Joe McGinnis on MacDonald Hearing

While trying to find out the status of the latest bid by convicted murderer Jeffrey MacDonald for a new trial in an attempt to overturn his 1979 conviction for the 1970 murders of his wife, Colette, and two daughters, Kimberley and Kristen, we came across an extremely interesting article by author Joe McGinniss in the opinion pages of the New York Times.

McGinnis, you may recall, wrote the 1983 book, Fatal Vision, on which a TV movie of the same name was based. He was called to testify in September at the new hearing MacDonald was granted. McGinniss says it will be quite a long time before there is a ruling on MacDonald’s applications. It will be 6 months before all legal briefs are submitted and the judge can begin to study them and formulate an opinion. Optimistically, McGinniss says, the judge’s opinion can be expected after another 6 months.

Read the full article: Court Cases That Last Longer Than Some Lives

McGinnis believes that the judge will rule against MacDonald, but does not believe that will be the end of it. “…the system never dies,” he writes, “As long as Mr. MacDonald lives and there is one lawyer left in America who sees the possibility of even one small headline in one obscure newspaper or on a single unknown Web site, another motion can always be filed.”

CNN has a report on Joe McGinnis’ feelings upon seeing Jeffrey MacDonald for the first time in 35 years in court.

“The years since have not treated him kindly,” McGinnis said. “He sat there at the end of the table and was whispering. He seemed insubstantial. I looked at him but he would never look me in the eyes.”

Initially, Jeffrey MacDonald cooperated with Joe McGinniss for the “Fatal Vision” book, believing that it would clear his name, but he later sued McGinniss when he found that the author did not believe he was innocent at all.

Actor Gary Cole portrayed MacDonald in the 1984 made-for-TV movie, which depicted the scenario that MacDonald still claims is what happened: his family was set upon by four murderous drugged up hippies (3 men and a woman) who slaughtered his family, tried to kill him and wrote the word “pig” in blood on a headboard.

Karl Malden portrayed MacDonald’s father-in-law, who initially believed in his innocence but later came to the conclusion that MacDonald was the perpetrator and convinced prosecutors to try the case in civilian court after MacDonald was let go in a military hearing and honorably discharged.