SAN ANTONIO – Three days before his murder trial was to begin, an Air Force major confessed to killing his wife, his sister-in-law testified in court Monday.
Cindy Johnson was the first witness to testify in the trial of Andre McDonald, who is charged in the slaying of his wife, Andreen McDonald, in 2019.
Andreen McDonald (left) and Andre McDonald (KSAT)
Johnson told jurors that on Friday she received a phone call from the defendant who said he wanted Johnson and her mother “to know the truth” before the trial began.
During the 41-minute phone call, Johnson said that the defendant told them about an argument he had with his wife over her operating a business — a tax office — in her name only, which had upset him, she testified.
Johnson testified that the defendant then started talking about how he killed his wife in their bedroom.
“He plunged her to the ground (and) used his foot to stomp her,” Johnson testified.
Johnson testified that the defendant said that his young autistic daughter witnessed the killing and then he put her to bed.
The defendant then went outside his house “and couldn’t believed what happened, can’t believe she’s dead,” Johnson testified. “(He) take off her clothes and burned it and put her body in the car. He took the body where it was found.”
Johnson wasn’t originally scheduled to testify in the trial. But that all changed over the weekend after she reported the phone call with the defendant to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
After months of searching, law enforcement found Andreen McDonald’s remains in July 2019 at a private property in far north Bexar County.
If he is found guilty, Andre McDonald could face up to life in prison.
Find more coverage of the Andre McDonald trial here.