Great posts,
Read both Fatal Vision and Fatal Justice and tons of reports on the case. Came to the conclusion that yes, he is guilty. One correction, it was on on Army Base, not a Marine Base. What no one wants to talk about is something that was not presented at trial called the Fire Island Four.
Macdonald had met the Fire Island Four about six months prior to the killings when he was staying at his brother Jay's house. Shockingly, these people had an exact resemblance right down to a woman in a Floppy Hat! But, Jeff could not use the FIF in his intruder story, because they were proven to be in New York at the time of the murders. Stockley and her friends were an easier "fit."
What I keep going back to is that picture in Fatal Vision. Look again and again at how neat that crime scene is, spare the overturned coffee table and the neatly stacked magazines/newspapers. There was probably about 4-5 feet of space between the couch and the coffee table, hardly enough room for maybe one person to move around in. Four people simply could not fight and kill in such a small area.
McDonald, who had poor night vision could not have seen what he claimed to have seen with only a flickering light or candle if one was present. And how would four hippies on drugs plan such an organized crime scene in the living room where nothing is disturbed? At what point did Helena light a candle? None of the alleged intruders would be able to navigate the house well enough under the influence of drugs and leave nothing disturbed. The candle could not have been it from the outside coming into the house, because the wick would have been wet from the rain.
And his family is slaughtered beyond recognition, especially Collette and Kim, Kristen very badly as well. However, Macdonald only has one moderately serious wound to his lung. The others were cuts and scratches all superficial with 1-2 bruises on his forehead. The puncture wound is very small. Hippies in a frenzy, would have left more jagged wounds to Macdonald.
But get this, in this supposed attack with each member of the family injured to various degrees, NONE of the hippies are injured at all! These were the ones who did the killings. Yet, not a scratch on them! And someone they have the foresite to just drive away and FJ makes an issue about people being seen at a Dunkon Donuts with blood on their hands. I can't accept this, because of the time-line involved.
Evidence shows between 30-50 pieces of crime scene information that paint a different picture than McDonald's view of what he claims happened that night. He's guilty.
Satch
