THE testimony of a police detective in the murder trial of Portland businessman Everton “Beachy Stout” McDonald and co-accused Oscar Barnes on Tuesday contradicted some of what star witness in the case Denvalyn “Bubbla” Minott had told the court.

Beachy Stout and Barnes are on trial for the July 20, 2020 murder of the businessman’s wife, Tonia McDonald.

Minott, during his testimony in the case last year October, told the Home Circuit Court that he secretly recorded more than 120 telephone conversations between himself and Beachy Stout, which he handed over to the police. Minott had said the recordings were stored on an SD card that was inside his Samsung cellular phone.

He also said that he stored the recordings under the name “Vybz Kartel”, so if anyone found the phone the person would assume that the audio files were music.

However, on Tuesday the detective contstable from the Communication Forensics and Cybercrime Division, who examined Minott’s phone and the contents of the SD card, told the court that there were less than 40 audio recordings on the device. Also, he said the file names the audio was stored under did not include the words Vybz Kartel.

“I extracted call logs, phone application data, instant messages, pictures, audio, and some database files. On Friday October 9, 2020, data was exported from the micro SD card containing about 38 audio files labelled with file names SIM1_ with dates and times. It suggested to me that they were recordings made through communication with the SIM card that was primary to the phone. The data was burned to a DVD and labelled,” the detective constable told the court.

He further told the court that the audio files were found in a folder labelled Auto Call Record. The recordings, certain images, and information on three user accounts allegedly belonging to Denvalyn Minott, which were found on the phone, became a part of the file that was prepared for the case.

“Three copies of the DVD were handed over to the registry, along with a forensic report. The package was prepared and dated May 12, 2021,” said the policeman.

The star witness, Minott, had claimed during his testimony last year that he secretly recorded telephone conversations between himself and Beachy Stout.

He further claimed that his motivation for doing this was because the businessman had contracted him to kill his wife for a sum of $3 million. However, he alleged that he subcontracted the murder to Oscar Barnes, who he claimed committed the actual killing. According to Minott, he had promised to give the money to Barnes if he completed the hit successfully. He claimed in court that after Tonia was killed, Beachy Stout was not forthcoming with the funds. He also alleged that Barnes was upset that he had received no money and was being pressing. Due to these factors and more, Minott said he decided to tape phone conversations he had with Beachy Stout.

When Minott was arrested, he confessed to his role as the contractor in the killing and subsequently received a 19-year prison sentence for his involvement. Minott took a deal and agreed to become State witness and give evidence against Beachy Stout and Barnes.

Today, when the trial resumes, some of the highly anticipated recordings will be played in open court for the seven-member jury to hear.