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Introduction
The Case
Alaska v. McDonald
Case Update
Personal History
Mac's History
P I Reports
PI Report, 2000
PI Interviews, 2000
PI Inquiry, 2000
Other Info
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Acknowledgements
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Justice Denied Magazine
Issue 26, Fall 2004
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Mac's Personal History |
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Mac's Personal History
Donald "Mac" McDonald was born in October, 1949. He is the youngest of Bill and Marion McDonald's three children. Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Mac attended Our Lady of the Lake grade school for eight years. By the time Mac graduated from Blanchet High School in 1967, his ability as a running back won him a scholarship to Spokane Community College. The college team went undefeated his sophomore year and placed third in the nation. Mac enlisted with the Marines in 1969, as American troops were being sent to fight in the Vietnam War. After completing a two-year stint, Mac returned to the Pacific Northwest and attended Puget Sound College on a second football scholarship. Just shy of obtaining two college degrees and recently married, Mac left the University of Puget Sound and found employment as a study hall proctor and coach for the football and wrestling teams at Kennedy High School. After his marriage to his high school sweetheart ended in 1975, he worked as a manager for two South End restaurants. However, Mac found it hard to put down roots. He traveled the country for a year, returned to the Seattle area to open an auto body repair shop with his father. While there he helped rebuild a tug boat and worked as Chief Engineer when it took on a contract in San Diego, CA. After his father's death, Mac returned to open a repair shop in Wedgwood. The events leading to Mac's imprisonment: In mid-September, 1984, Mac moved to Kodiak, Alaska, a rough fishing town, to work as an auto body repairman. Within weeks of his arrival, he was introduced to Laura Ibach. Mac and Laura moved in similar social circles and would occasionally run into each other. Though not friends exactly, it would be safe to consider them acquaintances. Over time, Mac and Laura would be seen together on multiple occasions by friends of theirs. They even dated a few times. Mac's main source of income was auto repair. Mac found work at The Body Doctor, an auto body repair shop, and occasionally worked side jobs for friends throughout the community. He often enlisted the assistance of his friend, Jim Kerwin. He lived at the Reentry Dorm Apartments, a group home which was affiliated with the Hope House, a 30 day treatment/rehabilitation facility. The Reentry Dorm Apartments were in one section of a larger apartment complex near the high school on Rezanoff Street. This facility required residents to log in and out as they went to and from daily activities outside the home. On March 28, 1986 at 2:00 p.m., Mac called Laura at work to see if he could drop by. At 3:00 p.m., Mac signed out from Reentry Dorm Apartments. He drove to the Hope House, where he parked his van, and then walked across the street to Kodiak Women's Resource and Crisis Center, Laura's place of employment. He arrived and was granted entry by Suzanne Hinson, but was asked to wait a moment because Laura was on the phone. As soon as Laura hung up the phone, she greeted Mac and they went to an upstairs conference room. Mac asked her if she'd be his date at a street dance he was co-hosting the next evening to benefit the Hope House. Though she declined to go as his date, she said she might see him there. She then asked Mac if he could get her some cocaine, and that she'd be on Shelikof Street near the B & B Bar for a meeting around 9:00 p.m. that evening and he could meet her there if he found any. After dinner at home and dessert at McDonald's fast food restaurant, Mac and his friend, Jim Kerwin, decided to cruise around town in Mac's white cargo van. They eventually parked on Shelikof Street in front of the Anchor Bar. They had not been parked there for very long when Laura came up to the van, startling them. She hopped into the front passenger side seat of Mac's white van to ask Mac if he had found any cocaine. When she discovered he had not, she exited the van. She must've walked towards the rear of the van because Mac could not see where she headed. Unknown to Mac at the time, the car she had borrowed for the evening was parked behind his van. Laura was in Mac's van for less than five minutes. Mac and Jim remained seated in the van for an additional five to ten minutes as it warmed up before leaving. This was the last time Mac saw the woman he knew as Laura Ibach. From the Anchor Bar, Mac drove out to the harbor to look at a double ender boat Jim wanted to buy. After looking at the boat, they cruised around town again before heading back home. Mac returned to the Reentry Dorm Apartments at approximately 9:50 p.m. and signed in at 10:00 p.m. After watching TV with James Clyde, Mac headed for his room. Jim Kerwin was allowed to sleep in the back of Mac's van. As far as Mac knew, all was as it should be and everything was right, or at least normal, in the world. Until about 4:30 a.m. when the local Police arrived on Mac's doorstep, accompanied by a veritable posse of Kodiak private citizens.
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