A hearing that could determine whether a former Green Beret gets a new trial more than 40 years after he was convicted of killing his family has begun in federal court.
A defense attorney said Monday that if jurors in 1979 could have considered two new types of evidence in Jeffrey MacDonald's case, they would have found him not guilty.
MacDonald is serving three life sentences for the 1970 murders of his pregnant wife, Colette, and their daughters, Kimberley and Kristen. The case terrified the nation and was the basis for the book "Fatal Vision."
Prosecutors chose not to give an opening statement.
The case hinges on testing the DNA of hair found in the home and a deputy U.S. marshal's claim that a prosecutor intimidated a witness.
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A hearing that could determine whether a former Green Beret gets a new trial more than 40 years after he was convicted of killing his family is beginning in federal court.
The hearing is scheduled to begin Monday in Wilmington before U.S. District Court Judge James Fox. Fox will consider two new types of evidence in the case of Jeffrey MacDonald -- a case that terrified the nation and was the basis for the book "Fatal Vision."
The case hinges on testing the DNA of hair found in the home and a deputy U.S. marshal's claim that a prosecutor intimidated a witness during the 1979 trial.
MacDonald is serving three life sentences for the 1970 murders of his pregnant wife, Colette, and their daughters, Kimberley and Kristen.
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