Court hears Maitland paid deposit to clean sofa at car wash

A former supervisor at a Kingston car wash testified on Thursday that Constable Noel Maitland paid her a $2,000 deposit at the business in July 2022 after bringing in a sofa for cleaning.

She told the court that Maitland, who she identified in court, arrived in a silver, “high-end type” vehicle, while the sofa was transported separately in a pickup truck. However, during cross-examination, the witness acknowledged that sofa cleaning was not a service offered during her time at the business though she admitted that she would not be surprised to learn that it may have been provided.

The woman testified that the couch was dropped off around lunchtime – between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. – on July 13, 2022. She said two other men accompanied Maitland in the vehicle and described what each was wearing. She also stated that the same pickup truck, identifiable by the company’s logo on its exterior, returned to collect the sofa the following day, July 14.

During her evidence-in-chief, the witness identified photographs of several CCTV stills showing the day Maitland allegedly dropped off the sofa. She said she signed the images while at the office of the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) and recalled making notes on them. Despite objections from King’s Counsel Larry Smith, who argued that the images had not been properly authenticated, the photographs were admitted into evidence.

Earlier in the trial, another former car wash employee testified that a man she referred to as “Brown Man” took in a couch on the morning of July 13. She recalled that while she was power-washing the sofa, using bleach and degreaser, she saw a substance she described as “blood-like rice grain” seeping from it.

“I was so frightened,” she told the court, recalling that she exclaimed, “Jesus!” upon seeing the substance.

“I said, ‘Dis yah man must dead or him bleed out. Look like dem kill somebody inna it,’” she added.

She also testified that the following day, the sofa was swarming with flies and the area had a strong, raw odour.

Maitland is currently on trial for the murder and alleged unlawful disposal of his girlfriend, Donnalee Donaldson, who was reported missing on July 13, 2022.

Her mother previously testified that Maitland picked up Donaldson from her home on July 11 and that that was the last time she saw her daughter. Donaldson last communicated with her family on July 12.

Two deliverymen have already testified that Maitland had the couch moved twice: first from his Chelsea Manor apartment in St Andrew to the car wash and later, from the car wash to an upholstery shop in downtown Kingston.

The trial is set to continue on Monday in the Home Circuit Court.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com