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Decades-Old Mystery of East Windsor Teen’s Death Is Solved Amid National Crime Victims’ Rights Week and Sexual Assault Awareness Month
4-26-2023 3:06pm
Decades-Old Cold Case Solved: 1984 Sexual Assault and Homicide of East Windsor Teen
EAST WINDSOR — Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri announced that a collaborative investigation by the Mercer County Homicide Task Force, New Jersey Attorney General’s Cold Case Network, and the New Jersey State Police (NJSP) has identified Nathaniel Harvey as the individual responsible for the 1984 sexual assault and murder of Donna Macho. Harvey died in South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton in November 2020.
Donna Macho, 19, went missing from her East Windsor home in February 1984. Her skeletal remains were discovered in a wooded area in Cranbury, N.J., in April 1995 and positively identified using dental records.
Although Harvey was an early suspect, investigative leads dissipated, and the case went cold. In February 2022, the case was reopened and presented to the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability’s Central Regional Cold Case Task Force.
The reinvestigation involved resubmitting all viable physical evidence to the NJSP Central Regional Laboratory, including DNA evidence and fingerprints. Modern-day DNA technology matched evidence in Ms. Macho’s bedroom to Harvey, conclusively identifying him as the perpetrator.
Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin stated, "The life and the loss of Donna Macho was not forgotten, and this announcement illustrates the Cold Case Network will not relent in its pursuit of justice.”
Prosecutor Onofri added that the case's closure brought closure to families like the Machos after decades of questions and uncertainty.
The initial autopsy ruled that Ms. Macho suffered a gunshot wound to her head. However, a reexamination of her remains during the cold case investigation revealed that while a head injury caused her death, it was not conclusively a gunshot wound.
The cause of death was amended to evidence of homicidal violence, with the manner of death remaining recorded as a homicide.
Harvey had been sentenced to life imprisonment in connection with a different homicide in Middlesex County and remained incarcerated from 1985 until his death in 2020.
Carolyn Murray, Director of the Integrity Bureau of OPIA, which includes the Cold Case Network, emphasized the importance and effectiveness of the Cold Case Network in applying cutting-edge technology to reexamine the evidence and bring resolution to grieving families.
Colonel Patrick J. Callahan, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, stated, "Time does not erase the quest for justice, and although this murderer was imprisoned for another killing and died in custody in 2020, it does not make this conclusion any less meaningful."
Attorney General Platkin and Prosecutor Onofri expressed their gratitude to all agencies involved in the Central Regional Cold Case Task Force, as well as the NJSP Office of Forensic Sciences, the NJSP Central Regional Laboratory, the Middlesex Regional Medical Examiner's Office, the New Jersey Department of Corrections' Special Investigations Division, and the East Windsor Township Police Department for their assistance.
