Dr. Jeffrey MacDonalds Fight for Innocence Essay -- Dr. Jeffrey MacDo

Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald's Fight for Innocence Debated as one of the most misrepresented cases in American legal history, Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald still fights for innocence. Contrary to infallible evidence, prosecution intentionally withheld crucial information aiding MacDonald’s alibi. Such ratification included proof of an outside attack that would have played a major role in Jeffrey’s case. Convicted for the murders of his wife and two kids, thirty-four years ago, Dr. MacDonald still endures the agony of being accused of killing his family. Even after twenty-four years of imprisonment and several unlawful court hearings, additional documentation continues to up hold Dr. MacDonald’s testimony. It happened on a rainy night on February 17, 1970 at the base of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Military police were responding to a call from Green Beret surgeon Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald, which they thought was a routine call. When the military police arrived they discovered the slaughtered bodies of MacDonald’s wife, Colette, who was twenty six, and his two daughters Kimberley, five, and Kristen, two. A MP who preformed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation revived Dr. MacDonald. He told the police he and his wife stayed up drinking some orange liquor. She went to bed and he stayed up to finish watching the Johnny Carson show. MacDonald fell asleep on the sofa. He was awakened by screams of his wife and daughters. MacDonald claimed that three men standing over the sofa started to attack him with a bladed weapon and a baseball bat. He identified the person holding the bat as a black man with an army jacket with E-6 stripes and two white men, one carrying the bladed weapon. Before he was knocked unconscious he said that there was a lady in the back with a large floppy hat, holding a candle and was saying â€Å"acid is groovy† and â€Å"kill the pigs.† When MacDonald woke back up he found his wife lying on the ground, and tried to revive her with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation with no success. He then found his daughters and tried to help them. This is when he called for an ambulance. The Army CID sent a new, inexperienced investigator named William Ivory to investigate the scene. Ivory decided after looking around the house that MacDonald made up the story of the killers. He also persuaded everyone that he was the culprit. This meant that everyone in Ivory’s chain... ...t his the evidence in front of a jury. Still believing in his innocence Jeff is filing for parole after fourteen years of eligibility. He is hoping to meet parole board criteria so he can be released on parole. This is a good case to show how it isn’t always the poor, black, or Hispanic groups getting tried for something they haven’t done. It shows that a white doctor could get his life destroyed by an unfair Judge and prosecutors. Works Cited Briscoe, Daren, MacDonald Wants Out. Newsweek, January 24, 2005. Vol. 145, Issue 4, p8, 1/4p, 1c. Retrieved from EBSCO database on the World Wide Web: http://web3.epnet.com/ Briscoe, Daren, The Green Beret Murders Haven’t Given Up. Newsweek, August 30, 2004. Vol. 144, Issue 9, p6, 4/5p, 1c. Retrieved from EBSCO database on the World Wide Web: http://web3.epnet.com/ Http://www.themacdonaldcase.org/case_overview.html Http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/family/jmacdonald/2.html?sect=12 The Associated Press, DNA Tests for Jeffrey MacDonald/ Former Physician Seeks Evidence in 1970 ‘Fatal Vision’ Slayings. Newsday. March 24, 1999. Retrieved from eLibrary on the World Wide Web: http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/libweb/