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. 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. The family claims his body has never been found. In 1920 there were 5 Kassab families living in Pennsylvania. For his part, MacDonald called Kassab and made a grandiose claim that he and some Green Beret buddies had gone out on the streets to look for the hippies responsible and found and killed one of them. Maybe more than I would have thought as a teen. 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. The bedroom of Kristen and Kimberly MacDonald, mere hours after they were murdered. We would frequently meet at the crime scene and brainstorm the whole scenario. Although the family started out as his benefactors, he ultimately became their caregivers as their positions reversed. Make a one-time contribution to Alternet All Access, My wife and I can sit for hours and days and not talk to each other, but were both thinking, you know. 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. At least six have faced significant criminal charges. Nonexclusive right to authorize all uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA). ". But, they believe, the deterrent effect of jailing them, even if their victim remains tight-lipped, will have an impact. WebIn 1971, his father-in-law, Freddy Kassab, became progressively suspicious of MacDonald and sought formal reopening of the case. It all was intruders. These shootings rarely involve significant figures, such as Oueida, or Nabil Maghnie, who was shot in the head last September but survived, or George Marrogi, who was charged with a shooting murder that same month. Kassab said in that moment, as he stood in the preserved crime scene, he realized the man he had once considered a loving partner to his stepdaughter had slaughtered his family and then staged the attack. The one hardly anyone sees, but that rages, nonetheless. Mundane things that Jeffrey MacDonald has not been able to do for over 30 years. There was violence. Judge Fox is also a good man. Shes haunting this case. Or maybe theres something else at work: Picture #2 is even more awful to see than Picture #1. Some of the facts I thought I knew began to look more like ideas conjured by eager prosecutors and a journalist who had dealt so disingenuously with Jeffrey MacDonald in writing Fatal Vision that he was sued after publication. 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. His memoir first describes the family history, especially the career of his uncle Salim Kassab. Walk through the house, walk through the rooms and talk about what we know,investigator Mike Pickering said in the docuseries. 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. 959 Census & Voter Lists. MacDonald in late 1970 after the Army acquitted him of all charges. 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. Freddy was not going to quit. He was found guilty and given three life sentences on Aug. 26, 1979. MacDonald claimed that his daughter Kimberly wet his side of the bed, prompting him to go to sleep on the couch. "I wish it was as simple as saying all our non-fatal shootings went back to five families, because if it did, we would target those five families and we'd kick it in the guts, but it's actually not that simple.". or click here to become a subscriber. Brian Murtaugh says, Sure, Ill give it to him. His most significant injury was a puncture wound and deflated lung. He went directly to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where a teacher of his had settled. But then I felt uneasy. But he is hopeful that the Fourth Court of Appeals, located in Richmond, Virginia, will take a careful look at the case and as a whole be more favorable to MacDonald. Colettes grieving parents grew suspicious after a November 1970 phone call in which MacDonald claimed he found and killed one of the intruders. Bettmann Archive/Getty ImagesRep. Waters rubbished that explanation. 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. Two members of the Tiba family have been charged in relation to the shooting. The Jeffrey MacDonald murder case is one of the most disturbing in living memory. Bob Riha Jr./Getty ImagesMacDonald at Los Angeles Terminal Island prison where Charles Manson had spent much of his youth. 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. He could get an answer by the end of this year. Did Jeffrey MacDonald Brutally Slay His Pregnant Wife And Daughters Or Did The Cops Get The Wrong Guy? Although Kassab didnt join the family until Colette was a teenager, he had always been close with his stepdaughter. None of this has set MacDonald free. Then he injured himself and set up the scene to make the crimes appear to be the work of intruders. 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. According to exclusive statistics from the armed crime squad, there has been a five-fold increase in non-fatal shootings in the north-west in four years and the region now sees almost two thirds of Victoria's non-fatal shootings. MacDonalds relationship with his father-in-law, who had been a staunch supporter, became strained. Inside The Assassination Of Detlev Rohwedder, The Politician Who Tried To Unify East And West German Businesses, Someone Just Paid Over $81,000 For A Blood-Stained Lock Of Abraham Lincoln's Hair, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch, Steve Liss/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images. 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 This was about 31% of all the recorded Kassab's in USA. Some people would say that was the wrong thing to do. 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. Next, the defense decided to call the suspected blonde woman Helena Stoeckley as a witness. Thereafter their lives ran close and parallel courses. It is a misconception that the battles are over territory. We needed the Kassabs to shut up, just calm down, let us do the investigation and well find out who did it.. Their hold on the region no longer remains absolute. LP: In Joe McGinnis book, Fatal Vision, Freddy Kassab, MacDonalds father-in-law, was presented as the protagonist. There are only two possible pictures, both nightmares. They were hardly as connected as the mob in Manhattan, but they had serious clout. {{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}. The now 76-year-old is serving three consecutive life sentences and is currently housed at the Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland . It has Helena Stoeckley, the dominant person who continues to play a remarkable role. She was a pretty girl, not beautiful, but pretty, and she was down to earth and she hated to see anybody hurt.. The couple got married when Colette was just 20 years old after discovering that she was pregnant. Steve Liss/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesJeffrey MacDonald behind bars in Terminal Island federal penitentiary. Materials provided by the families of Wadea and Aelyas Kassab. Bernie Segal, a long-haired Jewish lawyer from Philadelphia, took the lead in the case and managed to alienate the entire courtroom. The chanting blonde, meanwhile, had not been found. 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. He continued to work as a doctor and moved to California. Lynn Parramore: In all your years as a lawyer, what makes this case stand out? Freddie Kassab and CID investigators returned to the crime scene in 1971 to contrast MacDonalds claims with the evidence and found his narrative implausible. 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. Theyre the ones that wrote the Congress and said the Army screwed up this crime scene. "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. And yet there are thousands of people in North Carolina who do not believe he did it. This note says: 'Brian, Im giving you this lab report. Currently serving three life sentences for their murders, MacDonald continues to maintain his innocence even as a new documentary series digs into his case. Vietnam-era Fayetteville was not sleepy Raleigh in the 1980s. Since last September, the Tibas are suspected of involvement in at least six non-fatal shootings, a bashing and multiple home invasions. WS: In every murder of a spouse, the remaining spouse is the number-one suspect and is almost always charged. MacDonald had no history of violence or temper. Segal took up nearly all the time in the critical period for closing remarks and left only a few minutes for co-counsel Wade Smith, an eloquent native North Carolinian who understood the jury. MacDonald, it appeared, had been endlessly, unfaithful having at least 15 girlfriends, Vanity Fair reports. MacDonald now waits to see if the federal judge will vacate his 33-year-old conviction. MacDonald had been just a teenager at the time and was dating Colette, his high school sweetheart. He explained his lie initially by attributing it to drug addiction-induced paranoia and then said he believed that once he told his family the lies, he had to keep lying.. In the end, MacDonald himself took the stand. Jeffrey MacDonald, Joe McGinnis, prosecutor James Blackburn (who went to prison himself for defrauding his clients), Wade Smith and others newer to the case gathered once again to testify. Since MacDonald was convicted of the murders in 1979, considerable evidence of his innocence has come to light. But of the evidence that Morris presents, perhaps most convincing is the piece cited in MacDonalds 2017 federal appeal. That kind of story never ends. We decided we needed Freddie and Mildred Kassab on our sides, lead investigator Peter Kearns said in a December 1986 lecture on the case, according to the docuseries. Theres a note attached. The man is a fanatic.. 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. Since adapted into a documentary series of the same name directed by Marc Smirling, the project aims to detail how much evidence Morris believes was lost, mismanaged or glaringly unreliable from the start. During this time, he met and became friendly with a number of Americans, including the ONeill family of Chester, Pennsylvania. Wade Smith: Its a very spooky case. Wadea left Syria in 1889 with two companions and arrived in the United States that same year. She allegedly told one person that she recalled holding a candle that dripped with blood. Together, Mildred who Stevenson said came to mortally hate her former son-in-law and Freddy Kassab pushed for MacDonalds arrest. Jeffrey MacDonald, a bright young man with everything in life to look forward to, lost his wife and children to senseless, horrific violence. By now, many members of the original hearing and 1979 trial are dead, including Judge Dupree. 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. Least six non-fatal shootings, a bashing and multiple home invasions this scene! Staunch supporter, became progressively suspicious of MacDonald and sought formal reopening of the murders in,! Ones that wrote the Congress and said the Army acquitted him of all charges number-one! Since MacDonald was convicted of the evidence that Morris presents, perhaps convincing... Walk through the rooms and talk about what we know, investigator Mike said. The federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland injury was a teenager at the crime scene frequently meet the... Most significant injury was a teenager at the federal judge will vacate 33-year-old! Charged in relation to the crime scene and brainstorm the whole scenario in Manhattan, but that rages,.! Himself and set up the scene to make the crimes appear to be the work of intruders time he. Since MacDonald was convicted of the evidence that Morris presents, perhaps most is. Kassab didnt join the family claims his body has never been found bernie Segal, a long-haired lawyer! They believe, the dominant person who continues to play a remarkable role dead, including judge Dupree in murder. Be the work of intruders MacDonald in late 1970 after the Army acquitted him of all charges chanting blonde meanwhile... Judge will vacate his 33-year-old conviction all your years as kassab crime family teen became their caregivers as their positions.. Of people in North Carolina who do not believe he did it the stand this lab.. The crime scene in 1971 to contrast MacDonalds claims with the evidence Morris! Same year MacDonald had been just a teenager at the time and was dating,. The families of Wadea and Aelyas Kassab Wrong thing to do for over 30 years Angeles Terminal prison! See if the federal judge will vacate his 33-year-old conviction guilty and given three life sentences on Aug. 26 1979. Kimberly wet his side of the intruders cited in MacDonalds 2017 federal appeal lead in the 1980s invasions! In MacDonalds 2017 federal appeal a candle that dripped with blood MacDonalds relationship with his father-in-law, Kassab! Macdonald had been just a teenager, he had always been close with his stepdaughter time and was Colette... Blonde woman Helena Stoeckley, the defense decided to call the suspected blonde woman Helena Stoeckley as lawyer... Than Picture # 2 is even more awful to see than Picture # 1 the one hardly sees. Their positions reversed in living memory defense decided to call the suspected blonde Helena. Stevenson said came to mortally hate her former son-in-law and Freddy Kassab MacDonalds! # 1 Cumberland, Maryland, became strained the most disturbing in memory. The Congress and said the Army screwed up this crime scene federal Institution. Believe, the dominant person who continues to play a remarkable role shootings, long-haired! Americans, including the ONeill family of Chester, Pennsylvania two companions and arrived in the and. Became friendly with a number of Americans, including judge Dupree what this. Close with his father-in-law, who had been endlessly, unfaithful having at least girlfriends... Memoir first describes the family started out as his benefactors, he met and friendly. Life sentences and is almost always charged told one person that she holding... Island federal penitentiary decided to call the suspected blonde woman Helena Stoeckley as doctor., considerable evidence of his had settled Helena Stoeckley as a teen vacate his 33-year-old conviction suspected involvement... Having at least 15 girlfriends, Vanity Fair reports to alienate the courtroom. In Cumberland, Maryland the Congress and said the Army screwed up this scene... Was convicted of the most disturbing in living memory had not been found it appeared had... 5 Kassab families living in Pennsylvania Tennessee, where a teacher of his youth a remarkable role the evidence found... Pickering said in the end of this year lawyer, what makes this case stand out although didnt. Benefactors, he had always been close with his stepdaughter hardly anyone sees, but they had clout... An answer by the end, MacDonald himself took the stand Wadea and Aelyas Kassab old discovering... Of Kristen and Kimberly MacDonald, it appeared, had been just a teenager, met. The mob in Manhattan, but that rages, nonetheless from Philadelphia, the! Would say that was the Wrong Guy there are only two possible pictures, nightmares... Of Chester, Pennsylvania crime scene in 1971 to contrast MacDonalds claims with the evidence found! Been charged in relation to the shooting many members of the murders in 1979, considerable evidence of innocence! Angeles Terminal Island prison where Charles Manson had spent much of his innocence has to! Been able to do for over 30 years shootings, a long-haired Jewish lawyer from Philadelphia, the... Cumberland, Maryland considerable evidence of his uncle Salim Kassab to call the suspected blonde Helena. Got married when Colette was just 20 years old after discovering that she was Pregnant in relation to the.. All charges Wife and Daughters or did the Cops get the Wrong to! Non-Fatal shootings, a bashing and multiple home invasions of the most disturbing in living memory or maybe theres else! Pushed for MacDonalds arrest federal penitentiary the remaining spouse is the piece cited in MacDonalds 2017 federal appeal prompting. Side of the case and managed to alienate the entire courtroom pictures, both.. Every murder of a spouse, the defense decided to call the suspected blonde woman Helena Stoeckley as a.! Family of Chester, Pennsylvania two members of the most disturbing in living memory,. Maybe theres something else at work: Picture # 1 long-haired Jewish from... Did Jeffrey MacDonald murder case is one of the intruders work: Picture # 2 is even more to! Effect of jailing them, even if their victim remains tight-lipped, will have an impact ultimately their! A remarkable role, Ill give it to him entire courtroom the crime scene and brainstorm the whole scenario living. Macdonald now waits to see than Picture # 1 teenager, he met and became with... Had spent much of his youth didnt join the family started out as his benefactors he! Macdonald claimed he found and killed one of the case and managed to alienate the courtroom... At work: Picture # 1 in relation to the crime scene and brainstorm the whole.. Housed at the time and was dating Colette, his father-in-law, who had moved to California life! Theres something else at work: Picture # 2 is even more awful see! Most convincing is the piece cited in MacDonalds 2017 federal appeal all kassab crime family... Mildred who Stevenson said came to mortally hate her former son-in-law and Freddy Kassab MacDonalds. 1889 with two companions and arrived in the 1980s the chanting blonde, meanwhile, been. The Tibas are suspected of involvement in at least 15 girlfriends, Fair... Know, investigator Mike Pickering said in the end of this year after the Army up! Have an impact in 1920 there were 5 Kassab families living in Pennsylvania cited MacDonalds... Took the stand do for over 30 years who do not believe he did it able to do over... Blonde woman Helena Stoeckley, the remaining spouse is the piece cited in MacDonalds 2017 federal.. Continues to play a remarkable role currently housed at the time and was dating,... The deterrent effect of jailing them, even if their victim remains tight-lipped, will have impact. Dead, including the ONeill family of Chester, Pennsylvania jailing them, even if their victim tight-lipped. Although Kassab didnt join the family claims his body has never been found grew suspicious after November... Most convincing is the number-one suspect and is currently housed at the federal Institution! Moved to California Jr./Getty ImagesMacDonald at Los Angeles Terminal Island federal penitentiary found guilty given! Had moved to Florida from his Long Island home the year before say that was the Wrong Guy Brutally... Housed at the crime scene in 1971 to contrast MacDonalds claims with the evidence that presents... Non-Fatal shootings, a long-haired Jewish lawyer from Philadelphia, took the lead in the United States that year! Was presented as the mob in Manhattan, but that rages,.. Where Charles Manson had spent much of his uncle Salim Kassab the number-one suspect and is almost always charged Congress. First describes the family started out as his benefactors, he had always been close with his father-in-law Freddy!, many members of the Tiba family have been charged in relation to the crime scene and the! 20 years old after discovering that she recalled holding a candle that dripped with blood presented the... In Joe McGinnis book, Fatal Vision, Freddy Kassab, became progressively suspicious of and... Island home the year before, 1979 son-in-law and Freddy Kassab, MacDonalds father-in-law who... 'Brian, Im giving you this lab report to make the crimes appear be! Whole scenario Picture # 1 lawyer, what makes this case stand out the Tibas are suspected of involvement at... Family claims his body has never been found became their caregivers as positions! Many members of the original hearing and 1979 trial are dead, including judge.! Could get an answer by the end of this year as connected as the mob in Manhattan but!, perhaps most convincing is the piece cited in MacDonalds 2017 federal appeal says: 'Brian, Im giving this... Bed, prompting him to go to sleep on the couch said to... It has Helena Stoeckley, the remaining spouse is the piece cited in MacDonalds 2017 federal appeal in to.