NY State Police: Pre-DA Hoovler said client knew ‘where the hammer is’ that killed McDonald

Senior Orange County District Attorney John Geidel recognized David Hoovler’s voice when he phoned April 30, 2008.

The men had worked together until Hoovler left the DA’s office for the Justice Department in Washington. Now, Hoovler was back in Orange County, in his first days as a defense attorney. He told Geidel he had a possible break in the Megan McDonald homicide, the county’s highest-profile case.

According to State Police notes, Hoovler told Geidel he represented someone “involved in the murder of Megan McDonald” and “his client may be willing to turn themselves in if offered a plea agreement.” Hoovler suggested probation or at most a sentence of 3 to 9 years.

The tip went to Assistant District Attorney Maryellen Black Albanese.

On March 15, 2003, the day McDonald's body was discovered, Albanese was the ADA on call. She was heading to a St. Patrick’s Day party, but was called to State Police Troop F Headquarters, instead. The Megan McDonald case became hers.

Albanese was there when Betty Jo McDonald, Megan’s mother, arrived. Albanese can still recall the sound — “the wail” — from behind a door when a mother learned that her daughter wasn’t missing but murdered.

Five years later, Hoovler called. Albanese took notes of each conversation, 10 short check-ins that stretched nearly three years. The USA Today Network New York obtained copies of these notes from the case file that has been shared with special prosecutor Julia Cornachio and Paul Weber, the defense attorney for Edward Holley. Holley faces a second-degree murder charge in McDonald’s murder, and has declared his innocence.

MEGAN MCDONALD TIMELINE: Follow the case's twists and turns

Click on the right arrow below to see how the investigation evolved

Albanese, who retired in late 2019, said in a recent interview she stands by her notes from the Hoovler phone calls.

“As a trial lawyer, I’m adept at quickly, accurately taking notes of what a witness is telling me, whether it be in a courtroom or during a field interview,” she said. “I followed this procedure during each telephone conversation with David Hoovler. Immediately after each conversation I typed up the notes and forwarded them to the assigned State Police Investigator.”

An internal State Police report obtained by the USA Today Network New York mentions that in a May 2022 meeting with police investigators, ADA Leah Canton suggested "hypothetically" that Hoovler could have been lying to Albanese, that Canton "could envision that the information that Hoovler told ADA Albanese was a lie."

The report doesn't explain why Canton felt that, nor explain what Hoovler might have been lying about, only that Canton thought it possible given the nature of Hoovler's relationship with Albanese at the time, that he was a defense attorney speaking to an assistant district attorney seeking a plea bargain.

Asked if she thought Hoovler was lying to her at the time, Albanese replied recently: “I had no reason to think so.”

It would be years before Hoovler would reveal the name of his client, Andre Thurston. It came on March 20, 2019, the ninth anniversary of Thurston's death by drug overdose, when Hoovler, now district attorney, divulged Thurston's name in a meeting with police and members of his staff, according to the internal report.

Hoovler said Thurston “had information about a homicide but did not specify which homicide.” This is contradicted by notes from Hoovler’s first call to the DA’s office in 2008 and by Albanese’s notes.

On the line with David Hoovler

What did Hoovler say on those phone calls? Apparently, less and less, as Thurston cooled to the idea of turning himself in. Here’s how those calls played out, according to Albanese's notes.

July 30, 2008: Hoovler said: “I have a client who approached me about potentially negotiating a deal. He was involved in the Megan McDonald case. The bottom line is he could produce two others who were involved and he had some information that a Stanley ball-peen hammer was used.” Later, he added, his unnamed client “knows where the hammer is” and it was part of “a 3-piece set, maybe.”

Albanese asked if his client was a principal or an accomplice. “Principal or accomplice, there’s very little distinguishing that here,” Hoovler said. “They were all acting in concert. One person might be after the fact.” He added: “If I were you, I would want to know more.”

Hoovler mocked the police investigators' working theory at the time, that the murder was drug related. “The motive described to me is much different, that something sort of happened and got out of control,” he said.

As for his client’s motive for coming forward, Hoovler said: “I assumed the reason this person wanted to turn themselves in was because the police were getting close, but after this, when the police stepped up their investigation, they just went back to all the usual suspects.”

He offered no help in identifying his client, but seemed to take pride in telling Albanese how investigators would know they'd found him. “Tell the police to keep knocking at doors; you’ll know you’re in the ballpark if you knock at someone’s door and they give you my card.”

Oct. 1, 2008: Albanese wrote: “He talked about how if we made a deal, and the person was asked to testify against the others. … Depending on how the person did, we might give them a better deal than we originally thought.”

Hoovler talked about his client’s deal making the difference between “possibly solving versus never solving this case.”

“If I were in your shoes,” he told Albanese, “I'd just wait. It’s probably going to solve itself.”

The discussion turned to whether manslaughter or murder was the appropriate charge. Hoovler said he was there to negotiate the best deal for his client, and that a murder charge wouldn’t cut it. “What’s the purpose of the guy hiring me if I’m just turning him in?” Albanese noted Hoovler saying.

Jan. 15, 2009: Hoovler said his client had information about the ball-peen hammer and a cellphone. On the topic of murder versus manslaughter, Hoovler said: “When you hear all the facts as I’ve heard it, it really equates to more of a manslaughter, not a murder.”

Feb. 25, 2009: “Oh, God,” Hoovler said when he learned Albanese was calling. “It never goes away, there’s nothing I can do.” He added that his client wasn’t budging. “I can’t guarantee ‘em what they want, and neither can you,” he said. When Albanese reminded him he was the one who came forward, he repeated, apologetically: “I tried. I tried.”

Oct. 28, 2009: Hoovler began referencing people, plural, rather than a single client. “He said ‘They thought there was something coming, but it never developed,’” Albanese noted. Later Hoovler said: “I’ll reach out to those particular people and see.”

Dec. 9, 2009: Albanese noted that Hoovler says “the family” has intervened and they “happen to know the law enforcement community in Orange County” and “they don’t 100% trust the police here.” He said he “felt the police were very close about 15 to 18 months ago” but “since then it appears the police are not going to solve this.”

Jan. 7, 2010: When Albanese reached out to Hoovler on a separate case and turned to the McDonald case, Hoovler says: “You keep hounding me.” Then: “The only way it would work would be if I bring him in and he talked, anything he said couldn’t be used against him and anything derived from what he said couldn’t be used against him. My guy gets use immunity.”

Hoovler had advice for Albanese. “If I were you, I would only do this if you’re at the end of the line.” Then more advice: “Keep turning over rocks.”

Then Hoovler, who had been seeing a drumbeat of coverage about the McDonald case, of the family begging for someone, anyone, to come forward, said to the prosecutor: “When you are at your end, call me. It’s not even that old yet.”

April 26, 2010: Albanese asked Hoovler if he’d seen the billboards offering a reward. She asked if he had had any recent contact with his client. “There’s nothing. Nothing. Nothing,” Hoovler replied. “There’s nothing to talk about. I wish there was. It is what it is. Keep banging away.”

(Hoovler either didn’t know or didn’t let on that his client, Thurston, had died of a drug overdose on March 20, 2010.)

March 17, 2011: Albanese called Hoovler after a long break, asking him if his client was still alive. “He laughed then said, ‘The person has not responded or come back. Between you and me, the number I had for him isn’t working.’” He told Albanese: “I don’t have that file in my active pile. They came, they paid, they talked.” Then, he said: “I’d love to try to help you solve your case. I’m not the evil person some make me out to be.”

May 12, 2011: Hoovler repeated he’s had no contact with his client. Albanese asked about the cellphone and the ball-peen hammer, if they are still retrievable. She noted: “He said he would have to get out his notes, look at them, to find out. … He will do that at some point, and call me back. Said if he doesn’t call me back, for me to call him.”

Reach Peter D. Kramer at pkramer@gannett.com. Support this kind of journalism at www.lohud.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Hoovler for the defense: What he said seeking plea for Suspect #2