Andreen McDonald: A Millionaire Vanishes | Full Episode + Post Mortem | 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 anding 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 Andre
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's 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 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 and is not the person to go take off
somewhere no one knows where she is supporters for Andre 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
somewhere [Music] [Music] [Music] in the afternoon of March 1st 2019 after 29-year-old andreen McDonald was
reported 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 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 3 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 andrene's mother-in-law Jackie who lived in
Florida there was uncertainty I had called andrene's phone about a thousand times already saying
andreen whatever it is please please 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 and dream she knows what she wants and she will never stop until she
get it I did coming before he did right andrene did defeat 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 STL hes 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 Air Force 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 Andre's World which made her disappearance so
perplexing says Jackie I don't think and 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 in 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 andrene's ex-boyfriend and potentially her current lover in
response to Andre's thread 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 andrene'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 think andin 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 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 andrene'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 andrein 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 a 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
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 as the 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
investigation 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 andreen why would he harm her and for Andre's mother Andre's
arrest left her head spinning oh God Andre could not H 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 us what that
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 have 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 messages she 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 and Dre's blood was spilled in her home and she vanished finally on the evening of July
11th 2019 133 days after andren 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 the
human remains that were found skeletal remains were located in a farmer's field just 6 miles from the McDonald home this
man Clifton kabundi 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
andrein 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 hurts 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 Andre'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 Stephen 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 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 re 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 Andre's death was an accident he looked at me and he said
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
statement inside the trash B in the garage a hammer that hammer has blood on it it is the victim's
blood the defense contended that and dream'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
fire all of which happens in the blink of an eye the prosecution also called forensic pathologist Dr James fig who
testified that andreen 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 what did that signify to
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 in 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 her 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 but 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 frany at that
point because you know she's dead on the floor you never thought I need to call 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 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 testimony 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 s defense yes I've always believed that from the very beginning thank the defense played
videos showing andreen giving her husband a piggyback ride and working out would you describe andreen as very
strong powerful woman yes I would straight up according to McDonald his wife could lift up to 300 lb yes
maam when she attacked you were you in fear yes I was in fear of you know being harmed during that that whole
situation they want 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 M Andre McDonald did not intentionally or knowly murder Andre McDonald he acted in
self-defense and your duty and your obligation is to say not guil thank you after 6 days of testimony
the jury got the case all right the jury approximately 11 hours into their deliberation the jury sent a note to the
judge that says we're hopelessly deadlock 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 e confessed on the stand 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
andreen 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 meí 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 juror that he said well I've kicked someone I never
intended to kill them medine Ruiz and a third juror 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 here Mr McDonald
please stand with your counsel to the count of murder charging the indictment the jury finds the defendant
not guilty of the offense of murder as 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 the man 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 thought until the day I
die the prosecution had a mixed reaction to the verdict I was 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 his story he's there
to make up whatever he wants to make up she she doesn't she can't 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 four 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 alive 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 cuffs 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 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
Elena 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 ala more than I heard for everyone no child should ever have to go through what she went
Moren and Cindy are now raising Elena it's bitter sweet cuz we have Elena Elena reminds us so much of andreen can
Mommy get kiss love you [Music] a young wife and mother found with a strange mix of drugs at her system hey
there's a needle right here it 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
CBS streaming on Paramount Plus [Music] I'm anarie green and we are back for another episode of 48 Hours postmortem
and I'm joined today by two incredible producers on the show Marie hegwood and Lauren white to discuss their latest
episode about the killing of andreen McDonald and we've actually never done this before on postmortem but for
today's episode we're going to hear audio from The Trial that did not make it into the hour so thank you so much
for joining us great to be here yeah thank thank you this was a case that left viewers with a lot of questions
especially when it came to the verdict but this was also a particularly violent case before we get to our postmortem
let's listen to an overview of this week's episode 29-year-old andreen McDonald a businesswoman wife and mother
who had turned her Assisted Living health care business into a million dooll Enterprise had seemingly vanished
from her home her purse was still there her keys were on on the counter and her Vehicles were still there investigator
Frank stubs saw something startling in the bathroom there was blood on the wall there was blood and hair on a light
switch Andre's husband of 10 years Air Force Major Andre McDonald told investigators the last time he had seen
his wife was the night before but the next day investigators discovered items inside Andre's car that were not there
there during their initial search including a shovel and in a trash can some clothing that appeared to be
Andre's we found Blood on the pocket of the jeans although investigators had suspicions about Andre without a body
none of the evidence collected proved that a murder had occurred law enforcement along with volunteer search
teams came out to search for Andre their search ended when a local farmer made a
shocking Discovery I saw what appeared to be a human skull that must have been a shock a shock yes McDonald was
arrested and charged with his wife's murder but he would plead not guilty raising an unusual
defense I I'll actually just say a little something about myself so my background is Jamaican so listening to
the mothers in particular it reminded me of my own mother you know um so I want to talk about the families here because
viewers might not realize that you know this is much bigger than just Andre and andreen for sure for sure he say much
bigger well I guess because you know the family is very close now they all grew up together the two families the two
families both Andre and Andre's family that was something I I realized I'd never really seen before of the the
close uh the closeness of the two families and here they are this trial they haven't seen each other in a really
long time it was almost like a family reunion before an awful reason you know um and so even though they're there
because they you know one side thinks the other side is um guilty of murder they were still hugging each other and
being kind to each other and I did not expect that interesting did they speak to each other not frequently but yeah
they did yeah they did especially because you know they had the the thing is that they they deeply loved each
other this family and so now they had the like CH sides they were forced to do that in the courtroom and so that's the
thing about it and you could see on the defense side them looking over to Andre's mother and sister who was his
sister was there also then looking at them and and you could tell that they loved each other as we know from the
episode um Andre is arrested and he is charged with andrene's murder and he hires then this incredibly talented
defense team who they have been working on his defense for years at this point and then 3 days before the trial is set
to begin Andre makes a phone call and he turns the case in completely different direction I mean when I heard about the
phone call Andre's mother and sister called me and said you know he's called us and he's confessed confessed to what
confessed well he said he did it and I was like okay um and they were just floored and so and he told us how he did
it and I just thought okay so this is it he's going to jail it's all over with this is the end of it but no yes so that
that was shocking to me he didn't say anything leading up to the trial and then a few days days before he he came
clean it was interesting to see cuz I think everybody was scrambling try to figure out what to do next so much like
the jury this episode asked viewers to figure out who and what they believed Marie Lauren you both attended the full
trial yes it has so many jawdropping moments um you know the I mean even from the beginning with the uh Prosecutor's
opening you know he starts by listing all of these things that Andre had um been looking up online so it's just like
okay the searches don't matter at this point because he's already coping to it he'd already said I did it oh yeah in a
way the prosecution was like almost proving the wrong thing and then after all that the defense comes on and their
uh opening was only 3 minutes long this is not a murder case this is not murder but it is a case about the degree
and level of responsibility it's a responsibility case the degree and level of the
responsibility Major Andre McDonald for the death of andreen McDon I imagine the
jury was like well why are we here then if it's not a murder case it was the shortest it was the shortest opening
I've ever heard right okay so let's talk about the prosecution the prosecution brings forth some uh some of the
evidence I want to start with that shocking moment when Andre tells Andre's friends and family that he goes to the
hospital to check up on her cuz she suffers from really bad migraines and I guess it's was normal for her to go to
the hospital periodically I think he was in a precarious situation because when he was there at the house and he decided
to go to the hospital was because all these people I mean her co-workers were there her mother was there asking where
Andre was the police were on their way so like the walls were closing in on that basis yeah because he's being
cornered by the police and family members asking where she's at and what does he do what does he say yeah and to
his surprise there's a McDonald already there yes and it was a woman as well and
so the um the hospital attendant the front desk guy uh he he was he testified and he said you know I let Andre in I
buzzed him in to go in and Andre just looked down the hall and turned around and walked away cuz he wasn't expecting
that he wasn't expecting it he was in the hospital for a little less than a minute in and out the excuse that he
didn't bring his cell phone didn't make any sense at all because if you had a sick relative in the hospital the first
thing you would do is check on them and then leave and I think there's a moment too if you look in the surveillance
footage right at the top right corner as he's walking to his car it's kind of distant but he kind of does this gesture
that I guess the way to describe is almost like a like a Shucks you know like with your shoulders and your hand
um and you know kind of frustrated um I don't know what that is is that him saying like oh my goodness you know I'm
in it now I don't know but it was kind of crazy to see that reaction from him wow I want to talk about
auin Andre's exboyfriend lover uh you know you can understand why a husband would get upset of course when
his wife turns up with two tattoos that I mean the birthdaye of her lover it was Beyond a tattoo they were
making plans of her being with au and I mean they were oh this was serious this was serious yeah and her husband never
knew until he saw those tattoos and even then he was kind of like was a matter of
fact about it like he was he initially was file he filed for a divorce um and they ended up getting back together and
so those tattoos even though people might have thought that that was a motive his motive that was a year before
right and she had covered them up yeah he told her to cover them up at his Quest the defense really tried to make
Aubin almost I guess in a way of um making andreen look bad they kind of made auin they kept talking about how
auin was you know this gangster and you know this big bad drug dealer they showed the jury kind of like a scary
picture of him with all these tats and stuff and this big muscular with no shirt on I think if auin would have had
a suit on and it would have been like more love affair but this was like he was just unclothed with all these tats
this is who she went to she left her husband for this man so there was another expert who testified who didn't
actually make it into the broadcast but whose information could have led to Andre's conviction for murder so both of
you felt very strongly about this expert's testimony why so it's a potentially damning piece of evidence
that would seem to poke H's and Andre McDonald's claim that he had hit Andre's body with the hammer the night after her
death we don't know if he didn't hit her and and and do this damage to her in the
house and then take her to the field he could have hit her in her throat or her jaw
you know we don't really know what we we're just going by what he's saying you know so I think we don't really know for
sure how she died so Dr Harold Gil King is the former director of forensic anthropology at the center for human
identification he came to share his findings about the injuries on Andre on andreen McDonald's skeletal Remains the
doctor testifies outside of the presence of the jury at like 9:00 a.m. to see if
his testimony should be admitted you noted that there were exhibitions of param morm blunt force injuries to the
mandible that's correct it is difficult to conceive how such a fracture would have
occurred or why it would have occurred following death okay but but you'd agree with me that that's a a
question for the imagination more than something you'd be able to scientifically include or exclude is a
possibility I would say that in my 46- year experience fractures such as the one you
mention uh occur at the time of death or slightly before he made it very clear what they
were talking about in terms of the injuries and when they might have occurred and I think I don't I don't
know what happened in terms of that motion and why he was excluded because he was very key um to this whole
testimony in terms of when the injuries happened he was not you know wavering I think some of the other experts kind of
waver like we believe we think right but I think it's really interesting too that
you know when Dr Gil King is giving this testimony you know Andre he's doing this
before Andre testifies he testifies the doctor testifies outside of the presence
of the jury at like 9:00 a.m. and then Andre takes the stand at 100 p.m. and he explains it all
away when we get back who takes the stand Andre himself so we're going to hear from him about his fear of his wife
he said he was afraid of her and the one moment during the trial that made Andre
emotional we'll be right back welcome back you know perhaps the most disturbing part of this trial in
Andre's testimony is when he explains what he does after andren dies he say um when the police came and are examining
the house house he's sitting there thinking just filled with the rage and getting really angry and then once they
leave he grabs a hammer and some gasoline and goes out there to to hit her body I think everyone else um at
least on the prosecution side thought no he's going there to destroy evidence let's hear him questioned during the
trial at first I hit her in the face with the with the like the hammer front and then I used the claw and like hit
her in the neck area and I remember the the the claw got stuck in like her neck and then that's when I like I was like
ripping the the hammer out and then at that point I think I thought I was done but that's I'm like s like walk away I
give it like one more whack somewhere in body I'm not sure where that landed you
know listening to his testimony about what he did to the body was just so brutal and detailed you know he talks
about the claw of the hammer getting stuck in her neck he kept using the word rip it was just it was it was terrible
it was terrible it was and I think the thing about is that we have to remember this is his point of this is his story
this is we have nothing else to go on because her body had been left out in the in the open and maybe that was a
plan too is to leave her out there that we don't really go have anything to go on but what he's saying did he
testify about how he determined that she was dead did he say you know I checked her pulse I checked to see if she's
breathing I he didn't do anything he didn't he didn't try try to resuscitate her even when the prosecution said why
didn't you try to resuscitate her he said something to the effect of why would I try and resuscitate a dead body
yeah yeah why would I call 911 for a dead body yes the thing about it is that he didn't get pressured for that the
prosecution didn't push him on that they never really took him to task they just
let him explain it keep on explaining himself so watching him testify I didn't know how to interpret his demeanor I
didn't know if this was a man who was just not emotional when talking about this horrendous horrific thing that
happened in his life or if this was a man that was highly disciplined because he was a trained military guy how did
you guys feel watching him testify I definitely felt that he was in control even just his whole Aura and his
Vibe and I think the way the testimony when he was on the standing and way he talked about what he did to her and the
way that he did it and how he did it just kind of matter of fact not only did he speak about her flippantly but he
rarely said her name he usually said he rarely said her name he usually said the
body or her or it and that that you know that's just another layer of dehumanization right so when he's on the
sand though he says something that certainly surprised me I don't know if it surprised the jury he actually turns
this whole thing on andreen and talks about me being in fear of her you see a video of andreen with Andre on her back
and they're running around the house and they're laughing and it's happy times and and then that was used against her
um to show wow she's so strong she can carry Andre on on her back um and then they showed the videos of her power
lifting and Andre talked about how andreen could lift about 300 lounds and and he was about 180 pounds at the time
this happened she's look taller than him she's tall yeah she's about maybe two inches taller than just a little bit
maybe she was in heels yeah she she always heels she did she wore 4 in stilettos as anytime she could at first
when I first heard the testimony about it I was offended be honest with you I just thought oh my God yeah you know
this is a wife and a mother she's a victim and next thing you know she's this big brute you know this is how
she's being framed I think for them to here you have this beautiful black woman and you're talking about how strong she
is how mean she is how angry she is you know I think it definitely was playing into stereotypes for sure much so and I
think one thing in to add to that is that when we first started hearing about the victim we never saw a picture of her
right I've been to trials where they have a photo of the victim up the whole time you know and you rarely saw photos
of andreen during this trial it's really a shame the defense rested the following
day was supposed to be closing arguments but then what happened so you know we we
live in New York New Jersey area we we're used to freezing rain Texas has not come to find out so here we are in
San Antonio there's a freezing rainstorm coming and not only does it shut down the court the court for that day and the
city of San Antonio but it shut it down for two whole days um and so this was right after Andre's testimony and so
because of this when I spoke to the jurors they told me that they believe that break kind of had a negative effect
on the jury because it it gave some distance from the testimony and from the prosecution's case and so they're just
based off they're just going off of memory from like the week prior that's a really interesting detail so finally
it's up to the jury to decide whether to convict Andre of manslaughter or murder
right it's all in how you sort of Define these two crimes they decide manslaughter what was the reaction like
in the courtroom the family I was sitting behind Andre's family and you could tell I mean they were all just
shocked when you hear not guilty of murder um and then the you know the law enforcement side they all just seemed
really disappointed for sure yeah yeah I think anyone who hears the graphic detail of what he did after according to
him after the fact would think how could you find him not guilty of murder but you know when we spoke to the jurors
they said that surprisingly the ones who were uh Pro manslaughter uh when it came
to discussing you know what he says he did after the fact with the hammer they said we're not here to discuss that H
we're here to focus on what did he do leading up to her death um you know I talked earlier about how
what was really kind of disturbing to me was the way in which he testified it came off as casual which seemed even
worse than unemotional but there was emotion during the sentencing during the victim impact statement vitim that was
the first time you you um you saw emotion in his face because when the father said you're like my son Andre's
father says and's father says that you're like my son you know you where you're going I go with you like he the
way he talked to to Andre is like the father relationship and that's when you knew that that family was a close that
they loved each other deeply loved each other and they just wanted that love to continue you know I want to play a clip
from his statement but I want you to know in spite of everything I forgive you I love
you I when I say I love you that cannot change it's like a part of me is in the Symmetry and a part of
going to jail you know when when Paul Anderson said that you know there wasn't a dry eye in the courtroom with we all
were weeping um it was it was just so emotional and you could just feel we all could feel for Paul who at this point he
had lost andreen he had lost another child whose name was also Andre and now he's speaking to Andre the person who he
believes murdered his daughter and saying I love you and I'm still with you you're still a part of me my goodness
yeah and that's when you saw Andre cuz I think he at that point he knew that he you know ruined his life and ruined the
family that he had the everything that they worked so hard for that American dream was just gone and his daughter
Elena yeah man um so Andre McDonald is sentenced to 20 years he's also appealing his manslaughter conviction
any final thoughts about working this case well I I will say you know as far as yes he was to 20 years but um
according to the judge Frank Castro with time served he could be out in about 6 and a half years from from today's
recording he could be out in about six and a half so that's kind of surprising when you hear that um but you know
overall this case was just it just so sad they're all sad of all of them of course um but you know the family aspect
and you know the the fact that these two people you know found each other built such a wonderful life for their whole
family and it was just all destroyed and I think in within the Jamaican culture I
mean just education is important um success in your career field like that's kind of like the bottom line you know in
terms of coming to America and achieving the things that they did that's that's that's what they were here for that's
what they live for you know and so now you know it's so sad because sometimes I I'll check in with um Andre's mother
I'll check in with Andre's mother Moren and Cindy to see how they doing and and how the daughter's doing and it's just
you know it's it's like night and day when a moment like like that everything's gone thank you so much for
being here thank you for having us yeah thank you so much if you want to you a timeline of
Andre story make sure you check out 48 hours.com the amazing associate producer Morgan KY put this together for us be
sure to join us next Tuesday for another postm and watch 48 hours Saturdays 10 9
Central on CBS and streaming on Paramount plus and if you are liking the show please rate and review 48 hours on
Apple podcast and follow 48 Hours wherever you get your podcast you can also listen at free on the Amazon music
and wonder app or with a 48 Hours Plus subscription on Apple podcasts [Music]

How a yellow hammer nailed a suspect in the case of a missing businesswoman.

Watch "Andreen McDonald: A Millionaire Vanishes" and then catch up with "48 Hours" producers Marie Hegwood and Lauren White on "Post Mortem" as they take us inside the shocking trial of Andre McDonald. In a case that left viewers astonished by its verdict, the 48 Hours team will share their experiences from within the courtroom and discuss everything from Andre’s shocking testimony to the moving victim impact statement from Andreen’s father, Paul Anderson.

00:01 Andreen McDonald: A Millionaire Vanishes 41:52 Listen to a post-mortem on the episode

Listen to "Post Mortem" wherever you get your podcasts: https://link.chtbl.com/22WGr3sm?sid=YT

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.

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Brief Summary

Andreen McDonald vanished, leading to her husband's arrest and trial for manslaughter after her remains were found.

Key points

A Disturbing Discovery. Investigators found blood and hair at the McDonald home, indicating a possible crime scene.
The Disappearance of Andreen McDonald. On March 1st, 2019, Andreen McDonald went missing, sparking a frantic search.
The Arrest of Andre McDonald. Andre was arrested for tampering with evidence after suspicious purchases were made.
The Discovery of Human Remains. Skeletal remains belonging to Andreen were found, leading to Andre's murder charge.
The Prosecution's Case. The prosecution presents evidence of severe injuries consistent with blunt force trauma.
McDonald's Disturbing Testimony. McDonald describes a violent confrontation with his wife, leading to her death.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I mean she's alive right? She's somewhere.

Hope amidst the search for Andreen.

3:30WatchJun 28, 2024

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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