On Wednesday, a judge has lowered the bail for a Texas man who’s jailed in connection with the ongoing disappearance of his wife.
The San Antonio Express-News reported that State District Judge Frank Castro reduced Andre Sean McDonald’s bail for tampering with evidence from $2 million to $200,000. The reduction means that McDonald, 40, could be released on $30,000 bond.
While McDonald’s defense team argued that the original bond was too high, prosecutors claimed he is a flight risk.
“The bond needs to consider the assets that the defendant has available to him, the seriousness of the crime, the risk to the community and flight risk. All of those things taken into consideration demanded a high bond in this case,” district attorney’s chief of litigation Christian Henricksen said, according to KSAT.
The Air Force major was criminally charged for allegedly destroying two receipts which showed he bought an ax, shovel, heavy-duty trash bags, work gloves, and gasoline around the time of Andreen McDonald’s March 1 disappearance. KENS reported that authorities believe Andre was planning to dispose of his 29-year-old wife’s body but didn’t have the chance to do so.
According to court documents obtained by the Express-News, two friends who reported Andreen missing discovered a burn pile in the back of the McDonalds’ home and blood and hair on a light switch located inside the couple’s master bedroom. A search of the home reportedly uncovered human blood in the bathroom.
“The first witness said that the Missing Person (Andreen McDonald) told her many times if she ever went missing it would be because the Suspect killed her,” an affidavit stated.
Upon his release, Andre will be under full house arrest and wear an electronic monitoring device. He’s due back in court on April 24.
[Featured image: Andre and Andreen McDonald/Facebook]
