "SLA-like" cult?

If not then why is there evidence directly linking Helena Stoeckley and her cohorts to the house that evening?

If not then why have Helena Stoeckley and two others confessed several times to the murders of the Macdonald family?

If Jeff Macdonald is innocent of the charges against him why has the military tried to cover up key evidence that would have exonerated him? - Is it due to the fact the people who murdered the Macdonald family are in fact children of high ranking military officials who would therefore likely be aware of the drug trafficking by these same individuals around the Ft. Bragg base?

Finally what pre meditated-motive (if any) did Jeff Macdonald have for slaying his entire family?

Two final footnotes before I turn this discussion over to the group – I wanted to mention that for those who put stock in such things both Macdonald and Stoeckley were given lie detector tests regarding the events of the night of the murders - Jeff Macdonald passed his - Stoeckley failed hers when she said "she had no involvement in the murders of the Macdonald family" and passed only when she said she did

I was so intrigued by this segment that I contacted my father in law who himself was stationed at Ft. Bragg circa 1968-1974 making it all the way to Lieutenant although I will not divulge his name here on a public forum when I asked him about the Macdonald case – not only did he recall it but communicated to me that several people on the base were aware of the drug trafficking that was taken place during the late 60s/early 70s around Ft. Bragg – however when I asked him if this was relevant to the Macdonald murders he stated he personally feels now as he did then that Jeff Macdonald murdered his own family on that evening and the story which I communicated to him (via the UM broadcast) seemed in his words to be “the stuff of defense attorneys trying to get an appeal won for their client”, he did note though that others who served with him around the same time feel just as strongly that Macdonald has spent the past decades in prison for no good reason.

[nohwheregirl]

I feel like I've watched about a thousand different documentaries on this case, and they all seem a little dated, so I've wondered if there is now a general consensus on whether he did it or not. I guess there's not one! I tend to lean towards the "he did it" side, and while there are some intriguing questions brought up by his defense, i'm just not a conspiracy theorist. I think this case and the Darlie Routier case are very similar in that their appellate teams are very media savvy.

[Awsi Dooger]

Excellent post, DarkDante.

I would almost bet my life MacDonald is innocent. The person who should be serving a life sentence is the author of Fatal Vision.

To me it's the opposite of the O.J. case, i.e. if O.J. was innocent then why was there all the damning evidence, physical and circumstantial, that screamed otherwise? In MacDonald's case, if it was a simple case of a husband/father who flipped out and murdered his entire family, then there shouldn't be evidence of a Helena Stoeckley and her blonde wig fibers, or the answered phone call, or her accurate description of the inside of the MacDonald residence, etc., etc., etc.

Initially, I don't think it was a case of military/police coverup and corruption as it was a relentless family who were outraged MacDonald didn't grieve properly or long enough, and took it out on him. Once authorities zero in on a theory and suspect, I'm convinced -- based on shows like Unsolved Mysteries, New Detectives, Cold Case Files, and so on -- they develop tunnelvision and a zest to put a checkmark beside the case. We solved it, hurrah! Enjoy your closure. That tends to overwhelm a multipronged examination of multiple possibilities, including the truth in too many cases.

Just look at the Unsolved Mysteries cases in which the initial prosecutors won't relent even after overwhelming evidence they were wrong. Johnny Lee Wilson and the woman convicted of poisoning her first child come to mind. I forget her name, but she was cleared after a subsequent child, born in prison, was diagnosed with a rare disease known as MMA. Then it became obvious her first child died of MMA as well.

[dynoguy88]

I too believe that MacDonald is innocent. I think it's insane to believe that Helena Stoeckley's story of what happened that night could just be a coincidence. I'm no expert, but isn't it possible that the attackers could have taken blood from MacDonald after beating him and placed it on the members of his family? If MacDonald HAD in fact killed his wife, the blood found on his wife's body would indicate that he somehow cut himself while trying to kill his wife. But honestly, how much of a fight could she have put up if she was asleep in her bed or just lying in bed?

Finding out now that two of the alleged intruders were children of the military only makes me believe more so that MacDonald is innocent. Sounds like a cover up to me. DarkDante, maybe your father-in-law just doesn't want to believe the possibilty that the military had any involvement. I would imagine he would be crushed to find out if they did and he would look back on his time there with nothing but regret. I can see why he wouldn't want to believe it was true. But there is just too much evidence that points to a more sinister scenario here. Awsi Dooger brought up a good point about prosecutors refusing to believe the slightest chance that they could be wrong - like the Patty Stallings case. It's unfortunate, but it happens.

[erj1111]

Over the years there has been talk about hippies in the house an all that other stuff, but if there were hippies in the house, why did they kill everybody else and left jeff alive, if they were doped up wouldn't they kill jeff too? and jeff didn't have very serious wounds while eerybody else was stabbed to death. his wife's family talked about what kind of person jeff was before the killings. I say the jeff is 100% guilty of the murders and he really should die for that instead of getting life in prison.

[ddelta]

I have heard about this case forever now....and never was one to decide whether or not he did it...i remember watching the TV movie when i was a kid and being very sad about it.

After watching the Unsolved Mysteries case this past week i think he is guilty. FOR one reason only.....the blood samples in each room that the FBI agent talked about and the picture of the bathroom sink. It flashed on the screen and i was like that is a lot of blood. Then Robert Stack said that was where Jeff McDonald claimed he washed blood off his hands. NO WAY!!!! I was trying to figure out how that much blood got there (like did he kill one of the kids in the bathroom) but agree that is probably where he stabbed himself. There is no way there was no blood in the living room. In addition in one of the girls bedroom was there mothers blood type.....i think she went to protect her and then he dragged her back to there rooom.

A group of people would not stab and beat the crap out of kids and a woman and then leave the man with minor injuries. Does not make any sense.

Just a tid bit of information too. The author of Fatal Vision began writing the book to exonerate Jeff McDonald and in the process believed he did it.

[DarkDante]

I am not all that convinced of his innocence though nor am I convinced of his guilt - Jeff McDonald would have to be a mastermind (maybe THE MASTERMIND) criminal of all time to pull this off if he actually did murder his family because of all the evidence that suggests otherwise - As far as the hippies being doped up on LSD etc well from what I've heard from some "children of the 60s" who I know firsthand the experiences when on acid can not be put into such staunch catagories as what is trying to be stated here. They could have killed one person, two people, three people or all four while stoned on LSD because the drug alters the mind in such a way that the user is unaware as to what is happening - They could have killed any number of people or none at all - The events tell us that three people were left dead and one still alive which is VERY VERY POSSIBLE!

Putting that aside though there is too much evidence of other people in the house from Helena Stoeckley's confessions to others (with no loyalty to either Helena Stoeckley or Macdonald) backing up those claims - there is also physical evidence to suggest intruders in the house that night - I personally think that in the short span of time Jeff had between "murdering" his family and his call to the MPs he would not have been able to formulate and stage such an elaborate crime scene with evidence that could possibly exonorate him if the murder was a "crime of passion" as has been claimed.

now if it was pre-mediatated what was the motive? - That is the big question nobody to my knowledge has been able to answer if this crime was pre-mediated what was Macdonald's motive for killing his family?

The jury is still out on this one because a lot of the physical evidence points to Jeff while other evidence points to intruders and some substansiates (sp?)neither side - I guess we will all know at least part of the truth later this year when DNA samples are returned from the lab and made public. If Jeff could in fact prove using the DnA evidence that there were intruders in his house the night his wife and children were murdered then he has a good chance of being set free - without the DNA corroboration though he will probably spend the rest of his lifetime in prison.

Later.

[Todd Mueller]

I used to think he was 100% guilty without a doubt.

Then I read "Fatal Justice" and now I'm not sure. There is a lot of evidence to say he did it, but there are also a lot of facts that say he couldn't have done it.

If nothing else, that book is an interesting read and will give you something to think about. After I read "Fatal Vision" I thought there is no way he couldn't have done it, but "Fatal Justice" paints a whole other picture.

[Awsi Dooger]

Living in Las Vegas and frequenting sportsbooks, I meet all types. One of them is MacDonald's former prison cellmate from the '80s. I met him maybe two years ago and quizzed him about MacDonald at length. In fact, I think I even posted something about it here on the Unsolved Mysteries forum. My friend knew the guy, and that he was MacDonald's former cellmate.

He is adamant that MacDonald proclaimed his innocence throughout their joint stay at that prison, and that he believed MacDonald without hesitation. The cellmate's quote was something like this; "At least half the guys in prison claim they're innocent. The only one I ever believed was Jeffrey MacDonald." And this is a guy who has spent half his life in prison, by his own admission.

The cellmate said he watched Fatal Vision with MacDonald the first time it aired. MacDonald supposedly spent the next several days detailing everything that was innacurate, basically the entire book and movie.