Fatal Vision
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Fatal Vision is a best-selling book published in 1983 by true crime writer Joe McGinniss. The following year it was made into an NBC television miniseries 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 wife and his two young daughters. These murders took place in 1970 while MacDonald was a Green Beret captain and physician in the US Army, stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
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[edit] Book
McGinniss began his writing career as author of the non-fiction book, The Selling of the President (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 was rejected in 1985.
MacDonald clearly 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 rage as a result of taking amphetamines.
[edit] Reception and controversy
In 1984, MacDonald sued McGinniss for breach of contract, including "journalistic distortion." (See MacDonald vs. McGinniss, CV-84-6170(WJR)(MCX)(U.S. District Court, Central District of California). Following a mistrial, the suit was settled out of court for $325,000.
In 1990, The New Yorker writer Janet Malcolm published a widely read article, The Journalist and the Murderer, 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 McGinnis' narrative with Fatal Justice: Reinvestigating the MacDonald Murders.
[edit] Miniseries
Fatal Vision was also a 1984 television miniseries.
Cast List
- Gary Cole .... Capt. Jeffrey MacDonald, MD
- Karl Malden .... Freddy Kassab
- Eva Marie Saint .... Mildred Kassab
- Barry Newman .... Bernie Segal
- Wendy Schaal .... Colette MacDonald
- Andy Griffith .... 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.
