On Tuesday, Richard Dale Harden, 64, formerly of Cartersville, pleaded guilty in the Superior Court of Bartow County to felony murder for the strangulation death of 27-year-old Heather Dianne McDonald. Cherokee Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Suzanne H. Smith accepted the plea as negotiated by the parties and sentenced Harden to serve life in prison.
District Attorney Erle J. Newton III and Assistant District Attorney Austin J. Waldo prosecuted the case. District Attorney Chief Investigator Dana Strickland and Victim-Witness Director Lauren Evans assisted the prosecution and guided McDonald’s family through the court process. Carterville Police Captain Greg Sparacio led the investigation. The Bartow County Sheriff’s Office, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshal Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Haralson County Sheriff’s Office, and the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office assisted. The District Attorney extended the plea offer after careful consideration of the perspectives of McDonald’s family and other victims involved. The State was able to secure a life sentence for Heather McDonald’s murder without putting the family and other victims through the trauma of a trial and a lengthy appeal process. McDonald’s parents addressed the Court during sentencing, expressing the severe trauma and heartache Harden’s actions have caused.
The investigation revealed that on or about September 17, 2016, Heather Dianne McDonald went missing. Her family conducted an extensive search and media campaign seeking information regarding McDonald’s whereabouts. On October 30, 2016, an off-duty police officer and his son were hunting and stumbled upon McDonald’s remains in Haralson County.
On October 7, 2016, Cartersville Police and U.S. Marshals served an arrest warrant on Richard Harden in Carroll County for an unrelated crime. The arrest resulted in Harden barricading himself in a residence and making spontaneous utterances to law enforcement officers that he knew why they were there, stating, “It’s about that missing girl.” Forensic analysis of McDonald’s remains revealed Harden’s DNA under her left-hand fingernails, and investigators found a female sock in Harden’s pickup truck. During a post-Miranda interview, Harden admitted to having a sexual relationship with McDonald in exchange for drugs he provided to her. He also revealed that McDonald was at his residence in Cartersville when she disappeared. Harden said he was involved in her murder but did not elaborate.
Geolocation data from Harden’s cellular telephone tracked him from Cartersville to rural Haralson County at the time of McDonald’s disappearance. Analysis of his text messages revealed frequent communications between Harden and McDonald that ended the day she disappeared. Harden made no effort to reach out to her again. Ultimately, Harden admitted that he strangled McDonald to death and drove her body to Haralson County, where he disposed of her body.