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Andreen McDonald: A Millionaire Vanishes | Full Episode

December 15, 2023 / 41:52

This episode covers the disappearance and murder case of Andreen McDonald, featuring her husband Andre McDonald, family members, and investigators. Key topics include the couple's tumultuous relationship, evidence found at their home, and the trial that followed.

Andreen McDonald, a successful entrepreneur in San Antonio, went missing on March 1, 2019. Her husband, Andre McDonald, reported her missing after she failed to show up for work and the gym, which was unusual for her. Investigators discovered blood and hair in their home, leading to suspicions about Andre's involvement.

As the investigation progressed, Andre became a person of interest. Evidence included a hammer with Andreen's blood and a receipt for items purchased shortly after her disappearance. Andre's behavior and his decision to hire a lawyer raised further concerns.

After months of searching, Andreen's remains were found in July 2019, leading to Andre's arrest for her murder. The trial revealed a complex narrative of jealousy, betrayal, and domestic violence, with Andre claiming self-defense.

The jury ultimately found Andre guilty of manslaughter, not murder, which left Andreen's family grappling with the outcome and the loss of their loved one.

TLDR

Andreen McDonald went missing, leading to her husband's arrest and trial for her murder, ultimately resulting in a manslaughter conviction.

Episode

41:52
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[Music] Andre McDonald had a very very strict regimen she followed it daily nice drop it that a girl she would
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be at the gym at 5:30 in the morning in the office by 8:00 on March 1st they had
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no indication she would be late she didn't show up for work this was very significant to her
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employees they called the gym and found out she never showed up to the gym which
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is like a religion to her after calling Andre repeatedly it's going to voicemail
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you know the anxiety starts steading and like I start panicking for Andy to be missing is not
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possible the biggest issue for me were the fact that her phone was missing her purse was still there her keys were on
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the counter and her Vehicles were still there if her vehicle's there her purse is there her keys are there if she's
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missing is there a concern of an Abduction the deputies obviously didn't know what to think at this point they
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were just beginning the investigation what we did learn is andreen McDonald a beautiful Jamaican
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woman was brought to the United States by Andre her husband as a major in the Air Force and
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had top secret security clearance they began a assisted living business where they in short order
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became millionaires the picture of the American dream she's not boastful or anything
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like that she just that humble person andreen had a great reputation in not only the
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assisted living community here in San Antonio and we're on the side of the street this morning and we're giving out
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food for those less fortunate she was very very generous with her wealth and her time God bless you kind of a a
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rising star of the of San Antonio absolutely a very much so a rising star they were always laughing together
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they were always joking around the home didn't seem to be in terrible disarray no furniture was
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knocked over or anything was broken I found there was blood on the wall in an area that was kind of odd
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there was blood and hair on a light switch we assumed that something happened there it was a crime scene of
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some sort I was on social media and I saw that initial poster that came out with
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her face and then it says missing on the top Andre is not the person to go take off
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somewhere no one knows where she is supporters for andreen McDonald renewed their search efforts when the
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months went by and the days went by and they haven't found anything in my mind that's not such a bad
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thing because if they're not able to find something that solidifies her being dead I mean she's alive right she's
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[Music] somewhere [Music] [Music] [Music] in the afternoon of March 1st 2019 after
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29-year-old andreen McDonald was reported missing by her mother Moren a bear county sheriff's deputy arrived at
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the McDonald home in an upscale gated community in San Antonio within minutes Sheriff javar Salazar says his Deputy
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made a disturbing Discovery one of my deputies had seen what they believed to be Blood on the wall and possibly
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hair and in the backyard normally beautifully landscaped another troubling clue a random burn
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pile right here I saw the burn pile we found a zipper from Andre's blouse it was Andre's blouse
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mhm Andre's husband Andre Andy McDonald told the deputy that when he woke up he got their daughter Elena to school
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before reporting to laan Air Force Base where he served as a cyber warfare analyst one once he learned andreen was
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missing Andre rushed back home but he quickly headed out the door again to act on a hunch that andreen who suffered
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from migraines might have gone to a nearby hospital for treatment Andre's arrival to the
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hospital was captured by surveillance cameras lead investigator Frank stubs on that tape he comes in you can see him
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asking for McDonald and they tell him there's somebody in room three named McDonald he arrives back to the house
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what does he tell them he tells them that she's in the hospital but when the deputy called the hospital he discovered
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that the McDonald who had checked in was not andreen McDonald Andre told deputies that he'
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rushed back home before seeing his wife because he had left his cell phone at home and wanted to let Moren know he had
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found andreen there was some indication to him that she was there and injured to
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some extent unfortunately the Major's hunch turned out to be wrong when I heard I was oh God I was so upset I was
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just thinking that she's some place that we can find her and for Andre's mother-in-law Jackie who lived in
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Florida there was uncertainty I had called Andre's phone about a thousand times already saying
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andreen whatever it is please please he just called me back what concerned everyone was the fact andreen would
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never just disappear she was known for her sense of responsibility and dedication to her family and
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business how would you describe andreen she knows what she wants and she will never stop until she
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get it I did come in before he did right Andre did defeat me me and she is so excited andreen created an assisted
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living business in San Antonio called Starlight homes when she was just 22 and according to Andre's close friend Andrew
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Russell in order to start the business Andre he liquidated his 401k Andre bankrolled her dreams and he sold the
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BMW that he owned they were doing so well they were doing everything that would make any mother
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proud Starlight homes thrived and under Andre's watch the tiny homebased business transformed into a
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multi-million dollar Enterprise in just seven years when I started my assistant living I only started with three
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residents today Starlight homes this the living we have two locations in the San
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Antonio area childhood friend Mandy says Andre's success was born out of humble beginnings growing up in Portland
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Jamaica we didn't have a lot and so we figured if we wanted to get somewhere in life it would be in America that's where
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the dream was Andre's dream of coming to America came true at 19 when she met Andre he was also a native of Jamaica
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who at the time was a captain in the US area Air Force Andre had returned home to Port Antonio in May of 2009 to attend
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a funeral where he met andreen who was 10 years younger was there an attraction right from the beginning she was excited
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when she met him excited about the captain in the Air Force they both decide for her to come
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to America they married that July was happy to know he had met somebody that he could have a life with that life
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would soon include a baby girl Elena Elena was at the center of andrene's world which made her disappearance so
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perplexing says Jackie I don't think andin would just get up and walk away and leave
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Elena and nobody hear from her that evening a forensic crime unit examined those stains in the bathroom
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and confirmed the initial belief that they were blood while you were going through the house was Andre there yes he
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was did you see any signs of bruising on his body any signs of of any injuries that perhaps he'd been in a struggle
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nothing that we could that we could determine investigators were hoping Andre had some answers but he said the
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last time he had seen his wife was the night before and they said what Andre described raised more questions than
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answers he had told them they had come home from the tax preparers office and that that they had argued
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over um uh the business and he went up the road got some gas and just cooled off we were able to obtain video
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evidence of him going to the Shell station Andre said when he returned home he and andreen went to separate
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bedrooms but according to investigators what Andre didn't mention was the text exchange that happened at the gas
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[Music] station for investigators the text messages found on Andre's phone revealed
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a marriage in turmoil including allegations of betrayal accusations of unfaithfulness in these text messages
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correct that's correct we have uh a printed copy would you mind reading these from his phone
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andreen responds if you bring up aubit again I will divorce you myself auin Hall a businessman living in Port
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Antonio Jamaica who according to investigators was Andre's ex-boyfriend and potentially her current curent lover
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in response to Andre's threat of divorce Andre texts I don't care if you get a divorce you brought auin into our life
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auin dated andreen when she was a teenager say investigators Andre's close friend Mandy says the two rekindled
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their romance in 2017 during one of her philanthropic trips to the island auin has always been
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that first love it wasn't something andrin got over emotionally Mandy says They carried on their Affair in secret
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until the summer of 2018 when andreen got two new tattoos an initial a tattooed on her hand and a date tattooed
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on her wrist Andy was definitely suspicious of what it meant with a Suspicious Mind Mandy says Andre went to
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work to solve this tattoo mystery he went and he did his own digging it was on social media where Andre discovered
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an interesting photograph of auin branded with the same exact tattoo that was also on Andre's hand and those
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numbers 14376 their ain's birthday day month and year she told me that she impulsively
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got the tattoo she knew it was something stupid to do enraged Mandy says Andre threatened divorce unless andring cut
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off contact with auin covered up her tattoos and promised to never travel to Jamaica without him she did cover up the
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tattoos she didn't want to lose half of everything she worked hard for at Andre's 40th birthday party Mandy
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says by all outward appearances the McDonald's seemed to be getting along but just 13 days later on March 1st
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2019 that's when andrin disappeared the once festive home had transformed into a crime scene as
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investigators worked the McDonald residence until 2 the next morning when they couldn't locate Andre's cell phone
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investigators checked to see if her credit cards or passport had been used all dead ends we came up dry on on on
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all of these inquiries at this point all we had was a missing person within hours
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of his wife's disappearance Andre McDonald was a person of interest he stopped answering questions and lawyered
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up at 2: p.m. the next day an undercover investigator assigned to watch the McDonald's house noticed that the garage
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had been damaged and Andre was backing out of the driveway the investigator followed him
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to a nearby gun shop where were additional investigators who were called to the scene observed Andre purchasing a
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9mm handgun and ammunition we were under the assumption that he was purchasing a
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gun to probably harm himself when Andre walked back to his car investigators confronted him their
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violent takedown may be disturbing to viewers investigators moved to detain the Air Force Major and turned him over
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over to military authorities for a mental evaluation meanwhile investigators returned to the house with a search
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warrant and checked Andre's car while there some objects caught their eye there was a shovel there was an axe an
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axe uh there was a like a hatchet kind of Mall there was trash bags there were gloves and a couple of gas cans and
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there was more inside the garbage can in the house was a receipt from Lowe's that had
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been torn up detectives were able to obtain surveillance footage from the hardware store items that were purchased
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the day after andreen went missing this is Andre McDonald coming into the Lowe's
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he's going to purchase several items you can see him with a basket here you can see there's a shovel in the basket now
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he comes up here there's two gas cans there's a a mall or a hatchet here's that axe what's at play
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here it appeared to us that now that his wife is missing um it pointed to the disposal of her
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body look at that cart full of ill will right yes and in the corner of the garage investigators would uncover what
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they say was the most damning evidence of all we found a hammer and clothing in the garbage the clothing that we found
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appeared to be Andre's clothing investigators say they found traces of Blood on the pocket of these genes
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what's on the claw hammer that's of Interest the lab determined that there was the presence of blood on the hammer
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and the DNA that they obtained from that that blood sample was from entering we concluded that that hammer was probably
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used at as the murder weapon this is significant very [Music] significant 48 hours into the
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investigation detective stubs believed he had discovered key evidence that implicated Major Andre McDonald in his
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wife's disappearance investigators located those items stained with Andre's blood inside the
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family's trash can this missing person's case had become much more Sinister and it's pointing toward
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what the evidence was pointing towards a murder but there was a problem none of the evidence collected proved that a
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murder had actually occurred turning a missing person's case into a homicide case is very
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difficult on March 3rd 2019 the Air Force concluded its evaluation of Andre and released him Civil Authorities
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quickly moved in and placed him under arrest my daughter my family what do you have to say about this entire invest but
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it wasn't for murder Major Andre McDonald was arrested for tampering with evidence based upon that torn receipt
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found at the house listing the items he had purchased from the hardware store Andre's arrest left his mother
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Jackie in a State of Shock and disbelief I saw that Andre was taken into custody and I just collapsed I know he
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loved andrin why would he harm her and for and and's mother Andre's arrest left her head spinning oh
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God Andre could not hurt andreen that's what I was saying but who else adding to everyone's sense of shock
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confusion and suspicion was Andre's decision to stop cooperating with detectives Andre's face told us there
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was no way in hell we were going to break him and make him tell tell us what had happened Sheriff Salazar went on
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local TV asking for help we are asking anybody with any information on her whereabouts to give us a call at 210
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335 soon after the community of San Antonio along with family and friends came out in droves to look for and dream
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including a volunteer search Party formed by former Air Force Airman Bobby green Bobby took us out to one of the
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areas where he searched for and dream right now we're behind a hospital we thought he might have taken her here to
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a wooded area as you walk through here what are you looking for you would look at tree branches that had been pushed
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away something that was cut fresh uh tire tracks how many miles did you cover it was hundreds of miles as search
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efforts continued Andre McDonald was released from jail on where is Andre with his wife absent Andre took over
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management of Starlight homes search efforts continued although investigators say Andre didn't take part days would
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eventually turn into months of dead ends as the search for andreen went on investigators dug further into the
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couple's relationship learning that they had business problems as well as romantic
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ones in WhatsApp message shared with friends there are arguments over who really was the brains behind their
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successful business in one andreen tells Andre Starlight Holmes is my idea my dream and
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would not have happened without my drive back then friends like Andrew Russell became worried about the potential for
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violence and I have text message from andreen that's saying someone is going to snap
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Andrew told investigators that the couple's war of words turned physical the night before a Christmas party at
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their home in 2018 where the McDonald's got into a physical altercation so when I went into the
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kitchen Andy and andrene were grappling on the floor the next morning they were laughing about it I did feel
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uncomfortable after that I thought the the situation had become toxic just over 2 months later andrene's
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blood was spilled in her home and she vanished finally on the evening of July 11th 2019
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133 days after andreen had gone missing there was a break in the case about 7:30
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this evening uh the bar County Sheriff's Office patrol deputies were dispatched to this location for a report of some
00:22:50
human remains that were found skeletal remains were located in a farmer's field just 6 miles from the
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McDonald home this man Clifton cundi made the discovery Clifton had taken out his tractor to retrieve a cow skull that
00:23:08
had been spotted right along the tree line of the property I saw the what appeared to be a human skull in front of
00:23:16
the cow skull that must have been a shock a shock yes officials determined that the human
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skeletal remains belong to andreen McDonald her sister Cindy Johnson I was at a church praying for
00:23:34
andrin I couldn't do anything I broke down it hit us like a storm cuz we still wasn't thinking like
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that never I never saw this coming less than 48 hours later Andre McDonald would be arrested and charged
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with his wife's murder see more evidence from the case at 48 hours.com Andre's family had waited for
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justice for 4 years it hurt every night before I go to my bed I think about her be County assistant
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District Attorneys Steven spear Lauren Scott and Ryan groomer would prosecute McDonald for the murder of his wife and
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dream but the prosecution would face an uphill battle despite the evidence found
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at the McDonald home the hammer and the blood the prosecution could not say for sure how andreen died because and's body
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was out in the elements in that field for all of those days medical examiner's office was unable to specify what
00:25:05
exactly caused Andre's death and does that step complicate your preparation no it absolutely does we say he caused her
00:25:14
death however we don't know how if Andre murdered his wife what do you believe was his motive I believe it was largely
00:25:22
because he felt emasculated she was such a rising star had control of these businesses and and I think he was
00:25:28
jealous of that McDonald who pleaded not guilty was represented by some of the top defense lawyers in San Antonio John
00:25:37
conver Zoe Russell and John Hunter how would you respond to the notion that what caused all this was his
00:25:47
Envy of his wife's success I I don't see any evidence of that Andre is a major in
00:25:53
the Air Force I mean he's incredibly successful on his own right Major Andre McDonald had been
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under house arrest since April of 2021 but days before his trial was set to begin January 17th
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2023 McDonald who had remained silent about his wife's death began telling an extraordinary story beginning with his
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own mother Jackie says her son told her andrene's death was an accident he looked at me and he said Mom
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I'm going to tell you the truth and he started to cry McDonald then called Andre's mother and sister Cindy who put
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the call on speaker phone he gave the family for the first time details of what happened according to him according
00:26:47
to him yes it was a phone call that stunned his defense team was it shocking to you that he had done this shocking is
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a good word for it yeah the entire context of the case changed his best thought would be to tell a story in
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court McDonald would get to tell his story but not before the prosecution laid out its case in opening State
00:27:13
ladies gentem inside the trash B in the garage a hammer that hammer has blood on it it is the victim's
00:27:25
blood the defense intended that Andre's death was an accident this is not a murder case it is
00:27:35
a case about the degree and level of responsibility with evidence of accident a mutual
00:27:47
fight all of which happens in the blink of an eye the prosecution also called forensic pathologist Dr James fig who
00:27:56
testified that andring skeletal remains had severe injuries consistent with being struck by a blunt object she had a
00:28:04
fractured spinal cord a broken rib and a split jaw but the pathologist could not
00:28:11
determine what exactly had caused andrene's death so the way that I have phrased her cause
00:28:22
of death is homicidal violence including blunt force trauma after 6 days of testimony and 33
00:28:32
Witnesses the prosecution rested the defense had only one witness defense calls Major Andre McDonald McDonald
00:28:42
described the evening of February 28th 2019 while at the tax preparers office with his wife he discovered that andren
00:28:50
had started a new business a year earlier without his knowledge look at that signifi to you basically all that
00:28:59
meant to me pretty much that she was robbing me after a heated argument that evening McDonald says he left the house
00:29:08
to cool off at that gas station McDonald says they continued their argument over
00:29:14
text and when he returned home he raised the possibility of divorce and splitting
00:29:20
their business in half she became extremely irate at the thought of splitting the business charges into the
00:29:28
room to confront me so when she comes into the room you know I turn around and she comes like right up in my face so at
00:29:37
that moment he spits in my face so at that point I grabbed her cuz she's like right in front of me so I grabbed their
00:29:44
head I think we had like a a clash of heads and I think it opened up like a cut somewhere on her face McDonald said
00:29:51
andreen ran into the bathroom and turned on the lights when andreen saw her bloody face in the mirror McDonald
00:29:59
claims she attacked him his testimony may be disturbing to some viewers when she comes she's like
00:30:07
throwing like some punches so I'm trying to like duck down and like keep my head
00:30:11
my face from getting hit with the blows I remember like grabbing her like tripping her and then she like Falls and
00:30:17
that's when I kick her like twice the second kick I think I heard like some type of
00:30:23
weing and then also like in the background I could hear like some footsteps the footsteps of their young
00:30:30
daughter Elena McDonald said he left to put Elena back to bed and when he returned about 30 minutes later his wife
00:30:39
was dead I became like pretty frantic at that point because you know she's dead on the floor you never thought I need to
00:30:48
in cross-examination prosecutor spear asked if McDonald had thought about calling
00:30:54
911 I never thought about calling anybody to revive a dead person my purpose at that point was simply to get
00:31:01
her out of the house so that my seven-year-old daughter wouldn't see her mother laying on the floor dead after
00:31:07
putting Elena back to bed McDonald said he dumped Andre's body in this field stripped her naked and returned home to
00:31:15
burn her clothing which left that burn patch in the backyard but what about Andre's Blood on the yellow hammer on
00:31:24
the face of it the evidence doesn't Square with McDonald's account of an accident McDonald had an explanation for
00:31:33
that he testified that when investigators finished searching his home he went back to the field Before
00:31:40
Dawn angry and armed with the yellow Hammer a can of gasoline and a plan my plan was to hit the person that
00:31:51
caused this whole circumstance and you felt it was her fault right it's absolutely her fault what did you do
00:31:57
with the gasoline I poured it on her and then I used the the lighter and set it on fire
00:32:04
McDonald said when the flame subsided that's when he attacked his wife's corpse with the yellow Hammer I hit her
00:32:12
in the face the neck and I just like hit her again as I was walking away why that
00:32:18
last blow as I was walking away yes I guess I was still angry when I was walking away after that gruesome test
00:32:27
Tony the defense shifted gears and tried to refocus the jury on their theory of the crime and for the first time the
00:32:36
defense brought up why McDonald acted the way he did that night have you always believed you acted in
00:32:43
self-defense yes I've always believed that from the very beginning thank the defense played videos showing andrin
00:32:50
giving her husband a piggyback ride and working out would you describe and andren is a
00:32:57
very strong powerful woman yes I would straight up according to McDonald his wife could lift up to 300 lb yes
00:33:10
ma'am when she attacked you were you in fear yes I wasn't fear of you know being
00:33:15
harmed during that that whole situation they wants you to forget and disregard about all his actions closing
00:33:23
arguments defense Council said that this is self-defense folks this is not self-defense it's time
00:33:30
to hold this man responsible for what he did and it's time to find him guilty of
00:33:36
murder Andre McDonald did not intentionally or knowingly murder andream McDon he acted in self-defense
00:33:46
and your duty and your obligation is to say not guilty thank you after 6 days of
00:33:55
testimony the jury got the case all the jury approximately 11 hours into their deliberation the jury sent a note to the
00:34:05
judge that says we're hopelessly dead law what do you make of Andre McDonald's claim of self-defense chat now with the
00:34:16
48 Hours team on Facebook and X [Music] after almost 11 hours of deliberating the jury was deadlocked unable to decide
00:34:38
if Andre McDonald was guilty of murder manslaughter or Not Guilty by self-defense everything was said in the
00:34:46
courtroom all the evidence were were there he confessed understand what he did they saw his demeanor I don't know
00:34:56
what was um the problem for jurors Brandon meden I voted for murder and I saw that we were six and six and Rudy
00:35:04
Ruiz at no point did any juror think that he was innocent or that it was self-defense the problem was wording
00:35:14
because people really picked apart the definitions of murder and recklessness the jury of Six Women and
00:35:21
six men spent hours discussing whether McDonald Had intentionally murdered and or if he had recklessly killed her
00:35:30
making it manslaughter murder carries a life sentence manslaughter up to 20 years and
00:35:38
I think most of us could agree that whatever happened it was Reckless he left her on the
00:35:47
ground and he did not render Aid now the trick was to try and convince the other
00:35:54
jurors that it was murder but as the deliberations continued some of the jurors had been
00:36:01
swayed with nine now for manslaughter mí says the biggest factor in swaying the vote was Andre McDonald's testimony
00:36:10
there was so little evidence and so a lot of people believe because we don't know anything else other than what he
00:36:19
has told us that we have to take what he told us and he was actually able to convince a lot of the jurors we had that
00:36:26
one jur that he said well I've kicked someone I never intended to kill them medine Ruiz and a third jur were the
00:36:35
staunch holdouts for murder no one was going to change anyone's mind the judge then invoked what's called an Allen
00:36:43
charge urging the holdout jurors to reconsider the evidence and reach a unanimous decision after another hour of
00:36:51
deliberations a verdict he Mr McDonald please stand with your counsil to the count of murder charging the
00:37:01
indictment the jury finds the defendant not guilty of the offense of murder has charged in the indictment and
00:37:10
guilty guilty of the offense of manslaughter Andre McDonald was found not guilty of murder but guilty of the
00:37:18
Lesser charge manslaughter Andre's sister Cindy was in disbelief IM Slaughter after he spoke with no
00:37:31
remorse no love nothing at all and use Hammer strip her clothes throw gasoline on her burnt her and they gave him
00:37:42
manslaughter that's crazy I I am going to struggle with this daughter until the day I
00:37:50
die the prosecution had a mixed reaction to the verdict I was just disappointed however the jury rejected his
00:37:59
self-defense argument and held him accountable for at least something for the defense Andre McDonald may not have
00:38:05
walked out a free man but this is a win despite how I believe that this is a self-defense case I do respect the
00:38:15
outcome and Dre's best friend Mandy Hall he's there to tell this story he's there
00:38:21
to make up whatever he wants to make up she she doesn't she can't do do that because he took that away from
00:38:29
her Cindy now sees that phone call from McDonald before the trial in a whole new
00:38:35
light as a calculated ploy to deflect blame it's four years it took him 4 years for him to recognize that he did
00:38:46
what he did and then all of a sudden he's um reaching out to us to let us think that
00:38:52
he's been responsible he didn't mean anything he is lying all a lies it's all a lie after the verdict Sheriff Salazar
00:39:02
reached out to andrene's Father a retired member of the Jamaican army with an unusual
00:39:09
offering I did present Mr Anderson with a gift uh I asked my Deputy to remove the handcuffs from from Andre as they
00:39:16
put him back into the um cell and I gave I presented those cffs to to Mr Anderson
00:39:23
I wanted them to feel some sort of connection to at least sending him away to to
00:39:29
prison I want to tell you that we really appreciate it thank you very much God bless
00:39:36
you godess for Andre's mother nothing about this tragedy makes sense her daughter and the Beautiful Life she had
00:39:44
created are gone andreen McDonald who came to America became a successful entrepreneur and found her purpose in
00:39:54
serving others sadly the business she created is now closed I miss her very much most times when I think about her I
00:40:08
just it's like I feel like giving up and in those times marine and Cindy lean on
00:40:15
one another we're blessed to have each other to take us through this sad Journey um when I'm weak my mom is
00:40:24
strong when my mom is weak I am strong we have to be strong for Alena Elena now 12 years old is the glue
00:40:36
that binds this fractured family a family that still includes Andre's mother Jackie though she is mainly left
00:40:44
with the memories and the pain of what once was I think I heard for Alena more than
00:40:51
I heard for everyone no child should ever have to go through what she went to Moren and Cindy are now raising Elena
00:41:03
it's bitter sweet cuz we have Elena Elena reminds us so much of andreen can momy a
00:41:14
kiss love [Music] you [Music] a young wife and mother found with a strange mix of drugs at her system hey
00:41:31
there's a needle right here that makes you stop breathing if you have too much was it murder investigators turned to
00:41:37
her journals for answers how crucial were those journals very 48 hours Saturday on CVS streaming on Paran
00:41:50
Plus

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 85
    Most heartbreaking
  • 80
    Most emotional
  • 75
    Most dramatic
  • 75
    Biggest twist

Episode Highlights

  • Discovery of Blood and Hair
    Investigators found blood and hair at the McDonald home, raising alarms about Andreen's fate.
    “One of my deputies had seen what they believed to be blood on the wall.”
    @ 04m 46s
    December 15, 2023
  • Andreen McDonald Goes Missing
    On March 1st, 2019, Andreen McDonald, a dedicated mother and businesswoman, was reported missing.
    “Andreen would never just disappear; she was known for her sense of responsibility.”
    @ 07m 04s
    December 15, 2023
  • Arrest of Andre McDonald
    Andre McDonald was arrested for tampering with evidence after his wife's disappearance.
    “I just collapsed; I know he loved Andreen, why would he harm her?”
    @ 19m 22s
    December 15, 2023
  • Human Remains Found
    Skeletal remains identified as Andreen McDonald were discovered 133 days after her disappearance.
    “It hit us like a storm; we still weren't thinking like that.”
    @ 23m 41s
    December 15, 2023
  • Trial and Defense Claims
    Andre McDonald claimed Andreen's death was an accident, changing the narrative of the case.
    “Shocking is a good word for it; the entire context of the case changed.”
    @ 26m 56s
    December 15, 2023
  • A Case of Accident or Murder?
    The defense argues Andre's death was an accident, not murder. 'This is not a murder case.'
    “This is not a murder case.”
    @ 27m 31s
    December 15, 2023
  • A Gruesome Confession
    McDonald admits to attacking his wife's corpse after her death. 'I hit her in the face.'
    “I hit her in the face.”
    @ 32m 12s
    December 15, 2023
  • A Divided Jury
    After 11 hours of deliberation, the jury is deadlocked on McDonald's guilt. 'We're hopelessly dead.'
    “We're hopelessly dead.”
    @ 34m 05s
    December 15, 2023
  • Verdict Delivered
    McDonald is found guilty of manslaughter, not murder. 'That's crazy.'
    “That's crazy.”
    @ 37m 45s
    December 15, 2023
  • A Mother's Heartbreak
    Andreen's mother struggles with the loss of her daughter. 'I miss her very much.'
    “I miss her very much.”
    @ 40m 05s
    December 15, 2023

Episode Quotes

  • If her vehicle's there, her purse is there, her keys are there...
    Andreen McDonald: A Millionaire Vanishes | Full Episode
  • I don't think Andreen would just get up and walk away...
    Andreen McDonald: A Millionaire Vanishes | Full Episode
  • It hit us like a storm...
    Andreen McDonald: A Millionaire Vanishes | Full Episode
  • You never thought I need to call 911 for a dead person.
    Andreen McDonald: A Millionaire Vanishes | Full Episode
  • I miss her very much. It's like I feel like giving up.
    Andreen McDonald: A Millionaire Vanishes | Full Episode
  • No child should ever have to go through what she went through.
    Andreen McDonald: A Millionaire Vanishes | Full Episode

Key Moments

  • Blood Discovery02:39
  • Arrest19:09
  • Remains Found22:50
  • Trial Begins26:05
  • Opening Statements27:11
  • Forensic Testimony27:50
  • Defense Witness28:39
  • Frantic Discovery30:42

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown