San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Suspect in wife’s killing released on bond after bail reduction OK’d
The husband accused of killing a San Antonio businesswoman who was missing for four months in 2019 was released on bond Friday from the Bexar County jail.
Andre Sean McDonald, 42, a major in the Air Force Reserve, posted bond on bail totaling $250,000 for charges of murder and tampering with evidence with intent to impair an investigation, according to court records.
A judge granted a motion filed on Nov. 3 to reduce McDonald’s bail. It was the third time a bail reduction has been granted for either of McDonald’s charges, which initially totaled $2.3 million.
Andreen McDonald, the woman killed, was a mother and fitness enthusiast who owned a company that operates residential living facilities for senior citizens. She was last seen alive Feb. 28. Andre McDonald told investigators that he and his wife had an argument the night of her disappearance.
Hundreds of volunteers helped with numerous searches throughout northern Bexar County in the wake of Andreen McDonald’s disappearance. Her skeletal remains were found in July on a private ranch in the 600 block of Specht Road, east of Camp Bullis.
Authorities said she appeared to have been covered by wood and bones from a dead cow, then burned. Investigators found melted plastic or synthetic material among the remains. She was identified through dental records.
A grand jury indictment returned against Andre McDonald in October 2019 accuses him of causing his wife’s death “by a manner and means unknown.”
Their daughter, who was 7 years old when her mother disappeared, is living with family.
Court records state that Andre McDonald will be on partial GPS release and that he is allowed to work. Before his arrest, McDonald was a cyberwarfare operations officer.
He had been in the jail since his arrest July 13, 2019, two days after his wife’s remains were discovered in the far North Side field.
His attorney, John Convery, said Friday that although McDonald is charged with a serious offense, he has a demonstrated the ability to be out on bond.
“It’s not a gift that anybody gave him. It’s a constitutional right you were born with it,” Convery said. “He made bail before in this same investigation and he just didn’t have any problems.”
McDonald was initially arrested and accused of tampering with evidence in March 2019, prior to the discovery of his wife’s remains.
Convery cited an affidavit filed by the bondsman from his previous release, saying McDonald was wherever he needed to be at all times and that he called in when he was required to.
He was arrested a second time and charged with murder in July 2019. Since then, his court cases have been pending throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
The trial was scheduled to be held in October, Convery said, but prosecutors were still gathering evidence.
“He spent the entire COVID pandemic in the Bexar County Jail,” Convery said.
The state has since filed a motion for continuance, pushing court hearings to a later date.