Six years have passed since Megan Dyer-Maclean was found dead along an old railroad bed in upstate New York and police are no closer to catching her killer.
The Rensselaer County mother of two was 31 years old when a friend discovered her body in a wooded area behind her Johnsonville home, located off Route 67, in June 2018.
An autopsy concluded that she was poisoned to death by strychnine, a highly toxic, odorless pesticide commonly used to kill rodents and birds.
Since then, Rensselaer County Sheriff’s officials have followed up on hundreds of leads and interviews but no suspects have been identified.
“It has been six years since Megan was taken from her children, her family, and her friends,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post Tuesday, June 4, commemorating the solemn anniversary. “The case remains open.”
Despite a lack of official suspects in the case, Dyer-Maclean’s mother, Kristin Dyer, has for years insisted that her daughter’s “abusive husband,” Duncan Maclean, is the perpetrator.
“Her murder still goes unsolved but those close to her believe it was the final act of control and violence by her abuser,” Dyer said on Facebook.
The 40-year-old Maclean was arrested in May 2021 after sheriff’s officials investigating his wife’s death learned that he had attacked another man with a hammer in late 2017, nearly a year before Dyer-Maclean’s murder.
The victim told deputies that Maclean had called him to come over to his house and talk. After a few drinks, Maclean struck the victim repeatedly with a hammer when the man’s back was turned, he told police.
Maclean pleaded guilty to attempted assault in February 2022 and was sentenced to 8 ½ years in prison for the attack.
Despite the couple’s reported history of domestic abuse and Maclean’s violent criminal history, he has not been named as a suspect in his wife’s death.
“There are people out there who have information about this case,” the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office said. “We aren’t giving up.”
Anyone with information in the case to contact the agency at 518-270-0128.
