Maitland complied with police requests, officer says

A senior police officer testified on Monday that the mother of Constable Noel Maitland’s child initially agreed to give a statement to police following the disappearance of social media influencer Donna-Lee Donaldson but later changed her mind.

The officer, a superintendent who served as the crime officer for the St Andrew Central Police Division in 2022, told the Home Circuit Court that the woman said, “Uncle Caple told me not to.”

This was disclosed during cross-examination by King’s Counsel Larry Smith. The prosecution objected to the line of questioning, and it was not pursued further. The officer said he was unaware that the woman had since left the island.

Maitland is on trial for Donaldson’s murder and for preventing the lawful burial of her body.

Donaldson, 24, a swimwear entrepreneur and customer service representative, was reported missing on July 13, 2022. Her mother, Sophia Lugg, testified that Maitland picked her up on July 11, and their last conversation occurred the next morning. Calls to her afterward went unanswered.

The superintendent said he contacted Maitland on July 15, one day after receiving reports of Donaldson’s disappearance. He said Maitland was cooperative, agreeing to give a statement. The officer arranged for forensic processing of Maitland’s apartment and vehicle, along with the vehicle belonging to the mother of his child – a request Maitland complied with.

POLICE INVESTIGATION

During the investigation, the officer visited Maitland’s apartment and encountered a truck driver who led him to a car wash on Lyndhurst Road, where a settee was being removed. He described the furniture as brown but admitted that that detail had only been mentioned in oral testimony. He confirmed that Maitland complied fully with police requests.

The court also heard from a second deliveryman, who said he helped move a brown settee from the car wash to an upholstery shop in downtown Kingston. He was working with a man named ‘Carlos’, who had received a call about the job. The witness said they later moved the settee again to another shop near Kingston Public Hospital, where Carlos collected a $5,000 payment and gave him $1,000.

Another deliveryman testified earlier that Maitland had hired him to move the same settee from Maitland’s New Kingston apartment to a Half-Way-Tree Road car wash. That witness said Carlos, who the witness said is now deceased, arranged the job and accompanied him while Maitland drove ahead.

Under cross-examination, the second deliveryman said he never saw who was in the silver car they followed and did not assist in lifting the settee as it was a single piece.

The trial was adjourned until July 23 to accommodate remote testimony from a key prosecution witness. The judge said bringing another witness before then would disrupt the continuity of the evidence.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com