Witness identifies Maitland as car wash visitor in photograph

A worker at a car wash, where Constable Noel Maitland had reportedly taken his sofa to be washed, yesterday identified him in a photograph as the man whom she called ‘Brown Man’ who came to the car wash with the furniture.

“I see di man wey bring in de sofa,” she said when asked to identify the person seen in the photograph.

The woman had, however, previously failed to identify Maitland in court when asked to point out the man whom she had seen at the car wash.

Maitland, who previously had a low-trim haircut, is now sporting short locks or short twists.

The former employee of the Kingston-based car wash, who is testifying via video link in Home Circuit Court, during her testimony last Tuesday recalled that, on July 13, 2022, the man who she referred to as Brown Man arrived at the facility in a grey car, spoke with her briefly, and later returned with the sofa in a blue and white truck, accompanied by two other men.

In her previous testimony, she recalled that the man was wearing a white T-shirt, brown shorts and blue and white slippers.

Asked yesterday to describe what the man, whom she called Brown Man, was wearing in the photo, she repeated what she had previously described. However, the shorts appear to be cream coloured and not brown.

The witness earlier told the court that, after the washing of the sofa was completed and Brown Man had left, police later came to the car wash and showed her some photographs which she had looked at the document and affixed her initials, which she yesterday identified.

WITNESS TESTIMONY

The witness had previously testified that after she had washed the sofa with a power wash, Maitland came and took the machine and started washing it for himself.

While he was washing, the witness said she noticed “blood like rice grain” seeping from the right corner of the sofa.

She recollected that she was frightened and blurted out: “Jesus!” and remarked aloud, “Dis yah man must dead or him bleed out. Look like dem kill somebody inna it.” However, she said no one responded.

According to the witness, she believed it was blood based on its red colour and the raw scent that accompanied it.

The witness also recalled seeing a dark spot on the sofa – about the size of a June plum – even before she began washing. After the cleaning, she said the man washed his vehicle and drove off, leaving the sofa behind.

The next day, she said the sofa was still there and was swarming with flies.

“The place was very raw,” she said, adding that she never saw the man again.

Maitland is currently on trial in the Home Circuit Court for the murder and alleged unlawful disposal of the body of his girlfriend, Donna-Lee Donaldson, who was reported missing on July 13, 2022. Donaldson, 24, was a social media influencer, swimwear business owner, and customer service representative.

Her mother, Sophia Lugg, previously testified that Maitland picked up Donaldson from her home on July 11. She last heard from by her daughter the morning of July 12.

Two delivery men have also testified in the case. One said Maitland hired him to remove a sofa from his Chelsea Manor apartment and transport it to the same car wash off Half-Way Tree Road. The other was instructed to move the sofa from the car wash to an upholstery shop in downtown Kingston.

The trial will continue on September 16 when the Michaelmas court term resumes. The Easter term comes to a close on Friday.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com