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Jeffrey MacDonald

Also known as: Fatal Vision

Active

1970–1970

Region

Fort Bragg, North Carolina, USA

States

MD, NC

Kind

Single

Status

Convicted

Victims

3

Early on February 17, 1970, Colette MacDonald, who was pregnant, and her daughters Kimberley, 5, and Kristen, 2, were killed in the family's apartment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Her husband, Army doctor Jeffrey MacDonald, said intruders had attacked them. Army charges against him were dropped in 1970, but he was indicted in 1975 and convicted in federal court in Raleigh in 1979, receiving three life sentences. After a long series of appeals, the conviction stands; he is held at FCI Cumberland in Maryland and maintains his innocence.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

• Colette MacDonald, 26 · February 17, 1970

  She was about five months pregnant.

• Kimberley MacDonald, 5 · February 17, 1970
• Kristen MacDonald, 2 · February 17, 1970

Timeline of locations

1. February 17, 1970
   Family quarters, Fort Bragg (Crime scene, approximate area)

   Colette, Kimberley and Kristen were killed in the family's on-post apartment. MacDonald, who had minor wounds, told investigators that four intruders had attacked them.

2. August 29, 1979
   Federal court, Raleigh (Court / trial, approximate area)

   After a trial in July and August 1979, a federal jury convicted MacDonald of one count of first-degree and two counts of second-degree murder. He received three consecutive life sentences.

3. 2021
   FCI Cumberland (Prison)

   MacDonald was moved here from a federal prison in California, and was held here when his compassionate release request was denied in 2021.

Watch, listen, read

Sources

• Jeffrey R. MacDonald (Wikipedia)
• 'Fatal Vision' killer Jeffrey MacDonald hopes to get compassionate release (Oxygen, Mar 2021)

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.