Star UMass Chef Charged With Brutally Killing Wife on Campus

An acclaimed university chef is now facing a first-degree murder charge in the killing of his wife at a hotel on the UMass Amherst campus. Police say 36-year-old Jeffrey MacDonald admitted after his arrest that he intended to kill 31-year-old Emma MacDonald, allegedly beating her with his hands, feet, and other objects in a room at Hotel UMass on Wednesday night, reports the Boston Globe. Officers responding to a 911 call around 7:40pm reported a "violent struggle" with Jeffrey MacDonald and said one officer was hit repeatedly; Emma MacDonald was found dead in the room. "Given the significant nature of the female's injuries, it seemed apparent to investigators that her injuries had resulted from a violent assault," the police report said.

Jeffrey MacDonald pleaded not guilty Thursday to murder, as well as assault and battery on a police officer, and was ordered held without bail. A judge scheduled a probable cause hearing for May 12 and approved a mental competency evaluation. Court records show previous allegations that Jeffrey MacDonald was verbally and physically abusive toward two children he shares with another woman. "Children have been reporting verbal abuse from their father (yelling, being called names, swearing), witnessing demeaning verbal abuse between father & stepmother, and yesterday reported physical abuse," the woman wrote in a complaint seeking sole custody. The complaint was dismissed when the mother did not appear in court.

The murder charge comes nine months after Jeffrey MacDonald was honored as Chef of the Year by the American Culinary Federation. Emma MacDonald was a dining hall supervisor at the school, reports NBC Boston.