'Fatal Vision' doctor gets chance to clear his name
By MARTHA WAGGONER, Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- A former Green Beret convicted of killing his pregnant wife and their two daughters is getting another chance at trying to prove his innocence.
Decades after Jeffrey MacDonald was convicted in the 1970 slayings, he will ask a judge to consider new DNA evidence and witness testimony that supporters say will clear him of the crime.
The slayings terrified a nation gripped by MacDonald's account of what happened: He told investigators that Charles Manson-like hippies high on acid killed his family.
MacDonald, now 68 and not eligible for parole until 2020, has never wavered from his claim that he didn't kill his pregnant wife, Colette, and their two daughters, 5-year-old Kimberley and 2-year-old Kristen.
MacDonald will leave prison in Cumberland, Md., to attend Monday's hearing in North Carolina.
The case was the subject of the best-selling 1983 true crime book "Fatal Vision" by Joe McGinniss.
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