CRIME: MACDONALD WANTS OUT

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By Daren Briscoe

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Reversing his longtime legal strategy, former Green Beret Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald has filed for parole. It's been nearly 35 years since MacDonald's wife and two young daughters were slain at Fort Bragg, and more than 25 since MacDonald was convicted of the murders. All along, his alibi has been that drug-addled hippies killed his family. MacDonald became eligible for parole in 1991 but didn't apply. He told NEWSWEEK in August 2004 there was an "unspoken rule" that in order to be paroled he'd have to express remorse--something he said he'd never do. Since then, he's quietly filed an application for parole, although there's no mention of his hearing, scheduled for February, on a Web site dedicated to his defense. But Christina Masewicz, a retired nurse who's written a book about the case, obtained a document from the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirming the hearing. MacDonald attorney Tim Junkin says the application isn't an admission of guilt: "Jeff will continue in as strong language as possible to insist that he is innocent, even if it jeopardizes his chance for parole."

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