Jeffrey MacDonald, a 36-year-old award-winning chef at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has been charged with the murder of his wife, Emma MacDonald, 31.
The incident occurred Wednesday night at the Hotel UMass located in the center of the university campus.
According to police reports, officers responded to a 911 call reporting an emergency in room 413. Upon arrival, they encountered MacDonald, who allegedly attacked the responding officers.
A police report noted that a “violent struggle took place” where MacDonald reportedly threw objects and struck an officer in the face.
Inside the room police found Emma MacDonald, a fellow university staff member dead from injuries consistent with a “violent assault.”
MacDonald, who was name “Chef of the Year” by the American Culinary Federation in 2025, allegedly admitted to the killing.
Investigators state he confessed to beating his wife “using his hands, feet, as well as a variety of other blunt objects and that it was his intent to kill her in doing so.”
Chancellor Javier Reyes described the event as “heartbreaking and deeply unsettling news for our campus.”
MacDonald pleaded not guilty to murder and assault on Thursday and is currently being held without bail.
