A finger squeezes a trigger until the chamber empties. 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. In 1984 I was glued to the TV, like millions of other Americans, watching the popular miniseries based on McGinniss book. Official trailer for FX documentary series. 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. WebIt is reported Ms Kassab entered Syria last year and that her husband, known as Sam, died on the border of Turkey in 2013. Through his aggressive pursuit of the case, MacDonald was indicted. Smerling is the director of the documentary series A Wilderness of Error, which examines the MacDonald case. 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 MacDonald in late 1970 after the Army acquitted him of all charges. Now, it appears the Tibas are at war with everybody. I remember saying, It doesnt matter. 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. 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. Desperate to save his family, he said he fought back until they stabbed him and beat him unconscious. 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. Four military police (MP) officers arrived at 4 a.m. to find an unspeakable crime scene. 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. Even before bureaucratic stalling and federal machinery overtook the search for truth, things were working against Jeffrey MacDonald. Some of the shootings are retribution for the severe prison bashing of Bassam Tiba, underworld sources say. MacDonald later admitted the claim had been a lie. 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. Although Kassab didnt join the family until Colette was a teenager, he had always been close with his stepdaughter. For all of us independent news organizations, its no exception. 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. 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. 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. {{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}. WS: In every murder of a spouse, the remaining spouse is the number-one suspect and is almost always charged. Theyre the ones that wrote the Congress and said the Army screwed up this crime scene. 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. WS: For me to say that he is innocent would require magic. WebIn 1971, his father-in-law, Freddy Kassab, became progressively suspicious of MacDonald and sought formal reopening of the case. Its a scary, spooky story that sounds made up. Psychiatric professionals on both sides pronounced him incapable of having committed the crimes. He worries that we are moving into a period in which the finality of verdicts is so zealously protected (a legacy, in part, of 9/11) that new evidence offers little hope of challenging them. Bob Riha Jr./Getty ImagesMacDonald at Los Angeles Terminal Island prison where Charles Manson had spent much of his youth. It has Helena Stoeckley, the dominant person who continues to play a remarkable role. There were few major drug or weapon importations in the state that police could not, in some way, trace back to these families. Even after the conviction, the Kassabs remained haunted by the heinous crime. or click here to become a subscriber. Harvey Silverglate, a renowned civil liberties advocate, has been an appellate attorney for MacDonald. He awoke to the sound of screaming and found three male intruders being overseen by a blonde woman. 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. 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. 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. Until recently, most people saw Picture #1. But just what changed Kassabs mind about the man he once called a nice, presentable young man?". 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. The second is "Kassab Family History by Aelyas Kassab; it is 125 pages and was composed circa 1958. But, soon after MacDonald moved to Long Beach, California to continue his career at St. Mary Medical Center, and the tide turned once more. 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. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, Collection description written by Linda Jacobs. Then, meet Christopher Scarver the man who killed cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer. No attempt was made to locate the woman that night. 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. The couple sued MacDonald in 1987 to try to prevent him from profiting from Joe McGinniss book Fatal Vision, which served as the inspiration for the mini-series. No one ever knew what it was Helena told him because of attorney-client privilege. 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. After completing high school in Chester, he too went to dental school and set up practice in Wadeas office. 741 Immigration & Travel. Anybody could. 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. It all was intruders. Friends since grade school, he and Colette Stevens began dating as teenagers, and grew serious during college. Judge Fox is also a good man. 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. It begins with Aelyas' grandfather Elyas Kassab, born in 1814, and traces the family through the nineteenth century; particular attention is paid. Earlier, evidence came to light that a FBI forensic examiner mislead the jury about synthetic hair evidence. During this time, he met and became friendly with a number of Americans, including the ONeill family of Chester, Pennsylvania. In 1920 there were 5 Kassab families living in Pennsylvania. He was a nice, presentable young man. Jeffrey MacDonald was arraigned in May 1975 and pleaded not guilty. He claimed that he had been asleep on the couch when at least four drug-crazed hippies broke into the home and savagely killed the family. 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. WS: They were a very normal-looking mama and daddy. Since 1979, the MacDonald case has continued to trouble those who delve beneath the surface of the media narrative. 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. We needed the Kassabs to shut up, just calm down, let us do the investigation and well find out who did it.. 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. MacDonald had been just a teenager at the time and was dating Colette, his high school sweetheart. ", Bob Stevenson, Colettes brother, described his stepfathers reaction to the television appearance as visceral and said it had wrenched his guts., Things werent being said right, inflections of the voice, he said. McGinniss' publisher settled with MacDonald out of court, after the judge called the author a conman. (This story, in its own right, became a famous book about journalistic ethics by Janet Malcolm.). 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. The one hardly anyone sees, but that rages, nonetheless. 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. Weve always understood the importance of calling out corruption, regardless of political affiliation. It is hard not to be shocked by the footage of Oueida's shooting. Lynn Parramore: In all your years as a lawyer, what makes this case stand out? He tried to take his case to the Supreme Court in 1979, but they declined to review the lower courts decision. 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. Freddie Kassab and CID investigators returned to the crime scene in 1971 to contrast MacDonalds claims with the evidence and found his narrative implausible. My wife and I can sit for hours and days and not talk to each other, but were both thinking, you know. Despite a lack of motive and no history of violence, MacDonald was convicted of the second-degree murders of Colette and Kimberly, and the first-degree murder of Kristen. Sadly, the family wouldnt survive the next year. He moved to California to become the director of emergency medicine at St. Mary's Medical Center in Long Beach. There was a re-examination of the fibers found on the bodies of Collette and the children. The Tibas are the only clan in the five families that can boast three generations of serious offenders from murderers to drug traffickers. 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. 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. Mica remembered seeing a woman who fit this description while en route to the scene but said the Armys Criminal Investigation Division (CID) omitted this during their subsequent inquest. Ive got the patience of Job.. That, in turn, drives a burgeoning black market for firearms, and has made the north-west the centre of the gun trade in this state. 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. And yet there are thousands of people in North Carolina who do not believe he did it. Some people would say that was the wrong thing to do. Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Kassab surname lived. Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Kassab surname lived. I even laughed at the idea of hippie murderers in North Carolina. Two-year-old Kristen had 33 knife- and 15 icepick wounds in her torso, while five-year-old Kimberly was bludgeoned to death. Maybe more than I would have thought as a teen. I was keeping Freddy happy, he said, according to Vanity Fair. That didnt happen here. There was violence. MacDonald was convicted twice, both in the courtroom and in the all-important court of public opinion, which was sealed by McGinniss book and miniseries. When we were walking out of the house, I was warned that convicting MacDonald wasnt going to be that simple, Kassab said. The cost to Melbourne's north-west is huge. He didnt do that. Picture #1. Kassab filed a citizens criminal complaint in April 1974, petitioning a federal court to convene a grand jury and determine if MacDonald could be charged. The veneer of the MacDonalds perfect marriage had also began to crack. Of all places! But just what changed Kassabs mind about the man he once called . 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. In 1978, MacDonalds case went to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, who rejected it. It is a misconception that the battles are over territory. 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. His honesty and humility regarding these losses give the story its poignancy. It doesnt make sense that this man, with no history of violence, went crazy like that. Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Kassab surname lived. Theres a note attached. 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. Almost all the of shootings in the north-west, one underworld source said, relate to those at the bottom of the criminal food chain. Staying on top of the machinations of the underworld can be difficult, Detective Inspector Clark said, but the increased strength of police intelligence meant they were able to increasingly charge gunmen, regardless of whether their victims spoke. He continued to work as a doctor and moved to California. Wade Smith rarely grants interviews. MacDonald had no history of violence or temper. It was almost as scary as Helter Skelter the story of the Charles Manson murders in Californa that are said to have inspired Jeffrey MacDonald in the coverup for his homicidal rampage. 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. Tragically, the comparisons to the Sharon Tate killing were striking. Take a guy like MacDonald. The stakes are too high for it not to work, Detective Inspector Clark said. The military hearing found that the charges against MacDonald were not true. 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