Grieving mother Mildred Kassab weeps for her daughter while being escorted into JFK Memorial Chapel to see her buried. After leaving the factory, he spent several years scrabbling for a living: working on a farm, peddling fancy goods, and the like. 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. A judge later awarded MacDonald $50,000 of the proceeds but gave the remainder of his $325,000 share to attorneys, MacDonalds mother and the Kassabs. Pennsylvania had the highest population of Kassab families in 1920. I thought of devils that lurked in human flesh, like in The Exorcist, another popular based-on-a true-story-book-turned-movie of the period that floated around our house. He claimed that he had been asleep on the couch when at least, 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, We reconstructed the murders using what McDonald said. But he taunted the police. 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. Allard Lowenstein supporting MacDonalds claim that the Army wrongfully accused him and were trying to cover up their mistake. I think that one of the problems MacDonald had was that they expected him to undertake to find these killers, to go on a mission to find them. 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. But for every Khayre, a case most people have heard of with a clear link to the north-west, there are dozens more that barely make a ripple. Not only did the living room show few signs of a struggle, but the murder weapons were found outside the back door. A military hearing found charges against him untrue, but he was convicted nine years later in a civilian trial. {{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}. The family claims his body has never been found. 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 The Covid-19 pandemic continues to be catastrophic not only to our health - mental and physical - but also to the stability of millions of people. The writer had full access to the trial, and appeared sympathetic. Worse still, Judge Franklin Dupree seemed to have his mind made up before the trial began. I remember saying, It doesnt matter. Who else is going to fight this thing if not me? Kassab said, who had moved to Florida from his Long Island home the year before. 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. But it wasnt until Kassab revisited the crime scene himself in 1972 that he finally believed that his son-in-law had been the killer. Bettmann/Getty ImagesA neighbors dog and MP guards securing the MacDonald property. He holds dual bachelor's degrees from Pace University and a master's degree from New York University. @2022 - AlterNet Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. 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. They introduced a 1970 issue of Esquire found in MacDonalds house containing a detailed account of the Sharon Tate murders to suggest that he had created a copycat story based on the Manson familys crimes. An arm extends out of the passenger side window of a car. Why the MacDonald Case Matters to Everyone. Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, Collection description written by Linda Jacobs. 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. Although Kassab didnt join the family until Colette was a teenager, he had always been close with his stepdaughter. Like Wade Smith, Ive been struck by how many people speak of absolute certainty about what happened that February night over 40 years ago. I contacted his office, and to my surprise, he was willing to talk to me. Ive had many cases in court. 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. Almost all the of shootings in the north-west, one underworld source said, relate to those at the bottom of the criminal food chain. Im giving you an extra copy for Bernie Segal [the defense counsel]. The popular story says there was no evidence of intruders. To dislodge an idea reinforced by a popular book and TV phenomenon would be hard enough, but to add the sickening sense that the wrong man has been paying is nearly unthinkable. McGinniss made the murders sound like the work of a diabolical genius, a man who could transform in a moment from a loving father to a homicidal maniac, and again, in the blink of an eye, to a calculating conman. Make a one-time contribution to Alternet All Access, Scott Adams and why American capitalism kneels before a bigger God. The story many of us think we know tells that MacDonald's wounds were superficial. It ultimately concluded that MacDonalds wounds were self-inflicted, and his story entirely fabricated. 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. Colettes sister-in-law Vivian Pep Stevenson told the outlet that Colette knew of the affairs and was growing tired of the infidelities before she died, at one point lamenting, I dont want to do this anymore.. In a 2011 press release, the Innocence Project stated:. 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. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. And so there are going to be cases where there is a reasonable doubt as to what actually happened. She allegedly told one person that she recalled holding a candle that dripped with blood. Back in the 1979 trial, a lawyer named Jerry Leonard represented Helena Stoeckley. Brian Murtaugh says, Sure, Ill give it to him. 959 Census & Voter Lists. View all records. The simple acts of coming and going as I please and caring for my own basic needs have been denied him. Picture #2. 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. It would take six more months before Mildred Kassab reached the same conclusion. Kassabs suspicions deepened after he received a copy of a transcript of the Article 32 hearing and began to pore through the evidence himself. As the only survivor, MacDonald claimed that a mysterious blonde hippie oversaw three male intruders who slaughtered his family. While none of the hairs found at the scene matched Stoeckleys DNA or that of any of her known associates, MacDonald maintains they prove something more essential to his freedom that someone else was there that night. His memoir reads as a classic Syrian rags-to-riches story, except for the fact that he lost everything when he speculated in real estate just before the Great Depression. The prosecution, led by James Blackburn and Brian Murtagh, argued that MacDonald staged the crime scene to blame hippies. The list of misfortunes goes on: exculpatory evidence withheld; possible prosecutorial misconduct; and fallible humans who twisted the MacDonald story to fit their own agendas. She was a pretty girl, not beautiful, but pretty, and she was down to earth and she hated to see anybody hurt.. We need your support in this difficult time. Dupree would not admit overwhelming psychiatric testimony in MacDonalds favor, nor the testminony of witnesses to whom Helena Stoeckley had confessed her involvement. 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. But just what changed Kassabs mind about the man he once called . Two years into MacDonalds undergraduate studies at Princeton, Stevens became pregnant. MacDonald claimed he'd broke his arm in the fatal scuffle, but Kearns would later say in an interview that authorities had MacDonald under surveillance at the time and did not observe any broken arm. In 1982, she sat down with Gunderson and Beasley in a taped interview, claiming that she had been part of a satanic cult that had killed the family because MacDonald was not cooperative in helping heroin addicts during his time at Fort Bragg. Make a one-time contribution to Alternet All Access, MacDonalds relationship with his father-in-law, who had been a staunch supporter, became strained. He said the so-called Fagin Laws, which were introduced last year and allow police to charge adults who coerce children to offend, would be useful in dismantling these networks. LP: One of the things that struck me in reading Errol Morris book was the use of the psychopath diagnosis in court and how problematic that is. She was the type of girlthe best way I can explain it, I never met a girl that did not like Colette, he once told the Washington Post. Detective Inspector Wayne Newman, from the North-West Metro region, says there has been an increase in higher ranking organised crime figures in the area insulating themselves from possible harm by using youth networks to do the grunt work. Born Jeffrey Robert MacDonald on Oct. 12, 1943, in New York City, the fledgling doctor grew up in Patchogue, Long Island. Often, the spouse turns out to have committed the murder, so its not surprising that the case turned to McDonald. Take a guy like MacDonald. MacDonald had been just a teenager at the time and was dating Colette, his high school sweetheart. Wadea left Syria in 1889 with two companions and arrived in the United States that same year. This manuscript by Aelyas Kassab is a history of the Kassab family and a biography of Aelyas' own life. Colette had been stabbed 16 times and punctured 21 times with an ice pick, while 5-year-old Kimberley was killed by six blows to the head and eightto 10 stab wounds, according to a. Jeffrey MacDonald had also been at the home at the time, but he suffered only minor injuries compared to what his family endured. Rep. Allard Lowenstein supporting MacDonalds claim that the Army wrongfully accused him and were trying to cover up their mistake. In 1970 America was gripped by the horror of the Manson murders a fact used against MacDonald because he subscribed to Esquire magazine, which had run a story about the dark side of hippie culture. Maybe more than I would have thought as a teen. Colette MacDonald and her daughters suffered horrific violence as they were killed on February 17, 1970 at their Fort Bragg home. Evidence the defense never saw. With their encouragement, he graduated from dental school in Philadelphia in 1895 and set up a practice in Chester. While both Detective Inspectors want to reiterate this is rare, it is also their worst fear, and what they are working to stop. Judge James Fox, a close friend of Dupree's and quite elderly himself, has taken over and has dismissed appeals. The Tibas are the only clan in the five families that can boast three generations of serious offenders from murderers to drug traffickers. 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. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. He went directly to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where a teacher of his had settled. His most significant injury was a puncture wound and deflated lung. We needed the Kassabs to shut up, just calm down, let us do the investigation and well find out who did it.. The stakes are too high for it not to work, Detective Inspector Clark said. Mildred and Freddy Kassab both died, months apart, in 1994. However, instead of the firm defense MacDonald expected, the 1983 bestseller A Fatal Vision described him as a narcissistic psychopath.. Interview: The Spookiest Case Wade Smith Ever Encountered. The Jeffrey MacDonald murder case is one of the most disturbing in living memory. The now 76-year-old is serving three consecutive life sentences and is currently housed at the Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland . When we were walking out of the house, I was warned that convicting MacDonald wasnt going to be that simple, Kassab said. WebIt is reported Ms Kassab entered Syria last year and that her husband, known as Sam, died on the border of Turkey in 2013. 959 Census & Voter Lists. Similar to the Chaouks and Haddaras, the Kassabs and the Kheirs who are related clans remain a factor, although their involvement is more peripheral than before. Others relate to significant organised crime figures, and their businesses, such as tattoo parlours. Aelyas followed Wadea to the United States in 1899. Why did people in the community believe he did it? No one ever knew what it was Helena told him because of attorney-client privilege. He was the lawyer she was talking to one-on-one who had been appointed to advise her of her rights. Even after the conviction, the Kassabs remained haunted by the heinous crime. Some people would say that was the wrong thing to do. Waters rubbished that explanation. After 3 a.m. on Feb. 17, 1970, dispatchers at Fort Bragg received an emergency call from the MacDonalds 544 Castle Drive address. There were fibers from a blonde wig that matched the description of Helena Stoeckley. In October 1970, following an investigation and hearing, the military dropped its case against MacDonald, and he was honorably discharged from the army. or click here to become a subscriber. Picture #1. They dont know the truth any more than I do. The walls will tell you what happened if you keep it pristine. (See Silverglate's article on the case in Forbes.). Even before bureaucratic stalling and federal machinery overtook the search for truth, things were working against Jeffrey MacDonald. ". MacDonald at Los Angeles Terminal Island prison where Charles Manson had spent much of his youth. The man is a fanatic.. Although Kassab didnt join the family until Colette was a teenager, he had always been close with his stepdaughter. He could have gone on with his life, and he should have. Oh, yes. MacDonald now waits to see if the federal judge will vacate his 33-year-old conviction. Eventually, after pressure from Colettes family, MacDonald was indicted and found guilty of the three murders on August 29, 1979. LP: What has this case revealed about the flaws in our judicial system? MacDonald settled into bachelor life, buying a yacht and marina-front condominium in Long Beach, California, Vanity Fair reports. But, they believe, the deterrent effect of jailing them, even if their victim remains tight-lipped, will have an impact. The idea that people that were so certain who dont know any more than I do -- I dont believe Ill ever understand how they could be so sure. Thank you. Harvey Silverglate, a renowned civil liberties advocate, has been an appellate attorney for MacDonald. He didnt do that. WebIt is reported Ms Kassab entered Syria last year and that her husband, known as Sam, died on the border of Turkey in 2013. His most significant injury was a puncture wound and deflated lung. Not only were three hairs discovered at the crime scene that didnt match any of the familys DNA, but an affidavit revealed that Blackburn had allegedly threatened Stoeckley not to tell the truth in court. Marc Smerling thinks he has some idea. I thought the world of Judge Dupree. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. I wouldnt allow myself to believe it, because it made it so much worse that it was he instead of strangers, she later said in an interview, according to the docuseries. According to her, they wanted to teach MacDonald a lesson and rough up his family the night of the killings. The FBI lab guy turned over two copies to Brian Murtaugh, the prosecutor. 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