I'm extremely troubled by the state's repeated refusals to allow DNA testing of certain items at the scene and by numerous Brady violations that certainly seemed to have occurred. It was a shoddy investigation, imo. Key evidence was conveniently lost by LE. I don't believe he received a fair trial, and I don't think he's guilty. AMOO
I wrote papers from both prosecution and defense viewpoints on the case for years, so I am open to anything and would welcome your comments. I agree that the handling of evidence was terrible and that mistakes have been made. I went from "Unsure" after reading "Fatal Vision" to "Innocent" after reading "Fatal Justice", back to "guilty" after reading more on the case online and on forums like this one. My discussions on this case go back over thirty years:
Arguments for JM being guilty:
1.) That living room is too neat where he claims a life and death struggle occurred.
2.) Who would be stupid enough to break into a home of a Green Barret Doctor, his pregnant wife, and two little girls to fight with them?
3.) How could Stockley, Mitchel, and their friends had carried lights and matches into the home. It was raining outside. Candle wicks and matches would be wet.
4.) How could the group had known the layout of McDonald's house, and where to get the weapons? How did they know that Macdonald would be sleeping on the couch when they got there. Who let them in?
5.) The photo of the living room and the overturned coffee table in FV shows that there would barely be enough room for one person, two at most to stand. Let alone fight. The lamp would be knocked over, there would be blood all over room, furniture broken. Compare the living room to the status of the Master Bedroom.
6.) What assailants after an attack leave the one person alive who can later identify him?
7.) Why aren't the wounds on Macdonald more severe? The worst was a partially collapsed lung. But the skin around it shows no other marks or scratches.
8.) Fibers from Kim Macdonald were found in the Master Bedroom bed Same with Collette. Jeff has never been able to provide a substantial reason for how they got there.
9.) Fragments of the kitchen sink gloves found in the bedding. Jeff says he did the dishes that night. Fred Kassab, who had known Jeff since we was a kid, said he never saw Jeff wash a dish in his life.
Things not sure about that could create reasonable doubt:
1.) The Black Wool fibers not traceable to anything in the home found on Collette's Pajama sleeve, and on the club used to murder her,
2.) Several unmarked fingerprints found in the home.
3.) 22-24 inch long black wig hair strands found on the living room floor where Macdonald said he struggled with the intruders.
4.) The whole Jimmy Frier phone call conversation. Who answered the phone? Helena said she did. But even if she didn't I always wanted to know all of what he said, and that conversation has been lost. Would love to see any phone records from that time. When I first heard about #4 on the program The Justice Files, doing a spotlight on the case, I almost fell off my chair! This was before FJ came out and I thought, "Why isn't this stuff in FV?
The thing is, there is stronger conclusive evidence as to JM's guilt than the smaller things that could point to his innocence. Over the years, some people did a composite of between 30-50 inconsistent statements made my JM when weighted against the physical evidence.
But neither FV or FJ tells the whole story of the case. FV wants the reader to see JM as guilty, FJ wants to see JM as innocent. Both books omit things.
Satch
