Allen Rogers of Raleigh considers Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald a friend. After Rogers read last Saturday that MacDonald s murder conviction had been upheld again, Rogers set aside his newspaper and thought for a while. I just felt sad about it, Rogers told me sad about MacDonald s 35 years in prison, sad about the murders of MacDonald s wife and two young daughters at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville in 1970. MacDonald was convicted of their murder in 1979 in a trial in Raleigh. MacDonald insisted then, and still does today, that a group of hippies entered the apartment, chanted acid is groovy, kill the pigs, injured him and killed his family.Rogers and MacDonald met the summer of the trial at the track at N.C. State University. They were about the same age (MacDonald was 35, Rogers a year younger) and passionate about fitness. They d see each other each day about 5:30 p.m., run 5 or 6 miles, then walk and cool down.Rogers said MacDonald was personable, confident, upbeat and good company. Each lifted weights, and MacDonald would ask Rogers how his workouts were going. I was sure he was a good guy and he was in Raleigh to clear his name, Rogers said.Instead, MacDonald was convicted of second-degree murder in the deaths of Collette, 26, and Kimberly, 5, and first-degree murder in the death of Kristen, 2.The case has had a remarkable legal journey. Appeals have taken it before the U.S. Supreme Court seven times. A hearing was held in U.S. District Court in Wilmington in 2012 to consider new evidence; the judge ruled last week against MacDonald.Exchanging lettersAfter MacDonald s conviction, Rogers wrote him in prison in Texas. Rogers, now 69, is a personnel analyst in the state Department of Public Safety. Rogers estimates they exchanged at least 15 letters from 1979 to 2010.He has saved two of the letters from MacDonald. The first one was from late 1984. A year earlier, journalist and author Joe McGinniss published Fatal Vision, a best-selling book about the case. A TV miniseries followed. McGinniss was part of MacDonald s entourage during the trial, living with the group at the Kappa Alpha house at N.C. State University. But by the end of the trial, which showed that the physical evidence didn t match MacDonald s story, McGinniss was convinced that MacDonald had killed his wife and children. Finally the lies and trash of the book/mini-series are over, at least the crest of the wave, MacDonald wrote to Rogers in cursive. Now we are getting back to the facts, as opposed to misrepresentations and innuendo and outright lies. ... We re confident of eventually winning vindication. The problem is facing Judge (Franklin) Dupree. And, of course, The Raleigh N&O has insured the worst possible slant to every word in the case. New hopeRogers was shocked by MacDonald s conviction in 1979. After reviewing the facts for years, he now thinks MacDonald is guilty of the murders. But if he did, he was in an altered state of drugs or something to make him violent, Rogers said. He says MacDonald, now 70, is no threat to society and should get some kind of controlled release. In March 1990, MacDonald wrote Rogers from prison in California and described his workout routine no weight lifting but push-ups,Cheap Ray Ban, chin-ups and sit-ups. MacDonald also gave a legal update. His lawyers had received important government documents about the lab work in his case. We really have new hope, he wrote. This spring I think perhaps the long-awaited vindication will occur.
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