Photos showing left hand of Colette MacDonald (graphic images)


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U.S. Government photos

Body of Colette MacDonald in master bedroom
Body of Colette MacDonald in master bedroom
Body of Colette MacDonald in master bedroom
Body of Colette MacDonald in master bedroom
Body of Colette MacDonald in master bedroom
Body of Colette MacDonald in master bedroom
Body of Colette MacDonald in master bedroom
Body of Colette MacDonald in master bedroom
Body of Colette MacDonald in master bedroom
Body of Colette MacDonald in master bedroom
Autopsy photo of Colette MacDonald
Autopsy photo of Colette MacDonald
Autopsy photo of left arm of Colette MacDonald
Autopsy photo of left arm of Colette MacDonald

CID Findings


ca. February 22, 1971:  USACIL Report P-FA-D-C-FP-82-70-R21

USACIL Report P-FA-D-C-FP-82-70-R21, page 1  Page 1
USACIL Report P-FA-D-C-FP-82-70-R21, page 1


Paragraph 1:  Comparison of the known hair of Exhibit E320 with the unknown hair of Exhibits E4 and E5 found same to be dissimilar in physical characteristics.


USACIL Report P-FA-D-C-FP-82-70-R21, page 2  Page 2
USACIL Report P-FA-D-C-FP-82-70-R21, page 2


Paragraph 2:  It is the opinion of the examiner that the hair of Exhibit E320 did not have a common source of origin with the hair of Exhibit E4 and Exhibit E5.

ca. April 20, 1971:  USACIL Report P-FA-D-C-FP-82-70-R24

USACIL Report P-FA-D-C-FP-82-70-R24, page 2  Page 2
USACIL Report P-FA-D-C-FP-82-70-R24, page 2


Paragraph 6:  Comparative examination of the hairs of Exhibit E321 showed same to be similar in gross color, pigmentation and structure to the dark hairs removed from Exhibits E323 and E35.

     a. It is the opinion of the examiner that these hairs could have had the same source of origin.

     b. Comparative examination of these hairs with Exhibits E4 and E5 showed same to be dissimilar in physical characteristics.


Webmaster note:  With reference to Exhibit E35 in this report, this exhibit is described on page 1 USACIL Report P-FA-D-C-FP-82-70-R24, page 1
USACIL Report P-FA-D-C-FP-82-70-R24, page 1
of this report as "Hair brush from under body of Colette MacDonald." This hairbrush is listed as Exhibit D35 in the final USACIL Consolidated Report, and no Exhibit E35 is listed there. Since hair exhibits were given an "E" designation, the CID obviously used E35 to refer to hairs found in Exhibit D35.

ca. May 25, 1971:  USACIL Report P-FA-D-C-FP-82-70-R25

USACIL Report P-FA-D-C-FP-82-70-R25, page 1  Page 1
USACIL Report P-FA-D-C-FP-82-70-R25, page 1


Paragraph 1:  Comparative examination of the hairs from Exhibit E324 with the hairs from Exhibits E322, E323, E325, E4 and E5 showed same to be dissimilar in physical characteristics.

USACIL Report P-FA-D-C-FP-82-70-R25, page 2  Page 2
USACIL Report P-FA-D-C-FP-82-70-R25, page 2


Paragraph 3:  Comparative examination of the hairs from Exhibit E325 with the hairs from Exhibits E322, E305 - E313, E320, E321, E4 and E5 showed same to be dissimilar in physical characteristics.

ca. September 20, 1971:  USACIL Report P-D-FA-C-FP-82-70-R29

USACIL Report P-D-FA-C-FP-82-70-R29, page 2  Page 2
USACIL Report P-D-FA-C-FP-82-70-R29, page 2
and USACIL Report P-D-FA-C-FP-82-70-R29, page 3  Page 3
USACIL Report P-D-FA-C-FP-82-70-R29, page 3


Paragraph 6:  Examination of Exhibits D233 through D239, D256, E4 and E5 did not reveal the presence of any skin particles.

March 29, 1972:  USACIL Consolidated Report

USACIL Consolidated Report, page 17  Page 17
USACIL Consolidated Report, page 17


Paragraph 1:  Examination of Exhibits E5, E19a, D23, E63NB, E116, D118, E119, E301 and E303 revealed the presence of wood splinters identical in type, color, texture, and all other physical characteristics to the wood of Exhibit A.

Paragraph 2:  It is the opinion of the examiner that the wood splinters present in the Exhibits listed in paragraph 1 could have originated from Exhibit A.


USACIL Consolidated Report, page 20  Page 20
USACIL Consolidated Report, page 20


Paragraph 35:  Examination of Exhibits D209, D227, D229, E3, E5, E7, E19a, E20a, E22, E50, E63NB, E210 and E302 revealed the presence of human head hairs, grossly similar in all physical characteristics to the head hair of Colette MacDonald.

Paragraph 36:  It is the opinion of the examiner that one or more of the human head hairs present in the Exhibits of paragraph 35 could have originated from the head of Colette MacDonald.


USACIL Consolidated Report, page 21  Page 21
USACIL Consolidated Report, page 21


Paragraph 50:  Examination of the known hair from Exhibits E314 through E319 found same to have different physical characteristics to the hair of Exhibits E4 and E5.

Paragraph 51:  It is the opinion of the examiner that the hair from Exhibits E314 through E319 and the unknown hair of Exhibits E4 and E5 did not have a common source of origin.


USACIL Consolidated Report, page 22  Page 22
USACIL Consolidated Report, page 22


Paragraph 57:  Comparative examinations of the hairs from Exhibits E4 and E5 revealed the same to be dissimilar to the hairs from Exhibits E305 through E313.

     a. Therefore it is the opinion of the examiners that the hairs of Exhibits E4 and E5 probably did not originate from the same point sources as the hairs of E305 through E313.

     b. However, it must be pointed out that the requested opinion regarding positively eliminating the subject as a possible source of the hair cannot be given without first examining numerous other point sources of body hair from the subject.

AFME Lab Report


Full transcript

Webmaster note:  Hairs #1 and 3 were Colette MacDonald's. Hair #2 was determined by DNA testing to be Jeffrey MacDonald's.

November 30, 1999: AFME Forensic Trace Materials Analysis Lab Report, p. 2

DNA Findings


Full transcript (cover letter)
Full transcript (DNA Report)

Page 4:

The following specimens yielded mitochondrial DNA sequences consistent with one another (Group B):

AFDIL Specimen No. Specimen CID No., FBI No., or Reference
51A(2) Hair E-5, Q119
58A(2) Hair E-52NB, Q87
112A(3) Hair D-229, Q96.3
199A Blood Jeffrey MacDonald Reference


Page 6:

The following specimens were received May 17, 1999 from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC:

AFDIL
Specimen No. Specimen
01A Slide, "Q128...E-5 fibers"

Related exhibits


A Piece of wood 31" x 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" bearing red-brown and white stains
D233 Fingernail scrapings from left hand of Colette MacDonald
D256 Debris from Colette MacDonald's hands, including red crusts
D37NB Green throw rug bearing red-brown stains from north bedroom
K15-K18 Arm hair samples from Jeffrey MacDonald

Webmaster note


Colette was left-handed. In his closing argument at the Article 32 hearing (September 11, 1970), Cpt. Somers theorized that Colette reached out with her right hand during the struggle and scratched MacDonald.

A piece of what may or may not have been "skin", found during the taking of fingernail scrapings from Colette MacDonald, was observed by CID Investigators Ivory (see March 2, 1973 statement below) and Connolly, and was described by Connolly (see March 19, 1971 statement below) as being on the left ring finger.

In U.S. Attorney Thomas McNamara's memo to the DOJ (June 26, 1973), the piece of "skin" was described as being found on Colette's right ring finger.

The CID Reinvestigation report (see excerpt below from March 1 - August 27, 1973) says that "the Pathologist removed a piece of skin from under Colette's bloody fingernail," without specifying whether this was from a left or right finger.

At the Grand Jury (see August 21, 1974 excerpt below), Connolly testified that "a piece of skin, I believe, was on the small finger of Colette by the fingernail."

At the Grand Jury (see January 15, 1975 excerpt below), William Ivory (CID) testified that a piece of bloody latex glove found in the apartment near the outstretched hand of the body of Colette "when first initially observed gives the appearance of being a small piece of skin."

Dr. Gammel testified at trial (see July 26, 1979 excerpt below) that"I did what would be a routine fingernail scraping. I just took a fingernail file and scraped out any material that was there. I thought on the left small finger there might have been a little fragment of skin there . . ."


NOTES

February 17, 1970 - April 10, 1972: Excerpts from CID Reinvestigation    

July 5, 1970: Pre-Article 32 defense questioning of William Ivory (CID)    

July 16, 1970: Dr. George Gammel at the Article 32 hearing    

July 22, 1970 - August 31, 1971: Notes of Janice Glisson (CID) and CID Lab Documents      

December 1970: Excerpt from Alfred Kassab's appeal to Senate and Congress

June 26, 1973: Excerpt from U.S. Attorney McNamara's memo to the DOJ    

August 13, 1974: Jeffrey MacDonald at the Grand Jury    

October 23 and 24, 1974: Dillard Browning (CID) at the Grand Jury    

July 26, 1979: Dr. George Gammel at trial    

August 6, 1979: Dillard Browning (CID) at trial    

August 8, 1979: Paul Stombaugh (FBI) at trial    

August 27, 1979: Dr. William Neal at trial

August 28, 1979: Final arguments at trial

August 1981: Excerpt from Brief for the United States

Undated (post-1984): Excerpt from Ted Gunderson's summary of the MacDonald investigation

October 16, 1990: Excerpts from Affidavit of John Murphy

February 14, 1991: Affidavit of Michael Malone (FBI)    

November 30, 1999: AFME Forensic Trace Materials Analysis Lab Report      

Undated: Excerpt from letter allegedly written by Jerry Potter    

March 10, 2006: DNA Report    

March 15, 2006: Gov't Response to Defense Contentions re: DNA Testing