Fatal Vision
Encyclopedia
True crime
True crime is a non-fiction literary and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people.The crimes most commonly include murder, but true crime works have also touched on other legal cases. Depending on the writer, true crime can adhere strictly to...
book published in 1983 by journalist and author Joe McGinniss
Joe McGinniss
Joe McGinniss is an American author of nonfiction and novels. He first came to prominence with the best-selling The Selling of the President, 1968 which described the marketing of then-presidential candidate Richard Nixon, and has authored 11 works since that time...
. The following year it was made into an NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
under the same name. Fatal Vision is the real-life story of Captain Jeffrey MacDonald, M.D., who in 1979 was convicted of the murder of his pregnant
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
wife and his two young daughters. These murders took place in 1970 while MacDonald was a Green Beret
United States Army Special Forces
The United States Army Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets because of their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force tasked with six primary missions: unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, special reconnaissance, direct action, hostage rescue, and...
captain and physician in the US Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, stationed at Fort Bragg
Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Fort Bragg is a major United States Army installation, in Cumberland and Hoke counties, North Carolina, U.S., mostly in Fayetteville but also partly in the town of Spring Lake. It was also a census-designated place in the 2010 census and had a population of 39,457. The fort is named for Confederate...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
.
History
McGinniss began his writing career as author of the non-fiction book The Selling of the President 1968The Selling of the President 1968
The Selling of the President 1968 is a non-fiction book written by American author Joe McGinniss and published by Trident Press in October, 1969.The book describes the marketing of Richard Nixon during the 1968 presidential campaign...
(1969).
McGinniss and MacDonald made arrangements to work together shortly before the trial; as part of those arrangements, McGinniss was given special access to MacDonald and his legal team, even living with MacDonald during the murder trial, in return for a share of the book's profits. The book covers events until MacDonald's first appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
was rejected in 1985.
MacDonald expected that the book would show his innocence; however, like other authors MacDonald had contacted, McGinniss insisted on a signed release from MacDonald, allowing him to write freely, and the final version was precisely the opposite of what MacDonald had expected. Fatal Vision, told in a narrative format that interpolates case events with transcripts of recordings MacDonald sent McGinniss, becomes an investigation and the investigation steadily builds a case against MacDonald. As a motive, McGinniss suggests that MacDonald killed his family in a fit of psychotic
Psychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
rage as a result of taking amphetamine
Amphetamine
Amphetamine or amfetamine is a psychostimulant drug of the phenethylamine class which produces increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite.Brand names of medications that contain, or metabolize into, amphetamine include Adderall, Dexedrine, Dextrostat,...
s.
The Fatal Vision case, as it has come to be known, has a very long legal history, not all of which was covered by the book and movie. Originally, McDonald's lawyer, Bernie Segal, was able to get the charges dismissed by a military court. Despite this, McDonald's father-in-law, Freddie Kassab, began investigating the case himself, mainly by obtaining transcripts of the closed military hearing. He convinced a government lawyer, Victor Worheide, to reopen the case, and Worheide obtained a federal indictment from a grand jury. A federal court of appeal then decided that McDonald's speedy trial rights had been violated, but this decision was set aside by the U.S. Supreme Court, leading to a jury verdict in 1979. The case went back up to the Supreme Court for another decision in 1985, when the jury verdict was affirmed. As recently as 2008, McDonald was still litigating the case and obtained a federal court order to have DNA evidence in the case re-tested. So far this has not led to any changes in the case.
Reception and controversy
In 1984, MacDonald sued McGinniss for breach of contract, including "journalistic distortion." Following a mistrial, the suit was settled out of court for $325,000.In 1990, The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
writer Janet Malcolm
Janet Malcolm
Janet Malcolm is an American writer and journalist on staff at The New Yorker magazine. She is the author of Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession , In the Freud Archives and The Journalist and the Murderer ....
published a widely read article, "The Journalist and the Murderer
The Journalist and the Murderer
The Journalist and the Murderer is a 1990 study by Janet Malcolm about the ethics of journalism published by Alfred A. Knopf/Random House. Attracting heavy criticism upon first publication, it is now regarded as a "seminal" work, and ranks ninety-seventh on Random House's The Modern Library's list...
", the thesis of which was that McGinniss committed a "morally indefensible" act in pretending that he believed MacDonald was innocent, even after he became convinced of his guilt.
Fatal Vision, both book and miniseries, helped to popularize the case against MacDonald, but failed to sway all his supporters. In 1995, MacDonald defenders Jerry Allen Potter and Fred Bost challenged McGinniss' narrative with Fatal Justice: Reinvestigating the MacDonald Murders.
Miniseries
Cast list
- Gary ColeGary ColeGary Michael Cole is an American actor. Cole is known for his supporting roles in numerous film and television productions since the 1990s.-Early life:...
as Capt. Jeffrey MacDonald, MD - Karl MaldenKarl MaldenKarl Malden was an American actor. In a career that spanned more than seven decades, he performed in such classic films as A Streetcar Named Desire, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, On the Waterfront and One-Eyed Jacks...
as Freddy Kassab - Eva Marie SaintEva Marie SaintEva Marie Saint is an American actress who has starred in films, on Broadway, and on television in a career spanning seven decades. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama film On the Waterfront , and later starred in the thriller film North by...
as Mildred Kassab - Barry NewmanBarry NewmanBarry Foster Newman is an American film, television, and stage actor, famous for his interpretation of Kowalski in the movie Vanishing Point. He has been nominated for a Golden Globe and Emmy awards.- Life and career :...
as Bernie Segal - Wendy SchaalWendy SchaalWendy Schaal is an American actress and voice actress. She is best known as the voice of Francine Smith in the TV series American Dad!.-Personal life:...
as Colette MacDonald - Andy GriffithAndy GriffithAndy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...
as Victor Worheide
Karl Malden was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series for his performance as MacDonald's father in-law, Freddy Kassab.
Fatal Vision was also nominated for Outstanding Drama/Comedy Special and for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup, David Greene for Outstanding Directing in a Limited Series or a Special, and John Gay for Outstanding Writing in a Limited Series or a Special.
Cultural references
SeinfeldSeinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
s Elaine Benes
Elaine Benes
Elaine Marie Benes is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Elaine's best friend is her ex-boyfriend Jerry Seinfeld; she is also good friends with George Costanza and Cosmo Kramer...
is seen reading a copy of Fatal Vision in the episode entitled "The Diplomat's Club
The Diplomat's Club
"The Diplomat's Club" is the 108th episode of NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This was the 22nd episode for the 6th season. It aired on May 4, 1995.-Plot:...
" which gives the mistaken impression that she is interested in killing her boss Mr. Pitt.