Summary and Analysis of Fatal Vision: Based on the Book by Joe McGinniss
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Summary and Analysis of Fatal Vision: Based on the Book by Joe McGinniss
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Overview
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This short summary and analysis of Fatal Vision by Joe McGinniss includes:
- Historical context
- Section-by-section overviews
- Detailed timeline of key events
- Important quotes
- Fascinating trivia
- Glossary of terms
- Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work
About Joe McGinniss’s Fatal Vision:
In 1970, the country was gripped by a brutal triple-murder at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Colette MacDonald, then pregnant, and her two young daughters were beaten and stabbed to death in their home. The prime suspect was Colette’s husband, a charismatic military doctor and Green Beret named Jeffrey MacDonald.
MacDonald invited writer Joe McGinniss to write a book about the case. Fatal Vision, published in 1983, has become a true crime classic, but not without controversy. In 1984, MacDonald sued McGinniss for fraud, claiming he misrepresented his intentions, making Fatal Vision an incredibly compelling story and an excellent example of the complex questions surrounding free speech and journalistic integrity.
The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781504043748 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Worth Books |
| Publication date: | 01/24/2017 |
| Series: | Smart Summaries |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 30 |
| Sales rank: | 821,518 |
| File size: | 2 MB |
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Summary and Analysis of Fatal Vision
By Joe McGinniss
OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA
Copyright © 2017 Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-5040-4374-8
CHAPTER 1
Summary
Part One: The Shadow of Death
In the early morning of February 17, 1970, a 911 call is made from the MacDonald residence. Colette, 26; Kimberley, 5; and Kristen, 2, have all been brutally murdered — beaten and stabbed to death. Jeffrey MacDonald claims that four people whom he describes as "hippies" broke into the house, knocked him unconscious, and murdered his family. MacDonald says there were three men and a woman who wore a floppy hat. Doctors who treat the hysterical MacDonald at the hospital notice he is not injured aside from a few superficial stab wounds, and one particularly bad wound that punctured his lung. One of the potential murder weapons (a paring knife) is uncovered at the scene.
Colette and her two daughters are buried, and MacDonald is released from the hospital. Meanwhile, the military police are still working the scene at the MacDonald residence. MacDonald goes on vacation with his mother to get away from the tragedy.
Franz Joseph Grebner, the head Army investigator, is convinced that MacDonald perpetrated these murders. When the CID (Criminal Investigation Division of the military) questions MacDonald about the night of the murders, he waives his right to an attorney. This session of questioning is recorded and transcribed in full in the book. MacDonald is asked to take a polygraph — he refuses, and seeks out legal counsel.
Brutal but specific details are revealed about the murders and the crime scene. Though those who knew him didn't believe it was possible for him to have done such a thing, MacDonald is arrested for the murders of his wife and two daughters.
Need to Know: The unfolding narrative is interspersed with MacDonald's recollections of how he met Colette and the history of their early romantic involvement, including the story of Colette's pregnancies and the deliveries of both Kimberley and Kristen. These reoccurring sections, titled "The Voice of Jeffrey MacDonald," add depth to the story through first-person perspective.
Part Two: The Hope of the Hypocrite
MacDonald hires Bernard (Bernie) Segal as his legal counsel. Segal hires a psychiatrist, Dr. Bob Sadoff, to do a full workup on MacDonald. Dr. Sadoff determines that MacDonald was not involved in the murders. Colette MacDonald's mother and stepfather, Mildred and Freddy Kassab, assert his innocence as well. During the entire time MacDonald is in custody, he exchanges letters with the Kassabs, some of which are included in the book.
During the military hearing — referred to as an Article 32 hearing — Segal focuses on the CID's poor handling of the crime scene, proving that it was disrupted many times over. He also finds a witness who claimed to have seen a woman matching MacDonald's description of one of his attackers standing near the MacDonald residence on the morning of the crime. (The woman in question would turn out to be someone named Helena Stoeckley, who did in fact live nearby and was a known drug user.)
Other colleagues and friends testify that MacDonald and Colette were happily married. MacDonald himself testifies for three days, answering questions about the state of his marriage, and whether or not Kristen had a bed-wetting problem. Colonel Warren Rock, one of the first members of the military to question MacDonald after the murders, testifies that he thought MacDonald was telling the truth. Charges are dropped due to insufficient evidence, and MacDonald applies for an honorable discharge.
Need to Know: While in police custody, MacDonald begins keeping a diary because he hopes to eventually sell the rights to his story. He pursues a tell-all interview with Newsday, and with other news organizations, even writing them letters stating his case. His story appears on the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, and MacDonald himself appears on The Dick Cavett Show.
Part Three: The Contempt of Families
Unlike MacDonald, who felt relief when his case was dismissed by the military, Mildred and Freddy Kassab, Colette's parents, felt that life was a living hell. They were desperate to find the killers, and were appalled that no one seemed to be investigating further once the case against MacDonald ended.
McGinniss highlights the fact that the Kassabs still had no idea exactly what had happened on the night of the murders — because the Article 32 hearing was conducted by the military, the Kassabs had not been in attendance. The first details they learned came from reading MacDonald's Newsday interview. They were disturbed that he had chosen such a public place to tell the story. This is where doubt over MacDonald's innocence begins to grow for them.
Freddy Kassab tries, without luck, to get a copy of the Article 32 transcript. MacDonald claims the transcripts cannot be released. Pressured by his father-in-law, who is entirely focused on bringing justice to the murderers, MacDonald tells him that he and some Green Beret buddies tracked down one of the intruders and killed him. When visiting his in-laws in New York, Mildred presses him for details. It becomes obvious to her that he is not telling the truth.
Finally, the Kassabs get a copy of the hearing transcript. They spend their Christmas reading it. By the time they've finished, they are convinced that MacDonald is not telling them the truth about what happened to Colette and their grandchildren.
In January 1971, MacDonald moves to New York and takes a job as a doctor at the World Trade Center construction site. In February, two CID agents make a visit to the Kassabs, letting them know that the CID has reopened an investigation and still considers MacDonald a suspect.
The CID conducts a thorough investigation of Helena Stoeckley, who claims she has no clear memory of the night of the murders because she was high on drugs. She contradicts herself several times about her recollections. Fingerprints and a hair sample are collected and do not match anything found at the crime scene. People mentioned by Stoeckley are also investigated and cleared. At this point, the CID refocuses on MacDonald as their man.
McGinniss relays more information on the background of both MacDonald and Colette as individuals. The CID is interested to discover that MacDonald had frequent extramarital affairs and that his marriage to Colette was not exactly as he had painted it.
Determined to know the truth, Freddy Kassab labors over the transcripts. He makes a list of questions for MacDonald. He visits the crime scene (still sealed) in Fort Bragg. On June 1, 1972, the CID submits a reinvestigation report on the MacDonald case, this time to the Department of Justice. Kassab passionately fights for the case to be reconsidered and for charges to be filed against MacDonald as a civilian. Frustrated at their lack of action, he gives an interview to Newsday under the headline "Parents Live to See a Killer Caught." Finally, thanks to a Justice Department attorney named Victor Woerheide, MacDonald's case is brought to the grand jury in North Carolina in 1974.
Need to Know: The new investigation turns up physical evidence that disputes MacDonald's description of events on the night of the murders.
Part Four: The Days of Affliction
MacDonald finds himself once again at the beginning of a trial. Woerheide questions him at length about his own recollection of the events on the night of the murder. The transcript is recreated nearly verbatim in this section. After testifying, MacDonald returns to his residence in California.
But the grand jury session rages on. Ultimately more than seventy-five witnesses will be called, including members of MacDonald's family. The prosecution's case is compelling. Woerheide is able to paint a picture of MacDonald as a deeply narcissistic person. He reveals inconsistencies in MacDonald's story about the murders, and his infidelities during his marriage. The grand jury also hears from a number of mental health professionals about MacDonald's state of mind.
In addition, they hear the testimony of Paul Stombaugh, chief of the chemistry division of the FBI. He delivers very damning testimony concerning the blue pajama top Jeffrey MacDonald was wearing the night of the murders. The top, found draped over Colette, had several puncture holes that, as Stombaugh demonstrates, line up exactly with the ice pick wounds in her chest. These facts, and several others involving blood spatter, dispute the version of events described by MacDonald.
Jeffrey MacDonald is called back to North Carolina to testify on January 21, 1975. Again, McGinniss presents the transcript nearly verbatim. By this point, MacDonald is close to being a hostile witness, claiming he cannot recall certain facts and even raising his voice at Woerheide. At the end of the grand jury testimony, MacDonald reads a statement in which he accuses the CID and the Justice Department of pursuing him relentlessly and claims he did not murder his family and wishes he knew who did. He also defends interviews he had given to the press.
Three days later, the jury returns an indictment charging MacDonald with three counts of murder.
Need to Know: Stombaugh's theory, according to his reading of the physical evidence, is that MacDonald and Colette began fighting in their bedroom, where he struck her and she retaliated with a wooden club. MacDonald then grabbed the club. At some point, Kimberly came into the room, and he clubbed her on the head. When both Colette and Kimberly were unconscious, he carried Kimberly back to her own bed and hit her again, killing her. Colette came to and went to Kristen's room, where MacDonald found her and beat her badly. He then got bedding from the master bedroom, wrapped Colette in it, and carried her back to the master bedroom. He took off his pajama top, laid it across her, and went to the kitchen to retrieve a knife and an ice pick. He put Kristen across his lap and stabbed her to death, and went back to the others and stabbed them as well.
Part Five: Cry One for Them
After being indicted for the murders of his wife and daughters, MacDonald appeals to the Justice Department on the basis of the double jeopardy rule, which states that one cannot be tried twice for the same crime. His appeal is denied. With a team of lawyers and hired experts, MacDonald moves into a former fraternity house at North Carolina State University. McGinniss is present throughout all of the preparations for the trial, and relays the training MacDonald receives, from how to word his testimony to what to wear in the courtroom.
While the jury does not hear from any psychiatrists, under the order of Judge Franklin Dupree, they do hear from Paul Stombaugh, the FBI forensic expert. Again, McGinniss reproduces large parts of the trial transcript nearly verbatim, including Segal's cross-examination of Stombaugh. Behind the scenes, MacDonald's emotions during the trial are communicated to McGinniss back at the fraternity house.
The jury takes a trip to the house where the murders occurred, which is still sealed off, nine years later. They hear the interview that was conducted by the CID in 1970 after the murders. Later, jurors would claim this audio recording is what changed their thinking, citing MacDonald's arrogance in the tape as a reason to question his innocence.
Segal calls Helena Stoeckley as a witness. She has to be brought to Raleigh by federal agents. After interviewing her, Segal realizes it might have been better if Stoeckley had never been found — she never wavers from her insistence that she had nothing to do with the murders. Her testimony makes it obvious to everyone that she was not there that night, and that she is an untrustworthy witness. Judge Dupree rules her testimony is not trustworthy.
Six weeks into the trial, MacDonald testifies. During his testimony, Freddy Kassab can be heard to say loudly, "faker," and to laugh sarcastically as MacDonald proclaims his love for his wife and children. During his cross-examination, the prosecutor, Jim Blackburn, decides to focus on the physical evidence, particularly the pajama top and blood evidence.
In his closing argument, Blackburn repeats the enormous brutality of the crime and the vulnerability of its victims. Segal, for his part, rambles on for several hours and loses track of time. That night, as the jury deliberates, there's a party at the fraternity house. MacDonald's secretary even makes a dinner reservation for him the following evening in New York City.
The jury finds MacDonald guilty of second-degree murder in the deaths of Colette and Kimberly and first-degree murder for the death of Kristen, believing that he purposefully killed her as a cover up for the other two murders. Judge Dupree sentences him to three life sentences, to be served consecutively, the harshest punishment available.
Need to Know: McGinniss is given a room in the same fraternity house where MacDonald is staying during the trial. He spends time daily with MacDonald and his team as they prepare for court, and has intimate access to the defendant.
Conclusion: If I Have Walked with Vanity
After MacDonald is put behind bars, McGinniss reflects on the case. He states outright that the more time he spent with MacDonald, the more convinced he became of his guilt. He cites MacDonald's obsession with publicity, his arrogance, his false claims about his injuries the night of the murder, and the sheer brutality of the murders.
During the early days of MacDonald's incarceration, McGinniss, along with MacDonald's mother, visits him in prison. MacDonald also writes McGinniss several lengthy letters. According to McGinniss, in the beginning, MacDonald wrote him a letter every day — sometimes more than one.
McGinniss goes to California to read through MacDonald's own records on the trial. While there, still being very much in contact with MacDonald, McGinniss researches narcissistic personality disorder. He uncovers that at the time of the murders, MacDonald was taking a large dosage of amphetamines to help him deal with his heavy work schedule. McGinniss begins to call into question some things that MacDonald told him about his personal life. McGinniss states that after the trial, he discovered that nearly all these things were factually inaccurate. He also speaks to several people who knew MacDonald as a young man, who claim that he was capable of unbridled rage.
Throughout all of this, McGinniss is still in correspondence with MacDonald. The court of appeals rules that MacDonald's right to a speedy trial was violated. He is released on bail, moves back to California, and gets engaged to his girlfriend, Randi. The Justice Department asks the Supreme Court to step in. The Supreme Court rules that MacDonald's rights were not violated, and that the verdict still stands. He is taken back to prison.
McGinniss goes back to the scene of the crime and revisits some of the physical evidence. He imagines Colette, Kimberly, and Kristen's last moments. Then, in the final "Voice of Jeffrey MacDonald," the book ends with his thoughts about his wife, Colette.
Need to Know: The last section of the book is McGinniss finally showing his cards. He tells the reader of his growing doubts of MacDonald's innocence as the case is sent to a number of appeals.
The 1985 Afterword
Two years after publication, McGinniss reveals that there was a point where he nearly considered throwing the whole manuscript out, because by then he believed that MacDonald was guilty. He says he persevered in wanting to publish the book in order to tell the story of the victims and the incredible trial that followed.
The 1989 Epilogue
After being sued by MacDonald for fraud, McGinniss attempts to explain his reasoning for writing the book. By that point, Janet Malcolm, a writer for the New Yorker, had published a lengthy piece about Fatal Vision, called "The Journalist and the Murderer," in which she questioned McGinniss's intentions. McGinniss claims MacDonald knew that whatever conclusions he drew about the case would be his own to make, and even includes two notarized letters that expressly state that MacDonald would not pursue legal action against McGinniss or his publisher if the finished book was not to his liking. He also explains his lengthy emotional involvement with MacDonald after the verdict, through the series of letters that they exchanged. The case for fraud was settled for $325,000. The Kassabs filed suit against MacDonald claiming the "Son of Sam" law — that no murderer can profit from his or her crime. In the end, MacDonald only received $50,000 from the lawsuit.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Summary and Analysis of Fatal Vision by Joe McGinniss. Copyright © 2017 Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Context,Overview,
Summary,
Timeline,
Cast of Characters,
Direct Quotes and Analysis,
Trivia,
What's That Word?,
Critical Response,
About Joe McGinniss,
For Your Information,
Bibliography,
Copyright,