He is, of course, one of many ensnared in that cycle, particularly in the north-west, which consistently ranks among the worst in the state for employment, education and substance dependence. And she told him she had been there, at the MacDonald home, the night of the murders. "More senior criminal figures are exploiting the vulnerabilities of younger or less sophisticated offenders," he said. MacDonald, bloody but alive, was next to his wife, who had been pregnant with their third child when she was stabbed 16 times with a kitchen knife and 21 times with an icepick. 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). 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. Should Trump be allowed to hold office again? And so there are going to be cases where there is a reasonable doubt as to what actually happened. Even before bureaucratic stalling and federal machinery overtook the search for truth, things were working against Jeffrey MacDonald. Desperate to save his family, he said he fought back until they stabbed him and beat him unconscious. Pennsylvania had the highest population of Kassab families in 1920. Colettes grieving parents grew suspicious after a November 1970 phone call in which MacDonald claimed he found and killed one of the intruders. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! The Esquire story, for all its salaciousness, touched upon real issues that plagued many communities outside of California. In 1920 there were 5 Kassab families living in Pennsylvania. The family claims his body has never been found. 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. 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. ". MacDonald has had mostly good lawyers, though not always the appropriate ones. This collection contains an undated photograph of Wadea and Aelyas Kassab and scans of two typed manuscripts. 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. MacDonald claimed the mysterious blonde woman who oversaw the murders was wearing a floppy hat and high-heeled boots and was holding a candle while chanting, Acid is groovy. When Victor Worheide, who was a federal prosecutor, later became interested in the case at the urging of the parents of Colette MacDonald, the case was gone. Did Jeffrey MacDonald Brutally Slay His Pregnant Wife And Daughters Or Did The Cops Get The Wrong Guy? He has been imprisoned for three decades for a crime he did not commit. In October 1970, following an investigation and hearing, the military dropped its case against MacDonald, and he was honorably discharged from the army. He made fun of them. Hes the guy that lives next door. Tragically, the comparisons to the Sharon Tate killing were striking. 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. This was about 31% of all the recorded Kassab's in USA. 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. Freddie Kassab and CID investigators returned to the crime scene in 1971 to contrast MacDonalds claims with the evidence and found his narrative implausible. Because that's what crime figures do in the north-west, most of the time. Others relate to significant organised crime figures, and their businesses, such as tattoo parlours. Some people would say that was the wrong thing to do. He adamantly denied all charges but was at a loss for words during cross-examination by the prosecution. 6,889 Family Trees. 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. 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. No one ever knew what it was Helena told him because of attorney-client privilege. Earlier, evidence came to light that a FBI forensic examiner mislead the jury about synthetic hair evidence. Wade Smith rarely grants interviews. That is the way our legal system is set up. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. Not only did victims of drug addiction build that fortune, but there are the consequences of maintaining this empire. WebWe found 33,440 records for Kassab last name. According to her, they wanted to teach MacDonald a lesson and rough up his family the night of the killings. 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. 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. 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. We needed the Kassabs to shut up, just calm down, let us do the investigation and well find out who did it.. 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. Additionally, MacDonalds medical records showed that he had no defensive wounds on his arms or hands consistent with the alleged attack. We need your support in this difficult time. Take a guy like MacDonald. He drew on his previous knowledge of MacDonald, who he had met years earlier while courting Colettes mother, Mildred. LP: She said that to her lawyer at the time of the 1979 trial? 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. 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. Good potential for the future, so therefore we saw nothing wrong with them getting married, Kassab once said of his son-in-law, according to the docuseries. The crimes committed by the families were left to locally-based detectives to investigate, rather than specialist squads, until the Santiago Taskforce was formed in 2008. Others would say that that was a healthy thing to do. Materials provided by the families of Wadea and Aelyas Kassab. The family claims his body has never been found. Although Kassab didnt join the family until Colette was a teenager, he had always been close with his stepdaughter. MacDonald was tried in a civilian court in 1979. Soldiers corpses arrived at Fort Bragg stuffed with heroin. Kassab testified on MacDonalds behalf, declaring, If I had another daughter, Id still want the same son-in-law.. Also last year, Osman, 32, one of the middle brothers, was released from prison. Bettmann/Getty ImagesMacDonald in late 1970 after the Army acquitted him of all charges. It doesnt make sense that this man, with no history of violence, went crazy like that. Next, the defense decided to call the suspected blonde woman Helena Stoeckley as a witness. 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 a1998 Vanity Fair article. Every time we pursued a lead it just turned us around and directed us back toward Jeffrey MacDonald. 959 Census & Voter Lists. The families have been involved in drug trafficking since at least the turn of the century, or, in the case of Macchour Chaouk, the patriarch of that family, since 1983. MacDonald was ultimately convicted in 1979 for killing his pregnant wife Colette MacDonald and their two young daughters, Kimberley and Kristen. WebIn 1971, his father-in-law, Freddy Kassab, became progressively suspicious of MacDonald and sought formal reopening of the case. Even scarier stories, Ive found, can be true. As if they had seen it with their own eyes. 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 His most significant injury was a puncture wound and deflated lung. As the only survivor, MacDonald claimed that a mysterious blonde hippie oversaw three male intruders who slaughtered his family. It sickened me and it enraged me.. Almost all the of shootings in the north-west, one underworld source said, relate to those at the bottom of the criminal food chain. The writer had full access to the trial, and appeared sympathetic. 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. LP: Then why did MacDonald, the emblem of law-and-order, the Green Beret, become a suspect? Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, Collection description written by Linda Jacobs. Marc Smerling thinks he has some idea. It has Helena Stoeckley, the dominant person who continues to play a remarkable role. 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. But there is a reasonable doubt, and because there is a reasonable doubt it is absolutely clear that he should be set free. But did hippie intruders make sense? 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. 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. Brian Murtaugh says, Sure, Ill give it to him. There is no finality in injustice. MacDonald had no history of violence or temper. Mundane things that Jeffrey MacDonald has not been able to do for over 30 years. He was given an honorable discharge. 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. Finally, in Wilmington, Jerry Leonard was ordered to tell what she had said to him 30 years ago. Another page in another chapter in the new gangland war. Judge James Fox, a close friend of Dupree's and quite elderly himself, has taken over and has dismissed appeals. Investigating Officer Warren Rock ultimately recommended the charges be dismissed at the conclusion of the hearing and MacDonald began to move forward with his life, leaving the Army, selling most of the familys possessions in a yard sale, and moving to California. He continued to work as a doctor and moved to California. 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. Freddie Kassab and CID investigators returned to the crime scene in 1971 to contrast MacDonalds claims with the evidence and found his narrative implausible. He was a nice, presentable young man. Interview: The Spookiest Case Wade Smith Ever Encountered. The nine-year lag between the murders and the trial is extremely unusual; experts consider such a lag to pose a great danger of wrongful conviction. In this case, it carries particular weight: police are trying to break the hold, in some cases, of family ties that go back generations. Their second child Kristen was born in May 1967. 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. Together, the manuscripts provide a detailed look into nearly a century of one familys history in Syria and the United States, as well as a rich insight into the social fabric and workplace challenges faced by early immigrants. However, his American dream suddenly became a nightmare in 1970 when his family was found brutally stabbed to death in their home. But just what changed Kassabs mind about the man he once called . Shortly after relocating to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he was made Group Surgeon to the Green Berets. It is a misconception that the battles are over territory. You think you know what youre seeing, but then you arent so sure. Two-year-old Kristen had 33 knife- and 15 icepick wounds in her torso, while five-year-old Kimberly was bludgeoned to death. 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. They hoped to get a confession, but she stated firmly that she had never been inside MacDonalds home contrary to previous claims she purportedly made to defense attorneys during witness hearings. Now deceased, she remains a pivotal figure in the case. In 1978, MacDonalds case went to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, who rejected it. He was the lawyer she was talking to one-on-one who had been appointed to advise her of her rights. I accused the Army of every blunder that they made in the original investigation, he once said, according to the docuseries. He wanted his son-in-law to stay on the east coast and pursue the killers. (See Silverglate's article on the case in Forbes.). After reading the full transcript of his Article 32 hearing, the Kassabs were convinced that MacDonalds story didnt add up. The Tibas are the only clan in the five families that can boast three generations of serious offenders from murderers to drug traffickers. WebThe Kassab family name was found in the USA in 1920. But he had multiple bruises and puncture wounds, and two stab wounds, including one that collapsed his lung -- a serious injury that left him falling in and out of consciouness. She allegedly told one person that she recalled holding a candle that dripped with blood. MacDonald now waits to see if the federal judge will vacate his 33-year-old conviction. WebIt is reported Ms Kassab entered Syria last year and that her husband, known as Sam, died on the border of Turkey in 2013. 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. His memoir first describes the family history, especially the career of his uncle Salim Kassab. 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. It implicates us all. LP: In Joe McGinnis book, Fatal Vision, Freddy Kassab, MacDonalds father-in-law, was presented as the protagonist. The second is "Kassab Family History by Aelyas Kassab; it is 125 pages and was composed circa 1958. Freddie Kassab and CID investigators returned to the crime scene in 1971 to contrast MacDonalds claims with the evidence and found his narrative implausible. Like Wade Smith, Ive been struck by how many people speak of absolute certainty about what happened that February night over 40 years ago. View all records. Jeffrey MacDonald had it all. He told authorities that hetried to fight off the attackers but was wounded and eventually collapsed in the hallwaylater regaining consciousness and discovering his family had been killed, according to the new FX docuseries A Wilderness of Error.. Despite the young familys financial burdens, the important things seemed secure. Aelyas kept the practice going while Wadea gave himself to real estate; when Wadea lost everything, he was able to resume his practice seamlessly by rejoining his brother. Kassab wanted to find justice and began writing letters to the Army and congressmen slamming the investigators for their errors and urging authorities to continue the investigation. On the evening of the murders, Jeffrey MacDonald had taken his kids to ride the pony he had bought them, fed them dinner while their mother took a night class, and put them to bed. MacDonald later admitted the claim had been a lie. 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. 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. The man is a fanatic.. WebIt is reported Ms Kassab entered Syria last year and that her husband, known as Sam, died on the border of Turkey in 2013. Even back then, if you polled Fayetteville folks, you might have found that a lot of people did not believe that he did it. 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. This collection is a part of a larger collection that has been divided into more specific collections. 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. He could have gone on with his life, and he should have. Wadea 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. His uncle, Salim Kassab, was a long-time assistant to, first, Lady Hester Stanhope and later to Elizabeth Bowen Thompson, who helped found British mission schools in Greater Syria. 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. First responder Kenneth Mica discovered the bodies, with MacDonald laying wounded but alive next to his battered and lifeless wife. Bob Riha Jr./Getty ImagesMacDonald at Los Angeles Terminal Island prison where Charles Manson had spent much of his youth. 6,889 Family Trees. But many of the major players now are either related to these families, or closely linked within the criminal milieu. 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. 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. Aside from being the Wall Street of Victoria's firearms and drugs market, and the enormous consequences this trafficking has on the state, and the impact on the medical system of record numbers of people being maimed, there are the people who die completely innocently because the rules of these markets means shooting first has become an unwritten rule. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. I dont know what the odds are. Jeffrey MacDonald, a bright young man with everything in life to look forward to, lost his wife and children to senseless, horrific violence. 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. Mildred and Freddy Kassab both died, months apart, in 1994. And, in media appearances like his interview on The Dick Cavett Show, meanwhile, MacDonald appeared suspiciously at ease. "We're concentrating on the actions of the shooter, because what happens to the victim is outside our control the line between a non-fatal shooting and a murder is wafer thin. Investigators identified at least 240 leads in the casebut the evidence continued to point back to the MacDonald. Then, if someone draws your attention to certain details, suddenly the picture transforms into the profile of an old woman. Freddy was not going to quit. 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. He theorized that diet pills caused MacDonald to fly into a fit of rage. LP: Judge Fox is a close friend of Judge Dupree, who presided over the 1979 trial. Which leaves one of the five families the Tibas. Wadea died in February, 1972; Aelyas in October, 1987. Morris researched the MacDonald case for 20 years and knows each labyrinthine turn of its progress through the criminal justice system. MacDonald was convicted of the three murders in 1979, nine years after Colette and her children were slain. Bettmann/Getty ImagesA neighbors dog and MP guards securing the MacDonald property. And absolutely nothing fit, Kassab told the, To realize he had done it, and Colette loved him, and when you sit back and picture in your minds eye what happened that night, with him attacking, and I know from the autopsy reports what was done to the two children, you cant help but visualize in your mind, though we dont talk about it, Freddy Kassab told, Stevenson told reporters in 2005 that he had promised Freddy Kassab on his death bed that he would continue the familys quest to keep MacDonald behind bars, according to. But his story crumbled under scrutiny and he was charged with killing his family. That is why, police say, it is important to consider what the shooting represents, rather than the act itself. Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. 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. 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 west. Ive had many cases in court. 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. Official trailer for FX documentary series. MacDonald invited author Joe McGinniss to write a book about the case before it had reached a verdict. 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. In 1989after Freddy Kassab had been diagnosed with emphysemahe decided to videotape his arguments against MacDonalds release and arranged for the tape to be played, if necessary, in front of a parole board after he died, according to the Orlando Sentinel. 1,169 Birth, Marriage & Death. I would have said to the jury: they were not there, and neither was I. Evidence the defense never saw. 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. The shootings can be over particularly petty reasons, not just the drug trade: women, a perceived slight, or, increasingly, a prison feud. Most recently, retired US Marshall Jimmy Britt came forward with information that another suspect in the case, Helena Stoeckley, admitted to the prosecutor that she was in the house on the night of MacDonalds murder and that he threatened to indict her for first-degree murder if she admitted that in court. The bedroom of Kristen and Kimberly MacDonald, mere hours after they were murdered. Then he injured himself and set up the scene to make the crimes appear to be the work of intruders. Smerling is the director of the documentary series A Wilderness of Error, which examines the MacDonald case. Thinking that he could never reveal it? 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. Often, the spouse turns out to have committed the murder, so its not surprising that the case turned to McDonald. Sometimes that doesnt happen. Since MacDonald was convicted of the murders in 1979, considerable evidence of his innocence has come to light. MacDonalds relationship with his father-in-law, who had been a staunch supporter, became strained. Scans of two typed manuscripts a free profile and get access to Fourth... Stabbed him and beat him unconscious as to what actually happened was i knowledge of MacDonald and formal... Of Wadea and Aelyas Kassab and scans of two typed manuscripts Diaspora,... 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