KINGSTON, Jamaica- Supreme Court Judge, Justice Chester Stamp Monday morning shut down a proposal from defence lawyers to have a voir dire conducted to determine whether or not phone recordings from one witness, should become admissible in the Everton ‘Beach Stout’ McDonald and Oscar Barnes murder trial in the Home Circuit Court in Kingston.

A voir dire is essentially a ‘trial’ that is held within a trial.

“The trial will continue. There shall be no voir dire,” Stamp declared a short moment ago, clearing the way for a new witness to take the stand at 2:00pm.

Courtney Rowe, one of four attorneys representing Beachy Stout, pushed for the voir dire to help determine the integrity of the voice recordings that allegedly contain conversations between Beach Stout and Denvalyn ‘Bubbla’ Minott, a witness in the case.

Rowe raised questions about the chain of custody of the device which was used to capture and store over 100 phone recordings.

Prosecutor, Sophia Rowe, argued that there was no clear cut reason why the recordings should not become admissible and Justice Stamp seemed to agree, based on his ruling that the trial must go on.

The two accused in the matter are on trial for the July 20, 2020 murder of Tonia McDonald, who was Beachy Stout’s second wife.

Tonia was brutally stabbed to death and her body, which was eventually found on the Sherwood Forest main road in Portland beside her razed motor car, was partially burnt.

Minott, who is said to have provided the police with the recordings, is currently facing a 19-and-a-half-year prison sentence for his role in Tonia’s killing, after he pled guilty to the crime. He made a deal with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and agreed to give evidence against Beachy Stout.

According to Minott in his evidence in court, Beachy Stout promised him $3 million if he could murder Tonia. Minott claimed that he was not capable of stabbing anyone to death, so he contracted Oscar Barnes, a random man who he claimed to have met in a fishing beach in Manchioneal, Portland.

Minott claimed that he and Barnes made numerous attempts to kill Tonia and eventually succeeded on July 20, 2020.

According to Minott in Court, he nor Barnes, received the bounty that was placed on Tonia’s head.

It was after Beachy Stout failed to pay him the $3 million that he decided to start recording him during phone calls.