Major Andre McDonald Found Guilty of Manslaughter for the Death of His Wife – Watch Court Video
Following the death of his wife, Andreen McDonald, in 2019, U.S. Air Force Reserve Major Andre McDonald was found guilty of manslaughter on Friday.
After his wife’s disappearance, McDonald was initially arrested in March 2019 for tampering with evidence after police discovered human blood on a light switch, a shovel, an axe, work gloves, and gasoline at his home. McDonald was later released but taken back into custody for murder after Andreen’s body was found.
Following a lengthy delay, Andreen’s murder trial commenced in late January, with her mother and close friends testifying that McDonald had confessed to them over the phone that he killed her. The major went on to confess to his wife’s murder, admitting to a jury earlier this week that he had disposed of her body. But he argued that it was done out of self-defence.
The defence and prosecution made their closing arguments on Thursday, but after hours of deliberation, the jury was not able to reach a verdict. Today’s early deliberations yielded the same result, forcing Judge Frank Castro to issue an “Allen charge,” thus ordering the jury to reconvene and try to reach a verdict to avoid a mistrial. After more than 10 hours of deliberation, the jury found McDonald guilty of manslaughter.
McDonald is expected to be sentenced next week, and Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales has disclosed that he will be seeking the maximum sentence of 20 years. A much lesser sentence than if McDonald had been found guilty of murder, which would have seen him potentially serve life in prison.
“I’m sad for the family […] It’s not what we expected, not what we hoped for. But we respect the jury’s decision,” Gonzales stated.
Watch the video below of Friday’s court proceedings.
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