Nobody could have predicted that the investigations that followed Megan McDonald’s horrendous murder in the early hours of March 14, 2003, would take just over two decades to produce a conclusion. But sadly, as shown in NBC’s “Dateline: Cold Case Highlights,” it was necessary to do just that for authorities to definitively identify her ex-boyfriend Edward “Ed” Holley as the suspected offender. We have the information for you if you just want to know more about him, with an emphasis on his past, his participation with the former, and his current position.
Who is Edward Holley?
We know there was a two-year age difference between these New Yorkers while they maintained a tumultuous love affinity, even if it’s unclear when Edward initially met Megan. We use the word “turbulent” because in addition to being the daughter of the late NYPD detective (2002)’s principal marijuana dealer, he also owed her a substantial sum of money through erroneous loans. She also reportedly managed to start a new connection with a different man despite the fact that the two had ended their relationship days before after a heated dispute.
Since Edward was completely “infatuated,” it is said that this natural progression in Megan’s dating life really disturbed him. As a result, on March 14, when they met in her car, he allegedly went “into a rage” and killed her. In fact, according to court documents, the 20-year-old was going to avoid her ex-beau’s birthday celebration on March 13 because he would be there, but then she probably went looking for him as a “last resort.” That’s because, according to witness accounts, she had been attempting to obtain marijuana all evening but had been unsuccessful, and she was confident he would sell it to her at a fair price.
Megan had no idea that this price would be her life, since detectives believe Edward and a blunt weapon used to kill her was nothing less than “intimate partner violence”. It should therefore come as no surprise that he was regarded as a person of interest almost immediately after her body was found on a dirt path on March 15 even though there was no evidence linking him to the case at the time. The thorough information-gathering interrogations of not just him but also of acquaintances, friends, and family members, as well as the removal of tangible evidence from the crime scene, were all a bust.
Thus, Megan’s case remained unsolved for a while until the FBI entered the picture and provided the New York State Police with a wealth of information that supported their theories. As a result of meticulously combing through every archived document, it was discovered that Edward had given conflicting accounts and alibis throughout his four police interviews over the years. Then there’s the fact that a number of witness statements unintentionally refuted his claims, and technical developments discovered his DNA on the preserved pieces of evidence.
Where is Edward Holley Now?
Thus, Wawayanda resident Edward was detained on a single case of second-degree murder in connection with Megan’s premature death two decades earlier on April 20, 2023. The 42-year-old was actually already detained in Orange County Jail in New York on the day his warrant was carried out because he was completing a 90-day term for a separate parole violation. He had really been detained in October 2021 on drug-related charges and released on probation shortly afterward, only to blatantly break his probation in late February.
After being charged in the City of Middletown Court, Edward was returned without bond to the Orange County Jail, where it appears that he is still awaiting trial today. “They’re parading me around like I’m some kind of friggin ape… but it’s all good,” he said when asked by the media whether he had anything to say on the day of his detention. “I’m positively innocent… That wasn’t me. I cherished Megan.
Nevertheless, the criminal complaint against him states unequivocally that “the defendant, Edward V. Holley, did knowingly and intentionally cause the death of Megan McDonald by striking her multiple times about the head with a blunt instrument.” On that fateful night, it’s assumed he looked through her cell phone, saw she was trying to move on, and went into an insane anger, thinking that if he couldn’t have her, no one else could either.
