Biography
A Word About The Biography
of Jeffrey MacDonald
The data provided in this, and all biographies are intended as supplementary information to provide those readers who have no knowledge of the author of the handwriting analyzed to have some reasonable background information. This information is usually culled from existing information available to the public. In the case of the background information on Jeffrey MacDonald, the information that was posted in May of 1997 (when the analysis was first posted) has been strongly contested by a group of people who are convinced that his conviction and subsequent incarceration was in error. Dr. MacDonald is in the process of making a case for reversal of his conviction based upon DNA evidence that he feels will clear his name. Therefore in the interests of fairness and to provide opposing views regarding much of the data that was initially provided in 1997, both sets of information will be provided to you for your evaluation. Please note, that the original analysis that was done in 1997 was done before most of the information in the 1997 biography was known to the analyst. The analyst made no judgment about Dr. MacDonald's guilt or innocence in the analysis. The analysis was the opinion of the analyst based solely on the graphological factors observed in the handwriting of Dr. MacDonald.
We invite you to review both the original biography and the arguments provided that contest the original biography so that you are informed on the author's background and current status.
Original Biography of Jeffrey MacDonald
of Jeffrey MacDonald
The data provided in this, and all biographies are intended as supplementary information to provide those readers who have no knowledge of the author of the handwriting analyzed to have some reasonable background information. This information is usually culled from existing information available to the public. In the case of the background information on Jeffrey MacDonald, the information that was posted in May of 1997 (when the analysis was first posted) has been strongly contested by a group of people who are convinced that his conviction and subsequent incarceration was in error. Dr. MacDonald is in the process of making a case for reversal of his conviction based upon DNA evidence that he feels will clear his name. Therefore in the interests of fairness and to provide opposing views regarding much of the data that was initially provided in 1997, both sets of information will be provided to you for your evaluation. Please note, that the original analysis that was done in 1997 was done before most of the information in the 1997 biography was known to the analyst. The analyst made no judgment about Dr. MacDonald's guilt or innocence in the analysis. The analysis was the opinion of the analyst based solely on the graphological factors observed in the handwriting of Dr. MacDonald.
We invite you to review both the original biography and the arguments provided that contest the original biography so that you are informed on the author's background and current status.
Original Biography of Jeffrey MacDonald
Biography of Jeffrey MacDonald
MacDonald was the middle child of three children, raised by a perpetually angry father, especially towards women. In high school he was a popular and highly achieving student. He married his high school and university girl friend Colette when she became pregnant.
He went on to medical school and they had a difficult life. He worked extra jobs for more income. Still he was the all American hero wherever he found himself, a hard worker and always popular.
After medical school he decided to join the service, specifically the Green Berets, without telling his wife. After training and while serving, he moonlighted at a hospital seven nights a week and applied for the boxing team as their physician. The boxing team trips allowed him to travel, which gave him the chance for numerous extramarital affairs. He began to moonlight also on weekends at another hospital and applied for a third moonlighting job.
After having two daughters, Colette was pregnant again and unhappy about it, as well as about her husband's almost total absence from home. Colette was becoming more independent, studying at night school, especially psychology, which gave her more insight into her husband and their marriage.
On February 17, 1970, MacDonald claimed that two men and a woman hippy types broke into his home, attacked him and killed his wife and two daughters. MacDonald's wounds were a bruise on the side of his head, small knife wounds, a small surface stomach wound, and one puncture wound into the lung which made it collapse. Upon entering the hospital all his vital signs were normal.
Six weeks after the crime, investigators interviewed him. His interview conflicted with the physical evidence. He agreed to take a polygraph, then changed his mind, and also refused to be interviewed under sodium amytal.
MacDonald hired Bernie Segal of Philadelphia (who had made his name with the ACLU in civil rights cases) as his lawyer. Segal believed criminal law was more a theatrical art than judicial science.
A military hearing under Article 32 was held, but eventually a military decision came down to drop the charges for lack of sufficient evidence. MacDonald applied for an honorable discharge.
MacDonald loved the publicity and kept a running record of media mention of him and his case.
MacDonald's father-in-law, Freddie Kassab, was appalled to see MacDonald on TV seeking publicity. MacDonald had told Kassab that he had located one of the killers of his wife and children and supposedly "taken care" of him.
To satisfy his and his wife's grief, Kassab finally got a copy of the Article 32 hearing which he could never get from MacDonald.
For a month Kassab did nothing but study the transcript, making notes about the contradictions in MacDonald's testimony. He concluded that, although the CID had done a bad job of the investigation, MacDonald was the killer. He met with the investigators, examined the crime scene and reviewed in detail the calculations and measurements based on MacDonald's testimony. What MacDonald had testified to was impossible.
Unfortunately for MacDonald, Kassab was one of the world's most persistent personalities. He was relentless in pursuit of MacDonald, visiting congressional members, pressing on all sides to reopen the case. Since the military could not, it was left to the Department of Justice to reopen it.
Meanwhile, MacDonald moved to Long Beach, changed his life to the California style, refocused his medical career and found numerous girl friends.
When the Department of Justice was reluctant to retry MacDonald, Kassab threatened to go public with his own investigation. The DOJ formally decided not to reopen the case. Kassab then wrote to all members of the House and Judiciary committees, outlining his four-year investigation.
Finally, all the evidence was sent to a senior DOJ attorney, known for taking on difficult cases. In 1974 a grand jury called MacDonald, then returned an indictment for three counts of murder against him. After a long appeals battle, in 1977 the Supreme Court declared that MacDonald must stand trial.
During trial MacDonald could not control the bitter, caustic side of his personality, the side of him that attorney Segal had warned him would most harm him.
After six and a half hours of deliberation the jury, most of whom were in tears, returned a verdict of guilty of second degree murder of his wife and older daughter and first degree murder of his younger daughter. MacDonald went to prison.
In 1979 the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals found his right to a speedy trial had been violated and overturned the verdict. In 1982 the Supreme Court overturned the Fourth Circuit decision and MacDonald went to prison again.
Joe McGinness, who wrote about the case in Fatal Vision, commented about MacDonald's Long Beach apartment where McGinness stayed while doing his research, "Jeffrey MacDonald's condominium was quite comfortable, once I got used to all the mirrors."
In Outrage, Vincent Bugliosi states:
About the crimes themselves, (according to police reports) the injuries were as follows:
He went on to medical school and they had a difficult life. He worked extra jobs for more income. Still he was the all American hero wherever he found himself, a hard worker and always popular.
After medical school he decided to join the service, specifically the Green Berets, without telling his wife. After training and while serving, he moonlighted at a hospital seven nights a week and applied for the boxing team as their physician. The boxing team trips allowed him to travel, which gave him the chance for numerous extramarital affairs. He began to moonlight also on weekends at another hospital and applied for a third moonlighting job.
After having two daughters, Colette was pregnant again and unhappy about it, as well as about her husband's almost total absence from home. Colette was becoming more independent, studying at night school, especially psychology, which gave her more insight into her husband and their marriage.
On February 17, 1970, MacDonald claimed that two men and a woman hippy types broke into his home, attacked him and killed his wife and two daughters. MacDonald's wounds were a bruise on the side of his head, small knife wounds, a small surface stomach wound, and one puncture wound into the lung which made it collapse. Upon entering the hospital all his vital signs were normal.
Six weeks after the crime, investigators interviewed him. His interview conflicted with the physical evidence. He agreed to take a polygraph, then changed his mind, and also refused to be interviewed under sodium amytal.
MacDonald hired Bernie Segal of Philadelphia (who had made his name with the ACLU in civil rights cases) as his lawyer. Segal believed criminal law was more a theatrical art than judicial science.
A military hearing under Article 32 was held, but eventually a military decision came down to drop the charges for lack of sufficient evidence. MacDonald applied for an honorable discharge.
MacDonald loved the publicity and kept a running record of media mention of him and his case.
MacDonald's father-in-law, Freddie Kassab, was appalled to see MacDonald on TV seeking publicity. MacDonald had told Kassab that he had located one of the killers of his wife and children and supposedly "taken care" of him.
To satisfy his and his wife's grief, Kassab finally got a copy of the Article 32 hearing which he could never get from MacDonald.
For a month Kassab did nothing but study the transcript, making notes about the contradictions in MacDonald's testimony. He concluded that, although the CID had done a bad job of the investigation, MacDonald was the killer. He met with the investigators, examined the crime scene and reviewed in detail the calculations and measurements based on MacDonald's testimony. What MacDonald had testified to was impossible.
Unfortunately for MacDonald, Kassab was one of the world's most persistent personalities. He was relentless in pursuit of MacDonald, visiting congressional members, pressing on all sides to reopen the case. Since the military could not, it was left to the Department of Justice to reopen it.
Meanwhile, MacDonald moved to Long Beach, changed his life to the California style, refocused his medical career and found numerous girl friends.
When the Department of Justice was reluctant to retry MacDonald, Kassab threatened to go public with his own investigation. The DOJ formally decided not to reopen the case. Kassab then wrote to all members of the House and Judiciary committees, outlining his four-year investigation.
Finally, all the evidence was sent to a senior DOJ attorney, known for taking on difficult cases. In 1974 a grand jury called MacDonald, then returned an indictment for three counts of murder against him. After a long appeals battle, in 1977 the Supreme Court declared that MacDonald must stand trial.
During trial MacDonald could not control the bitter, caustic side of his personality, the side of him that attorney Segal had warned him would most harm him.
After six and a half hours of deliberation the jury, most of whom were in tears, returned a verdict of guilty of second degree murder of his wife and older daughter and first degree murder of his younger daughter. MacDonald went to prison.
In 1979 the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals found his right to a speedy trial had been violated and overturned the verdict. In 1982 the Supreme Court overturned the Fourth Circuit decision and MacDonald went to prison again.
Joe McGinness, who wrote about the case in Fatal Vision, commented about MacDonald's Long Beach apartment where McGinness stayed while doing his research, "Jeffrey MacDonald's condominium was quite comfortable, once I got used to all the mirrors."
In Outrage, Vincent Bugliosi states:
- "A woman friend of MacDonald's wanted to know if I would be interested in representing him. We could talk about it, I said, if the doctor was innocent. I told her, 'Tell him, though, that for starters I want him to take and pass a polygraph test.'
- "While waiting to hear from him, I telephoned the federal prosecutor handling the case in North Carolina and asked what he had against MacDonald. The prosecutor would not say very much, but did mention a few pieces of evidence to me, one of which was that fibers from MacDonald's blue pajamas had been found embedded beneath the fingernails of his two-and-a-half year old daughter.
- "That evoked in my mind the horrifying scene of a little girl crying out, 'Daddy, Daddy, no,' as she reached out and struggled against her father while he stabbed her to death. That was enough for me. I wanted nothing to do with the case."
About the crimes themselves, (according to police reports) the injuries were as follows:
- The pregnant wife's skull was fractured with a club; both of her arms were broken with a club; and she was stabbed 16 times in the neck and chest with a knife.
- The skull of the five-year-old daughter was shattered with a club; she was stabbed in the throat eight to ten times with a knife; and was hit again so hard with the club that it shattered an entire side of her face.
- The two-year-old daughter had been stabbed twelve times in the back with a knife, four times in the chest, once in the neck and again 15 times in the chest with an icepick.
- Jeffrey MacDonald received a chest wound, a bruise on the left side of the forehead, and superficial stab wounds of the abdomen and upper left arm. No stitching of the wounds was done. X-ray revealed a partially collapsed right lung. Emergency room personnel determined his blood pressure was 120 over 70, respiration rate 26, and temperature 99.
Counter Points to posted biography of Jeffrey
MacDonald
Many of the statements in the biography (originally posted with the analysis) are conjecture, subjective, or clearly based on the story told in FATAL VISION.
Those points would be as follows:
- That Dr. MacDonald's father was "perpetually angry, especially towards women." Dr. MacDonald's father died when he was in college, but during the years he was alive, he was a positive influence in the MacDonald children's lives .
- The statement about Dr. MacDonald 'marrying his high school and university girl friend when she became pregnant.....' Colette was not Dr. MacDonald's girlfriend in high school, and they did not go to the same university. Aside from these minor inaccuracies, the sentence implies that Dr. MacDonald "had to get married" just by the tone. That is inaccurate. He and Colette wanted to marry anyway, and with their parents agreement, decided to go ahead sooner because the baby was on the way. .
- Stating that the MacDonalds had a difficult life is subjective. Some people might find going to medical school and working odd jobs difficult, but the MacDonalds were excited about their future and plans to live in the country. Jeffrey MacDonald is the type of person who can perform multiple tasks with little stress. After the tragedy, he worked as Director of Emergency Services at St. Mary's Hospital in Long Beach, CA, while simultaneously acting as medical director for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, teaching, and talking at conferences. .
- Stating that Dr. MacDonald was the "all-American hero" wherever he went is hyperbole. I cannot find any reference to anyone ever calling him that. Again, it's part of the case mystique. He did have a high school teacher who stated that "Jeff MacDonald was the brightest pupil (he) ever taught, and that he'd yet to see his equal." But no one ever said he was the all-American hero. .
- It is untrue that Dr. MacDonald joined the service without telling his wife. Mrs. MacDonald was very supportive of Dr. MacDonald's career path. .
- Dr. MacDonald did not moonlight 7 nights a week. He did moonlight at Cape Fear Hospital, but not every night. .
- Dr. MacDonald never went on any trips with the boxing team, as he never became the team physician. He did make some trips related to army training. .
- Your statement that traveling "gave him the chance for numerous extramarital affairs" is quite inflammatory in its tone. The inference is that he wanted to be away from home so he could see other women. The fact is, Dr. MacDonald was not completely faithful, like many other people in the world, but his indiscretions were not "numerous" (this is subjective) or ongoing as is implied by the word "affairs". He admitted to meeting a woman (who corroborated the story) at Ft. Sam Houston in 1969, and other brief encounters. He nor Colette ever contemplated divorce. .
- Your statement that Colette MacDonald was unhappy about being pregnant again is false. In fact, she wrote her parents just weeks before the marriage, stating how happy she was. .
- Dr. MacDonald was not "almost totally absent" from his home. He was very busy, as most military people are, but he still had time to take his children to ride their pony, take his wife to dinner, go to the ocean, and take photos at his children's at-home birthday parties. He often babysat, especially when Mrs. MacDonald took her classes (as on the murder night). .
- Your statement that Mrs.%
