Closing Arguments in the Jeffrey MacDonald Trial

On the seventh day of the evidentiary hearing for Jeffrey MacDonald, both teams finish the week with their closing arguments. It could be a long as three week to months until his fate is decided by U.S. District Judge James Fox.

In closing arguments in the U.S. District Court in Wilmington, MacDonald's lawyer wants him exonerated due to DNA evidence presented, along with Helena Stoeckley's confessions to her mother and also her lawyer of claims that she was indeed inside the MacDonald residence.

According to Tuesday's Fayetteville Observer's news report, the federal prosecutor is not persuaded by the DNA evidence found at the scene that was reported on, but not a focus at the time of the initial investigation.

This past week explicit crime scene photos were shown from inside MacDonald's Fort Bragg residence where the deaths of his wife, Colette, and daughters Kristen and Kimberley occurred.

MacDonald's lawyer is Raleigh based, Gordon Widenhouse, who cited statements from past murder trials about Stoeckley being present inside the home and statements that she made to her mother one year before she died in 1983.

Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald, 69, is serving three life terms in federal prison. The former Army surgeon, assigned to the Special Forces, still pleads innocent.