Prisoner’s Lawyer Says Author of Book ‘Fatal Vision’ Broke Pact

LOS ANGELES — Author Joe McGinniss reneged on the contract he negotiated with Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald to write “Fatal Vision,” a book in which the writer concluded that the former Green Beret killed his wife and two children, an attorney said Thursday.

During a recess in the trial of MacDonald’s $15-million civil suit against McGinniss, Bernard Segal, who negotiated the contract for MacDonald, said McGinniss breached the deal by failing to preserve “the essential integrity” of MacDonald’s life story.

The phrase, “essential integrity,” has become pivotal in MacDonald’s suit against McGinniss over the book. MacDonald, 43, a former Army captain, alleges that McGinniss, 44, concluded before the contract was signed that MacDonald was guilty but kept the secret so that he could continue to have access to the doctor’s confidences and personal memorabilia.

That conduct constitutes fraud and entitles MacDonald to damages, said Segal, who testified on MacDonald’s behalf Thursday.

Became Uneasy

Segal testified about a meeting he had with McGinniss over cocktails at San Francisco’s Mark Hopkins Hotel in 1980 or 1981, when Segal got the impression that the writer became uneasy when asked what the book was going to say.

“Mr. McGinniss stuttered,” Segal said. “ ‘Oh,’ he said. ‘You’re going to like it. You’re going to like it.’ ”

McGinniss’ attorneys argue that MacDonald’s real complaint is that the book concluded that he had murdered his pregnant wife and two children at their army base home in Ft Bragg, N.C., in February, 1970.

MacDonald was convicted of the three murders in August, 1979, the month after the book contract was signed, and is serving three consecutive life terms in prison. His repeated appeals have failed.

Segal said during the court recess that “Fatal Vision,” which was published in 1983 and later made into a television movie, distorts MacDonald’s life by saying that he took amphetamines and suffered from pathological narcissism.

Would Not Sue

Segal, who said he believes that MacDonald is innocent of the killings, acknowledged that the contract said MacDonald would not sue McGinniss over the book. But he said MacDonald is entitled to sue because McGinniss breached his part of the agreement to portray MacDonald “fairly and without distortion.”

“The writer had the right to come to any conclusion he wants,” Segal said. “We’re not trying to shape his conclusions. But those claims about the amphetamines and the psychiatric disorders are simply false.”

McGinniss has filed a counterclaim against MacDonald, saying that he breached part of the agreement that granted him “the exclusive story rights” to MacDonald’s life. MacDonald cooperated with another author on a recent book that argues that he was wrongfully convicted.

But Segal said MacDonald did nothing wrong by cooperating on that book because under the contract, McGinniss’ exclusivity expired when “Fatal Vision” was published.