Fatal Delay

Ex-Green Beret wins appeal

The former Green Beret physician told the jury that four drug-crazed intruders had slain his pregnant wife and two daughters in their Fort Bragg, N.C., duplex. But the combination of a blood-soaked pajama top and his vengeful fathher-in-law cast doubt on that story, and last year Jeffrey R. MacDonald, 36, began serving three life terms in a California prison. Now, as a result of a 2-to-l decision last week by a U.S. appeals court in Richmond, MacDonald may become a free man once again. The reason: investigative delays violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial.

"Sheer bureaucratic indifference" and the Government's "callous and lackadaisical attitude" were to blame, said the court, which offered no views on the correctness of the murder verdict. Soon after the 1970 slayings, the Army abandoned its plans to prosecute, apparently because of a bungled investigation that spoiled key evidence. In 1972 the Justice Department took on the case, but committed a crucial error by taking more than two years to convene a grand jury to hear the evidence. The trial did not start until last July.

The strongest reaction to last week's ruling came from the father-in-law Alfred Kassab, retired vice president of a New Jersey egg retailing company. "It's ludicrous," he said. "Are we to let a triple murderer go loose just because he wasn't tried fast enough?" Kassab implied that he might have to "take justice into my own hands." Of his tenacity there can be little doubt: after initially rejecting the theory that his "all-American" son-in-law had committed the murders, Kassab soon changed his mind and financed an investigation that brought a reopening of the case. He chased leads, lobbied the Justice Department and visited all 535 members of Congress.

The latest turn of events thrilled MacDonald. Notified of the news by his attorney at 6:15 a.m., the doctor said he was rushing out to jog five miles. Unless released on bail, however, he must remain in jail, pending any appeal the Justice Department may decide to seek. MacDonald knows only too well that judicial relief can be short-lived. Once before, the Richmond-based court threw out the Government's case on the same speedy trial grounds. But the Supreme Court heard an appeal and MacDonald lost.

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