'Friend' killed elderly Wrightstown man, fled and tried to use dead wife's ID: Bucks County DA

Three days before Richard MacFarland was found stabbed to death in the foyer of his Wrightstown home, police officers responded to domestic calls at the home twice on the same day.

Both calls involved arguments MacFarland, 72, had with his friend, Meghan Macklin, 45, of Philadelphia, Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said Wednesday at a news conference announcing murder charges against Macklin.

She offered the first details of the Oct. 7 murder, which was not revealed until the Bucks County Coroner’s Office released information nearly a week later that determined it was a homicide.

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While authorities announced charges including first- and second-degree murder against Macklin, she remains incarcerated in Jefferson County, Tennessee, where she has been held since the day MacFarland was found dead.

MacFarland, a widower, had known Macklin for 2 1/2 years, according to Schorn, who described their relationship as friends, but said he was "perhaps vulnerable."

His body was discovered by a man who was interested in purchasing MacFarland's Apple Hill Road home, which was listed for sale.

The man told police that he noticed the front door open and when he peered inside he saw MacFarland on the floor of the foyer. He also noticed what he believed was an odor of gas coming from the residence, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Authorities believe MacFarland was killed sometime between Oct. 4 and Oct. 7; surveillance camera footage from a local convenience store captured images of Macklin on Oct. 6 driving a car that MacFarland owned, Schorn said.

What investigators believed happened inside the Apple Hill Road home

MacFarland's body appeared to be cleaned and dressed in clothes with no tears and a minimal amount of visible blood, leading authorities to believe he was killed elsewhere in the house and moved to where he was found, Schorn said.

Authorities believe Macklin attempted to conceal the multiple stab and slash wounds on the body including his upper chest and a large abdomen wound that exposed intestines, Schorn said. Police also found what appear to be defensive wounds on MacFarland's arms.

An autopsy confirmed the cause of death was multiple stab and slash wounds.

Among the evidence police removed from the house was a bloody rug and bloody bedding hidden in suitcases, according to a probable cause affidavit. A backpack containing pill bottles with the name Meghan Macklin was found on the kitchen floor and police also found a handbag with items including pill bottles in Macklin's name, the affidavit said.

They also found a checkbook containing only deposit slips for an account in the names of MacFarland and his late wife, Janet, on the kitchen floor near his body, the affidavit said.

Police visited Wrightstown home twice, just days before murder is discovered

Several neighbors told officers at the scene on Oct. 7 that police had been out to the house on Oct. 4 for an argument between MacFarland and Macklin.  The officer’s incident report noted MacFarland had a small cut on his forehead at the time.

MacFarland allegedly told the police officer that Macklin hit him with her fists because she was angry over MacFarland’s friendship with a second woman, who was also present during the argument, the affidavit said.

When the officer asked Macklin if she had another place where she could spend the night, Macklin stated that MacFarland did not let her drive his vehicles.

Police took the second woman to another location for the night and left MacFarland and Macklin in the home, the affidavit said. She later told police that Macklin had overpowered MacFarland, got on top of him and beat him up, the affidavit said.

After 11 p.m. on Oct. 4 police were called to the home for a second time. This time Macklin told police that MacFarland threatened to kill her during an argument, the affidavit said.

MacFarland denied threatening Macklin and she declined a police officer’s offer to take her to another location.

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A neighbor told police that she was outside her home on Oct. 5 when she heard a disturbance at MacFarland's home, and described hearing a raspy voice that sounded similar to a voice she had heard during previous disturbances at the home, the affidavit said.

The same day, a realtor arrived at MacFarland's home to show the house to potential buyers who scheduled a 5:30 p.m. showing. When she pulled into the driveway to wait for the clients, she noticed a woman with long dirty-blonde hair, brown teeth and a raspy voice leave the house.

The woman, who authorities believe was Macklin, told the realtor that she and MacFarland had tested positive for COVID-19 and no one as allowed inside the house, the affidavit said. Macklin also refused to let the realtor show the perimeter of the property.

The day MacFarland's body was discovered, neighbors also told police that his two cars, a black Honda and a 2013 black Mercedes were missing, the affidavit said. Later police located the Honda at an auto repair garage where it had been since late September.

How did Meghan Macklin get caught 600 miles away from crime scene

When police ran the license plate for the Mercedes through a plate recognition platform, they learned a camera had picked up the Mercedes in New Hope on Oct. 5 shortly before 11:30 p.m. The car was also detected at Route 202 and County Lane Road in Montgomery County shortly before 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 6.

A receipt later found in the Mercedes showed the car stopped at a convenience store in the 5800 block of Easton Road in Pipersville on Oct. 6 shortly before 1 a.m. Store surveillance video showed Macklin allegedly purchasing gas and coffee.

The day MacFarland's body was found, police entered the Mercedes as a stolen vehicle into the National Crime Information Center database.

Shortly after the Mercedes was listed as stolen in NCIC, a police officer in Jefferson County, Tennessee was called to a convenience store for a report of a woman who took food without paying for it. The employee wanted the woman removed from the property.

The officer approached the woman in the parking lot, who identified herself as Janet Webb MacFarland, the name of the victim's wife who died in 2019. She provided the officer a Social Security card and a blank personal check, both in Webb MacFarland's name, the affidavit said.

The woman, who authorities identified as Macklin, provided the police officer with inconsistent statements about why she stopped at the store. The officer was unable to find a valid driver's license under the name Janet MacFarland, and a check of a nearby motel, where Macklin claimed she stayed, showed no guest under the name MacFarland or Webb.

As the officer continued to investigate Macklin's identity, he saw what turned out to be the stolen black Mercedes parked about 100-feet away. Macklin told the officer it was her husband's car, but that he might not be in it, the affidavit said.

When the officer ran the registration he learned it was reported stolen out of Pennsylvania and connected to a murder. The Tennessee officer then confirmed Macklin's identity with a Newtown Township detective, and she was placed under arrest.

The Mercedes was towed back to Bucks County where it was searched and items recovered including jewelry boxes, coins similar to items found at the Apple Hill Road home, checks and deposit slips in Janet MacFarland's name, identification for Richard MacFarland, and clothing and shoes Macklin was seen wearing in surveillance video on Oct. 6.

The Bucks County Detectives swabbed the outside of the shoes, a pair of grey Crocs, for DNA, which later matched MacFarland, the affidavit said. DNA testing on a set of latex gloves found at the murder scene found MacFarland's DNA on the outside of the glove and Macklin's on the inside, police said.

Macklin remains in custody on $500,000 bail in Tennessee until she can be extradicted to Bucks County.

The Bucks County District Attorney's Office is seeking the public's assistance with information about the whereabouts of Meghan Macklin between Oct. 4 and Oct. 7 2023 are asked to call the Bucks County Detectives at 215-348-6354 or Newtown Township police at 215 579-1000.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Arrest made in murder of Richard MacFarland of Wrightstown, Bucks County