Rick Thames - A Reporter's Look Back at the Jeffrey MacDonald Case | Grit: Stories of Resilience

Rick Thames was 26 years old and a new reporter for the Fayetteville Observer when he moved to Raleigh in the summer of 1979 to cover the Jeffrey MacDonald murder trial. Now, after a remarkable career in journalism, including stops as Editor of the Wichita Eagle and the Charlotte Observer, Rick is writing a book about the first 20 years of his life as a reporter. A chapter in his new book is that summer in Raleigh. Rick recently sat down with me and recalled those weeks when he had a front row seat during the murder trial of Jeffrey MacDonald. Rick tells his thoughts about the trial, the evidence, and the very questions he asked MacDonald one day at lunch during the trial, and the answers he gave. He remembers it all, saying the moment the jury in unison said" guilty" was a time he will never forget. Their verdict "rolled across the courtroom like a clap of thunder...people were gasping". He heard someone scream. It was MacDonald's mother. A reporter's memories of the summer of 1979.