DONNA-LEE DONALDSON MURDER TRIAL
Forensic analyst: Maitland’s phone contained fresh SIM
Published:Wednesday | November 26, 2025 | 12:10 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
The mobile phone seized from Constable Noel Maitland days after his girlfriend, Donna-Lee Donaldson, was reported missing in July 2022 was found to contain a new SIM card.
A digital forensic analyst from the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Communication Forensics and Cybercrime Division (CFCD) testified in the home Circuit Court that the first message extracted from the SIM was a welcome text from FLOW, timestamped 11:13 a.m. on July 26, 2022 – one day before Maitland’s arrest.
The message read: “FLOW wwelcomes you to our family of valid customers, and we look forward to your support.”
A second message, received five minutes later, informed the user that the phone balance was $4.04 and required a top-up. Additional messages showed a $500 credit transfer and the activation of a two-day plan on the same date.
Maitland is charged with murder and preventing the lawful burial of a corpse in relation to the disappearance of Donaldson, who was last seen at his New Kingston apartment on July 12, 2022.
The analyst, whose task was to examine data from the blue phone seized from Maitland, said he received the device and SIM from the CFCD exhibit storekeeper and extracted the data on October 13, 2023, after being assigned to the case in September.
Earlier testimony revealed that the police seized the phone from Maitland’s father on July 27, 2022, the same day Maitland was arrested at his attorney’s office in downtown Kingston. At the time, the father reportedly told officers, “A only di banger mi have.”
During cross-examination, defence attorney Chadwick Berry asked whether the analyst had reviewed metadata from the device. The witness said no metadata was available, explaining that metadata is “data about data”, such as timestamps or GPS coordinates embedded in a photograph or file.
Donaldson, a 24-year-old swimsuit entrepreneur, was reported missing by her mother, Sophia Lugg, on July 13, 2022. Lugg previously testified that she last saw her daughter on July 11, when Maitland picked her up from their St. Andrew home. She said she last heard from her daughter the following morning. Donaldson’s brother also testified that he spoke with her via FaceTime on July 12 while she was at Maitland’s apartment, noting a brown curtain in the background.
The trial was adjourned until Monday, with Justice Leighton Pusey explaining that a senior defence attorney – responsible for cross-examining the final two Crown witnesses, the investigating officer and the officer who recorded Maitland’s statement – is currently overseas before the Court of Appeal.
Justice Pusey told jurors he had hoped to conclude the trial before Christmas, but delays had made this impossible. He expressed hope, instead, for an early-2025 conclusion and apologised for the extended schedule.
So far, the Crown has called 23 of its 33 witnesses and has agreed eight statements with the defence during the 43-day trial.