Philip Callahan’s 3/19/09 musings

Here they go again. Begging the court system to listen to “all” of the evidence in this case. What exactly does that mean? Judge Dupree, the 4th Circuit Court, and Judge Fox have all had to endure the smoke and mirrors show put forth by various incarnations of the MacDonald defense team. Sans the DNA test results, the legal system has listened to “all” of the evidence. Considering the fact that the DNA test results provide additional proof that MacDonald was the wielder of the club that fractured Colette’s skull and shattered both of her arms, I fail to see how those test results would be of any benefit to this convicted family murderer. MacDonald refuses to accept that he is running out of time. All of the sourced trace evidence in this case points directly at MacDonald as the lone murderer of Colette, Kimberley, and Kristen MacDonald. His home invader story is a fairy tale built on Esquire magazine articles and chance meetings with roommates of his brother. The 4th Circuit Court can end this nonsense and allow MacDonald the freedom to clean the prison toilets without having to think about his next appeal.  

Philip Callahan’s 2007 musings

Do I smell desperation when the MacDonald defense team argues that DNA test results are not as significant as alleged confessions? In their motions to Judge Fox in the spring of 2006, the defense team appeared to take the stance that the absence of Greg Mitchell's DNA at the crime scene was not as important as the claims from several individuals that Mitchell confessed to them that he took part in these brutal murders.  In a similar vein, the defense motions also focus on the early 80's confessions of Helena Stoeckley, while ignoring the fact that her DNA was not found at the crime scene.
This reminds me of James Blackburn's classic line during his closing arguments at the 1979 trial.  Blackburn stated that "I can only tell you from the physical evidence in this case that things do not lie.  But I suggest that people can and do."