Andreen McDonald: A Millionaire Vanishes | Full Episode | Forensic Files

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

How a yellow hammer nailed a suspect in the case of a missing businesswoman. "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant reports. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

Brief Summary

Andreen McDonald went missing, her husband Andre was arrested for her murder, and he was ultimately convicted of manslaughter after a tumultuous trial.

Key points

Discovery of Blood and Evidence. Investigators find blood and suspicious items in the McDonald home, raising alarms.
The Disappearance of Andreen McDonald. Andreen McDonald, a dedicated mother and businesswoman, goes missing under mysterious circumstances.
Arrest of Andre McDonald. Andre McDonald is arrested for tampering with evidence related to his wife's disappearance.
Break in the Case. Human remains found in a farmer's field are confirmed to belong to Andreen McDonald.
Trial and Testimony. Andre McDonald begins to tell a new story about his wife's death, claiming it was an accident.
The Case of Andre McDonald. The trial reveals a complex narrative of self-defense and tragedy surrounding a fatal altercation.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It's going to voicemail, you know the anxiety starts setting in.

Concern over Andre's disappearance

0:44WatchDec 15, 2023

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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