New developments in Rensselaer County cold case

JOHNSONVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10)– Police are asking the public for help in the six-year-long cold case of Megan Dyer-Maclean. Dyer-Maclean was last seen alive on June 2, 2018, before she was found dead along an old railroad track near her home two days later.

“We are working with a firm that specializes in Cold Case homicides they came in a couple weeks ago to do a full review of the case,” said Rensselaer County Sheriff, Kyle Bourgault. 

The sheriff’s office took the NEWS10 crew behind the scenes to a never-before-seen murder investigation room to get a feel for that work and the work that continues to be done. “I have four and a half years left of my career to make my 20, but I plan on not leaving until this case is solved,” said Investigations Sargeant, Jamie Panichi.

They said that two years after Megan’s death they began investigating her death as a homicide. The sheriff’s office confirmed a toxicology report found high levels of strychnine in Megan’s system. The sheriff’s investigations team described the scene as the body being tossed and discarded somewhere along a trail behind their home in Johnsonville.

The sheriff’s office revealed there was a bruise on the top of Megan’s head that was about the size of a quarter or the head of a hammer.

While investigating her death they said they uncovered that her husband, Duncan Maclean, was involved in a 2017 assault with a hammer. Maclean was sentenced to eight and a half years in state prison with five years of post-release supervision.

The sheriff is certain that the public has the answer his team is looking for. “Somebody knows something about where that strychnine came from. Whether it came from an old barn, or where it came from an old outhouse or garage, somebody knows where that came from and we’re looking to talk to that person,” said the sheriff.

Investigations Sergeant Jamie Panichi, who has been on this case from day one, refuses to give up.

“We visit her, we just let her know that she hasn’t been forgotten about. We’re still working on it, it’s an open case and we’re going to do everything we can to solve it,” explained Panichi.

The sheriff’s office is asking that anyone with information on this case to call investigators at (518) 270-0128 through a confidential crime tip line.