TexasPoet wrote:

First, Hi! Jazzy girl, jillbean635, and Operationalrisk. Welcome.

I have intently followed this case since I first read Fatal Vision when it came out. I have also read Wilderness of Error (title describes the book). I tried to read Fatal Justice, but I couldn’t, it is badly written and rife with errors and fallacies. I’ve read all the articles, I think, most court rulings, and also the JusttheFacts website.

There are two things that have bothered me from the get-go and that I believe makes the case and MacDonald even worse;

1. The idea that Kimberley was accidentally struck by her father, is almost universal, but I don’t agree. Why? Kimberley wasn’t coming into the room, she was already in the room. It has been proven that it was Kimberley who wet the bed, NOT Kristen. MacDonald has always claimed it was Kristin who wet the bed and who he carried from the room. But Kristen didn’t wet the bed and was probably never in the room. MacDonald has always said there was just one girl in the bed, and since it was Kimberley who wet the bed, she was the one in the bed. It is unlikely a child that age could wet the bed and the person next to them would not notice. So, Colette was probably the one sleeping on the sofa. I have read that she did that sometimes. MacDonald was doing something inappropriate in the bed with Kimberley (Freddie and Murtaugh believed this) and she wet the bed (not unusual) and Colette either hears something, or she has a mother’s instinct, which brings her to the room where she sees what is happening and explodes. Colette strikes MacDonald with the nearest thing at hand, the hairbrush. Her attack was vicious enough to cause a minor concussion. Kimberley was probably crying and trying to explain things, as children do, and a raging MacDonald, blaming her, lashed out. She may have moved back from the force of her parents battle, or she may have been trying to leave the room, which would explain her blood and brain serum on the door frame. Kimberley wet the bed, so she had to be in the room and the bed. MacDonald claims it was Kristen he carried from the room, but Kristen didn’t wet the bed and was NOT in the room. MacDonald has always said there was only one daughter in the room. It HAD to be Kimberley. If she was already in the room and not coming into the room, it’s doubtful the blow was accidental, it was part of the rage.


2. The suitcase. This has always bothered me. Everything was covered with blood, except the suitcase, and there was blood under the suitcase. The suitcase was set down there AFTER the fight. Investigators thought MacDonald was preparing to flee. I believe that as well. What bothers me is poor little Kristen. Did the fight wake her up? Did her mother coming in to try and get her out of the house or protect her, awaken her? Or did her father’s fresh onslaught against her mother when he found her in Kristen’s room, wake Kristen up? MacDonald must have looked at the carnage in the master bedroom and what he thought were the dead bodies of Colette and Kimberley and decided to flee. He retrieved the suitcase, but where to go and how? He probably carried Kimberley’s body to her bedroom and then went to the living room to think, where the neighbor heard “laughing or sobbing”. MacDonald would have been sobbing for himself, not his family. Where could he go? How much money did he have? How much time? He had to wonder if anyone heard anything and if law enforcement might arrive at any time. And then he saw the Esquire magazine and the Manson article. Hope, and a change of plan. After probably reading the salient points of the article he started to initiate his new plan, part of which was to murder Kristen. He would eliminate the last witness, and as Murtaugh said, would commit the horrible act no jury would believe a father could do. But, when MacDonald arrived in his daughter’s bedroom he found Colette, the great mother and heroine, protecting her daughter. MacDonald flew into another rage at Collette, for being there and trying to thwart his plans. This is evidenced by Colette’s massive injuries and the blood on the walls and ceiling. All that was left then was Kristen. I’m horrified whenever I think about when Kristen may have woken up and by what she saw or heard. The suitcase indicates thoughts of fleeing, and also a stopping point for thought and planning. We know MacDonald went in the living room, we know he saw and looked at the Esquire magazine, and we know that Colette found the strength and courage to try and rescue Kristen. That makes MacDonald an even greater monster, and the nightmare even worse.

Thank you for letting me share.

 

As a follow up to my above post, in reference to the first paragraph about Kimberley being in the master bedroom, not Kristen;

MacDonald was telling the truth, he did carry his daughter to her room, but it was Kimberley, not Kristen. Going back and doing more research I found that; “The fact that blue pajama fibers were found under her bedclothes suggests she was moved by someone wearing her father’s pajama top.” MacDonald murdered Kimberly and then carried her into her room, tucking her in, and posing her on her side with her mouth closed (didn’t perform CPR). Only he could have done that and only as a cover-up.

Last edited by TexasPoet (9/16/2022 9:57 am)

byn63 wrote:

TexasPoet - I agree that Kimberley was the one in the bedroom and I DO NOT believe she was hit accidentally.  When you look at the photos of her, with the skin of her cheek torn open by the broken cheekbone pushed out through her skin, how could anyone possibly think it was accidental?  To me the description of the wound says that inmate lined up and swung for the fences as if poor little Kimmie's head was a giant softball rather than the precious little girl she was when he murdered her.

Also,, that night I believe Colette was in the bedroom not on the sofa.  I think that inmate came into the bedroom to go to bed, found Kimmie in the wet spot, and probably grabbed her violently and flung her towards the closet.  I believe inmate told Colette to change the bedding immediately and she said something like, "if you are in such a hurry do it yourself" and that is what precipitated the battle that ensued.

 
I agree, you could be right about how things escalated. Two thingsI feel sure about;

1. Kimberley was the one in the bedroom, the one who wet the bed, and the daughter Inmate carried to her own room. All of that is proven by the evidence.

2. Either Kimmie turned to run out of the room, or Colette yelled; “Kimmie run!”, and Inmate attacked her to stop her. That explains where her blood and brain serum were found (the doorway), and the way Inmate’s pajama top was torn ( “The pajama top was torn on the left shoulder and was ripped down the front seam, as though someone had reached out and torn it as MacDonald was standing and spinning away.” (MacDonald’s Magical Mystery Tour-JusttheFacts.

Good to hear from you. Be well and safe.

Last edited by TexasPoet (9/20/2022 5:15 pm)