MacDonald Family Murders – Part 1

February 17, 1970 was a morning few at Fort Bragg or the nation would soon forget.  The pregnant wife of Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald and their two young daughters were brutally murdered in their on-base housing unit.  Who is responsible?  Is it a group of drug-crazed hippies or someone closer to the victims?  Listen to the harrowing story of what happened in those early morning hours and decide for yourself.

Location

Fort Bragg, which is located in North Caroline, is one of the largest Army military installations in the world covering over 251 square miles. In 1970 there were approximately 50,000 residents on the base. Fort Bragg borders the towns of Fayetteville, Spring Lake & Southern Pines. It is named after Braxton Bragg, a former U.S. Military Artillery Commander who served in the Confederacy during the civil war.

The Call

On February 17, 1970, at 3:40 am a call comes into the Carolina Telephone Company dispatch center in Fayetteville. The original dispatcher, Carolyn Goldman, was having difficulty hearing the caller as they were talking with a faint, weak voice. Goldman hears the caller asking for the MPs and an ambulance to be sent to 544 Castle Drive. She initially asks if the address is on or off base. Because of the MP request, she connects the call to the Fort Bragg MP dispatch.

Goldman could no longer hear the caller, but the line was still open so she asked for assistance from the Group Chief Operator, Janice Landen. When Landen got on the line it was silent and by 3:42 am she could barely hear the caller who had just gotten back on the line. This person kept repeating his address and she thought that he said that he had been stabbed. Landen got on the line with the Sergeant at the MP desk to report this new information.

Initially, it was her understanding from talking to the previous dispatcher that they were just going to send out a patrol vehicle and not an ambulance thinking this was a domestic disturbance call. The reason this call got put through to the Fayetteville operator instead of a Fort Bragg operator was 544 Castle Drive had a Fayetteville line. It was not on the military exchange.

Military Police

Lieutenant Joseph Paulk was on duty that night in the Provost Marshal’s Office (PMO). Provost Marshall is the person in charge of military police. The night of February 17th was cold, rainy, and windy. It was raining off and on with the temperature hovering around 40 degrees. Lt. Paulk was contacted by Sergeant Boulware who was manning the desk to inform him of a call from the Fayetteville operator.

They originally thought it was a domestic disturbance. Lt. Paulk noted that upon arrival at 544 Castle Drive that he saw no people loitering about, the area was quiet and no neighborhood residences looked to have been disturbed by the incident. He arrived around 3:50 am along with other MPs who had been patrolling the area around 544 Castle Drive that evening. They came on shift around 11:30 pm.

When he arrived he knocked on the front door but got no response. He was unable to look in the windows as the blinds were drawn. Lt. Paulk continued to pound on the door, but again there was no response. He sent two MPs around the back of the building while he returned to his vehicle to see about getting a warrant to enter the residence. The residence was an officer’s quarters belonging to a Green Beret Doctor, Captain Jeffrey MacDonald.

Bodies Found

He didn’t make it back to his vehicle as he heard another MP, Sergeant Richard Tevere, returning from the back of the apartment yelling “they’re around here” and “get Womack asap.”

MP Tevere had taken a flashlight from his patrol jeep and proceeded around the back of 544 Castle Drive. The screen door to the utility room was closed, but the door was open. MP Tevere entered the residence and proceeded into the connecting master bedroom. He was only two feet into the bedroom when he saw two adults (one male, one female) on the floor. He immediately left back the way he came from to return to the front of the residence.

544 Castle Drive

544 Castle Drive is in the Corregidor Courts section of Fort Bragg. It was a garden apartment located on the east end of a four apartment structure. Looking at the front of the residence it looks to be two stories, but it’s not. The MacDonald residence is considered a garden apartment with the second story belonging to the family next door, the Kalins.

MacDonald’s front door leads into the living room which is a little over 13 x 18 feet. Directly north of the living room is the dining room and to the west of the dining room is the kitchen. The kitchen has a back entrance. Dissecting the dining room and family room are two steps that lead to a hallway jetting out to the east. Down the hallway, the first room you come to was 2-year-old Kristen MacDonald’s bedroom on the north side.

Next on the south side was 5-year-old Kimberley’s bedroom. Further down the hall on the north side was the main bathroom. The hallway intersected with the master bedroom at the end. Off of the master bedroom was a utility room (storage room) that had a half bath and an outside entrance.

Finding Victims

Lieutenant Paulk enters the residence through the utility room door along with two other MPs. On the master bedroom floor were two bodies belonging to Captain Jeffrey MacDonald (26) and his 26-year-old wife, Colette MacDonald. Colette was 4 ½ to 5 months pregnant. Colette was lying on her back with her left arm raised above her head. She had been brutally beaten and had several stab wounds to her upper chest. Both arms had exposed wounds that would show both of them had been broken. Lt. Paulk ascertained that Colette was deceased.

Another MP, Specialist Kenneth Mica was assisting Jeffrey MacDonald who was lying off to Colette’s left side clad only in blue pajama bottoms. MacDonald was found lying on his stomach with his left arm draped over Colette’s body with his hand lying on her neck. Mica helped Jeffrey MacDonald turn over when he started moaning.

Captain Jeffrey MacDonald then said, “check my kids, how are my kids?” “I heard my kids crying.” Mica then left MacDonald and went down the hall and glanced into the girl’s bedrooms and then returned to MacDonald’s side.

Other Victims

Lt. Paulk proceeded down the hallway to look for other victims. He stopped in the doorway of Kimberley’s bedroom. He took at most two steps inside and observed that she was lying on her left side. She appeared beyond help with blood around the head and neck. Sheets were pulled up over her upper body and tucked in.

Next, Lt. Paulk proceeded to the rear bedroom of Kristen. Again he only took a step into her bedroom. She was lying on her left side with a baby bottle by her head. Her sheet was around her waist. Kristen had blood around her chest and neck area.

Lt. Paulk proceeded onto the living room, dining room, and kitchen areas to see if there were any more victims. There were none. He also observed that there were no other footprints, mud, or water prints on any of the areas he had gone into. Other MPs first on the scene would report that they did not observe any footprints, mud, or water on the floor.

Securing the Scene

Lt. Paulk ordered all MPs on the scene to not touch anything and remain in place. This order would be given several times throughout the early morning hours. All other MPs that had arrived at the scene were ordered outside, those inside were told to stand by the door and not go near the overturned coffee table and couch area. All except for MP Mica who was working on Captain Jeffrey MacDonald.

Captain Jeffrey MacDonald was asking about his girls. At one point, he said, “Oh Jesus Christ, look at my wife.” He appeared to be struggling to sit up and get to his girls. Lt. Paulk observed that initially, Jeffrey MacDonald was in “complete control of his faculties, but later had all the symptoms of shock and was becoming incoherent.”

MP Tevere, was in the master bedroom when he picked up the phone that was off the hook and hanging down. He did this to try to contact the main desk at Womack Hospital. MP Tevere was unsuccessful. He initially placed it back on the hook and then took it off and put it back in the same position as it was originally.

Lt. Paulk radioed for an ambulance to be sent to 544 Castle Drive and also for the  Criminal Investigation Division (CID) agent on duty.

Drug Crazed Hippies

At one point, Lt. Paulk also used his radio to contact the MP desk. He asked for a call to be put out to all patrols to be on the lookout for:

• One Caucasian female
• Two Caucasian males
• One black male

This was the description Captain Jeffrey MacDonald had given about the “drug-crazed hippie” intruders. At the time at Fort Bragg, there were four roads that civilians used to go on and off base. A miscommunication occurred and no roadblocks set up.

Lt. Paulk also went next door to the Kalin residence to use the phone and call Colonel Kriwanek, the post provost marshal to inform him what had happened.

Mica and Captain Jeffrey MacDonald

When Mica returned to Captain MacDonald after going down the hall he knelt down beside him. Jeffrey MacDonald started making statements and Mica noted the following:

• “There were four of them” indicating they were “drug-crazed hippies.”
• “Acid is groovy.”
• “Kill the pigs.”
• “Why did they do this to me.”
• “I can’t breathe, I need a chest tube.”

Jeffrey MacDonald seemed to lose consciousness and Mica performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. When he came around MacDonald asked “How are my kids? Check my wife. I heard my kids crying.  I tried to feel for my wife’s pulse and I couldn’t find it.”

Afterward, Jeffrey MacDonald would go limp and Mica would start to perform mouth-to-mouth again. He would end up performing mouth-to-mouth on at least three occasions. When Jeffrey MacDonald finally came around he started struggling with Mica saying:

“Forget it.  I got to check my kids. Look at my wife.  I tried to find her pulse and couldn’t find it.”

MacDonald continued to talk. He related to Mica that there were four of them. One was a blonde female with a big hat and she had a candle. MacDonald claimed that she said, “acid is groovy, kill the pigs, hit him again.”

Mica asked him some questions about these individuals. MacDonald said there were three men, one of them being black and one woman and that he thought that he had hit them and scratched them and that the blonde female had muddy boots.

Awoken By Screams

MacDonald also stated that he had been sleeping on the couch and that he was awoken by the screams of his children sometime after 2 am. When he woke up he saw one black male, two white males, and a white female with long blond hair and a floppy hat standing near the edge of the couch. Before he could get up they started hitting him and the woman with the candle kept chanting “Acid is groovy.  Hit him again.  Kill the pigs.”

When MacDonald gained consciousness he said he checked on his wife and children and then called for help. Once the ambulance arrived medics came through the front door of the residence and proceeded down the hallway to the master bedroom. When they loaded him up they proceeded back down the hallway towards the front door.

In the hallway, MacDonald attempted to get off the stretcher. He wanted to see his kids and the MPs had to restrain him. Once secured MacDonald was transported to Womack Hospital.

Mica informed Lt. Paulk about seeing a female standing on the corner of Honeycutt and North Lucas. He estimated her age was between 20 and 30 years old. She was wearing a wide brim hat and a raincoat cut above her knees. Mica reported that he had seen this female on that same corner on other occasions though not regularly. He could not give any identifying facial features. He reported this information to Colonel Kriwanek and an FBI agent on February 17th.

Criminal Investigation Division

As MacDonald was being removed from 544 Castle Drive, CID Duty Investigator William Ivory arrived at 4:00 am. His observations and crime scene evidence are as follows.

Living Room

The overturned wooden coffee table was lying on its side. It came to rest on top of a stack of magazines with a child’s board game on top of them. The Esquire magazine with a picture of actor Lee Marvin on the front contained an article about the Manson Family killings from 6 months before. A smear of blood was found on the top page in either type A or AB (Colette or Kimberley).

An empty flower pot with its contents spilled out on the floor. A pair of reading glasses on the floor near the south wall. Blood is smeared on the outer lens and would turn out to be Kristen’s blood type (Type-O). A picture that hung over the couch and a lamp on an end table were undisturbed. There was no other blood found in the living room area.

Dining Room

The dining room which extended off the living room showed no signs of disturbance. Valentine Day cards were still upright. Smeared blood could be seen on the floor near the entrance to the kitchen.

Kitchen

Off the dining room to the west the wall telephone located just inside the door was off the hook. The receiver was on the floor. Traces of blood found on:

• Refrigerator door handle
• Side of washing machine
• Top of stove
• East of kitchen sink
• South and northwest kitchen wall
• Kitchen floor beneath the sink and directly in front of the sink cabinet

Spots of blood that appeared in the entryway seemed to have been dropped from an object that had been stained with blood. This blood was later identified as being type A (Colette) and type AB (Kimberley). Investigators would come to find out that every member of the MacDonald family had a different blood type.

Perry bland latex surgical gloves were found under the sink in individual packages. A search of the plumbing in the house would not turn up any open packages.

Hallway

The hallway floor showed traces of blood which included a trail of blood droplets leading from the entrance to the master bedroom to Kimberley’s bedroom. A bare bloody footprint was found near the entrance to Kristen’s room (north side of residence).

A pink tissue was found on the floor near the entrance to the main hallway bathroom.

Main Hallway Bathroom

Droplets of blood were on the front left and right side of the sink. Blood was also found on the cloth toilet seat cover, toilet tank, and step ladder. A smear of blood was found on the wall to the left side of the mirror. A crumpled pink tissue with blood smears was found in the sink. Traces of blood are also found on the door to the hall closet. This closet contained a stock of prescription drugs, syringes, and disposable scalpel blades.

Master Bedroom

Colette MacDonald was lying on her back, legs slightly apart, one eye was open and her left breast was partially exposed. Her left arm was extended over her head. Her pink pajama top had massive bloodstains. The upper part of her body showed signs of a severe beating with injuries to her face, head, and arms indicating blunt force trauma.

Both arms would be found to be broken and appeared to be defensive wounds from trying to deflect blows from some blunt object. A blood-soaked and torn blue pajama top was draped across her chest. This would be identified as Jeffrey MacDonald’s PJ top. Blood found on the blue top would be mostly Colette’s (Type A), some of Kimberley’s (Type AB), and two spots of Type B belonging to Jeffrey MacDonald.

A blood-stained white bath mat with the insignia of the HILTON HOTEL was laid across her abdomen. Blood found on this article would be identified as Colette and Kimberley’s. The white shag carpeting that Colette laid on was soaked with blood. A large blood stain was found at the entrance to the master bedroom.

The Ceiling Had Several Streaks of Blood

Several wood splinters were found on top of the fitted sheet on the bed. A pocket from a blue pajama top was found near Colette’s feet. There were two small stains on the pocket belonging to Colette but otherwise, it was virtually free of bloodstains when compared to the rest of the top.

Blue threads would be found near Colette’s body and on top of the bed. These threads measured from 1 to 2 inches in length. A paring knife with a bent blade lay to the north of Colette’s body on the floor. The knife was a Geneva Forge knife and had Colette’s blood on it.

On the bed, only the fitted sheet remained with a large stain 18 inches in diameter that would turn out to be urine. This urine sample would belong to someone who was either type A or AB blood with a focus more on AB. The word “PIG” was written in type A (Colette’s) blood on the headboard. Most likely written by a right-handed person using two fingers.

Right inside the bedroom door was a bloody bedspread and sheet that looked to have come from the bed in the master bedroom. The sheet had Kimberley’s blood on it. A tip of a surgeon’s latex glove was found in the sheet which had Colette’s blood on it. The bedspread had Colette’s blood. The closet was open and blood splatter was found on the shoes within.

Kimberley’s Bedroom (South Side)

Kim was lying on her left side with bed covers pulled up to her shoulders and tucked beneath her. Blood covered her mattress and pillow. Blood was also found on the tips of her hair and not on the pillow indicating that she perhaps was in another position prior to the one she was found in. Another clue to her being posed was an injury to her left cheek that indicated she had received a heavy blow to the left side of her face.

A large amount of Kimberley’s blood was found in the doorway of the master bedroom indicating to investigators that is where she received the heavy blow and was then moved to her bed. Several blue PJ threads were found on the sheets when investigators removed her bedspread and top sheet. A long PJ fiber was located on her pillow.

Kimberley’s face and head showed signs of severe blunt force trauma. The right side of her neck had several gaping stab wounds. The ceiling and portions of the wall about her bed had traces of blood splatter. Kimberley’s autopsy would show she died of severe blunt force trauma to her head and she was stabbed repeatedly.

Kristen’s Bedroom (North Side)

She was found lying on her left side. The lower portion of her body was covered with her bedding. A nearly empty baby bottle that contained chocolate milk laid next to her mouth. Her body had severe stab wounds to her chest and back and defensive wounds on her hands.

Her pillow was heavily stained with her blood. The bottom sheet had several large bloodstains. The wall next to her bed was covered in blood splatter from Colette’s blood. The wall next to her bed was covered in blood splatter from Colette.

Colette’s blood was also found on the top sheet indicating she was present in the room prior to Kirsten being stabbed. To further prove this point, Kristen’s blood was not found on Colette’s pj’s when tested. There was a large amount of blood the ran down the right side of her bed onto the floor. This indicated to investigators that Kristen’s body had been held over the side of the bed when she was stabbed.

Bloody footprints were found on the floor exiting her room. They were similar to Jeffrey MacDonald’s left foot.

Kristen’s autopsy would show she had been stabbed over thirty times. There were no signs that she had received any blunt force trauma. There is no evidence that Kristen ever left her bed while her mother and sister were being murdered.

Backyard

An ice pick and a knife (Old Hickory) were found side by side beneath a bush outside the back utility room door. No fingerprints were found. A long wooden slat, stained with blood and several dark fibers sticking to it, laid on the ground right outside the door. Blood found on the wooden slat matched Colette and Kimberley’s blood.

Evidence Collection

The CID team now included additional investigators. They confirmed the deaths of Colette, Kimberley, and Kristen. This was done by Dr. William Neal around 4:58 am as he was escorted through the apartment. He was cautioned not to disturb the bodies unless absolutely necessary.

Dr. William Neal went into Kristen’s room first and rolled her body over onto her back and checked her back and chest and declared her dead. He then placed her body back to its original position as closely as possible. After this, he was reminded again not to disturb the bodies unless absolutely necessary. He checked both Kimberley and Colette’s bodies without disturbing them.

Prior to Dr. Neal arriving, Investigator Ivory had the MacDonalds’ neighbor, Warrant Officer William Kalin, identify the bodies around 4:20 am. At the time of examination, the bodies had significantly cooled indicating they had been dead for more than an hour. They drew outlines of the bodies and afterward had the bodies transported to the morgue for autopsies. Multiple photographs were taken with and without the bodies present.

Suspected Murder Weapons

Investigators collected the suspected murder weapons including:

• Ice pick
• Old Hickory knife
• Geneva Forge knife with a bent blade.
• The wooden slat 31 inches in length, 2 inches wide and deep.

Since it was raining and in fear that evidence could be washed away, the CID agent marked the location of the wooden slat and placed it in a cardboard box. He then moved it to the trunk of his vehicle. This piece of lumber matched other wooden slats found in the utility room, in an open well outside the apartment, in a locked storage shed, and as supports under Kimberley’s bed.

The agents collected a variety of bloodstained household items and blood scrapings taken from objects that could not be removed from the home (i.e bathroom sink). The outside of the residence was searched for footprints in the sandy border around the apartment, but none could be found.

The investigators also collected numerous hairs, fibers, latent fingerprints.

In total there were 44 latent fingerprints, 24 latent palm prints. 21 fingerprints, 6 palm prints, and the footprints belonged to Jeffrey and Colette MacDonald.

Further investigation from the medical and physical evidence showed that when all the female victims were stabbed the blade went straight into their bodies. There was no deviation which indicates that the perpetrator was directly over the bodies as they lay prone and the instrument used to inflict the wounds was in a direct downward movement. There were no slash wounds on Colette, Kimberley, and Kristen indicating they were not moving when they were stabbed.

Womack Army Hospital

Investigator Paul Connley was tasked by Ivory to go to Womack Hospital and check on Jeffrey MacDonald’s condition and to see about gathering further information about what went on inside 544 Castle Drive. His concern at that time was if Captain MacDonald was half as bad as the other victims he may not make it. FBI agent Robert Caverly would also question MacDonald at Womack Hospital on February 17, 18, and 19th along with CID Agent Hodges.

On February 17th, MacDonald was under sedation but agreed to be interviewed. He appeared alert and responsive along with being emotional and at times incoherent. The interview lasted from 2:24 pm to 4:10 pm.

The interview on February 18th lasted one hour. MacDonald was not under sedation and was coherent.

On February 19th, MacDonald was noted as being very alert and coherent. This interview lasted 45 minutes.

When MacDonald arrived at Womack at 4:15 am he was awake and responsive. In the ambulance, he had continued to talk about what the girl in the floppy hat had repeatedly chanted. He also told the EMTs that he needed fluids as he felt like he was going into shock.

While in the ER, medical corpsman Michael Newman placed a gauze with Vaseline over the only stab wound found on MacDonald’s right chest. This was the only injury that required immediate care as it lead to a 20% collapse of his lung. Newman removed MacDonald’s PJ bottoms and threw them away.

MacDonald continued to make statements and related that he heard Colette screaming “what are they doing” or something to that effect.

MacDonald is in Good Condition?

Newman cleaned up the blood on MacDonald’s chest. He felt that MacDonald was generally in good condition and did not feel he was in shock. Another corpsman, Kenneth Gillespie, who was in the ER that night along with Newman noted that MacDonald stated that there were two black males, one white male, and one white female. The female kept saying “groovy, kill the pigs” she was wearing a big white hat and had on white boots.

This is different from what he previously said at the scene in terms of the ethnicity of the alleged intruders. This current description was heard by at least Newman, Gillespie, and another corpsman Wallace Henniger. MacDonald said that he heard his kids screaming “daddy, daddy”, but couldn’t help them as he was knocked out and when he awoke he could see his wife lying on the floor with a knife in her chest. She wasn’t breathing and the kids had stopped screaming.

Another doctor, Jacobson noted three other injuries on Jeffrey MacDonald. A bruise to the left side of his forehead, no skin broken. Superficial wounds to his abdomen and upper left arm. None of these wounds required any stitching. The left side of his chest had four puncture-type wounds, evenly spaced apart. Similar to when you dig your nails into someone.

His blood pressure was 120 over 70. His pulse was 78 and body temp was 99 degrees.

Most Serious Injury

The most serious wound was the single stab wound 1 cm in depth between the 7th and 8th ribs that caused a partial collapse of his right lung. A chest tube was inserted on February 17th and removed on the 20th. Another doctor also examined Captain MacDonald and noted that MacDonald told him to be sure to tell the MPs and CID that he had pulled a knife from his wife’s chest and threw it on the floor.

MacDonald told Jacobson that he had been sleeping on the couch because the baby (Kristen) had wet the bed and was awakened by someone beating on him and a girl with a candle saying “kill the pigs.” MacDonald also said something about leaving the doors open.

Dr. Merrill Bronstein arrived to take over MacDonald’s care around 5 am. His main concern was not MacDonald’s physical state, but more his emotional one. MacDonald was working himself up to a panic attack as he was getting hysterical. Dr. Bronstein conducted a thorough head-to-toe examination and ordered 200 milligrams of Nembutal, which is a sedative at 5:30 am.

Fifteen minutes later 100 mg of Vistaril was administered which is a tranquilizer. MacDonald never lost consciousness but was calmed down. He told Bronstein to make sure he told investigators that when he looked down as he was being attacked that he saw what he thought was an icepick.

In the meantime, a doctor at Womack was tasked with contacting Mrs. Perri MacDonald (Jeffrey’s mother). When he was unable to get a hold of her he contacted the Kassab residence (Colette’s parents). Mildred Kassab answered the phone and was told to get a hold of MacDonald’s mother and get down to Fort Bragg right way.

Resources

Resources are included in part 4.

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