On February 17, 1970,
a cold, rainy early morning, a horrendous crime took place at
544 Castle Drive off base at Fort Bragg. It started as a nightmare
that would last for over 32 years and is still not resolved. Many
disputed and contradictory versions of what happened that night
have unfolded. But Jeffrey MacDonald's story has never deviated.
A pregnant wife and
two small daughters were brutally murdered.
Jeffrey MacDonald was found injured and
unconscious. His injuries were not fatal and not nearly as serious
as the injuries suffered by his family.
MacDonald's version of
the what happened that night:
His wife and children
had gone to bed earlier in the evening. Kristen, his youngest daughter,
had crawled in bed with her mother and wet the bed on MacDonald's
side. After taking her to her own bed, he brought her a bottle,
grabbed a blanket and went to sleep on the living room couch.
As he awakened to the
screams of his wife and their oldest daughter, Kimberly, he was
immediately attacked by 3 men, accompanied by
a female. She had long blond hair and a floppy hat. One man,
wearing a field jacket with E-6 stripes, carried what appeared to
be a baseball bat. While he struck MacDonald on the head with the
bat, two men in civilian clothes attacked him from the front, simultaneously.
MacDonald could see the
female as she flickered a light. She had long, stringy, blond hair,
boots, a floppy hat and said what sounded like.
"Acid is groovy,
kill the pigs."
Prior to the MP’s
arriving, MacDonald stated he awoke from the attack on the floor,
partially on a step from the living room, entering the hallway.
Everything was quiet. He was cold and shaking. His pajama top was
down to around his wrist.
MacDonald checked on
his wife in their bedroom and found her dead. Leaning against a
green chair, covered in blood, she still had a knife in her chest.
He pulled the knife from her and threw it on the floor. Then he
moved her downward, to a supine position, to perform mouth to mouth
resuscitation.
He checked pulses and
attempted mouth to mouth resuscitation on his children. Blood on
his mouth, noted by hospital records and 4 witnesses, is consistent
with his reports of mouth to mouth resuscitation.
He tried unsuccessfully
to do CPR on his wife and daughters, again, before he called the
Military Police and requested an ambulance ASAP. He said they were
dying of stab wounds and needed help.
Colette's pajama top
was torn, exposing her breast, so he threw his pajama top over her.
The MP’s did not
arrive as promptly as expected because they thought they were responding
to a domestic disturbance.
Specialist Kenneth Mica,
MP, was the first to arrive on the scene.
MacDonald was found unconscious,
with his head on his wife’s shoulder and his arm across her
body. Mica observed he was breathing and administrated CPR.
Once MacDonald was revived,
he described the assailants. Kenneth Mica, the first MP to arrive,
with his partner, had seen a woman matching the description when
responding to the call. They advised their superiors about this
but were told not not to mention it.
Fort Bragg, April 6,
1970, MacDonald was placed under house arrest for the murders of
his pregnant wife and two small daughters.
Let's take a closer look
at the Crime Scene.
Copyright 2002 |