A documented book on a doctor in the Green Berets who was convicted of the slaying of his pregnant wife and two small daughters. The tragic, baffling story of Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald, Princeton-educated physician, Green Beret officer and convicted triple murderer. It was in 1979, nine and a half years after the fact, that MacDonald was found guilty of having slain his pregnant wife and two small daughters in their Fort Bragg, N.C. home; to this day, he claims the murders were perpetrated by a band of drug-crazed hippies in an apparent copycat version of the Manson cult's killing of Sharon Tate. Fatal Vision is a chronicle of horrifying crime and its bizarre and extended aftermath, yet towering above the case itself is the magnetic and profoundly contradictory figure of Jeffrey MacDonald. Voted most popular and most likely to succeed in his Long Island high school, MacDonald seemed destined to have it all: married to his childhood sweetheart, moving at a whirlwind pace through the Ivy League, medical school and the military. First accused of the murders in 1970, he was cleared of all charges following the longest pre-trial hearing in military history. Moving to Southern California, he quickly established himself as an outstanding emergency physician--with a special interest in treating abused children. He also displayed a taste for celebrity which kept him always close to the national limelight. In 1974, however, a probe spurred by MacDonald's father-in-law, originally a staunch supporter, led to a grand jury indictment. For four more years, MacDonald's attorneys fought to have the indictment dismissed, twice bringing their legal battles to the U.S. Supreme Court. When the case finally did come to trial, author McGinniss was living with MacDonald in a fraternity house on the North Carolina State University campus. For the three years following the guilty verdict, McGinniss probed every aspect of this intricate case, gaining access to secret records and private documents that provided startling disclosures. The result is a penetration to the heart of the darkness that had enshrouded one of the most complex criminal cases ever to capture the attention of the American public. Yet Fatal Vision is more: a meticulous examination of the psyche of Jeffrey MacDonald and a shattering portrayal of the cultural values he personifies.--From dust jacket.