her to confess to end MacDonald's years of "suffering unjustly"—also promising her immunity from prosecution due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. Stoeckley repeatedly informed Segal she was unable to help him. She also denied ever having seen MacDonald, and refused to testify to acts she was adamant she did not commit. Under oath, Stoeckley denied any culpability in murders, and any knowledge of who may have committed the acts. Insistent she was unable to recall her whereabouts on the date of the murders, Stoeckley emphasized her extensive drug use in 1970 and the intervening years, adding the night of February 16–17, 1970 was "by no means" the first or last night in which she was unable to recall her whereabouts. Following this testimony, Murtagh and Segal alternately argued before Judge Dupree for the dismissal, or introduction of, testimony from several witnesses to whom Stoeckley had earlier allegedly confessed. On August 20, Dupree refused the introduction of this testimony, citing legal trustworthiness requisites and stating the introduction of these witnesses would add no further value to the proceedings than what they had experienced from Stoeckley's own testimony. Defendant's testimony The final witness to testify on behalf of the defense was MacDonald himself, who testified on his own behalf on August 23 and 24. MacDonald was first questioned by Bernard Segal, who sought to humanize his client in the eyes of the jury. He began his questioning by asking MacDonald about his family. MacDonald described each family member and their individual personalities, stating the family "shared almost everything ... we were all friends. Colette and I shared the children growing up. We shared our life experiences." He also claimed the reason he had never remarried was the fact he was unable to forget his wife and children, whom he thought about daily. Segal then asked MacDonald to recount his family background, his career at Fort Bragg, and his family's general lifestyle in February 1970. He then produced several family photographs and artifacts, asking MacDonald to describe each item or the circumstances surrounding each photograph, and to identify the individual in each image. MacDonald then recounted his life in the years since the deaths of his family, describing his decision to relocate to California as an effort to distance himself from well-wishers and insisting the reason he worked up to eighty hours a week was that it was "easier than