Denvalyn “Bubbla” Minott, the star witness in the Everton “Beachy Stout” McDonald murder trial, testified on Wednesday that one of the 38 secret recordings he claimed he made of phone calls between himself and businessman Beachy Stout was of a discussion to lure Tonia McDonald to her death under the guise of purchasing two guns.

During the trial at the Home Circuit Court in Kingston, one of the businessman’s five attorneys-at-law, Christopher Townsend, objected to the evidence regarding the two guns. He argued that the prosecutor, Sophia Rowe, was inserting evidence that was not present on the recordings and that Minott was providing his opinion of a conversation rather than stating facts.

McDonald and Oscar Barnes are on trial for the murder of Tonia McDonald in Portland on July 20, 2020. Minott, who confessed to being involved in the murder, received a 19-year and ten-month prison sentence in exchange for testifying against McDonald and Barnes.

Minott claimed that because he couldn’t stab Tonia to death, as allegedly requested by McDonald, he sub-contracted the hit to Oscar Barnes, who allegedly completed the job.

Minott said in court that after he could not get the $3 million promised to him by McDonald, he started to secretly record their phone conversations. However, the recordings played in court for the seven-member jury were of Minott and another man said to be McDonald, discussing a crime plot and not conversations about acquiring the $3 million for the murder.

Attorneys representing McDonald believe that the recordings implicating their client were fabricated.

In court on Wednesday, one of the recordings had the voice of a man believed to be McDonald telling Minott that he gave her the green light to purchase two items which were unnamed in the recording.

Prosecutor, Sophia Rowe, probed to find out from Minott, who the man on the phone was and what he meant, when he mentioned the green light.

The murder convict said, “That was Mr McDonald and he was referring to Miss McDonald (Tonia). When he said get two, is because she was supposed to buy two guns”.

“When he said he would give her about $500,000 to drive with, he was talking about Miss McDonald. He said when Miss Tonia go to buy the gun, mi nuffi mek she come back home. I was supposed to take the $500,000 for myself after Miss Tonia’s death.”

Minott told the court on Wednesday that on the recording in question, when he said he had made an arrangement with two people, he was referring to Tonia and Oscar Barnes.

“I told Tonia that Mr Barnes have dem [the guns] and that we were going to pick them up,” Minott said.

After he was done answering questions from the prosecutor, Minott received intense drilling from Christopher Townsend during cross-examination on Wednesday.

Townsend asked, “When you called Mr McDonald, were you in the same place with him?”

Minott responded saying, “No sir. Mi couldn’t see him. The only reason I can say it is him is because of the voice. It is his voice. I am not telling no lie sir. See him sit down there, he can tell you if it’s a lie”.

Townsend asked Minott if he recalled giving the police at least four statements and the convict said he did not remember.

Townsend asked him if he recalled giving a statement on August 3, 2020, to which Minott answered in the affirmative.

“Do you remember saying, ‘everything that I am telling you about the plan to kill Miss Mac, happened on the same day she dead?” Townsend asked, before hitting Minott with quick follow-up questions.

Minott responded saying, “I agree now that I said that. When I said that to the police, I was telling the truth. I didn’t tell the police in my statements which number belonged to Mr McDonald. I told them about the number with the 38 at the end. Him give me phones but I don’t know if him change phones because I don’t deh which part him deh. I didn’t know the numbers that I called him from and I didn’t bother to find out. I just know Mr McDonald’s number. All of this planning occurred before she died. That’s what I kept on saying from day one”.

Under pressure from Townsend and unable to figure out which phone he used to create a particular recording, Minott said, “I cannot remember things from three years a back. I don’t remember which one of the phones made this recording. I remember also telling you that it was the black banga phone that made this recording”.

“All of what I say to you Mr Townsend, it is true and I understand wrong from right,” Minott said.

Townsend tried to get Minott to recall whether he told the court that he recorded everything with a Samsung A31 that was attached to Digicel.

“Nothing like that Mr Townsend. I didn’t say that nowhere at all. I am not going to answer you, sir, because nothing like that. You can’t tell mi seh mi a liar Mr Townsend.  Mi a tell the truth. I never said that in front of the court.”

In his testimony in September last year, Minott did say that he used a Samsung A31 to record the calls.

He also told the court that he mysteriously found a call recording on the phone after a conversation with McDonald and that he continued to record other calls with the businessman.

He also said he stored the recordings under the name Vybz Kartel but evidence from a police detective revealed the files were saved under the name SIM1 followed by dates and times.

The said police detective told the court that music from dancehall artistes Vybz Kartel and Mavado were on the phone and SD, however, those music files were not extracted to form part of the evidence in court.