Ex-Army officer guilty in 'Fatal Vision' case seeks release amid pandemic

Lawyers for Jeffrey MacDonald argued that the 77-year-old is suffering from kidney disease that will soon need dialysis and deserves to be released from a federal prison in Maryland. They also said that MacDonald has been a model prisoner and that his wife of 18 years was recently assaulted and he needs to care for her.

"He’s very near to the end of his life," attorney Elliot Abrams told U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle.

Federal prosecutors said MacDonald doesn't qualify for compassionate release because the law was enacted after his 1979 conviction. They also noted that he has already contracted COVID-19 in prison and recovered from it and that he refused a vaccination last week.

"[He] shouldn't be rewarded with release" after turning down the vaccine, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Harris said in court.

Defense attorney Joe Zeszotarski said the compassionate release statute gives judges plenty of leeway in terms of letting prisoners out.

Some of MacDonald's many lawyers from over the years were in court for the hearing and said they believe he should be released.

"The question is, is this case going to be treated differently because he is Jeffrey MacDonald?" attorney Chris Mumma said. "That would not be justice at all. I think his illness, his wife’s illnesses, his age, the number of years he has served, his record during incarceration, all of that would be relevant if it wasn’t Jeffrey MacDonald.”

"It’s before the judge, and we would wish with our entire heart that he would grant this man a compassionate release," attorney Wade Smith said. "It’s been 40 years of war, and so we hope that he will be with us."

50 years later, Fort Bragg murder case still intrigues

Prosecutors said MacDonald used a knife and an ice pick to kill his wife and children at their house on Fort Bragg before stabbing himself with a scalpel. They said he donned surgical gloves and used his wife’s blood to write the word “PIG” over their bed to imitate that year’s Charles Manson murders.

It became known as the “Fatal Vision” case, the title of a true-crime book MacDonald had invited author Joe McGinniss to write to demonstrate his innocence. Instead, McGinniss became convinced of his guilt.

"If he is released, he will claim vindication and promote disrespect for the law,“ Harris said.

"This case is an enduring mystery," Smith said. "Nobody knows what was done in that house – nobody, nobody. I don’t think he is the person that did it. I didn’t think he was the person that did it 41 years ago when the jury came back, and I was sitting right there."

For the first time in many years, Bob Stevenson, the brother of Colette MacDonald, Jeffrey Macdonald's slain wife, addressed the court about his family’s loss.

"Everybody’s life changed that day," Stevenson said. "It was awesomely tragic. My family was shattered."

He said he believes his mother died of cancer because of the crime and that his own grief affected his children.

"This man should never be allowed to walk the face of the earth again," he said. "What he did, it’s unspeakable, unthinkable.”

According to sentencing laws in effect when MacDonald was convicted, he became eligible for parole 10 years into his three life sentences. He applied for it once in 2005 and was denied, and he hasn't applied for it since. One of the general standards for parole is remorse – admitting to your crime – and his attorneys say he will not do that.