Emergency services.
I need an ambulance.
544 Castle drive.
Is that on or off coast?
544 Castle drive.
I'm going around back.
Yes, sir.
No.
Get Womack asap!
We need an ambulance.
Yes, sir!
Mobile unit to Womack hospital.
10-2.
He's still alive! Get that ambulance here on the double!
Yes, sir!
Let's go!
Oh, my god.
What's in here?
Don't touch anything.
Lift.
Joe? Where are you guys?
Um, hey, do you mind taking him?
Mm-hmm. Come here.
Here you go. Go to mama.
Did you hear back from Leslie yet?
No, not yet. It's okay, just do your work.
Try calling Leslie again.
Call the service.
When you want to take a break, come find us.
Okay, great, thank you.
Okay. Okay.
Bye, daddy! Bye.
Come on, little munchkin.
Let's go play.
Service. Umm, hi, yeah.
This is Joe McGinniss.
Can I have my messages, please?
Bruce Howard's office called to say
they are passing on the article,
but they want to hear whatever you have next.
Okay.
Umm, anything else?
Mr. Rayburn's office called at Knopf.
Still no information about a tour for the Alaska book,
but they will let you know when there is some.
Okay.
Anything else?
Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald called.
He's a big fan of "selling of the president,"
and He'd like to talk to you
about covering his trial in north Carolina.
Do you want the number?
Yeah.
Yeah, I'll take the number.
And give me the number for "the examiner" archives.
I want to read more about MacDonald
before I meet him.
Stefan.
Good to see you.
- Joe? - Yeah.
Jeff MacDonald.
Hey.
I appreciate you reaching out.
I don't know very much about your case.
I can hum a few bars,
but I haven't done any serious research on it.
Okay, so what do you know?
There was a tragedy.
You lost your wife and kids.
The army accuses you of the crime,
then they change their minds.
They clear you. You get an honorable discharge.
And now, somehow after nine years,
you're being dragged back to north Carolina
to stand trial in three weeks.
Yeah, that's about right.
So, after nine years, why is this coming back around?
It was all over.
But I spoke to the press.
I wanted people to see who I was,
hear me talk about what happened,
how the army dragged me through a trial
after what happened to Colette and my kids.
I spoke out against the army on TV.
And for me, as an ex-green beret.
Then the army came around for a second whack at me.
Freddy Kassab, my father-in-law...
He testified on your behalf originally, right?
That's a good memory for just humming a few bars.
So He started to tell anyone who would listen to him
that I was guilty, that I did it.
And here we are.
I need someone to help me tell my story.
I want you to write the book.
I mean, I'm a journalist.
I don't do "as told to" books.
I want real reporting.
I want you to tear everything up so that none
of these questions ever gets asked again.
That's why I called you.
I want the truth.
So, you want me to cover the trial in north Carolina?
Yes, cover everything, not just the trial.
But be with me, see what it's like on the inside.
See what I'm going through for as long as it takes.
Umm...
Look.
I got a lot of irons on the fire right now, I...
Joe, look, I moved down to California
because I needed to get away.
I know how I come off.
I drive a nice car.
I date a pretty girl.
A fancy car just gets you around, man,
and the ocean's just a view.
None of that can fill the hole of losing your family.
None of that.
Leslie, there's no question
there's something very weird going on about this case.
It takes the government four years to get an indictment.
And then it takes them another five years
to actually bring him to trial
in north Carolina in a few weeks.
So from where I'm sitting, this feels like
a nine-year-long kafka-type ordeal for this guy.
Nine years?
What about the right to a speedy trial?
Jeffrey MacDonald's defense team took that
all the way to the supreme court and lost.
What about double jeopardy? You can't try him twice, can you?
And that's the second issue that made it to the supreme court.
But they refused to review it
because He was never actually tried by the army.
Hmm.
How about Jeffrey MacDonald?
How does He strike you?
I mean, you almost want to hate the guy at first
because He looks more like a movie star
than most movie stars do,
but then you realize at some point that He's haunted.
I mean, you can see it in his eyes.
His wife and children were slaughtered.
I mean, what father could do that to his own kids?
So, what's the angle?
My angle?
What's your angle?
I'm not sure about my angle yet,
but there might be something to the army,
and now the feds persecuting him.
It's been a long time, and they're still going after him.
No, I'm good.
Having access to Jeffrey and this trial
could mean another book as big as
"selling the president."
It could be, right?
He wants me on every defense meeting, every gameplan session.
He wants me to live with him, for god sakes.
Are you just hopping into bed with this guy?
No, I'm gonna go down there,
and I'm gonna listen to his story
with my b.S. Meter set on high.
All right, even though I'm a journalist,
I have some integrity.
Come on!
We both want another "selling of the president,"
but I would be lying if I told you this smells like that.
What else do I have, Leslie?
Dr. Harper, you are needed in the E.R.
What do we got?
Stab wound, ulner artery.
How long ago? About half hour.
All right, let's take a look.
Old faithful there, huh?
Clamp, please, and let's get a large pole I.V. Started.
Thank you.
Nurse, oxygen.
You okay?
You tell me.
Oh, yeah, we got you covered.
There we go.
All right, let's get him out of here.
Dr. Silverman, line three.
What are you doing here? H-how did you find me?
I just came here to tell you I'll do it.
I'm gonna come to north Carolina.
That's fantastic.
Listen, I'm gonna need two things.
I want full access and full freedom
to write according to my own judgment.
I'm going to ask you some tough questions,
and you might not like me very much.
Dr. MacDonald?
Absolutely.
We can... we can go over all the details
and travel, all that, tomorrow.
Good.
Hey, they're throwing me a send-off party.
You have to promise me to come.
Sure.
All right.
I like you already, Joe.
But you could have just called.
Dr. Benson... Dr. Benson...
I had no idea.
Yeah, everyone.
It means the world that you're here.
One more, please.
Yeah.
May I have everyone's attention, please?
Jeff, it goes without saying how much we all believe in you,
but to show you just how much we love you,
we got you a little something.
Well, you shouldn't have.
All right, this... Oh, my goodness.
Here. Huh?
Thank you.
And thank you all for coming.
Wow, it means the world to me.
I'm sure I'll be back here in a couple of weeks,
but until then, drink everything we got here.
Yeah, yeah, come here, come here.
Oh, sweet boy.
I'm sorry.
Daddy's gotta go do some work, okay?
I'll see you soon.
Bye, sweetie.
I just... I wish they were more appropriate to your standards.
I think it's...
- Joe! - Hey.
Joe, I'm so excited you're here.
Look at... This is great, hey.
You just caught us at cocktail hour.
You cleaned up.
Yeah, it's... well, we got a big couple weeks coming up, huh?
Yeah. Come on, come meet everybody.
Joe, this is my mom. This is Perry.
Oh, Mr. McGinniss.
Nice to meet you.
And this is... This is Bernie Segal,
our fearless leader.
Bernie has been my guy since the beginning.
Is that right?
Uhh, Bernie, nice to meet you.
I've heard about your work with the war protestors.
Good to have you with us.
You can help us with the public face of all this.
We sure hope so.
And Joe, this is Wade Smith, attorney at law.
Very nice to meet you.
Thank Wade's college connections for landing us here
at this frat house.
Guilty as charged. Yeah.
It's not ideal, but it's a lot more
private than a hotel would be.
Wade, I told you He was gonna be here.
Yes.
Yes, you did.
Let me guess.
Scotch and soda?
What soda? That's what I like to hear.
Mom?
You know, it's funny being back on a college campus.
Colette and I got married when I was in Princeton.
Really?
When was the first time you met Colette?
That's crazy, but I was 12 years old.
12, if you can believe it.
It took a few more years to fall in love.
♪ Sha la la la la la ♪
Are you nervous?
No.
Well, maybe.
Mm-hmm.
Hello, hello. Welcome.
Merry Christmas.
Look at you. Oh!
Mrs. Kassab, how are you?
Merry Christmas to you.
Where's your coat?
We didn't think it was gonna be so cold.
It's freezing.
And this is... This is the two of you.
Mm-hmm, saying goodbye.
And this one is you, as well.
Yes, that's me right out of officer's school,
and the one above is after a few months in Europe.
Wow. So, how's Princeton?
Hard work.
Heck of a nice campus, just beautiful.
Ta-da! Dinner is served.
Oh, my, my, my. Look at that Turkey.
It's heavy.
Freddy was actually Colette's stepfather,
but Colette absolutely adored Freddy.
She never called him anything but dad,
and when she decided that she loved me,
and I was part of the family,
Freddy absolutely welcomed me in.
♪ About you sha la la la la ♪
♪ They say they say you never, never, never, never been true ♪
Oh, thank you.
Is that a curtsy?
♪ Doesn't matter what they say I know ♪
♪ I'm gonna love you any old way what can I do ♪
♪ When it's true don't want nobody, ♪
♪ Nobody 'cause baby, it's you ♪
♪ Baby, it's you ♪
What is it about her?
She was the nicest person I ever met.
All right, I have a surprise for you?
What? What are you doing?
Come on. Keep your eyes closed.
Careful.
Don't peek.
Okay, you stay right here.
Keep your eyes closed.
What did you do?
Okay, open 'em.
Oh, my god.
What do you think of that beauty?
This must have cost a fortune.
Jeff, you can't keep doing things like this.
I love watching you get excited.
Can I play it? Of course.
This is all yours, babe.
We were a good team.
You know, we knew how to take care of the girls
and give each other the space we needed, too.
How'd you do that, have your own space?
Colette, she never finished college,
and she started getting interested in psychology,
child development classes.
So she did that a couple of nights a week,
and I'd take care of the girls.
All right. Daddy.
For you.
Mm.
Thank you, daddy.
Okay. Bye, girls. I love you.
Bye, sweetie. Have fun.
Yeah, I love you.
♪ But it's too late ♪
♪ Too late to cry ♪ all right,
who's gonna want another hot dog?
Me! Me!
What'd you do for space?
I got into boxing.
Boxing? Yeah.
Okay, Joe Frazier.
Hardly.
I was the doctor for the base boxing team.
I caught the bug and started training with them.
They were getting ready for this...
This big competition in Russia.
It was a big trip.
I'd be gone for about a month.
Colette was gonna let you go to Russia for a month.
Yeah.
She was all for it.
Really my biggest concern was making weight for the match.
I didn't want to look like a joker
in front of the younger guys.
I remember that afternoon.
I came home from work,
and it was a 24-hour shift in an off-base E.R.
I was firing on all cylinders.
- Hello. - Daddy!
I felt like a superhero, you know?
And it happened later that night.
Some superhero.
Mr. McGinniss?
Joe. Okay.
Joe.
Umm, when Jeffrey packed up the house at fort Bragg,
I held onto some of the family things.
It's some old home movies.
Anything I can take a look at helps.
I know you're busy, but please watch these
so that you can really see my granddaughters and our family.
They were beautiful.
That was a day I'll never forget.
So sorry.
I can... I can watch this later.
No, no, it's okay.
Umm, where did you get these?
Your mother.
Please, go ahead. I want to see them.
You sure? Yeah.
So that's Kristen?
Yeah, I remember the first time we brought her home.
All Kimberly wanted to do was hold her.
She really just wanted to pinch her.
She was so jealous.
And that day, wow.
That was a great day.
Colette and I took the girls to visit their pony.
I think that was the first time Kristen was ever on a horse.
How long was this before the night they died?
It'd be a month before they died, maybe not even.
How many kids do you have, Joe?
Me, I have four.
I have a little boy named Matthew with my wife
and three from a previous marriage.
How often do you get to see them?
Umm... Not as much as I'd like.
I met Nancy while I was still married, so...
I try, but...
Trust me.
Spend as much time with them as you can.
Okay.
Umm, you want to tell me what happened that night?
The night they died?
Sure.
One of the girls had wet my side of the bed.
It was late.
Thought it'd be easier to sleep in the living room
than change the sheets.
Dad, why are they doing this to me?
This is groovy.
Kill the pigs. Daddy!
Acid rain. Daddy!
Colette?
Okay.
Oh, god. No, no.
Come on. Come on.
Oh, god.
Oh, god, no.
Help me.
Oh, god. No.
No, no, no, no.
No.
Emergency services.
I need an ambulance.
544 castle drive.
Is that on or off coast?
544 castle drive.
Help. Hurry.
I was probably in shock.
I didn't realize at the time,
but when they examined me later at the hospital,
one of my lungs was partially collapsed.
You know, Colette was pregnant.
Ms. MacDonald?
Just... I wanted to thank you for the home movies.
You were right, they were a beautiful family.
Did you see the one with Colette
leaving the hospital with Kristen?
I did, yeah.
That must have been a special day.
Didn't Jeffrey tell you what happened?
No, He didn't tell me what happened.
Jeffrey was at the hospital with Colette
not long after she had given birth.
Kristen had been an emergency c-section.
Jeffrey all of a sudden gets this serious look on his face.
He just knew something was wrong.
The way that really good doctors know these things.
She had bled almost half of the blood
from her entire body into her abdomen.
But He caught it in time.
Jeffrey saved her life that day, no question.
Umm, no, yeah.
He didn't... He didn't tell me that.
He doesn't like to tell people.
Colette would have died.
Jeffrey saved her life.
Well, thank god He was there.
Gentlemen? Sorry to disturb you.
Can I grab the transcripts from the article 32 hearing, please?
Sure, you bet.
Great.
Say, is there a problem with me, Wade?
Actually, yes, there is.
See, I'm trying to keep my client out of jail, and you...
See, when Jeff looks at you,
He sees someone who can save his image.
But when I look at you, I see someone
who's been dining out on the same success
for the last ten years.
Someone who's only interested in Joe McGinniss's next bestseller.
Can't it be both, Wade?
Wade, take it easy.
Joe's on our side.
Right, Joe?
Thank you, Bernie.
Do reporters take sides, Joe?!
Blood splatter right here.
Mark it seven.
Here.
Mark that one.
It was a disaster.
The army investigation.
Coffee?
Yeah.
So tell me.
What was your favorite part?
I mean, I don't even know where to begin.
No control of the crime scene.
Every piece of the physical evidence
potentially contaminated.
Or how about no one thought to take hair samples
from the victims until after the funerals?
They got their hair exemplars from old clothes,
which turned out to be totally unreliable.
The hair sample they had marked as Jeff's...
Turned out to be the family pony's.
Well, they were both brunettes.
What about the fingerprint technician
when He developed the film?
Photos that were so blurry, they couldn't even use them.
It was the Olympics of incompetence.
And now you know.
Well, that's your move, right?
I mean, the government has no case.
Oh, no.
We got something to top it all.
Helena Stoeckley, the girl in the floppy hat.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We know who she is.
She was a local kid, 17 at the time, an army brat.
Her father was a captain.
She was a hippie.
Heavy into drugs.
And she confessed to being there.
You're kidding me. No.
One of the MPs that came to the house
that night said He saw her.
He told his sergeant about what He saw.
His sergeant didn't follow up.
Do you know where she is?
No, we're looking for her.
But we have signed affidavits from six separate individuals
who Helena Stoeckley told
she was at Jeff's house during the murders.
And that she watched it all happen.
I filed a motion with the judge.
The jury will hear all of this.
All right, so the prosecution.
Who are these guys? It's your bet, Joe.
Well, ante up, boys.
Blackburn.
This guy is straight out of Mayberry.
It's his first murder trial.
They brought him in to take the edge off
of Brian Murtagh who's been on Jeff since December of '71.
He's Freddy Kassab's muscle, his attack dog.
Well, if they say Jeff did it, how and why?
Exactly, how and why does an Ivy league,
green beret doctor one night snap
and kill his whole family?
Never been in any kind of trouble.
He's a pillar in his community.
And one night, He goes looney tunes and just explodes?
And get this.
They say He got the idea from a magazine
they found in the house that had an article
about the Manson family in it, can you believe it?
And that's what they're going with?
This is the drum
Brian Murtagh has been beating for eight years.
He was on a witch hunt.
Murtagh's a son of a bitch. He's a viper.
The man is a menace.
Right.
I'm all-in.
Whoa.
I fold.
I'm out.
I fold.
Mr. Murtagh.
We meet again.
And again.
Until we get it right.
Dr. MacDonald.
How do you like being back in north Carolina?
Come on, Jeff.
He seems confident.
The government will show that in the early morning
of February 17, 1970, Jeffrey MacDonald,
for reasons we might never understand,
did in fact, attack, bludgeon,
and stab his wife and his two daughters to death.
And then staged his home to look as though
it was the work of intruders.
Cooking up a story about murderous hippies
to try to throw suspicion off himself.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
at the heart of our case
is the proposition
that people can twist the truth,
but that things do not lie.
And we will prove that there is no other explanation
for how those vibrant little girls
and their mother could have died
except at the hands of their own father.
The government has a bad case.
Because they don't have a good villain.
What they do have is a loving father and husband,
not to mention a doctor and a green beret.
This is a story of a man's life that was tragically altered
when four drugged-out hippies broke into his home,
murdered his wife, his two lovely little girls,
and left him for dead.
Now, the prosecution can offer no motive for these murders
because Jeffrey MacDonald had no motive for killing his family.
Sergeant mica, remind me again when you were relieved of duty
and turned the crime scene over.
At 0700 hours, my superior officer arrived
at the crime scene and took over.
To the best of your knowledge,
did you carry out standard protocol
for processing a crime scene?
To the best of my knowledge, sir, yes.
Thank you, sergeant.
No further questions.
So, sergeant, you were in charge of the investigation that night,
is that correct?
Yes, sir.
And tell me, how many crime scenes
of this magnitude have you processed?
Of this magnitude, none, sir.
Can you tell me, sergeant, how many military policemen
were in that house the night you were there?
Maybe a dozen.
And did you attempt to compile a list of names of who was there?
No, sir.
So, you have no idea who actually came
and went that night.
Not exactly.
And when did you discover that one of your men had stolen
Dr. MacDonald's wallet from a desk
in the active crime scene?
That I learned later.
And after hearing Dr. MacDonald's description
of the four assailants,
did you order road blocks at the exits of the post?
No, sir.
Even after one of your men said He saw a woman
matching the description of the female suspect,
a woman with long, blonde hair and a floppy hat in the area?
No.
The court is recessed until 9:00 A.M. tomorrow.
We had a good day.
You think the jury was with me?
Yeah.
Yeah, I do.
That's good to hear, Joe, because I trust you.
Thank you.
Thank you for being here to tell the story.
Of course. I'm here for you.
Good morning, gentlemen.
I'm not going to allow the psychological evaluations in.
Any of them.
But your honor?
The evaluations are critical to our case.
They speak to our client's state of mind.
They show that Jeffrey MacDonald was not capable of such a crime.
Mr. Segal, your evaluation says one thing,
prosecution says another.
I'm not going allow this to turn into a shrink versus shrink.
That's my decision.
Now, in regard to the defense's motion
to enter witness affidavits into evidence
concerning the confession statements
of one Helena Stoeckley,
I'm denying that motion also because it's based on hearsay.
With respect, your honor, we have six separate witnesses
who corroborate that Helena Stoeckley
confessed to being present
at the MacDonald home during the murders.
Keeping this from the jury... I made my ruling.
If Ms. Stoeckley herself wishes to testify,
then she is free to do so.
I think the jury will be on my side.
What do you girls think?
Yeah?
You sure?
Yes, of course.
I like your paper.
All right.
My name is Paul Stombaugh,
and I am the director of the police service bureau,
and I run the crime laboratory there.
Prior to this, I was a field agent in the FBI,
and I worked in the microscopic analysis unit.
Thank you.
And did you have occasion to study the blood evidence
collected from 544 castle drive?
Yes, sir, I did.
Tell us what you learned about the blood types of the family?
Well, each member of the MacDonald family...
Dr. MacDonald, Mrs. MacDonald,
Kimberly, and Kristen...
All had different blood types.
One moment, Mr. Stombaugh.
Let me just clarify for the jury.
Are you saying that, against all odds,
it turns out that the four members of the MacDonald family
each had a separate and identifiable blood type?
That's correct.
It's statistically improbable,
but it happens to be the case here.
Mr. Stombaugh.
Can you tell me why this is helpful
to our understanding of the events
of February 17, 1970?
Well, now we can determine to a good degree of certainty
who bled where and when, and in some cases, for how long.
You've read Dr. MacDonald's statements
about what happened that night.
In your opinion, does the story the blood types tell
corroborate Dr. MacDonald's version?
No, it does not.
Where was the preponderance of Colette MacDonald's blood found?
There in the master bedroom,
and also a very large amount in Kristen's room on the bed.
Here and here?
Yes.
And where was the bulk of Kristen's blood found?
In her room there.
And Kimberly's?
On her bed, and also a significant amount
in the hallway
just outside the master bedroom.
And where was Dr. MacDonald's blood found?
There were two drops in the bathroom sink
and a few drops on the kitchen floor.
And how much of his blood was found in the living room
where He claims to have fought off four assailants?
None.
Mr. Stombaugh, the "esquire" magazine
that was entered into evidence, was there any blood on it?
Yes, there was, type ab and a.
That's Kimberly's and Mrs. MacDonald's.
It was over the "qu" on the cover.
This magazine, which contained an article
about the then-recent Manson family murders.
Objection! Sustained.
Jeffrey MacDonald's story is that
when He came upon his wife in the master bedroom,
this knife was sticking out of her chest.
He says He removed it before administering CPR.
Does the blood evidence you found support this?
No.
Why not?
Well, of the 37 wounds on Mrs. MacDonald's body,
the evidence would indicate that none of them
were made by that knife.
So, Mrs. MacDonald was not stabbed
with this knife?
She was not.
Mr. Stombaugh,
can you tell me what this is here?
According to prior testimony,
that is Dr. MacDonald's footprint.
And what blood type was the footprint made in?
Type a, Mrs. MacDonald's.
Let me repeat that.
This is Jeffrey MacDonald's footprint
that was made in his wife's blood?
Yes.
Tell us what you can also conclude about this footprint.
The impression of the print on the floor
indicates that when He made it,
Dr. MacDonald was carrying something heavy.
Something heavy.
Like, say, He was carrying something that weighed,
oh, over 100 pounds?
Well, possibly.
It's hard to know for sure, but that sounds about right.
Mr. Stombaugh,
do you know approximately
how much Colette MacDonald weighed?
Objection! I do not.
She weighed 135 pounds.
Objection, your honor!
Sustained.
That was rough today.
Umm, yeah, it was a pretty
brutal rebuttal of your whole story.
I don't have a story. It's what happened.
It's the truth.
Let me ask you.
What did you think of Stombaugh?
How did He come off to you?
He seemed serious.
He seemed like He knew what He was talking about.
I thought so, too.
I was talking with Bernie.
The crime scene evidence is so compromised.
He was probably making an honest effort.
Yeah, that's a point worth considering.
Most important thing is that you're still with me.
That you're still committed.
I didn't kill Colette and the girls.
I couldn't have done that.
I loved them.
You believe me, right?
I know you love them.
I'm glad you're here, Joe.
It's important to get the truth out there.
More important now than ever.
But how long do you think it's gonna take?
Come on, we can do better than that.
Yeah, I'm sure we can.
Hey! Hold on a minute.
We got a piece of good news.
They found Helena Stoeckley hiding out
in some trailer park in south Carolina.
Federal marshals are dragging her back here
to Raleigh to testify.
Wow.
Well, it looks like you got your book, writer.
That's really good.
That's great. The sooner, the better.
Ms. Stoeckley, how are you?
Fine.
Thank you for being here.
Ms. Stoeckley, can you tell us
where you were in the early morning of February 17, 1970?
No.
Helena, do you recognize this house?
No.
Look closely.
Sorry, no.
Does this help?
Now do you remember?
I can't help you.
I understand all this happened a long time ago.
So I'm going to ask you to take your time.
The photo I'm going to show you is a little rough,
but I'm hoping it might jolt your memory back to that night.
That is Dr. MacDonald's flesh and blood, Helena.
What kind of father would do that to his own daughter?
I don't know.
Look at his wife, Helena.
Look at this picture.
At this poor woman.
A woman that man over there fell in love with
in the eighth grade.
Dr. MacDonald
is a loving, normal person.
Have you ever been inside this house?
No.
I wasn't. I'm sorry.
I'm not gonna sit here and say something I didn't do.
Besides, how do you know He's not guilty?
Look, Jeff...
I know this is gonna be painful for you,
but tomorrow, when you're on that stand,
I really want the jury to meet the victims.
I want to put their pictures up so they can see them...
And for the jury to see you seeing them.
What good is that gonna do? Jeff, listen to me.
I want those jurors to see people,
not just a collection of fibers and hairs and bloodstains.
I want them to see your family, the Macdonalds.
Well, I don't think... I shouldn't even be here!
Get all the anxiety and stress out of your system tonight.
Just be yourself in that courtroom, and you'll be fine.
Who else am I supposed to be?
Jeff, what's going on?
Tomorrow, I'm gonna get up on that stand...
Mm...
And I hope to god they see who I am.
All those people Lookin' at me.
In a lot of ways, I've always...
Been a performer.
You can't afford not to be...
With the whole world always looking at you, you know?
They're always looking.
Are you gonna tell the truth?
I told you I would.
Good night, Joe McGinniss.
Dr. MacDonald,
can you tell us what this picture depicts?
It's Kris and Kim, my little girls.
Can you describe the clothing that Kristen MacDonald
is wearing?
Pajamas.
The same pajamas she was wearing the night of February 17, 1970?
Yes.
Can you tell us what it reads across the top of the pajamas,
please?
"Little angel."
Dr. MacDonald, I would like you
to share a letter dated August 26, 1969.
From your wife to you.
She was in Patchogue, long island,
writing to you at Columbus, Georgia,
when you were in the middle of paratrooper training.
"My darling Jeff.
I wanted to thank you.
You're the only one who can make me happy and full of love.
In case you're getting ready to jump out of an airplane
and need a little..."
"And need a little material for pleasant daydreams,
Here are a few of my favorites.
The night we came home from Paul and Cathy's
and had something to eat in the city.
New year's Eve this year.
And the first time you came to Skidmore
and our picnic in the woods.
Four kisses, Colette."
Faker.
Quiet in the court!
Silence!
Silence in the court!
Is this the pajama top you wore to bed that night?
I guess. If you say so.
How did these holes get in this pajama top?
I assume when I was being attacked
and held it up to defend myself.
And what would you say if the jury should find
that there were no blue fibers from this pajama top
in the living room where you say you were attacked?
I wouldn't know what to say to that.
Suppose the jury should find the fibers from that top
were found in Kimberly's room.
Although, according to your story,
you say you had removed it
by the time you went in there.
Any explanation for that? No.
And fibers from that top were found next
to the headboard of your bed under the word "pig."
Why would that be? I have no idea!
Dr. MacDonald, suppose the jury
should find the evidence that Colette MacDonald,
four months pregnant, was beaten, stabbed 37 times.
That Kimberly was beaten, stabbed nine times.
And that 2-year-old Kristen was stabbed 32 times.
And suppose, sir, the jury further finds
that the injuries that you sustained
were not consistent in degree of seriousness
and that you are, quite obviously, still alive?
Any explanation for that?
Objection. Argumentative.
Sustained.
Your honor, that concludes the government's cross.
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
Ladies and gentlemen,
suppose that one night, raise your hand in anger,
and before you can stop it,
you do something that is irretrievable.
When you look at the autopsy photos of those little children
and think about what it would take to cause someone
to raise a knife
and destroy them, it can't be true.
We suggest to you the following.
That an argument about what we do not know
started between Jeff and Colette in the master bedroom.
The Macdonalds were a young, vibrant family
about to have another child.
Why would Jeffrey throw that all away?
The evidence also shows that Kimberly was struck,
perhaps by accident.
We contend that Dr. MacDonald bludgeoned and stabbed
Colette to death in Kristen's room
and then also killed Kristen.
It doesn't make sense because there was no motive.
Ladies and gentlemen, we can't tell you
why Jeffrey MacDonald killed his pregnant wife and children.
But we have proven beyond a reasonable doubt
that He did kill them.
And that is what is important.
Why?
It may never be known.
Jeffrey MacDonald needs peace.
And you, as a jury, can Grant him that peace.
They're back.
They've reached a verdict.
Mr. foreman.
Has the jury reached a verdict?
We have, your honor.
Would the defendant please rise?
Mr. foreman, how do you find?
We, the jury, find the defendant,
Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald, guilty on all counts.
Quiet in the court.
Does the defendant wish to make a statement at this time?
Sir, I am not guilty.
I don't think the court has heard all the evidence.
Joe.
I love you.
We have proven beyond a reasonable doubt
that He did kill him.
Why? It may never be known.
Thank you.
It's incredibly generous of you guys to have me.
Thank you very much.
If you're going to write,
you need to know what really happened.
Not just what Jeff wants you to think.
You know, from the small amount of time that I spent with Jeff,
I felt like I knew him.
I thought I knew him inside out.
But I realized almost everything Jeffrey MacDonald says
or does is a lie.
Here.
This is where Jeff screwed himself.
The article 32 hearings.
It was a closed proceeding.
I wasn't allowed to stay after I gave my testimony.
But then I got a copy of the transcript,
and I read every page.
And I found almost 100 things that Jeff stated as a fact
that I personally knew not to be true.
Jeff said they didn't own an ice pick.
Well, I know for a fact that they did.
I used it myself.
He said He didn't know the neighbors to go to for help.
Well, Colette was going to invite them
for Thanksgiving dinner.
After the army dropped the investigation,
He talked to reporters, went on "the Dick Cavett show."
He told us He was going on it
to help get the word out and catch the real killers.
But then on TV, He just laughed and smiled.
He loved the attention.
Jeff told me stories about how Colette loved his surprises,
like He bought her an expensive stereo,
and she was very excited about it.
That stereo caused a huge fight.
Jeff was always spending their money
on expensive things He wanted,
then giving them to Colette as "gifts."
He also told me that Colette was happy for him,
that He was getting to travel to Russia for a boxing trip.
There was no trip to Russia.
He just told Colette that.
Jeff was planning to go to New York
to see an ex-girlfriend.
He was a philanderer.
During the investigation, the army's Cid agents found
that He had had sexual relationships
with multiple women.
Did she ever tell you guys that she wanted to leave him,
or she was going to leave him?
No.
But she was becoming more independent.
Colette was just beginning to think about
how she might be able to have a life outside of Jeff.
Jeff hated that.
Right.
He hated looking after the girls.
He hated that she was starting to have opinions of her own.
Did Jeff really save Colette's life after Kristen was born?
That's a dramatic turn of phrase, but yes.
Colette had severe internal bleeding
which her doctors missed and Jeff caught.
I'm not saying that Jeff MacDonald
isn't a competent physician.
I'm saying He's a liar
and that He murdered my daughter.
Why'd He do it?
I don't know.
Hey.
You look okay.
Yeah, I'm okay.
It's until I start remembering that I lost my family,
and somehow I ended up in here.
This is an insult, you know.
It's an insult to the memory of my two little girls.
It's an insult to Colette.
Which is why our book is so important now.
I need to be able to change people's minds.
Listen.
I have an idea.
I want to give you some cassette tapes and recorder.
I want to send you some questions,
and you record your answers, and you mail 'em back.
That way, you can talk all you want.
That's fantastic, yes, and I've been thinking.
Everything in court was so... It was so one-sided,
and I had all these records, these personal documents
that if you take a look at everything, read everything,
it'll prove that what I've been saying is the truth.
All that stuff's at my condo.
I can get Bernie to give you the keys.
That's perfect.
I want to see everything you got.
Dr. Sadoff, this is Joe McGinniss.
I'm calling regarding your sessions
with Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald.
Yeah, Jeff through his lawyers said He would like it
if I spoke with you.
But I won't be able to say anything
that breaches doctor/patient confidentiality, unfortunately.
You're can only get specifics about our sessions from Jeff.
I mean, I understand that.
I was hoping that I could ask you a few other questions.
Let me stop you there.
What I would like to say to you is that
if you want a better understanding
of Jeffrey MacDonald,
there's a book that I strongly recommend you read.
It's by the last name Cleckley.
The name is "the mask of sanity."
I think you'll find that very, very informative.
This says that someone with a psychopathic personality
first seems totally normal,
but the more time you spend with them, there's nothing in there.
It's like learned responses.
There's not a real human being inside.
Does that describe Jeffrey MacDonald?
Eskatrol.
An amphetamine.
I have to call you right back.
All right, we will, thanks.
What is this?
That is the why.
That is my angle.
That is my bestseller.
What are you talking about?
What am I talking about?
I'm talking about the prosecution found him guilty
because they were able to prove how He did it.
Right? Not why.
They've been trying to figure out the why.
And this, I believe, is the why.
And you figured out the why.
Mm-hmm.
Even though an entire team of prosecutors
wasn't able to do that.
How?
Because Jeffrey MacDonald granted me access to his condo,
and I read every single document He had,
and there was a ton of information in there
that never made it to trial.
Like what? Like what?
Some of my favorites.
I read all the psych evaluations.
Okay? Here's some highlights.
He had a lack of conscience.
He had no sense of guilt.
He was susceptible to violent outbursts
when He thought his authority was challenged,
particularly by someone who is not his superior, like Colette.
One shrink even called him a psychopath in his evaluation.
And so why were these evaluations
not introduced at his trial?
Because judge Dupree wouldn't allow any of it in.
He didn't want a war of shrinks.
And I think our good doctor
was taking a massive amount of speed.
When Jeff MacDonald finds out that He is the chief suspect,
He is advised to write a detailed account
of the events of the night of the murder.
And the first thing He mentions is a drug called Eskatrol.
The diet pill. Yep, speed.
He said He was taking three to five pills to cut weight
for some boxing match in Russia
which, by the way, was a complete lie.
Now, let me ask you a question.
Why do you think He wrote "Eskatrol" on his first account?
He is a doctor, and He knew they'd do a tox screen on him
when He was in the hospital.
And they did. And guess what?
Nothing showed up because in 1970,
it wasn't considered a dangerous drug.
But Eskatrol's especially bad.
In large doses, carries side effects known as
marked insomnia,
tenseness, irritability, hyperactivity, panic states,
and the most severe... Psychosis.
Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald, green beret,
Ivy league, family man, pillar of his community,
and potential psychopath I think had a psychotic break.
You gotta back up a little bit and take me step by step.
Just start at the beginning.
Okay.
On the night of the murders, Jeffrey MacDonald
had just worked a 24-hour shift at the E.R.
Hopped up on amphetamines.
Colette was away at night class, and He was left with the girls.
When she got home, they got into a fight
for reasons we don't know.
Maybe it's because Kimberly wet to bed.
She's five. That's perfectly normal!
Don't ever tell me what's normal and what's not normal.
I'm a doctor.
Colette, do you understand?
Do you understand?
I am in charge!
You don't tell me anything!
Please, Jeffrey!
You're pathetic!
Daddy! Daddy!
Get out of this house, Jeffrey!
Daddy, daddy! Daddy, stop it!
No!
Ahh!
Jeff had lost control, and now He had to regain it.
Mama?
Dada?
Maybe Colette tried to save her youngest child.
But all of them met with the same fate.
Jeff, don't!
Jeff had to come up with a story for what had happened.
He had read in the "esquire" magazine
about the Manson murders.
That would be his story.
That would explain what happened.
To cover up what He had done.
But there had to be something else.
To sell his story, the murders had to be barbaric.
Beyond anything imaginable.
The one final piece in the puzzle
was that He had to look like a victim, too.
Aah!
I need an ambulance to 544 castle drive.
Woman; Is that on or off coast?
If Kristen was asleep and hadn't seen anything,
why did He kill her, too?
Murtagh had a theory about that.
He thought that Jeff MacDonald decided to kill Kristen
because He had no reason to.
She hadn't seen anything, so He went all-in.
It was the one thing no jury would believe a father could do.
Does MacDonald know you're going to write that?
He doesn't need to.
Reporter Joe McGinniss spent three years
investigating Jeffrey MacDonald,
who granted him total access to his family,
his friends, all his records,
so that McGinniss might write the definitive book about him.
It is called "fatal vision."
All I'm saying that on the basis of attending the trial every day
and spending three years of full-time research afterwards,
that there's no question that this gentle, caring,
giving man also beat and stabbed
to death his pregnant wife
and his two young daughters.
I love my wife and my children very much.
I never physically assaulted anyone in my life,
and certainly not my wife and my two children.
♪ Mm, mm ♪
♪ Mm, mm, mm, mm ♪
♪ Mm mm ♪