Type of bind: Hardcover
EAN num: 9785550488560
ISBN number: 5550488566
Label: Putnam Publishing Group
Manufacturer: Putnam Publishing Group
Quantity: 1
Printing Date: 1983-08
Publishing house: Putnam Publishing Group
Sale Popularity Level: 1592628
Studio: Putnam Publishing Group
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
A study of a brutal multiple murder and its bizarre aftermath focuses on Jeffrey MacDonald, convicted in 1979 of the murders of his pregnant wife and two small daughters. Book available.
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Rated by buyers 
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I had to give an extra star for all the work done researching (I would have given it only one star otherwise), but the book doesn't address several problems with the Theory "MacDonald did it".
1. A person tweaking on amphetamines doesn't just stop and calmly, rationally stage a crime scene.
2. Evidence that MacDonald was there is NOT evidence that he killed his wife. (Take notice he did live there!)
3. An open chest wound is not a "flesh wound"! It is hazardous to life even today.
4. The Jury didn't hear all of the evidence, even McGinniss had to acknowledge this in the book.
5. Hearsay evidence is high suspect, especially when it is not sourced.
Rated by buyers 
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I followed the MacDonald family murders from day one, hearing the broadcast on my friend's transistor radio on Feb 17, 1970. Seeing the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite and handsome, grieving Jeffrey MacDonald at his family's funeral service was overwhelming. To find him charged with the murders himself was unbelievable. As the years passed and the trial was postponed for one reason after another, it seemed implausible that he could actually be guilty. MacDonald grew more handsome with age, was incredibly respected by his colleagues, was a brilliant doctor. The true Golden Boy. When "Fatal Vision" was printed it changed my belief in MacDonald completely. I wrote to Freddy Kassab and got a quick response, he was grateful to anyone wanting to keep MacDonald from receiving an early parole. Colette, Kimberly and Kristen have never left my mind in the past 38 years. "Fatal Vision" is the true crime masterpiece of all time. For anyone wanting to read MacDonald's court transcript, see family photos (a warning, graphic autopsy photos are also posted) and learn more about this case, Christina Masewicz has put together an amazing website-[...]. Christina is constantly updating her website with help from Bob Stevenson, Colette's brother. MacDonald's own website: [...] is rarely updated.
Rated by buyers -
I'm huge fan of "true crime" Maybe because in some way, I get taken to a place I will hopefully never be, this book is no exception, even to this day it still haunts me, I think only of the victims in this story and every Feb 17th I pause and think about where this family might be yesterday had they been given the chance to live, Most surley the girls would be married with lives of their own and would their brother who would have been around my age. I hope they've been resting in peace knowing their killer was caught.
From the very first page to the last page, I wasn't able to put the book down, the movie actually did the book justice, not always easy for a true crime book to do.
I will never forget this book, ever.........
Rated by buyers -
I finished rereading Fatal Vision yesterday and it still packs a wallop 18 years after I very first read it. What starts out as a by the numbers retelling of the investigation is enhanced by very first hand recollections by the man who became the prime suspect in the murders of his wife and two daughters: Jeffrey MacDonald. At very first those recollections seem like the warm nostalgia anyone has of a happy past, how Jeff and his wife met, the birth of their children, etc. MacDonald does come across as a bit self-enchanted but no more so than any other once-upon-a-time golden boy I've known personally.
Because much of what is presented are transcripts from the grand jury and Article 32 hearing, the reader gets a sense of both sides of the story. But McGinniss ended up believing that MacDonald was guilty of the murders and he tells the story in a way that builds to that conclusion. So we see the Kassabs become very first disenchanted with their son-in-law and then come to believe in his guilt, for example. Along with that MacDonald's recollections become increasingly more shallow and more egocentric. More than anything, MacDonald is damned by his own, endless words.
I became convinced of MacDonald's guilt reading this book, mainly because of the physical evidence (the pajama top especially) but in part because of the sheer unbelievability of MacDonald's version of events. Having seen him interviewed several times since, I'm always struck how perfect he appears to be, eerily too perfect.
Rated by buyers -
I still can't imagine how he did it but I think Dr. Jeffrey Macdonald will never be free again. The book written by Joe McGinnis who wrote Cruel Doubt and Blind Faith examines the Macdonald's case using Jeffrey Macdonald as a prime resource. I keep thinking of how a military doctor could brutally kill his lovely pregnant wife, and two adorable daughters. The tragedy was even worse when he claimed that hippies were the ones responsible for the crime. Even though at first, he appears as the victim. We learn how involved he was. But my question is why he would destroy his family's life? Doesn't he wish that they killed him too? I don't know what he was thinking and I don't want to know. I keep thinking of two little girls and a beautiful pregnant mother, young and vibrant and full of life. They had a lot to live for but Macdonald took it away and why? That's my question is the motive behind such brutal crimes. Most times, the father would have committed suicide as well rather than live with himself. Is Macdonald that vain, conceited, selfish to do such a brutal crime and live with himself? I guess you can't judge him because he's a soldier and a doctor. The crimes are often done by somebody close by. The doubts must have devastated Colette's family who have removed the Macdonald name from their gravestones. I also feel sorry for Jeffrey's family as well who probably believe or don't. In crimes like this, nobody wins and everybody loses.
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