The Jeffery MacDonald Case
The Jeffery MacDonald Case
The MacDonald case holds many mistakes that were performed by the crime scene investigators. According to Gunderson, reports in his summary that the crime scene was never secured, about thirty people walked through the house moving things, contaminating the scene, and changing and destroying evidence. MacDonald’s pajama bottoms were also negligently discarded, even though they would been a crucial piece of evidence. Importantly, because the MT dispatcher automatically figured that there must have been some sort of family dispute, investigators went to the task with a mind-set which likely tainted the investigation from the outset. Within hours, the Army C.I.D. had focused on Dr. MacDonald as the chief suspect, ignoring all evidence to the contrary. I believe these errors happened because the crime scene investigators were not well trained. They didn’t have the proper training before hand on how to secure and handle a crime scene which would explain the changing and destroying of evidence. A major effect that it could have on the case could be that some of the crucial evidence that was destroyed could have been used to either prove MacDonald guilty or innocent. Another effect that it had on the case was that it made the case continue for a long time.
I believe that the reason that the wounds were not as severe as the ones found on his wife and children is that they were self-inflicted. They were staged the police can believe that he was also one of the victims. While his wife and children had several stab wounds, he only had one severe one in his lungs which can easily be fixed. MacDonald being a doctor could easily self-inflict the wound, knowing that it is not life threatening and can be treated while still seeming as if it was severe.
Locard’s principle tells us that if there has been a contact with an object, there will be proof of that contact. In consideration of this principle, it is valid to expect the fingerprints or any evidence
The MacDonald case holds many mistakes that were performed by the crime scene investigators. According to Gunderson, reports in his summary that the crime scene was never secured, about thirty people walked through the house moving things, contaminating the scene, and changing and destroying evidence. MacDonald’s pajama bottoms were also negligently discarded, even though they would been a crucial piece of evidence. Importantly, because the MT dispatcher automatically figured that there must have been some sort of family dispute, investigators went to the task with a mind-set which likely tainted the investigation from the outset. Within hours, the Army C.I.D. had focused on Dr. MacDonald as the chief suspect, ignoring all evidence to the contrary. I believe these errors happened because the crime scene investigators were not well trained. They didn’t have the proper training before hand on how to secure and handle a crime scene which would explain the changing and destroying of evidence. A major effect that it could have on the case could be that some of the crucial evidence that was destroyed could have been used to either prove MacDonald guilty or innocent. Another effect that it had on the case was that it made the case continue for a long time.
I believe that the reason that the wounds were not as severe as the ones found on his wife and children is that they were self-inflicted. They were staged the police can believe that he was also one of the victims. While his wife and children had several stab wounds, he only had one severe one in his lungs which can easily be fixed. MacDonald being a doctor could easily self-inflict the wound, knowing that it is not life threatening and can be treated while still seeming as if it was severe.
Locard’s principle tells us that if there has been a contact with an object, there will be proof of that contact. In consideration of this principle, it is valid to expect the fingerprints or any evidence