SAN ANTONIO – A late discovery of evidence led to a partial bond reduction during a Bexar County court hearing for an Air Force Major accused of killing his wife.
Andre McDonald, who is charged with murder and tampering with evidence in connection with the 2019 death of his wife Andreen McDonald, saw his bail reduced to a total of $550,000 after a court hearing on Friday. Visiting Judge Raymond Angelini reduced the bail on McDonald’s tampering with evidence charge to $100,000 from $300,000, court records showed. He did not lower the $450,000 bail set in McDonald’s murder charge.
With his trial set to begin on Nov. 8, McDonald’s attorneys argued they have yet to receive all the evidence prosecutors have gathered in the case. Prosecutors told the judge the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office had recently turned over new evidence to them, but that they haven’t had a chance to review all of those files.
Angelini ordered prosecutors to turn over all of the newly submitted evidence within two weeks before a Nov. 5 hearing to determine how and when the trial will proceed.
McDonald was the prime suspect in his wife Andreen’s disappearance immediately after she was reported missing by her family and friends on Feb. 28, 2019. According to court records, he gave investigators conflicting statements on her whereabouts and then stopped cooperating after hiring an attorney.
A week after she was reported missing, he was arrested for tampering with evidence but was released on bond about a month later.
Officials eventually found Andreen’s remains in July 2019, at a private property in far north Bexar County. Soon after the discovery, Andre McDonald was charged with murder.
McDonald has remained in jail since he was charged with murder. Castro reduced McDonald’s bail for his murder charge from $2 million to $450,000 in March.