1943 thru 1972
Important Events in the Life of Jeffrey MacDonald
| October 12, 1943 | Jeffrey MacDonald is born in Jamaica, New York |
| 1961-1964 | He attends Princeton University. His father, Robert (“Mac”) passes away. |
| September 14, 1963 | Jeff and Colette MacDonald are married |
| April 18, 1964 | Daughter Kimberley Kathryn MacDonald is born |
| 1964-68 | Jeff attends Northwestern University |
| 1968 | He graduates as Doctor of Medicine |
| May 8, 1967 | Daughter Kristen Jean is born |
| 1968-69 | Jeff completes medical residency at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. |
| July 1, 1969 | He enters the US Army as a Captain in the Medical Corps |
| September, 1969 | Having volunteered for Special Forces duty, Jeff is assigned as group surgeon at Fort Bragg, North Carolina |
| February 17, 1970 | Colette, Kimberley, and Kristen are murdered in the family apartment. |
| February 21, 1970 | Funeral services are held for Colette and the girls. Jeff is permitted to leave the hospital to attend the mass. |
| February 25, 1970 | Jeff is released from the hospital. |
| April 6, 1970 | Jeff is informed he is the prime suspect in the murders, and submits to a full day of questioning by Army investigators. |
| May 1, 1970 | Jeff’s father-in-law, Alfred Kassab, submits a statement to the press criticizing the Army’s handling of the case. The Army formally charges Jeff of murdering his family. |
| July 5, 1970 | Colonel Warren V. Rock, the presiding officer, opens the Article 32 hearing, the precursor of a court martial, to hear evidence against Capt. Jeffrey MacDonald. |
| October 13, 1970 | Colonel Rock completes his 90 page report, recommending that all charges against Jeffrey MacDonald be dropped because they are “not true.” |
| December, 1970 | Jeff receives an honorable discharge. He relocates to New York. |
| December 15, 1970 | Now a civilian, and at the urging of his father-in-law, Jeff appears on the Dick Cavett Show and castigates the CID for its handling of the case. |
| 1971 | Army begins further (illegal) investigation of former Capt. MacDonald. |
| July, 1971 | Jeff moves to Long Beach, California, accepting a job as an ER physician at St. Mary Medical Center. |
| October 30, 1971 | Alfred Kassab demonstrates his change of heart toward his son-in-law by calling CID investigator Peter Kearns to tell him of a phone conversation (Nov 1970) with Jeff during which Jeff claimed to have killed one of the intruders. |
| November 1, 1971 | Alfred writes an irate letter to Jeff, complaining that he hadn’t visited on a recent trip East. |
| January 17, 1972 | CID Agent William Ward submits a report on the lengthy and ongoing surveillance of Jeffrey MacDonald. |
| February 18, 1972 | Army Captain Brian Murtagh, a new lawyer in the CID, joins Peter Kearns in his attempt to bring civilian charges against Jeff MacDonald. |
