TRIAL Judge Chester Stamp on Monday ruled that Portland businessman Everton “Beachy Stout” McDonald and his co-accused Oscar Barnes both have a murder charge to answer to, despite being freed of the lesser charge of conspiracy to murder.

McDonald and Barnes are currently on trial for the July 20, 2020 murder of McDonald’s second wife, Tonia McDonald.

She was killed and her body burnt on the main road in Sherwood Forest, Portland.

“There is a case to answer and that means that the accused will have to state their defence,” a legal expert told the
Jamaica Observer.

On Monday, Judge Stamp revoked Barnes’ bail.

McDonald and Barnes were freed of the conspiracy charge after their attorneys filed no-case submissions on Monday.

The attorneys representing McDonald are Earl Hamilton, Christopher Townsend, Ryan Jon-Paul Hamilton, John Jacobs and Courtney Rowe. The attorneys representing Barnes are Earnest Davis and Vincent Wellesley.

The lead prosecutor in the case is Sophia Rowe.

The conspiracy charge was struck out in the absence of the seven-member jury which began to hear the case in September last year.

The media was also not allowed to sit in on Monday’s session in court.

The
Observer was reliably informed that Stamp threw out the conspiracy charge after he was satisfied that McDonald and Barnes did not conspire to kill Tonia.

Both men will be back in court on Tuesday when character witnesses should take the stand to vouch for both accused.

McDonald and Barnes were implicated in the killing of Tonia after Denvalyn “Bubbla” Minott, a fisherman by profession, told police that McDonald hired him for $3 million to kill Tonia. He also claimed that he gave the job to Barnes who allegedly killed the 32-year-old woman all by himself. Minott claimed in court as well that he only stood by and watched the murder, without physically participating in the actual killing.

Minott has maintained his position, despite audio recordings played in court incriminating him, his son, and a taxi driver. Minott claimed that he recorded the calls himself.

McDonald and Barnes have insisted that they are not guilty of the crime.

Minott has pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 19 years and 10 months in prison, after a confession.

As it relates to Barnes, the lead investigator in the matter, a detective sergeant, admitted in his testimony previously in the trial that Barnes was only arrested based on the fact that Minott had pointed him out during a “drive through” session with the police, claiming that he was the one responsible for killing Tonia.

Barnes was not placed in an identification parade as the detective sergeant admitted in court that there was no physical evidence linking him to the murder. Cops also searched two houses linked to him and found nothing incriminating.

His motor vehicle, which is still in the custody of the police, was confiscated in 2020 and processed for evidence but nothing incriminating was discovered.

Businessman McDonald has insisted that he did not kill his wife, despite allegedly accusing her of having extramarital affairs.

During the trial last year, claims were made that McDonald was perturbed that a policeman had a photograph of himself inside the businessman’s house, which he shared with Tonia.

The murder convict, Minott, had claimed during his evidence in court last year that he had a sexual relationship with Tonia which started when McDonald allegedly instructed him to develop a close bond with her so she would become more comfortable, for the murder to be committed smoothly.