I have found exactly the same thing. The thing is, it _used_ to work...
Using a G5 with 10.4.2, in a directory with DICOM files pulled off a Siemens Trio using Osirix, I execute the following:
/usr/local/freesurfer/bin/Darwin/mri_convert -it dicom -ot analyze IM-0242-0001.dcm hoot
I get the following error (many, many times)
mri_convert(1841) malloc: *** Deallocation of a pointer not malloced: 0xd10ea0; This could be a double free(), or free() called with the middle of an allocated block; Try setting environment variable MallocHelp to see tools to help debug
However, when all is said and done, I get a correct analyze file. The binary in question is:
-rwxr-xr-x 1 frederic frederic 2034036 Feb 18 2004 /usr/local/freesurfer/bin/Darwin/mri_convert