SAN ANTONIO – The man accused of killing his wife and burning her body will finally be going to trial on Jan. 17.
Andre McDonald is charged with the 2019 murder of his wife Andreen McDonald.
It’s been almost a year since McDonald’s last hearing when his bond was lowered.
A trial was set to begin last fall but prosecutors were still sifting through new evidence that was given to them by the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office just weeks before the start date.
Andreen McDonald was last seen alive on Feb. 28, 2019. McDonald was the prime suspect in his wife’s disappearance when family and friends reported her missing several days later. 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.
After months of searching, officials found Andreen’s remains in July of 2019, at a private property in far north Bexar County. Soon after the discovery, Andre McDonald was charged with murder.
McDonald’s trial will take place in the 399th District Court by presiding Judge Frank Castro.
His attorney John Convery wanted a speedy trial and was not happy with the trial date being pushed to 2023.
“It’s way too much delay,” Convery said. “We made a motion to dismiss this case for not giving him a speedy trial.”
That motion on Monday morning was denied by Castro.
The prosecutors wanted the 2023 date because they needed to time to get all their witnesses to San Antonio.
“The only request that the state has is that we do have some witnesses that are in the FBI, some witnesses in the military, some witnesses that are out of the country,” prosecutor Steven Speir said during the hearing.
Castro said the new date will be the last reset for this case.
McDonald’s trial is expected to last about three week. If found guilty he faces up to life in prison.