Ep 15: The MacDonald Family Murders of Fort Bragg

In the early hours of February 17, 1970, Army doctor Jeffrey R. MacDonald called 911 to report a stabbing in his home in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. When police arrived, they found the brutally murdered bodies of Jeffrey’s wife and daughters: Colette, Kimberley, and Kristen. Jeffrey himself was the lone survivor of the attack — with considerably less injuries than the stabbings and blunt force trauma the other victims endured. He claimed that a group of intruders attacked him and killed his family, while one blonde woman watched and said, “Acid is groovy. Kill the pigs!”

It soon became clear that Jeffrey was lying, and investigators grew suspicious. But then they got word of a confession by a person who matched the description of the blonde woman Jeffrey said had been at the scene of the crime. This changed the trajectory of the investigation and led to legal battles still being fought over 50 years after the murders.

In the Something Spooky segment, Zoey talks about a D-list movie she saw on YouTube called The VeliciPastor, which is somehow more ridiculous than it sounds.

We also feature a promo from Shockingly Wicked: A True Crime Podcast.

Zoey and I have brushed on the topic of false confessions in earlier episodes, but none have featured this heavily into a story before.

Helena Stoeckley confessed to playing a part in the MacDonald murders, though never to investigators or under oath. Like I said in the above show notes, Helena matched Jeffrey’s description of the woman who held a candle and said, “Acid is groovy. Kill the pigs!” Her long blonde hair plus reports that she wore the exact same outfit on the day of the murders work against her, enough to lead suspicion away from him during the initial hearing under Army jurisdiction.

But in truth, Jeffrey’s description was pretty basic for the seventies. Women often had their hair long and wore the clothes that he described. The real clincher was just how much Helena talked about the murders.

She constantly brought up to people how she thought she might’ve been in the MacDonald’s home, her certainty increasing as the decades wore on. Now, Zoey and I are pretty sure (as is the jury that convicted him) that Jeffrey MacDonald killed his wife and daughters, without any blonde woman chanting in the background.

So why would she lie?

Helena struggled with substance abuse issues until her death. On the night of the murders, she admits to driving around with her boyfriend, high to the point of blackout. Imagine waking up one morning to the news that a respected doctor said a woman who looked like you and wore yesterday’s outfit had looked on while others killed his family. Now imagine having no idea whether you did it or not.

As time went on, her claims grew more varied but all the more certain that she’d been there. She gave names of the attackers—all of whom had alibis—and explained detailed accounts of what happened. None of which were true.

I think it was ultimately the guilt that got her, as well as years of badgering from the defense team—who all desperately wanted her to admit to the crimes under oath. She may have even developed a false memory, becoming convinced that she was there. It’s a weight I can’t even imagine.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_R._MacDonald