GOSHEN – The family of Megan McDonald on Thursday night responded to Edward Holley’s acquittal on murder charges in Orange County Court and still believes he is responsible for her death.
A jury found Holley not guilty on Wednesday in the 2003 death of McDonald in the Town of Wallkill after nearly two weeks of deliberations.
“There is a significant difference between being found not guilty and being innocent,” the McDonald family wrote on the Facebook page Justice for Megan McDonald. “Our family clearly understands this distinction. After decades of seeking the truth, we now have the answer to who took Megan from us.”
The family thanked the State Police and special prosecutors Julia Cornachio and Laura Murphy for their “tireless and ethical work.”
“And most importantly, for providing us with the clarity and closure that allow us to finally find some peace,” the family added.
Holley, 45, of Wawayanda, was on trial for the second time after a mistrial was declared in the first trial last April due to a hung jury. After being found not guilty, Holley told Mid-Hudson News: “It was only right. I was innocent all along. It is only right for me to be a free man. I didn’t do anything. I should have never been in jail.”
Prosecutors presented a circumstantial case against Holley and did not obtain a confession. A murder weapon was never located, and there were no eyewitnesses in what was a cold case until Holley was arrested by the State Police in 2023.
“Beyond a reasonable doubt is a high standard of proof,” said Cheryl Bader, a law professor at Fordham University and a former prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey. “Without an eyewitness, concrete forensics, or a smoking gun, the prosecution couldn’t give jurors what they needed to feel confident in a guilty verdict.”
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