Jeffrey MacDonald was accused of killing his wife at the UMass Campus Center hotel in Amherst on Wednesday night, then pleaded not guilty in Eastern Hampshire District Court on Thursday morning. The 36-year-old faced one charge of murder and one charge of assault and battery on a police officer.
Police said officers responded to the hotel at 7:42 p.m. for a reported emergency and found Emma MacDonald dead in the hotel room with injuries consistent with a violent assault. They said Jeffrey MacDonald confessed to beating her to death, telling investigators that he intentionally struck her with his hands, feet and other blunt objects and meant to kill her.
Before the arrest, MacDonald was the executive sous chef for UMass Dining. In last August, UMass said he had been named Chef of the Year by the American Culinary Federation, and the school said his achievements continued to raise the national profile of its dining program. UMass Amherst has long promoted its campus food, and the Princeton Review has repeatedly ranked it best in the country. The university also said it has the largest college dining program in the United States.
Chancellor Javier Reyes said Emma MacDonald was also a staff member at the college and called the news heartbreaking and deeply unsettling for the campus. He said the lack of complete information could add to the distress people were feeling, but said that was necessary to protect the integrity of the investigation. UMass also said there is no ongoing threat to the campus.
The case now moves to the next court date, with MacDonald held without bail and due back on May 12. The Medical Examiner will determine Emma MacDonald’s official cause of death, but police have already said the evidence points to a violent assault inside a place that, for UMass, has been central to the school’s public image.