'The Wilderness of Error': Why did Colette MacDonald's family and friends believe that her husband was guilty?
In February 1970, the gruesome murders of the wife and two daughters of Army surgeon Jeffrey MacDonald had shocked the nation. MacDonald called for help in the early hours of February 17 that year and when four military officers responded, they came across a bloody scene where they found MacDonald's wife Colette, and his two daughters, Kimberly and Kristen dead. MacDonald himself was unconscious.
Colette MacDonald had been repeatedly clubbed, with both her arms broken and stabbed 21 times with an ice pick and 16 times with a knife. Five-year-old Kimberly was found in her bed, having been clubbed in the head and stabbed in the neck with a knife between eight and 10 times. 2-year-old Kristen was found in her own bed; she had been stabbed 33 times with a knife and 15 times with an ice pick.
FX's latest docuseries, 'A Wilderness of Error' takes a deep dive into what really happened that night and is based on the book of the same name by Errol Morris. Among those featured in the docuseries are friends and family of Colette's.
According to MacDonald, four intruders were responsible for the murders and the attacks, including three men and a woman with blonde hair wearing a floppy hat. That woman was later discovered to be 18-year-old Helena Stoeckley, a regular drug user who had, in fact, claimed to have been part of the group that attacked the MacDonalds which included her boyfriend, Army veteran Greg Mitchell. Due to the confusing circumstances, MacDonald was never indicted for the murders.
However, not everyone was convinced. Once the investigations were over, MacDonald gave television interviews to talk about the experience and moved to Southern California where he quickly began to enjoy a prolific life. Colette's stepfather, Freddy Kassab, who initially supported MacDonald, began suspecting that MacDonald did, in fact, have a role in the deaths of Colette and the two children, and began a nearly decade-long crusade to prove that MacDonald was guilty. Even her friend, who is featured in the docuseries says that Colette had admitted problems between her and Jeffrey before her death and had asked her mother if she could go home just before she was killed. Colette's mother, Mildred Kassab told her it was not a good time and Colette had to stay put.
In 1971, Kassab, became progressively suspicious of MacDonald and sought formal reopening of the case. In July 1974, a Federal judge acted on a citizen's criminal complaint by Kassab and others, by putting the case before a grand jury.
The lead prosecutor for the case, Jim Blackburn began to analyze every piece of evidence from the trial, including MacDonald's pajama shirt, which was draped over Colette's body, and the bedsheet she was wrapped in. The shirt had many holes that were stated to be from an ice pick. During a demonstration during the trial, Blackburn and his colleague showed that had MacDonald been attacked, the holes would not be perfectly round as they were, but instead would be ripped. They concluded that the shirt was stabbed while it was stationary. Additionally, Blackburn also accidentally stabbed his colleague in the wrist. The absence of wounds of MacDonald's wrists further sowed doubts about MacDonald in their minds.
Eventually, MacDonald was convicted of second-degree murder of his wife and older daughter and of first-degree murder of his younger daughter on August 29, 1979, and was immediately sentenced to three consecutive life terms.
'A Wilderness of Error' will continue with its remaining two episodes on FX on October 2, at 8/7c.