SAN ANTONIO – Andre McDonald accepted a plea deal for a charge of tampering with evidence following the death of his wife, Andreen McDonald.
The Air Force major appeared in a hearing on Wednesday to sign the paperwork on that plea deal. The deal calls for a 5-year sentence to be stacked on top of his 20-year sentence.
Wednesday’s proceedings bring an end to this case for the prosecution, but the defense plans to appeal.
Andre McDonald was found guilty of manslaughter earlier this month and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The defendant was originally on trial for murder in the 2019 death, but the jury went with the lesser charge.
He was the prime suspect in his wife’s disappearance when family and friends reported her missing after she was last seen alive on Feb. 28, 2019.
According to court testimony, Andre McDonald gave investigators conflicting statements on his wife’s whereabouts and then stopped cooperating after hiring an attorney.
After months of searching, officials found Andreen’s remains in July 2019 at a private property in far north Bexar County. Soon after the discovery, Andre McDonald was charged.
The prosecution said during closing arguments that Andre McDonald killed his wife at their home because he was enraged that she was having an affair, thought she wanted to have him killed by her lover and wanted to open a business in her own name without him knowing about it.
The prosecution also said the defendant tried to cover his tracks by beating his wife’s remains with a hammer and then burning them.
The defense countered by telling the jury that the case was not about murder and was about responsibility that McDonald was beginning to take.
He was convicted of manslaughter on Feb. 3 and sentenced on Feb. 6.
The defendant normally would have been eligible for parole in 10 years in prison, but due to the time already served in jail, he will be eligible in 7.5 years.
WATCH: Video snippets from sentencing of Andre McDonald after his manslaughter conviction
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