SAN ANTONIO – Many people watching the trial of Andre McDonald were already surprised when he took the stand in his defense, but that surprise turned to shock when the accused killer confessed to causing his wife’s death and then disposing of her body.
During McDonald’s more than four-hour testimony on Day 6 of the trial, the Air Force major told a jury details about the night his wife, Andreen was killed.
You can watch a clip of that confession in the video player above and the full 4-hour confession at the bottom of this article.
Andre McDonald claimed self-defense, and after staying silent for nearly four years, he had a lot to say.
He said the couple had been arguing because Andreen was having an affair and tried to start a new business in her name. It all came to a boiling point on Feb. 28, 2019, after they met at a tax preparation office.
Andre claimed that Andreen was angry after he told her he was going to file for divorce. She yelled insults in Jamaican Patois and spit in his face, he said. And then, their arguing turned into a physical fight.
Here are some of the most shocking things Andre McDonald said during his testimony on the witness stand.
About the fight that led up to Andreen’s death:
“At that point, it’s just, like, reflex. I grabbed her, because she’s, like, right in front of me. I grabbed her head. I think we had, like, a clash of heads and I think it opened up, like, a cut somewhere on her face.”
“At that point, she gets extremely angry and that’s when she comes across the bathroom from the switch to back towards the door that I’m standing in to attack me.”
“When she was attacking me, I was basically trying to defend myself.”
“When she comes, she’s, like, throwing some punches so I’m, like, trying to go down and keep my face from, like, getting hit with the blows.”
“I haven’t really practiced fighting. I work with computers.”
“That’s a normal reaction from any human being when you’re under attack, you’re going to try to defend yourself. "
“I remember, like, grabbing her and tripping her on one of my legs and then she, like, falls and that’s when I kick her, like, twice as soon as she fell.”
“As soon as she fell, it was, like, a reaction, you know, I landed, like, a couple of kicks.”
“I just gave her a couple kicks ‘til I knocked the wind out of her.”
“I didn’t see exactly where the kicks landed to be honest.”
“The second kick, I think I heard, like, some type of wheezing, you know, coming out of her.”
“It was probably a hard kick.”
About realizing Andreen was dead:
“I heard her wheezing so at the time, I just thought she had the wind knocked out of her so she probably already caught her breath. She probably called the police and made up some story.”
“At that point, I sort of go over to her and she’s not moving and then I bent over to, like, check, ya know.”
“So I bent over and then I, like, grabbed her face and then, like, feel, like, if I could feel, like, a pulse or something. And then I put my ear next to, like, her nose to see if she was breathing, and she was not.”
About dragging her body out of the house:
“I think I need to get her out of the house before Alayna (their daughter) wakes up and sees her in the house.”
“I’m pretty nervous, I’m frantic, you know, what-in-the-hell-is-going-on type deal.”
“She’s pretty big so I drug her in the plastic bags.”
“I had to lean her upper body against, like, the back of the vehicle after I opened up the trunk, and then I had to, like, scoot down and use the bumper, kinda, like, as leverage, and then, like, grab the lower part of her body and, like, (gestures lifting something) to turn her into the trunk.”
About dumping Andreen’s body on rural property off Specht Road:
“I’ll just get her out of the house and then I’ll just pretend I don’t know where she is.”
“It was quite a hassle.”
“I remember there was a dead cow right where I ended up.”
“I took the bags off. I was just going to leave it (the body) there and for some reason, I don’t remember why but I just had this weird idea that I probably should just take her clothes.”
About feeling like he’s the victim:
“I’m thinking my life is over now. I’m guessing I would get blamed for this.”
“No, I didn’t think I was guilty, but knowing, like, the circumstance, there’s obviously a dead person in your house and you’re the only adult there.”
“We had a good life for a while and everything is going good and basically this madness, like, you know.”
“I’m feeling really sad... At the same time, I’m also, like, ‘why me, why me?’”
“I’m just thinking, ‘Oh My God,’ you know. This is probably it. It’s over.”
“I’m just thinking my life is freaking over. And my daughter’s life is probably over, too”
“During that time frame, my mind kind of shifted. At first, I was just, like, feeling sorry about, like, the whole situation. I’m just thinking if only I knew what was going to happen when I went back to the house, I would have probably just left the gas station and drive to Houston that night and never come back or something, like, that... And then I started feeling for myself, like, man, why the hell does this shit have to happen to me of all people.”
“Why the hell did this have to happen to me?”
“I’m just thinking how my life is going great for several years. I get married. I get a kid. You know, career-wise I’m doing good. I got promoted. Business is going good. And then just for it to turn on a dime from that kind of atmosphere to now this whole crazy situation where basically there’s one dead person and I’m probably going down for that. And then there’s this little girl with autism that basically got no parents and then all the other people whose lives are going to get ruined because of this whole situation.”
“At that point, I was just mad at the person that I believed had caused this whole situation and destroyed all of our lives.”
About getting so angry that he went back to Andreen’s body to hit her and set her on fire:
“The pity kinda went away and now it was just, like, pure rage and anger.”
“I’m just pissed off at Andreen at that point.”
“I was angry as hell.”
“The reason why I’m really, really angry is just because I’m thinking of this whole situation, like, I leave the house just to avoid the very situation that I’m in. A confrontation with Andreen. Ok. And all of this in my opinion, like, could have been avoided. Like, if Andreen wanted to go be with someone else, she was free to do that. She had a degree. She owned half of a business, like, why would she need to go through all this stuff to try to get it all? And then in my opinion at that point, I’m thinking, that’s what the whole thing about going to Jamaica was. To try to get this dude to, like, put me off so she could get everything.”
“I get really angry so at that point I pour, like, the gas on her and I lit the fire.”
“At that point, I got, like, really pissed off and just start hitting the body with the hammer.”
“I don’t know if you can desecrate a body with a hammer, sir, but you can hit it pretty hard.”
“I know I was hitting in the face and the neck area.”
“I remember the claw got stuck in her neck, and I was, like, ripping the hammer out.”
“I thought I was done but as I was starting to walk away I get, like, one more whack somewhere on the body, I’m not sure where that was.”
About why he purchased a hatchet, ax, shovel and gas can two days after Andreen’s death:
“In the morning, I’m thinking, the only way to get out of this now is to go try and get rid of the body.”
“I got up that morning with the intention of chopping the body up and setting it on fire and burying the bones.”
“The night before I didn’t have plans on getting rid of a body, I was just angry at the body. The morning, I was trying to get rid of the body.”
About why he purchased a handgun two days after Andreen’s death:
“With all the situation of folks accusing me of stuff, my point was to get a firearm for protection.”
On why he had hundreds of google searches about how dead bodies decompose:
“A lot of this stuff is, like, curiosity.”
“Just thinking about what the case would look, like, basically.”
About why he didn’t tell anyone where Andreen’s body was:
“I sort of expected she would be found, I was just surprised it took that long.”
“I’m thinking she’s probably gonna be found in a day or two, to be honest.”
“Why would I make any efforts if I already know she’s dead? I’m not going to go out in the field and pretend and do some charade or something and pretend going out doing fake searches with people and passing out flyers. Why would I do any of that? That’s a screw-up on top of what already happened.”
About why he waited four years to confess:
“When I got arrested for the case I decided at that point I was just going to dig in and wait until I went to court ‘cause I didn’t really, like, trust the police or maybe the DA’s office trying to twist words against me or try to manipulate that stuff.”
“I decided my best bet was to wait until I go to court and then I’ll tell the truth.”
Watch Day 6 of the Andre McDonald trial, including his full testimony:
Both sides have rested their case.
After a two-day delay due to icy weather conditions in San Antonio, closing arguments are set to begin at 9 a.m. on Thursday.
Andre McDonald could face up to life in prison if he is found guilty of murder. A lesser charge of manslaughter could be added for the jury’s consideration when they go into deliberations, which could happen as early as Thursday afternoon.