The trial of Edward Holley, who is accused of beating Megan McDonald to death more than 20 years ago, is coming to a close, as the jury began deliberations Tuesday to determine a verdict.

Law enforcement said McDonald, 20, was last seen in the early morning hours of March 14, 2003. Her body was found on a dirt road along Bowser Road near a dumpster in the town of Wallkill the next day and her car was found two days after that.

Summations from Paul Weber, the attorney representing Edward Holley, and Julia Cornachio, the attorney representing The People in the monthlong trial of The People v. Edward Holley, were presented to the jury Tuesday morning.

Forty-seven witnesses were called to testify by the prosecution for the last six weeks, including state investigators, state forensic scientists, a former chief medical examiner, former friends of McDonald, former ex-boyfriends of McDonald and former suspects involved in the ongoing investigation.

On Friday, jurors heard from John DiCaprio, an inmate at Orange County Jail who said he overheard Holley confessing to the killing of McDonald “at least 10 times” while in a medical unit at the jail.

DiCaprio is accused of shooting a man and injuring a child in Newburgh in 2022, but has not yet been sentenced.

DiCaprio testified the district attorney informed him that his jail time would be reduced if he were to testify in Holley’s trial and provide assistance with the case.

While “low match” DNA evidence revealed a correlation between Holley’s DNA and the DNA gathered from McDonald’s cellphone recovered from her Mercury Sable in 2003, the defense argues Holley was given “unequal treatment” throughout the investigation, in comparison to other suspects like Paul Simpson, McDonald's ex-boyfriend.

The prosecution argues there were “inconsistencies” in Holley’s statements over the course of three interviews with New York state detectives on March 16, 2003, June 18, 2008 and March 18, 2019, citing Holley “hated Paul ‘Pauly’ Simpson” and he wanted an exclusive relationship with McDonald.

The criminal complaint police filed portrayed an intimate relationship between Holley and McDonald.

“We believe this crime was intimate-partner violence," New York State Police Captain Joseph Kolek said in 2023. "Additionally, Ed Holley owed Meghan a substantial sum of money.”

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.