Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald

During the summer of 1971, Jeffrey MacDonald went out to Long Beach, California, to work with his friend Jerry Hughes in the emergency medicine department of St. Mary Medical Center.  He and Hughes transformed the department into one of the very best in the state.  Jerry Allen Potter and Fred Bost in their excellent book Fatal Justice:  Reinvestigating the MacDonald Murders describe a man who was trying to rebuild his life:  "His professional reputation was further enhanced by the authorship of articles in prestigious medical journals, and his co-authorship of a book on the management of emergency medicine departments.

Dr. MacDonald, just before his discharge from the military

"Still active in sports, MacDonald helped organize intramural softball at the medical center.  He also taught emergency medicine at UCLA Harbor General Medical Center, and he became a public speaker in the effort against child abuse, and in CPR.  For saving the lives of policemen in difficult cases, MacDonald was made an honorary lifetime member of the Long Beach Police Department.  He was well known, well liked, and extremely successful professionally."