NY - Megan McDonald, 20, murdered, Wallkill, 15 March 2003 *Arrest in 2023*

[MickiNikiP.I.]

Hi everyone. I'm new to this site and fairly new researching Megan McDonald's unresolved murder case. I thought I'd reach out here and see if you could assist me with some gaps in the story for me.

Regarding Megan's case, I've gathered these facts:

Megan was a 20-year old, college student at Orange County Community Community College. She worked at a diner in the Galleria Mall.

The discovery of her body was made on March 15, 2003, in a muddy field on Bowser Road in Middletown, New York.

She was severely beaten and an autopsy report showed she died of blunt force trauma.
Two days after her body was found, her car, a 1991 Mercury Sable, was found at Kensington Manor Apartments.

I've read that at the time of her death she had a boyfriend. She was possibly last seen at the Greenway Terrace's Apartments. However, there seems to be a lot of speculation as to where she was that night and who she was with.

I've read through FB comments (unreliable I know, but possibly worth looking into), that she was spotted at a bar that night. I was wondering if anyone knew what/where she was doing and who she was with before she was found on Bowser Road.

Does anyone have any information as to who she was dating at the time? If she worked earlier that day at the mall?

I know the NYSP is still working on this case and reportedly interviewing individuals who are now willing to talk etc. perhaps even testing evidence with new technology than they had 18 years ago.

Thanks so much for your insight.

 

[DropthePuck]

New article about Megan's murder: New York State Police reveal new lead in 2003 murder of SUNY Orange student

 

[dotr]

New article about Megan's murder: New York State Police reveal new lead in 2003 murder of SUNY Orange student

Thanks, snippets from lengthy link...rbbm.

''Detectives think this new detail about the car is extremely important to the case.

“She observed a dark-colored hatchback-style vehicle, which she described as either a Honda Civic hatchback or just a hatchback style vehicle right behind Megan's car,” Det. Natalizio continued. “The condo complex kind of has a big kind of a loop. Shortly thereafter the cars came back around. So it appears that they did a full loop in the parking lot and she observed that same vehicle behind Megan's vehicle with the radio system very, very loud.”

The New York State police are asking anybody who knew an individual who was operating a dark car similar to a Honda Civic hatchback with an extremely loud sound system in 2003, to come forward and provide information.''


''Detectives believe that the person who had been following Megan in the hatchback-style car, ultimately got into Megan’s backseat and they then drove to the desolate location down Bowser Road where Megan was killed.

“We believe that there was two individuals who then drove her vehicle back to the Kensington Manor apartment complex,” Det. Natalizio told Dateline. Authorities also believe at least one of the individuals then got into the dark Honda Civic-looking hatchback with the loud sound system that had been parked at the complex and drove away.''

Once Megan’s car was found, it was processed for evidence. “The crime scene reveals that she was ultimately killed with a blunt object while seated in the driver's seat of her vehicle,” Det. Natalizio told Dateline.

“The investigators early on did a tremendous, tremendous job safeguarding a lot of those items and ultimately sending them for DNA analysis… There's over 700 items of evidence in the case,” Det. Natalizio said. “Every item in the case -- every item we can think of -- has been looked at,” Det. Corletta added. The detectives also noted that the private lab Cybergenetics is being used to re-examine DNA.''

“One suspect who had a clear motive. We believe this is intimate partner violence,” Det. Natalizio said. Authorities are grateful for the assistance they’ve gotten from various agencies over the years. “The FBI has been a monumental part of this investigation,” Det. Natalizio said, including the Behavioral Analysis Unit. “They provided us a tremendous amount of information which corroborates a lot of our thinking, as well. And, you know, we believe that that particular night that this was a crime of passion. It was overkill, intimate partner violence -- individual had a motive, there was an extreme level of rage.”

Ultimately, Det. Natalizio said, “we believe it was what the BAU would describe as a narcissistic injury to suspect which caused the suspect to go into a rage.”

 

[WebSleuth27]

Based on everything that was written, they knew the guy. They knew who the 3rd person is who is now gone. Does police not have enough evidence to secure a murder conviction? Do they need an actual witness to come forward? That’s what I am getting.

 

[NYanon]

Justice for Megan

Interview with Jimmy O'donell on WTBQ

www.justiceformegan.com

Website created by her family, as per recent NBC News article (linked by @DropthePuck a few posts upthread).

Search for cold case killer on victim's 40th birthday

WALLKILL, N.Y. (PIX11) — Megan McDonald, an NYPD detective’s daughter, will forever be 20 years old, but investigators who’ve worked since 2003 to solve her cold-case murder wanted the …

pix11.com

Article shared on Facebook page run by her family (as per same NBC News article).

Welcome to fbi.gov | Federal Bureau of Investigation

www.fbi.gov

FBI page, shared on above-mentioned Facebook page.

Megan McDonald: State Police never closer to an arrest than now

State Police say they've never been closer to an arrest in the 2003 beating death of Megan McDonald, but they need witnesses to seal the deal.

www.recordonline.com

Another recent article, also shared on the Facebook page.

[Edits: adding additional links.]

 

[imstilla.grandma]

New York State Police continue to actively investigate the murder of 20-year-old town of Wallkill resident Megan McDonald.

The New York State Police Troop F Bureau of Criminal Investigation in Middletown continues to investigate the 2003 murder of Megan McDonald.

The 20-year-old's body was found on March 15, 2003, in a field off Bowser Road in the town of Wallkill in Orange County. The cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma, police say.

“It was a very vicious attack on this young girl, and she had a very promising future ahead of her,” Detectives’ Endowment Association in New York City President Paul DiGiacomo told WPIX. "And to take that away from Megan and her family, there has to be consequences.”

Large Rewards To Find 'Vicious' Killer In Upstate New York

Over 20-year's ago a promising 20-year-old was viciously murdered in the Hudson Valley. Large rewards are now being offered to put the killer behind bars.

hudsonvalleypost.com

No arrests have been made. Wednesday marks 20 years since McDonald's remains were found in a field off Bowser Road. Her father was a retired NYPD detective who died in 2002, a year before McDonald was killed -- and the NYC Detectives' Endowment Association is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of her killer.

McDonald's story was the subject of a "Dateline" last year in which detectives discussed the latest developments in the case. McDonald had a conversation with two people she knew who were throwing a birthday party in Wallkill, near Greenway Terrace. They supposedly tried to get her to join and she refused.

Detectives told Dateline that people who attended the party later reported those two people had come back -- and told the rest of the group McDonald left to spend time with other friends in Middletown.

She ended up at her friend's home there and stayed until about midnight, according to the Dateline report. She told her friend she had to go home because she had to get up early for work in the morning, detectives told Dateline.

The friend didn't see her again, and detectives told Dateline McDonald apparently went back to that party instead of going home. She left pretty quickly, telling two other friends she was going to hang out with "somebody," detectives told Dateline. According to the report, they watched her drive away. That was likely the last time she was seen alive.

In a later interview, an initial witness had a new detail, New York State Police Det. Brad Natalizio told Dateline -- a vehicle with a loud sound system that had been seen behind McDonald's car. The witness only noticed it because the volume was so loud, according to the Dateline report. It was likely a dark car that looked like a Honda Civic hatchback.

Who Murdered Megan McDonald? NY Cold Case Featured on ‘Dateline' Unsolved 20 Years Later

It was March 15, 2003. The body of a young woman was discovered in a field in the town of Wallkill in the Orange County city of Middletown. She had been murdered. Her name was Megan McDonald, and she was 20 years old.

www.nbcnewyork.com

 

[dotr]

ARREST!
rbbm
April 20 2023

Megan McDonald Murder: Arrest Made in 20-Year Cold Case Killing of NYPD Detective's Daughter

A 42-year-old New York man has been arrested in the 2003 murder of Megan McDonald, whose baffling case featured on “Dateline” ahead of the solemn 20-year anniversary of her death. New York State Police announced Thursday that Edward Holley, of Wawayanda in Orange County, had been charged with...

www.nbcnewyork.com

''What to Know​

• It was March 15, 2003. The body of a young woman was discovered in a field in the town of Wallkill in the Orange County city of Middletown. She had been murdered. Her name was Megan McDonald
• Her father was a retired NYPD detective who died in 2002, a year before McDonald was killed; the 20-year-old's baffling case was featured on Dateline last year ahead of the 20-year annniversary
• NYSP announced Thursday that 42-year-old Edward Holley had been arrested on a charge of second-degree murder; a press conference was expected later in the day

A 42-year-old New York man has been arrested in the 2003 murder of Megan McDonald, whose baffling case featured on "Dateline" ahead of the solemn 20-year anniversary of her death.

New York State Police announced Thursday that Edward Holley, of Wawayanda, had been charged with second-degree murder in McDonald's death. He would have been in his 20s at the time.

A press conference is expected later in the day.''

''Her father spent 20 years with the NYPD and did some homicide detective work there but died of a heart attack in 2002, McDonald's sister, Karen, told Dateline. He was 47 -- and she told the show that watching him work over the years made her confident the investigators working on her sister's case wouldn't give up until it's solved.

"Seeing what my dad would put into cases and how it affected him personally and the care that he brought to cases," Karen McDonald told Dateline last year. "I feel for the police officers that have carried this for years for my sister. And I know that it's -- it's more, you know, it's -- it's personal to them at this point."

 

[dotr]

Megan McDonald murder: Police make arrest in 20-year-old cold case

Megan McDonald's 2003 murder is one of Orange County's stubbornest cold cases. State Police now say they've got their man in the 20-year-old murder.

www.timestelegram.com

''Moments before the press conference, Holley was wheeled out of the Troop F barracks in a wheelchair, flanked by two troopers. Peppered with questions from the media, Holley was defiant.

"They're parading me out here like some freaking monkey out here, but it's all good," he said, wearing an Orange County jail jumpsuit. (He was in the county jail on narcotics charges.) Asked what he had to say, he offered "I'm definitely not guilty."

''Two young women skirted to the edge of the media crush to say, "I love you, Dad" to Holley, then bolted away as the handcuffed suspect was lifted into the back of a police vehicle. Holley said: "I didn't do it. I loved Megan."

 

[Twistinginthewind]

“We never gave up and we are all on Megan’s team,” authorities say after arrest made in 2003 murder of Megan McDonald in Wallkill, New York​

Authorities arrested 42-year-old Edward Holley for second-degree murder

Last month marked the 20 year anniversary of the murder of 20-year-old SUNY Orange student Megan McDonald.
Now, officials have made an arrest in the case.

New York State Police announced on Thursday, April 20, that a 42-year-old man named Edward Holley has been arrested for second-degree murder in connection to Megan’s death in March 2003.
...
According to the felony complaint filed Thursday by Investigator Michael Corletta of the New York State Police, a thorough review of the evidence in the case resulted in “Edward Holley being identified as the suspect in the murder of Megan McDonald.” He states that Holley had a “clear motive.”

In the felony complaint, it is noted that there was hostility between Holley and Megan, as Holley allegedly owed Megan a substantial amount of money.
...

Over the years, Holley did state in police interviews that he had an argument with Megan several days before the homicide, but the complaint states that his reasoning for the argument “changes in all his State Police interviews.” Holley also claimed to both police and a witness that the day they had the argument was the last time he saw Megan.

However, authorities say that both witness statements and “cell phone tower records of the victim’s cell phone establish that the victim and Holley were in the same general area on the night of the murder.”

The complaint also notes that in January of 2023, the New York State Police began receiving assistance from a private company called CyberCheck. This company was able to place the cellular devices of Megan McDonald, Edward Holley and Suspect #2 all together “at key locations on the night of the homicide.” ..."

“We never gave up and we are all on Megan’s team,” authorities say after arrest made in 2003 murder of Megan McDonald in Wallkill, New York

 

[Eli9]

Wow! Congrats to the investigators who had such a tough job and never gave up.

 

[dotr]

April 27 2023

Suspect just arrested in two-decade old cold case murder to be released

Edward Holley was charged with second-degree murder in the death of college student Megan McDonald. By law, he had to be indicted within six days, but that didn't happen.

www.cbsnews.com

''WALLKILL, N.Y. — A suspect just arrested in the 2003 cold case murder of a college student in a northern New York City suburb is about to be released, CBS New York's Lisa Rozner and Ali Bauman report.

Edward Holley, 42, was charged last week but by law, he had to be indicted within six days. That didn't happen, so he'll be released from jail Thursday, authorities say.''

''Her family expressed relief but almost a week later, Holley is being freed because he wasn't indicted on the murder charge in the required six-day window.

His attorney, Paul Weber, says Holley maintains his innocence.

"There's a lot of holes in this, and I think there are two other players that are probably the people that they should be focusing on," Weber said. "They did not meet the burden of probable cause for the arrest."

 

[Eli9]

Oh no. Megan's family doesn't deserve the roller coaster of emotions they must be feeling right now.

 

[Gardenista]

Shocking screw-up in Megan McDonald murder case: Suspect released because cops, prosecutors weren't on same page

Just one week after Megan McDonald's family members looked on as Edward Holley was wheeled into a car in handcuffs, the murder suspect in the decades-old case is out of custody.

lawandcrime.com

 

[imstilla.grandma]

WALLKILL, N.Y. — A suspect just arrested in the 2003 cold case murder of a college student in a northern New York City suburb is about to be released, CBS New York's Lisa Rozner and Ali Bauman report.

Edward Holley, 42, was charged last week but by law, he had to be indicted within six days. That didn't happen, so he'll be released from jail Thursday, authorities say.

Last Thursday, New York State Police charged Holley with second-degree murder two decades after Wallkill resident Megan McDonald's body was found badly beaten and abandoned on a dirt road.

McDonald's family released a statement saying they are "disappointed. However, his temporary release was expected. After patiently waiting for over 20 years, we are confident that the police have arrested the right person - Edward Holley. The process may not be easy or follow our preferred path, but we will not rest until justice is secured for Megan."

Last week, Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler lamented that police didn't consult with his office before making the arrest, saying, "Complicated cases are normally at least partially presented to a grand jury before an arrest is made."

Hoovler warned that this could happen saying, "Grand jury presentations on 'cold' homicide cases involving complicated fact patterns can rarely be commenced and completed within six days."

"They have to ultimately prosecute this thing, and you have to follow their rules," said Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant who served as commanding officer of the Bronx cold case squad.

MSN

 

[Veronica Sawyer]

Megan McDonald murder: Police make arrest in 20-year-old cold case

Megan McDonald's 2003 murder is one of Orange County's stubbornest cold cases. State Police now say they've got their man in the 20-year-old murder.

www.timestelegram.com

View attachment 416060
''Moments before the press conference, Holley was wheeled out of the Troop F barracks in a wheelchair, flanked by two troopers. Peppered with questions from the media, Holley was defiant.

"They're parading me out here like some freaking monkey out here, but it's all good," he said, wearing an Orange County jail jumpsuit. (He was in the county jail on narcotics charges.) Asked what he had to say, he offered "I'm definitely not guilty."

''Two young women skirted to the edge of the media crush to say, "I love you, Dad" to Holley, then bolted away as the handcuffed suspect was lifted into the back of a police vehicle. Holley said: "I didn't do it. I loved Megan."

Am I the only one who found this display odd?

 

[Mishmish]

Felony complaint against Edward V. Holley:

https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23784620/felony-complaint-holley.pdf

 

[Twistinginthewind]

DA requests Special Prosecutor in Edward Holley Case​

May 3, 2023

"Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that he requested that a Special Prosecutor be appointed in the case of People v. Edward Holley, which is pending in the Town of Wallkill Justice Court. Holley is charged with Murder in the Second Degree in connection with the bludgeoning death of Megan McDonald in the Town of Wallkill in March 2003. The basis of the application is that while in private practice prior to becoming District Attorney, Mr. Hoovler represented a client in negotiations with the District Attorney’s office regarding potential information that client might provide regarding Ms. McDonald’s death. That client passed away prior to Hoovler taking office."

DA requests Special Prosecutor in Edward Holley Case - My Hudson Valley

 

[dotr]

Megan McDonald murder: Edward Holley arraigned in Orange County court on 2003 cold case

In a case that took 20 years before an arrest and another 9 months before an indictment, Edward Holley was formally charged in McDonald's 2003 murder.

www.lohud.com

Feb 2 2023 rbbm
'Megan McDonald's beaten body was found in a field off Bowser Road in the town of Wallkill on March 15, 2003, the special district attorney said. Her skull was crushed, her face unrecognizable. Holley beat her with a blunt instrument “more than a dozen strikes,” Cornachio said.

Cornachio recalled that McDonald and Holley had a physical relationship that had ended. “They were no longer a couple,” she said.''

''She set the next court date for Feb. 21 at 1:45 p.m.
If convicted, Holley faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.''

 

[imstilla.grandma]

"New York State Rules of Professional Conduct regarding attorney-client privilege specifically prevent an attorney from revealing information learned as a result of the attorney-client relationship and that privilege survives even after death of the client," Weber said. "There are several exceptions to that rule but the specifics of this case, as I see them, do not fall within any of those exceptions.

"If the allegations the State Police are making are true, it appears that there was a serious breach of the Rules of Professional Conduct," Weber said. "As for what repercussions there will be in the future, that remains to be seen. His former client's family has every reason to be upset if the allegations are true and the specifics do not fall within any of the exceptions."

Megan McDonald murder: Can a lawyer ever divulge client's secrets?

President of State Bar Association talks about attorney-client privilege, a bedrock legal principle, and one that binds DA David Hoovler.

www.democratandchronicle.com

 

[dotr]

Feb 5 2024

Megan McDonald murder: Follow this timeline through the NY cold case twists and turns

It's been nearly 21 years since Megan McDonald's body was found in an Orange County field. Our timeline takes you through the cold case's every turn.

www.lohud.com

Bobby WelberPublished: February 4, 2024

Update: 'Vicious' Killer In Upstate New York Found After 20 Years

A man who allegedly killed his girlfriend, an NYPD detective's daughter more than 20 years ago is back behind bars.

nj1015.com