These shootings rarely involve significant figures, such as Oueida, or Nabil Maghnie, who was shot in the head last September but survived, or George Marrogi, who was charged with a shooting murder that same month. Not only did the U.S. Army surgeon marry his high school sweetheart, but he had a flourishing career, two beautiful young daughters, and a son on the way. While none of the hairs found at the scene matched Stoeckleys DNA or that of any of her known associates, MacDonald maintains they prove something more essential to his freedom that someone else was there that night. It would take six more months before Mildred Kassab reached the same conclusion. However, his American dream suddenly became a nightmare in 1970 when his family was found brutally stabbed to death in their home. Tragically, the comparisons to the Sharon Tate killing were striking. When a terrible crime is committed, society comes together to find someone to blame and to pay for the collective sense of violation. Bernie Segal, a long-haired Jewish lawyer from Philadelphia, took the lead in the case and managed to alienate the entire courtroom. Kassab a one-time Canadian Army intelligence operator who had once lost his own wife and daughter in a bombing of London during World War II initially believed MacDonalds account of the night and became a staunch and vocal supporter of his son-in-law, the Washington Post reported in 1984. That got my attention: the Oscar-winning Morris, whose film The Thin Blue Line exonerated a Texas man wrongfully convicted for murder, is one of the worlds great documentary filmmakers. Even his in-laws Mildred and Freddie Kassab believed him and testified at his hearing. Yet, the new gangland war fails to capture the imagination. Although the family started out as his benefactors, he ultimately became their caregivers as their positions reversed. In 1921, Aelyas married Soumaya Khoury of Beirut, Lebanon; by all accounts the two were deeply in love, and they died within 48 hours of one another. Carl Williams was a boy from Broady, whose fat fingers spread across the state, but we know little about the boys from Broady who are ordering murders and peddling drugs now. At some time before 3.30am someone brutally attacked the MacDonald family in their home at 544 Castle Drive on what was then the open military base of Fort Bragg. MacDonald claimed he'd broke his arm in the fatal scuffle, but Kearns would later say in an interview that authorities had MacDonald under surveillance at the time and did not observe any broken arm. But there is a reasonable doubt, and because there is a reasonable doubt it is absolutely clear that he should be set free. It has witchcraft in it. Jeffrey MacDonald, Joe McGinnis, prosecutor James Blackburn (who went to prison himself for defrauding his clients), Wade Smith and others newer to the case gathered once again to testify. In addition, DNA testing on evidence that was recovered from the fingernails scrapings of one of the victims and a hair found under another victim did not match MacDonald. Bettmann Archive/Getty ImagesGrieving mother Mildred Kassab weeps for her daughter while being escorted into JFK Memorial Chapel to see her buried. Freddy Kassab had inserted himself into the 1970 military hearing and made himself the center of a media circus, holding news conferences and firing off letters to members of Congress. Finally, in Wilmington, Jerry Leonard was ordered to tell what she had said to him 30 years ago. To do so, they are increasingly trying to appeal to the maternal side of these families, and helping mothers and their children escape the criminal elements in their home, before another brood is infected. Kassab said in that moment, as he stood in the preserved crime scene, he realized the man he had once considered a loving partner to his stepdaughter had slaughtered his family and then staged the attack. Then, in 2012 Jeffrey MacDonalds most famous defender, filmmaker Errol Morris, was so intrigued by the case that he wrote the 500-page book A Wilderness of Error. And as is believed to have been the case when a large drug shipment made its way to the region in the past five years, and the Kassab/Kheir family made temporary peace with the Tibas that can sometimes mean forming a truce to distribute the product, and ensure its security. Mr Oueida has been overseas for most of the time since the attack, predominantly in Lebanon and Dubai a haunt for a string of Australian organised crime figures. The Tibas, Haddaras, Chaouks, Kassabs, and Kheirs are north-west Melbourne's version of the Five Families, the major players in the New York mafia. The one thing that sticks in my craw above anything else is this: There were lab results. The FBI lab guy turned over two copies to Brian Murtaugh, the prosecutor. Picture #2. It frustrates police that low-level gangsters without a shred of integrity jut their chins out and shake their heads in a misplaced attempt at honour when asked who shot them, despite, in many instances, being maimed for life. She was a pretty girl, not beautiful, but pretty, and she was down to earth and she hated to see anybody hurt.. Currently serving three life sentences for their murders, MacDonald continues to maintain his innocence even as a new documentary series digs into his case. WebIt is reported Ms Kassab entered Syria last year and that her husband, known as Sam, died on the border of Turkey in 2013. These victims include Rachad Adra, who was killed and his four-year-old son injured, when a gunman with a high-powered weapon shot the wrong house in Thomastown in October 2015, and Khaled Abouhasna, who was killed in a shooting ambush six months earlier when he was mistaken for a ruthless standover man. Thinking that he could never reveal it? 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. But it didnt take long to realize that something was wrong. None of this has set MacDonald free. He read the papers at a little square table and he sat there and he chain smoked three packs a day, day after day after day going over and over everything, Bob Stevenson recalled in the docuseries. Then, if someone draws your attention to certain details, suddenly the picture transforms into the profile of an old woman. Out of all the evidentiary and procedural twists and turns, I asked Silverglate to name the one that bothered him the most about the MacDonald case. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Two-year-old Kristen had 33 knife- and 15 icepick wounds in her torso, while five-year-old Kimberly was bludgeoned to death. LP: In Joe McGinnis book, Fatal Vision, Freddy Kassab, MacDonalds father-in-law, was presented as the protagonist. By the end of 1969, everything seemed in order. Its a scary, spooky story that sounds made up. His honesty and humility regarding these losses give the story its poignancy. WebThe Kassab family name was found in the USA in 1920. There are only two possible pictures, both nightmares. He was troubled by MacDonalds apparently cavalier attitude about the brutal murders on an appearance of "The Dick Cavett Show. He was a nice, presentable young man. His wife Colette and his children have also been forever denied these things -- but not, I have come to believe, by the man who is currently serving three consecutive life sentences. Two members of the Tiba family have been charged in relation to the shooting. He was a true gentleman, even though there were things in the trial and there were decisions he made that I disagree with. Jeffrey MacDonald behind bars in Terminal Island federal penitentiary. WebIn July 1974, a Federal judge acted on a citizen's criminal complaint by Kassab and others, by putting the case before a grand jury. Every time we pursued a lead it just turned us around and directed us back toward Jeffrey MacDonald. Of those in prison, one was jailed for having guns that so troubled a judge she described them as "the sort of weapons that were used down in Tasmania", a reference to the Port Arthur massacre. Stevenson told reporters in 2005 that he had promised Freddy Kassab on his death bed that he would continue the familys quest to keep MacDonald behind bars, according to The Raleigh News & Observer. But then I felt uneasy. In 1982, she sat down with Gunderson and Beasley in a taped interview, claiming that she had been part of a satanic cult that had killed the family because MacDonald was not cooperative in helping heroin addicts during his time at Fort Bragg. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. But for every Khayre, a case most people have heard of with a clear link to the north-west, there are dozens more that barely make a ripple. Smerling is the director of the documentary series A Wilderness of Error, which examines the MacDonald case. Anybody could. Since 1979, the MacDonald case has continued to trouble those who delve beneath the surface of the media narrative. Until recently, most people saw Picture #1. There were few major drug or weapon importations in the state that police could not, in some way, trace back to these families. He could get an answer by the end of this year. 959 Census & Voter Lists. The nine-year lag between the murders and the trial is extremely unusual; experts consider such a lag to pose a great danger of wrongful conviction. The couple got married when Colette was just 20 years old after discovering that she was pregnant. Then, meet Christopher Scarver the man who killed cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer. Pennsylvania had the highest population of Kassab families in 1920. The ONeills befriended him and altered the course of his life. It begins with Aelyas' grandfather Elyas Kassab, born in 1814, and traces the family through the nineteenth century; particular attention is paid. A military hearing found charges against him untrue, but he was convicted nine years later in a civilian trial. The military hearing found that the charges against MacDonald were not true. And absolutely nothing fit, Kassab told the Orlando Sentinel in 1989. @2022 - AlterNet Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Nothing unique in any way. Most people who go through traumatic things like this, nowhere near as lengthy, almost always end up in divorce, but with us its drawn us closer.. The crime scene was so messed up that you couldnt depend on it. A grandson, also called Abdul, was considered such a threat he was subject to a National Anti-Gang Squad investigation last year the Australian Federal Police led team that represents an even greater escalation in the police response than the formation of Santiago. When the show was over, I retired to the security of my bed, safe from unpredictable evils. WebWadea Kassab was born in Damascus in 1872 to an Orthodox family that had long and deep connections to British and American Protestant missionaries in Damascus and Beirut. Its a case that if you were telling scary stories around the dining room table and you had all your family gathered, people could hardly believe it. Bettmann/Getty ImagesThe bedroom of Kristen and Kimberly MacDonald, mere hours after they were murdered. The solution will not be found in just policing, Detective Inspector Newman said, in a common refrain from the modern police force. The strength of the families now almost a decade after the launch of Santiago are largely determined by how many of them have been killed or locked up. Most recently, retired US Marshall Jimmy Britt came forward with information that another suspect in the case, Helena Stoeckley, admitted to the prosecutor that she was in the house on the night of MacDonalds murder and that he threatened to indict her for first-degree murder if she admitted that in court. The CIDs five-month-long interrogation (referred to as an Article 32 hearing) began in April, with officials intent on using only physical evidence and MacDonalds own statements to form their view. The one hardly anyone sees, but that rages, nonetheless. Two members of the Tiba family have been charged in relation to the shooting. Next, the defense decided to call the suspected blonde woman Helena Stoeckley as a witness. WebWadea Kassab was born in Damascus in 1872 to an Orthodox family that had long and deep connections to British and American Protestant missionaries in Damascus and Beirut. Soon I was reading Morris A Wilderness of Error, feeling skeptical and wondering why this reputable man would involve himself in a case that everyone and their mother (including mine) knew the truth about. Unfortunately for MacDonald, she would never admit any memory of her involvement in the killings in court. He is both a careful researcher and a profound investigator of the human condition. McGinniss stark rendering of Picture #1 stuck in my mind until recently when a friend from North Carolina told me that Errol Morris had published a book suggesting MacDonald was innocent. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Colettes sister-in-law Vivian Pep Stevenson told the outlet that Colette knew of the affairs and was growing tired of the infidelities before she died, at one point lamenting, I dont want to do this anymore.. LP: One of the things that struck me in reading Errol Morris book was the use of the psychopath diagnosis in court and how problematic that is. We need your support in this difficult time. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. It implicates us all. But things got out of hand. He holds dual bachelor's degrees from Pace University and a master's degree from New York University. Whats your sense of this? He wanted his son-in-law to stay on the east coast and pursue the killers. However, critics of the book say that while it paints an emotional picture of a man wrongfully tried by the media, it cherrypicks evidence and largely ignores the physical evidence that led to MacDonalds 1979 conviction. When we were walking out of the house, I was warned that convicting MacDonald wasnt going to be that simple, Kassab said. The bedroom of Kristen and Kimberly MacDonald, mere hours after they were murdered. WS: We all depend on excellent, honest detective work. She allegedly told one person that she recalled holding a candle that dripped with blood. A crime scene was left open to bystander traffic. The surgical gloves used to scrawl pig on the headboard were identical to the supply MacDonald kept in his kitchen. I have read transcripts, articles, books, opinions, blogs, and bizarre rantings about psychopaths on Joe McGinniss Web site to help me more clearly see the picture of the MacDonald case. In 1970 America was gripped by the horror of the Manson murders a fact used against MacDonald because he subscribed to Esquire magazine, which had run a story about the dark side of hippie culture. So did I. I grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, about an hour from the Fort Bragg army base in Fayetteville where the murders occurred on Feb. 17, 1970, in the middle of the night. The family claims his body has never been found. Why the MacDonald Case Matters to Everyone. Did Jeffrey MacDonald Brutally Slay His Pregnant Wife And Daughters Or Did The Cops Get The Wrong Guy? Segal took up nearly all the time in the critical period for closing remarks and left only a few minutes for co-counsel Wade Smith, an eloquent native North Carolinian who understood the jury. The Tibas are the only clan in the five families that can boast three generations of serious offenders from murderers to drug traffickers. He could have gone on with his life, and he should have. It appeared to investigators that MacDonald had staged the scene, inspired by the recent Manson Family murders to blame hippies for his crime. MacDonald claimed the mysterious blonde woman who oversaw the murders was wearing a floppy hat and high-heeled boots and was holding a candle while chanting, Acid is groovy. First responder Kenneth Mica discovered the bodies, with MacDonald laying wounded but alive next to his battered and lifeless wife. Not only did the living room show few signs of a struggle, but the murder weapons were found outside the back door. Friends since grade school, he and Colette Stevens began dating as teenagers, and grew serious during college. In 1984 I was glued to the TV, like millions of other Americans, watching the popular miniseries based on McGinniss book. In October 1970, following an investigation and hearing, the military dropped its case against MacDonald, and he was honorably discharged from the army. When you accept Picture #1, youre deciding that Jeffrey MacDonald is the Person Who Must Pay. Freddie Kassab and CID investigators returned to the crime scene in 1971 to contrast MacDonalds claims with the evidence and found his narrative implausible. (See Silverglate's article on the case in Forbes.). Theyre the ones that wrote the Congress and said the Army screwed up this crime scene. MacDonald claimed that his daughter Kimberly wet his side of the bed, prompting him to go to sleep on the couch. To realize he had done it, and Colette loved him, and when you sit back and picture in your minds eye what happened that night, with him attacking, and I know from the autopsy reports what was done to the two children, you cant help but visualize in your mind, though we dont talk about it, Freddy Kassab told The Washington Post in 1984, just as the popular mini-series Fatal Vision, which depicted the crimes, was airing across the country. Who else is going to fight this thing if not me? Freddy Kassab said of his years-long quest to put his son-in-law Jeffrey MacDonald behind bars for killing his stepdaughter and two young granddaughters. He was more interested in working with people on hallucinogenic and things like that. The shootings can be over particularly petty reasons, not just the drug trade: women, a perceived slight, or, increasingly, a prison feud. These were the families police identified in 2011 as causing most of the trouble in the band, which stretches roughly from Coburg North to Campbellfield, then in an arc around to Altona in Marc Smerling thinks he has some idea. He drew on his previous knowledge of MacDonald, who he had met years earlier while courting Colettes mother, Mildred. Will artificial intelligence overthrow its capitalist overlords? But his story crumbled under scrutiny and he was charged with killing his family. Waters rubbished that explanation. That huge standard protects us from miscarriages of justice. Another page in another chapter in the new gangland war. The past year has been the most arduous of our lives. Additionally, MacDonalds medical records showed that he had no defensive wounds on his arms or hands consistent with the alleged attack. Four military police (MP) officers arrived at 4 a.m. to find an unspeakable crime scene. These were the families police identified in 2011 as causing most of the trouble in the band, which stretches roughly from Coburg North to Campbellfield, then in an arc around to Altona in the west. No attempt was made to locate the woman that night. All rights reserved. MacDonalds relationship with his father-in-law, who had been a staunch supporter, became strained. Nonexclusive right to authorize all uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA). 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