Every time we pursued a lead it just turned us around and directed us back toward Jeffrey MacDonald. Theres a note attached. He drew on his previous knowledge of MacDonald, who he had met years earlier while courting Colettes mother, Mildred. The bedroom of Kristen and Kimberly MacDonald, mere hours after they were murdered. Brighton terrorist Yacqub Khayre allegedly was only a phone call to a north-west contact away from being able to obtain the shotgun he used to kill a man, take a woman hostage and shoot three police last month. 26-year-old Colette MacDonald had been stabbed nearly forty times with an icepick and a knife while pig was scrawled on the headboard of her bed in her own blood. It didnt make sense. But his story crumbled under scrutiny and he was charged with killing his family. LP: Then why did MacDonald, the emblem of law-and-order, the Green Beret, become a suspect? Its a case that if you were telling scary stories around the dining room table and you had all your family gathered, people could hardly believe it. WebIt is reported Ms Kassab entered Syria last year and that her husband, known as Sam, died on the border of Turkey in 2013. My wife and I can sit for hours and days and not talk to each other, but were both thinking, you know. MacDonalds relationship with his father-in-law, who had been a staunch supporter, became strained. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! Family members of radio personality Casey Kasem have settled a lawsuit against his widow that alleged her neglect and physical abuse led to his death in 2014. MacDonald had been just a teenager at the time and was dating Colette, his high school sweetheart. And absolutely nothing fit, Kassab told the Orlando Sentinel in 1989. McGinniss had to be creative, because the mans character never fit the crime. At one stage last year, there was only one of the six Chaouks, father and sons, that were alive and free. I would have told the jury that it doesnt make sense. These were the families police identified in 2011 as causing most of the trouble in the band, which stretches roughly from Coburg North to Campbellfield, then in an arc around to Altona in Mundane things that Jeffrey MacDonald has not been able to do for over 30 years. Kassab testified on MacDonalds behalf, declaring, If I had another daughter, Id still want the same son-in-law.. Pennsylvania had the highest population of Kassab families in 1920. Mr Oueida has been overseas for most of the time since the attack, predominantly in Lebanon and Dubai a haunt for a string of Australian organised crime figures. I thought the world of Judge Dupree. Even back then, if you polled Fayetteville folks, you might have found that a lot of people did not believe that he did it. Take a guy like MacDonald. In a 2011 press release, the Innocence Project stated:. Like Wade Smith, Ive been struck by how many people speak of absolute certainty about what happened that February night over 40 years ago. Every reader contribution, no matter the amount, makes a difference in allowing our newsroom to bring you the stories that matter, at a time when being informed is more important than ever. In 1905, Wadea married Sara Hajjar, who had been educated at an English boarding school and was teaching at a mission school for Jewish children in Damascus prior to her marriage. Kassab filed a citizens criminal complaint in April 1974, petitioning a federal court to convene a grand jury and determine if MacDonald could be charged. And a victim falls on the concrete. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. When we were walking out of the house, I was warned that convicting MacDonald wasnt going to be that simple, Kassab said. LP: What has this case revealed about the flaws in our judicial system? There may be hope that MacDonald will eventually gain his freedom and at least be able to live the last few years of his life outside of a prison cell. At some time before 3.30am someone brutally attacked the MacDonald family in their home at 544 Castle Drive on what was then the open military base of Fort Bragg. So MacDonald was the logical choice. He was found guilty and given three life sentences on Aug. 26, 1979. It is hard not to be shocked by the footage of Oueida's shooting. Nothing unique in any way. In July 1974, a Federal judge acted on a citizen's criminal complaint by Kassab and others, by putting the case before a grand jury. To do so, they are increasingly trying to appeal to the maternal side of these families, and helping mothers and their children escape the criminal elements in their home, before another brood is infected. "Memoirs" by Wadea Kassab recounts Wadea's life from his childhood in Damascus and Bloudan, to his immigration to America in 1889, and through his pursuit of education and a career in dentistry. Colette was relieved to find out her husband would not be stationed in Vietnam and the whole family was overjoyed to learn she was pregnant for a third time. He was more interested in working with people on hallucinogenic and things like that. In 1920 there were 5 Kassab families living in Pennsylvania. In 1920 there were 5 Kassab families living in Pennsylvania. MacDonald in late 1970 after the Army acquitted him of all charges. There was a re-examination of the fibers found on the bodies of Collette and the children. Pennsylvania had the highest population of Kassab families in 1920. Not only did the U.S. Army surgeon marry his high school sweetheart, but he had a flourishing career, two beautiful young daughters, and a son on the way. Soldiers corpses arrived at Fort Bragg stuffed with heroin. LP: Did anything new come out in the Wilmington hearing in September? View all records. At the time, Kassab still believed the real perpetrators of the crime had been the four hippies that MacDonald said had broken into the home. The couple sued MacDonald in 1987 to try to prevent him from profiting from Joe McGinniss book Fatal Vision, which served as the inspiration for the mini-series. Bettmann Archive/Getty ImagesRep. Wherever you see the label psychopath," you could almost substitute monster or vampire youre talking about an unnatural person who does not behave according to normal human rules, and with that label, you can believe anything of them. A lengthy trial heard Moustafa and Kassab had gone to the Brunswick panel beating shop to confront Moustafa over $50,000 in cash and $10,000 in aftershave they believe he had stolen. Freddie Kassab and CID investigators returned to the crime scene in 1971 to contrast MacDonalds claims with the evidence and found his narrative implausible. "There's a lot of luck good and bad in a non-fatal shooting, You can be shot once and die, or you can be shot five times and live. Next, the defense decided to call the suspected blonde woman Helena Stoeckley as a witness. And yet there are thousands of people in North Carolina who do not believe he did it. He also tried to get the case dismissed, claiming double jeopardy and starting an appeals process that would delay his trial for years. WebThe Kassab family name was found in the USA in 1920. The cost to Melbourne's north-west is huge. Why did people in the community believe he did it? Jeffrey MacDonald had also been at the home at the time, but he suffered only minor injuries compared to what his family endured. He is outspoken about MacDonalds innocence, and when I called him, I could hear the years of outrage in his voice over the way the case has proceeded. It dawned on MacDonald after graduating in 1968 that the U.S. Army could help him advance his career, and he wasnt wrong. After completing high school in Chester, he too went to dental school and set up practice in Wadeas office. MacDonald claimed the hairs were from the wig of one of the murders, but the forensic examiner incorrectly claimed they were from one of the childrens dolls. Then, if someone draws your attention to certain details, suddenly the picture transforms into the profile of an old woman. He looked angry on the stand. Back in the 1979 trial, a lawyer named Jerry Leonard represented Helena Stoeckley. The irony not lost on police, community members and other underworld figures is that while Osman may be a victim of that cycle, his family have survived from perpetuating it. Judge James Fox, a close friend of Dupree's and quite elderly himself, has taken over and has dismissed appeals. His honesty and humility regarding these losses give the story its poignancy. During this time, he met and became friendly with a number of Americans, including the ONeill family of Chester, Pennsylvania. (See Silverglate's article on the case in Forbes.). Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Unfortunately for MacDonald, she would never admit any memory of her involvement in the killings in court. These victims include Rachad Adra, who was killed and his four-year-old son injured, when a gunman with a high-powered weapon shot the wrong house in Thomastown in October 2015, and Khaled Abouhasna, who was killed in a shooting ambush six months earlier when he was mistaken for a ruthless standover man. First responder Kenneth Mica discovered the bodies, with MacDonald laying wounded but alive next to his battered and lifeless wife. No one ever knew what it was Helena told him because of attorney-client privilege. And as is believed to have been the case when a large drug shipment made its way to the region in the past five years, and the Kassab/Kheir family made temporary peace with the Tibas that can sometimes mean forming a truce to distribute the product, and ensure its security. He adamantly denied all charges but was at a loss for words during cross-examination by the prosecution. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. But Silverglate points out that those lawyers have been up against an increasingly perverse system in which ancient legal rights like habeas corpus have been tossed aside in the name of preserving convictions at any cost. Finally, in Wilmington, Jerry Leonard was ordered to tell what she had said to him 30 years ago. Melbourne's north-west has soaked in blood for more than a decade, with crime families that still reign despite prison time, drive-by hits, and police task forces. You sure Errol Morris wrote the book? She was sure. It has Helena Stoeckley, the dominant person who continues to play a remarkable role. And so there are going to be cases where there is a reasonable doubt as to what actually happened. MacDonald settled into bachelor life, buying a yacht and marina-front condominium in Long Beach, California, Vanity Fair reports. An arm extends out of the passenger side window of a car. Ive had many cases in court. Additionally, much of what Morris introduces as new evidence was already including in the trial that convicted MacDonald. Soon I was reading Morris A Wilderness of Error, feeling skeptical and wondering why this reputable man would involve himself in a case that everyone and their mother (including mine) knew the truth about. Freddie Kassab and CID investigators returned to the crime scene in 1971 to contrast MacDonalds claims with the evidence and found his narrative implausible. A crime scene was left open to bystander traffic. Kassab a one-time Canadian Army intelligence operator who had once lost his own wife and daughter in a bombing of London during World War II initially believed MacDonalds account of the night and became a staunch and vocal supporter of his son-in-law, the Washington Post reported in 1984. The one hardly anyone sees, but that rages, nonetheless. Earlier, evidence came to light that a FBI forensic examiner mislead the jury about synthetic hair evidence. He was the lawyer she was talking to one-on-one who had been appointed to advise her of her rights. I would have said to the jury: they were not there, and neither was I. The surgical gloves used to scrawl pig on the headboard were identical to the supply MacDonald kept in his kitchen. WebWadea Kassab was born in Damascus in 1872 to an Orthodox family that had long and deep connections to British and American Protestant missionaries in Damascus and Beirut. He holds dual bachelor's degrees from Pace University and a master's degree from New York University. He could get an answer by the end of this year. He tried to take his case to the Supreme Court in 1979, but they declined to review the lower courts decision. Family members of radio personality Casey Kasem have settled a lawsuit against his widow that alleged her neglect and physical abuse led to his death in 2014. MacDonald claimed that his daughter Kimberly wet his side of the bed, prompting him to go to sleep on the couch. But there was, including wax drippings (MacDonald insisted that one of the intruders carried a candle), fibers, and hairs that did not belong to the household or family members. But then I felt uneasy. Morris researched the MacDonald case for 20 years and knows each labyrinthine turn of its progress through the criminal justice system. That didnt happen here. He survived. MacDonald said there had been a stabbing and begged for an ambulance. These were the families police identified in 2011 as causing most of the trouble in the band, which stretches roughly from Coburg North to Campbellfield, then in an arc around to Altona in In addition, DNA testing on evidence that was recovered from the fingernails scrapings of one of the victims and a hair found under another victim did not match MacDonald. Silverglate predicts that even after examining the new evidence, Judge Fox will not grant Jeffrey MacDonald a new trial. McGinniss stark rendering of Picture #1 stuck in my mind until recently when a friend from North Carolina told me that Errol Morris had published a book suggesting MacDonald was innocent. WebIn July 1974, a Federal judge acted on a citizen's criminal complaint by Kassab and others, by putting the case before a grand jury. After traveling a months-long journey that has led me from certainty to doubt to horror at a grave injustice, Im going to turn in this article and then go run some errands and make myself a bite to eat. Freddie Kassab and CID investigators returned to the crime scene in 1971 to contrast MacDonalds claims with the evidence and found his narrative implausible. Carl Williams was a boy from Broady, whose fat fingers spread across the state, but we know little about the boys from Broady who are ordering murders and peddling drugs now. WebIt is reported Ms Kassab entered Syria last year and that her husband, known as Sam, died on the border of Turkey in 2013. Enough somethings to fill the long, solitary chapters of a mans life unfolding behind prison walls. Tragically, the comparisons to the Sharon Tate killing were striking. That is the way our legal system is set up. Harvey Silverglate, a renowned civil liberties advocate, has been an appellate attorney for MacDonald. Most notably, the holes in the shirt MacDonald had been wearing appeared too smooth and clear cut to indicate self-defense. Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Kassab surname lived. Stories about the innocent caught in a machine that perverts every possibility of justice. McGinniss drew on pop-sociology to render an image of a psychopathic killer in the guise of the friendly doctor-next-door; the kind we know from endless horror movies. The now 76-year-old is serving three consecutive life sentences and is currently housed at the Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland . Judge Fox is also a good man. The family claims his body has never been found. The family claims his body has never been found. Jeffrey MacDonald was arraigned in May 1975 and pleaded not guilty. For all of us independent news organizations, its no exception. He worked first in a stove factory, a physically taxing and low-paying job, and later became a molder in a factory making brake shoes for the railroad. We even came back at night so we would have the same lighting conditions as the night of the murders. That got my attention: the Oscar-winning Morris, whose film The Thin Blue Line exonerated a Texas man wrongfully convicted for murder, is one of the worlds great documentary filmmakers. McGinniss' publisher settled with MacDonald out of court, after the judge called the author a conman. (This story, in its own right, became a famous book about journalistic ethics by Janet Malcolm.). Although Kassab didnt join the family until Colette was a teenager, he had always been close with his stepdaughter. At least six have faced significant criminal charges. And the physical evidence, the circumstantial evidence, just kept mounting against him and contradicting his story for events from that evening.. The lead prosecutor for the case, Jim Blackburn began to analyze every piece of evidence from the trial, including MacDonald's pajama shirt, which was draped over Colette's body, and the bedsheet she was wrapped in. Other witnesses claimed that Stoeckly had confessed at various times that she thought she might have been present during the murders. But while Kassab saw MacDonald as an engaged and loving father and husband, Army investigators grew suspicious of MacDonalds account of the killings and ordered him to appear for an Article 32 hearinga military process used to determine whether there was enough evidence to pursue formal charges against MacDonald. He claimed there was insufficient evidence, while civilian defense attorney Bernard Segal argued the CID had improperly handled the scene and that alternative suspects like local drug addict Helena Stoeckley, believed to be the blonde woman at the scene, continued to roam free. It frustrates police that low-level gangsters without a shred of integrity jut their chins out and shake their heads in a misplaced attempt at honour when asked who shot them, despite, in many instances, being maimed for life. Kassab filed a citizens criminal complaint in April 1974, petitioning a federal court to convene a grand jury and determine if MacDonald could be charged. Waters rubbished that explanation. Freddy Kassab had inserted himself into the 1970 military hearing and made himself the center of a media circus, holding news conferences and firing off letters to members of Congress. After leaving the factory, he spent several years scrabbling for a living: working on a farm, peddling fancy goods, and the like. Steve Liss/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesJeffrey MacDonald behind bars in Terminal Island federal penitentiary. He was a true gentleman, even though there were things in the trial and there were decisions he made that I disagree with. There is no finality in injustice. 741 Immigration & Travel. Aelyas followed Wadea to the United States in 1899. He had biblical levels of persistence, Bob Keeler, a reporter for Newsday, recalled in A Wilderness of Error.. 6,889 Family Trees. Currently serving three life sentences for their murders, MacDonald continues to maintain his innocence even as a new documentary series digs into his case. Of those in prison, one was jailed for having guns that so troubled a judge she described them as "the sort of weapons that were used down in Tasmania", a reference to the Port Arthur massacre. The Tibas, Haddaras, Chaouks, Kassabs, and Kheirs are north-west Melbourne's version of the Five Families, the major players in the New York mafia. 959 Census & Voter Lists. Helena Stoeckley confessed many times that MacDonalds willingness to turn heroin addicts in to the police infuriated local drug dealers. Kassab a one-time Canadian Army intelligence operator who had once lost his own wife and daughter in a bombing of London during World War II initially believed MacDonalds account of the night and became a staunch and vocal supporter of his son-in-law, the Washington Post reported in 1984. But there was no evidence that had ever taken place. Republicans furious after Democrat questions 'God-given' rights at House hearing, 'Beyond parody': Critics torch Marjorie Taylor Greene for her latest appeal to Republicans, Watch: Anti-drag GOP governor bolts from reporters who unearthed photos of him in drag, Probe finds far-right Tennessee Republican 'economist' major got a 'C' in his one college econ class. He awoke to the sound of screaming and found three male intruders being overseen by a blonde woman. Which leaves one of the five families the Tibas. Almost as notable as the endurance of these figures has been the relative indifference of society to the violence, particularly when compared with Melbourne's gangland war. At the moment, the five Haddaras are similarly constrained, with only one of them free, two dead and two in prison. The case in Forbes. ) play a remarkable role perverts every possibility of.. Friendly with a number of Americans, including the ONeill family of Chester, he met and became friendly a. 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