Family of NYPD detective's murdered daughter accuse prosecutor of protecting her 'KILLER' by offering him a 'secret plea deal' and 'listening to his calls with jailed wife'

The family of a murdered New York college student has claimed the prosecutor in charge of her case protected her alleged killer by offering him a secret plea deal.

Megan McDonald, the daughter of a retired NYPD detective, was 20 when she was killed in 2003 and her body was found on a dirt path upstate.

She died from blunt force trauma, having been bludgeoned to death inside her own car.

For two decades her family fought for justice - until Edward Holley, 42, who was paralyzed in a 2007 car crash, was charged with her murder last year.

He is scheduled to go to trial this summer. Now the family has turned their attention to Orange County DA David Hoovler, who they say offered a secret plea deal to Holley and did not disclose that he had previously represented another suspect.

McDonald's sister Karen Whalen and mother Elizabeth McDonald filed disciplinary complaints against Hoovler, a Republican, and four of his staff members, calling for an investigation into their handling of the murder probe.

Megan McDonald, the daughter of a retired NYPD detective, was 20 years old when she was murdered in 2003

For two decades her family fought for justice - until Edward Holley, 42, who was paralyzed in a 2007 car crash, was charged with her murder last year

Their allegations against Hoovler mostly come from reporting by the Times Herald-Record, which in February published several stories based on a a State Police investigative report.

The report claimed Hoovler meddled with the probe and questioned if his prior representation of Andre Thurston, once a suspect in the case, influenced his actions after he was elected DA in 2013, as reported by the Times Union. 

According to a criminal complaint, Thurston, a friend of McDonald's, was allegedly in McDonald's car when she was murdered on the driver's seat. 

The victim's family told the Times Union they began to question Hoovler's role in the probe in 2023, after Holley's arrest. 

McDonald's sister Whalen, an NYPD detective, said she and her husband became concerned when Hoovler did not attend the State Police news conference announcing the arrest.

Hoovler claimed at the time state police made the arrest without his knowledge. 

At the new conference, Whalen's husband James Whalen, also a cop, said: 'To the district attorney who is not here, we say today: All eyes are now on you. We are all watching — Megan's family, the community and the media. Justice for Megan does not only mean handcuffs at this point.'

Now the family has turned their attention to Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler, who they say offered a secret plea deal to Holley and did not disclose that he had previously represented another suspect

According to the family's complaint, James Whalen claims an unnamed official told him Hoovler had met with Holley in 2022 and offered him a 'secret plea deal without State Police knowledge.'

The complaint also says Hoovler told Holley that police were listening to his phone calls with his wife, who was in jail at the time. 

'Our blood was boiling,' James Whalen told NBC News. Hoovler has said he followed protocol when offering the deal to the suspect. 

He told NBC: 'Plea negotiations are by no means out of the ordinary, and certainly don't require the presence of the police. Further, any assertion that the investigation was 'hampered' by 'telling Holley that he was a suspect' at that meeting is patently false. 

'Prior to that meeting, Mr. Holley was well aware that he was a suspect in the case and had in fact invoked his right to counsel earlier in the investigation.'

Hoovler has said he followed protocol when offering the deal to the suspect

The victim family's apprehension grew even further when days later Hoovler told the McDonald family he would recuse himself from the case because he had previously represented a person of interest over a decade ago and it could be seen as a conflict of interest. 

Hoovler first said the person hadn't been a client, but eventually acknowledged he had represented him in 2008 and sought a plea agreement with the DA's office he now leads. 

The family reportedly asked why he took so long to recuse himself, and he allegedly said he was waiting for an arrest. 

Hoovler told NBC News the allegations of impropriety are 'inaccurate, unfair and offensive.'

He added: 'It was only after Mr. Holley's premature arrest by the State Police — made without advance notice to me, and in defiance of my previously stated decision to ask for additional investigation — that my brief association with Mr. Thurston — who died in 2010 — became an issue that could potentially create the appearance of impropriety.'

The body of the SUNY Orange County Community College student was found in a field in Wallkill, just outside the city of Middletown and her car was discovered two days later.

Her father, a former NYPD detective, had died in 2002 of a heart attack. 

Holley, who was already in county jail after breaking his probation for an October 2021 narcotics offence, is said to have dated Megan, but the pair had broken up in the weeks before her death.

Police say they found a voicemail on McDonald's phone in which Holley said he'd seen Megan's new boyfriend's car in her driveway and said new people had come forward with more evidence.

DNA and cyber evidence are also said to have linked him to her murder, which police believed happened in her own driver's seat.

Holley has plead not guilty to second-degree murder.