MovieChat Forums > Fatal Vision (1984) Discussion > Some thoughts

Some thoughts

posted 12 years ago by Noirdame79
4 replies | jump to latest

While it's pending as to whether or not Jeffrey MacDonald will get a new trial, I've been thinking about a few things, which no doubt many others have too.

First of all, why is there still so much emphasis on Helena Stoeckley's alleged "deathbed confession" (how many times did she change her story and how often did they wildly vary?) when her DNA was not found in the MacDonald residence, nor was that of her alleged cohort/boyfriend Greg Mitchell. Please, there was no sign of forced entry, and a very staged and minimal appearance of a struggle, not to mention MacDonald's superficial wounds compared to that of his murdered family. Yes, three unidentified hairs were found in the home but none of them are consistent with a struggle, just naturally shed hairs that could have been from any time. MacDonald's hair was positively identified under Colette's fingernail and his family's blood was on his pajama top. Not only that, he did use surgical gloves, obviously to try to hide the fact that he staged the murders to make it look like a home invasion/murder/attack.As someone who has studied the Manson Murders, the similarities with MacDonald's story of hippie intruders and the pig connection is far too coincidental. His insistence that Kristen wet the bed when it's been proven 100% that it was Kimberley, and his rather flippant attitude after the murders screams sociopath. Either he believes his own lies or he just wants to see if he can get out of prison and beat the system.

Never has he ever shown (at least not in interviews I've read and watched) any kind of real grief or empathy for what his pregnant wife and daughters suffered, it's always about him. How he feels, how he's been wronged, railroaded, yada, yada, yada. It's also been widely reported that he didn't show the slightest interest in trying to find the "real killers" - unless it served his purpose. And something I find very alarming along with his lack of genuine emotion about the horrific deaths of his own family - he never mentions his unborn son - it's almost as if he pretends that the child never existed and didn't want him to be born.

What are your thoughts?

[–] WehoSteve 12 years ago

Add to all that the blood evidence (blood types and their trails in the house that show almost certainly how things unfolded), the bloody imprint of the pajama top in the bed linens that would not have been possible if his torn top were torn off his chest and wrapped around his wrists. Also the wiped clean murder weapons on the bath mat and then tossed under the bushes in back yard - as if crazed hippies would commit a murder and stop to do that. They guy is guilty as sin and anyone who believes he's innocent is just deluding themselves. New trial = waste of time. I have listened to the entire 14 hour audiobook version of Errol Morris' book and I still think he's did it and I think poor Helena Stoekley was a crazy and paranoid woman who confessed because she wanted attention...just like lots of false confessions that come in to a high profile case like this one.

[–] Noirdame79 12 years ago

Something else that really annoys me is that Stoeckley and Mitchell are still being used as scapegoats by MacDonald and his defense team - long after they have passed on and DNA testing has exonerated them. Can you say desperate? The DNA evidence proves that MacDonald is the killer, just as the blood and fiber evidence does. I don't understand how the MacDonald supporters can discount that and seem to think that a sloppy investigation, unsourced hairs and fibers and lost evidence automatically means that MacDonald is innocent. The lost skin and fiber would just have done more to cement his guilt.

[–] khudson6 12 years ago

I heard their latest attempt in getting him a new trial was very weak I'm surprised the judge hasn't ruled on it yet, but I also heard this judge is trying to close this case for good. MacDonald's supporters don't want to know the real truth about him. I got into it with a few of them offering the actual proof to discredit their claims.Most of them are very very naive his current wife especially!

[–] Noirdame79 12 years ago

The judge probably wants to enjoy his holiday season before ruling, and no doubt he wants this case closed forever. The poor guy will probably be badgered by MacDonald supporters. As for Mac's current wife, she is a brainless bimbo who has been completely conned by him, even after the 2006 DNA results (which many of the articles from this year have excluded, leading some to think that there was no prior testing done). Do they really think another round of DNA analysis will change anything? Funny how MacDonald was shouting from the rooftops that the hair in Colette's left hand would prove his innocence but from the moment it was proven to be his hair he and his team downplayed it. None of this "evidence" his defense claim to have is new - Helena Stoeckley and Greg Mitchell have been ruled out as the intruders/killers. The surviving members of their families should sue. It's appalling how they have been used and their names been slandered so Mac can get more media attention. He needs to shut up and serve his sentence. Given the fact that he's a narcissist, that's probably wishful thinking. MacDonald can sit there and rot, which is much kinder than what he deserves, in my opinion. Colette, Kimberley, Kristen and the unborn baby got the death penalty, and not only that, they were slaughtered and no doubt suffered horribly before they died, at the hands of the person who was supposed to love and protect them.