WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — A hearing on whether former Army surgeon Jeffrey MacDonald should get a new trial in the death of his pregnant wife and two young daughters more than 40 years ago has concluded, although a ruling could be months away.
Closing statements in the hearing ended in federal court in Wilmington on Tuesday, after six days of evidence and testimony. A U.S. District Court judge heard from MacDonald lawyer Gordon Widenhouse, who focused on testimony from an attorney who represented Helena Stoeckley in August 1979, and on statements from Stoeckley's mother.
Stoeckley testified in 1979 that she wasn't involved in the murders, but attorney Jerry Leonard testified Monday that Stoeckley later said she was in the apartment but didn't participate in the killings. Stoeckley died in 1983.
MacDonald, now 68, was convicted of the killings at their Fort Bragg home in 1970. MacDonald has maintained his family was killed by a band of intruders who burst into his home.
The case was the basis for the best-selling book "Fatal Vision."
