The Crimes

In the early hours of 17 February 1970, the harmonious lives of the MacDonald family was to be shattered when the entire family, except Jeffrey, were slaughtered.MacDonald claimed that he had woken after hearing his wife and one of his daughters screaming. He then found himself being attacked by three intruders armed with a club, ice pick and knife.When the Military Police and ambulance arrived, including officers Kenneth Mica and Lieutenant Joesph Paulk, they discovered a grisly scene. In the master bedroom 26-year-old Colette, who was pregnant, lay on her back covered in blood with her legs spread. Her face had been battered and part of her chest was partially exposed, while one half was concealed by the top half of a man’s torn blue pyjamas.Next to Colette lay Jeffrey MacDonald himself. He had made the call to the police, but was now unconscious. After resuscitation his first concern was for his wife and children. Screaming to the police to check on them, officer Mica first entered the bedroom of the eldest daughter, five-year-old Kimberly and to his horror discovered that she had stab wounds to the neck and that her skull had been smashed. Across the hall another gruesome sight greeted the officers when two year old Kristen was found dead on her bed with stab wounds in her chest and back.MacDonald managed to reveal to the police that three men and one woman had carried out the attack. He stated, "One man was coloured, he wore a field jacket, sergeant's stripes. The woman, blond hair, floppy hat, short skirt, muddy boots — she carried a light, I think a candle."The description of the woman in the floppy hat resembled a similar figure that officer Mica had recalled just a few blocks away as he rushed to the crime scene. Despite this revelation no patrol car was sent out to search for the mysterious women. As the military police struggled to contain an understandably distressed MacDonald, they eventually wheeled him out to the ambulance.Later, while being questioned by the Army Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI, a distraught MacDonald described how he had been attacked by a black man wielding a baseball bat while he slept on the sofa. Two white men also attacked him and MacDonald had used his pyjama top as a shield to fend off the blows. He also recalled a blond woman, with a floppy hat, standing by and holding a candle. She was heard to say “Kill the pigs” and “acid is groovy”.