TP - No, he does not believe his own intruder story, and he never did.
I won't go into detail because I can't type that well, but I will mention a few things.
Remember how he tried to control the scene when the police arrived?
By pretending to be passed out. Then moaning  in pain to get them to focus on him as a victim? That was all an act. Then he said several times that he had taken the knife out of his wife's stomach. He was trying to account for fingerprint evidence.
In the hospital he was crying for Freddy and Mildred, but with his Green Beret friend Lt Harrison, he was happy and enjoying dinner with wine.
Then there was the April 6 CID interview where the police mixed up the daughter's names. Talking about a bloodstain of Kim, but said Kristen. JRM started to correct them, but stopped, because he didnt want to reveal that he knew exactly whose blood was where.
Then there was Joe's observation that JRM seemed totally uninterested in Helena, even though she was purported to be a direct link to the killers of his entire family. His only interest was in what Bernie could get her to say. To create reasonable doubt.

Last edited by Grandfather (11/04/2022 4:31 am)

Good question TP.
No easy answer to that.
There are two camps:

1. He has a psychological condition such as narcissism or sociopath.

2. He made a bad decision that night under stress, lack of sleep, and complicated by a possible reaction to drugs he was taking.

Personally, I dont buy  option 1. 
I took psychology in university and still keep up on the topic. But much of it is quackery.
Option 1 is comforting, because it portays him like a rare bird. A freak of nature. As long as a person doesn't have that rare condition, they could never do what he did.

I believe it is option 2. He is as normal as you and me. But he married too young, and he resented the responsibility that came with his growing family.
He enjoyed a promiscuous lifestyle, and wanted to be free to explore that.
He finally had a good income to provide that lifestyle, but he was tied down. He desperately wanted out.
He had worked hard and sacrificed much to finish medical school. This could be his time to really live a great life. He deserved it.
He had been secretly brooding on these thoughts, but keeping it to himself.
But that night he was tired. And he had been taking those pills to lose weight. He was unaware of the side effects.
Colette had discussed in her class that night about bedwetting and how her husband had different opinions than her. When Kim wet the bed that night, it started a fight.
He may have yelled, and she talked back. She may have challenged his authority as a man, or a doctor, after gaining confidence from what she learned in the class.  He may have slapped her, and she hit him back. He had an abrasion on his forehead that could have been from a hairbrush. She may have said she was going home to Long Island, and taking the kids with her.
That enraged him. He punched her hard, causing her nose to bleed. Perhaps kept hitting her. She lost her balance and fell into him, causing a blood stain on the front of his pygama top.  In desperation, she grabbed his pygama top, ripping the pocket.
He knocked her down. She may have picked up the piece of wood, which was on the floor by the bed, and tried to defend herself. He took it from her, and began beating her with it. He was in a full rage now. He had allowed evil to take over him.
At some point Kim came in, or maybe she was there all along. She may have tried to save her mother, but it was too late. He turned his rage on her.

Then there was a pause. He had to make a decision. He decided to finish off Kristen in order to be completely free. That is how we know freedom was the motivation. If it was just rage alone, he could have let Kristen live. He wasn't angry at her.

There is good in all of us, and there is evil. If we let evil grow, anyone could have done what he did.

We may not like to admit it, but there are too many examples throughout history of normal people committing atrocities in war or genocide.

In this case there were two different kinds of evil. The initial rage, and the calm  decision to murder Kristen.

But it was not mental illness. Nothing unique or mysterious.

Just evil.

Last edited by Grandfather (11/04/2022 11:32 am)

Not everyone agrees with what I said above, and he does fit many aspects of narcissism.
There are many variations on motive, and lots of theories.
I heard an interesting one recently that it was not rage, but he planned to kill his wife to get freedom. In this version he would ask Freddy and Mildred to take the girls and they would have. He could have been the father who arrives for holidays with presents.
But as Mike Tyson said, everybody has a plan, until you get punched in the face.
It got out of hand, and Kimmy got clobbered. And he called an audible. Changed the plan.

One thing I forgot to mention is that he does have a conscience. Several people noted that he had difficulty talking about Kristen.
It bothered him. More than the others. That is why I believe Colette and Kim were killed while he was in a rage.

Last edited by Grandfather (11/04/2022 4:59 pm)

Grandfather wrote:

Not everyone agrees with what I said above, and he does fit many aspects of narcissism.
There are many variations on motive, and lots of theories.
I heard an interesting one recently that it was not rage, but he planned to kill his wife to get freedom. In this version he would ask Freddy and Mildred to take the girls and they would have. He could have been the father who arrives for holidays with presents.
But as Mike Tyson said, everybody has a plan, until you get punched in the face.
It got out of hand, and Kimmy got clobbered. And he called an audible. Changed the plan.

One thing I forgot to mention is that he does have a conscience. Several people noted that he had difficulty talking about Kristen.
It bothered him. More than the others. That is why I believe Colette and Kim were killed while he was in a rage.

I do believe he’s a narcissist and sees himself as the smartest guy in the room. I do believe you are spot on about his feelings for Kristin though.

I have a hard time believing anything, EXCEPT something triggered rage and it was all down hill from there. But, I do wonder about his mythical boxing team trip. Where was he really going, where was he staying, and what was he planning to do? Setting up a new life somewhere? I guess we’ll never know.

Last edited by TexasPoet (11/04/2022 5:18 pm)

Grandfather wrote:

TP - I agree it was rage. I put the other theory out there to show that many people continue to play around the edges of scenarios and theories about motive and the exact sequence of events.
The boxing team trip to Russia was clearly false, and that was confirmed by the CID. Joe mentioned it near the end of the book but I can't remember the details. I am on the road and can't go to my bookshelf. I think there was a trip the team was planning to Fort Dix NJ, which would put JRM within range of Penny Wells and perhaps others. And if Colette thought he was in Russia he wouldn't have to check in due to the iron curtain.
When you think about it, that is a really hokey story. Colette probably saw through it. And it wouldn't hold up. She would surely find out. It shows how desperate he was to get out. He was willing to say anything, or do anything to get out.

Grandfather,

I don’t think enough thought has been given to MacDonald’s mythical Russia trip. It wasn’t for a few days of “girlfriend time”. It was set up to be for at least a month.  MacDonald told this to CID and to Colette. Colette shared it with her mother, and Mildred swore to it in a deposition. A month away during a problem pregnancy.? There was no Russia, or other trip planned, by the boxing team. So, what did he really have planned. Horsing around for a month would be a big risk. What if someone saw him while he was supposed to “be in Russia”? What if Colette had complications? What if something came up with the military and they came looking for MacDonald? So much risk. Why? What did he have planned? Did he plan to sneak back and kill Colette a la Mark Sievers (who had his Doctor wife murdered in Florida while he was away!) It just raises questions.

Mildred deposition; “And I said wait until spring.  So, then she told me that Jeff might have to go to Russia with the boxing team and that if he did have to go she would be alone when she had the baby and would I surely be there on the 18th of July?  And I said, all right, I will be there, regardless of anything in the world, I'll be there.  But there would be nothing I could do to help her.  Of course, I didn't say that but I had intended that we would find her a reputable doctor for her. “

https://macdonaldcasefacts.com/cid/1971-03-20_deposition_macdonald.html


Jeffrey tried to portray his marriage as ideal, but investigators uncovered a series of facts that painted Jeffrey in a different light. He had multiple affairs during the marriage. He worked extremely long hours and took on extra jobs. And for reasons that were highly suspicious and never made clear, Jeffrey was lying to his wife about a month-long trip he was supposedly going to take to Russia. Jeffrey was the team doctor for the Fort Bragg boxing team and told Colette that he was going with the team to Russia. In actuality, there was no trip and Jeffrey wasn’t going anywhere with the team. -

https://www.crimetraveller.org/2020/11/reckless-speculation-about-jeffrey-macdonald/amp/


A  I don't think I did directly. It was -- I am not sure how it happened. The conversation came up at a staff meeting or something one day. I am not even sure I did. It might have been Captain Williams for me. One of the Lieutenant Colonels, said there shouldn't be any problem.
Q  This is all conversation? You didn't make any formal application?
A  No.
Q  Did Colette know that you might go to Russia?
A  Right.
Q  Was she going to have the opportunity to accompany you?
A  No.
Q  What was any of the wives going on the trip at all that you know?
A  No. I mean, I assume none were.
Q  Did the team go?
A  I don't know. I just dropped off me boxing gear before I got discharged.
Q  How long was the trip going to be?
A  30 days.
Q  Were you going to travel inside Russia or just going to be against Russian athletes or Russian soldiers?
A  I don't know. I wasn't going to have battle. I was going to work out with them and be the team physician.


I can’t help think that MacDonald was up to something. Maybe Colette confronted him about the fake Russia trip that tragic night and triggered the rage that his plans had been spoiled. Maybe she told him; go to Russia and while you’re gone I’ll be filing for divorce. Again spoiling his plans and triggering rage. Alas, we’ll never know.

Last edited by TexasPoet (11/05/2022 2:14 pm)