Maitland’s girlfriend Donaldson had ongoing dispute with his child’s mother, court hears
The Noel Maitland murder trial continued Tuesday morning with a second witness telling the court that she was aware of an ongoing dispute between the defendant’s girlfriend Donnalee-Lee Donaldson and his child’s mother Kathy-Ann Smith.
During cross-examination which was being conducted by Maitland’s attorney Christopher Townsend, the witness — who was a close friend of Donaldson — said “yes” when asked if it came to her attention that Maitland shared a child with Smith and “yes” to whether she was aware that both Donaldson and Smith had an ongoing dispute.
The witness also said she was of the impression that Donaldson could have been on the road on July 12, 2022, the day the social media influencer went missing.
Donaldson is presumed murdered and her body disposed of between July 12, 2022 and July 13, 2022. She was last seen alive at the Chelsea Manor Apartment complex in St Andrew where her police constable boyfriend, Maitland, lived.
Tuesday marked the beginning of week two of Maitland’s murder trial in the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston. In addition to the murder of Donaldson, he is also being tried for preventing the lawful burial of a corpse.
The witness was asked if she got the impression that Donaldson was on the road when she spoke to her friend last on the phone.
“Yes,” the witness replied, explaining that she formed that opinion because of the cars and noise she heard in the background.
The witness confirmed that the last time she heard from Donaldson was around 2:00 PM on July 12, 2022.
The witness explained that she had planned to collect money from Donaldson in order to go to a Corporate Area restaurant to settle an outstanding bill. The court heard that Donaldson was supposed to collect money that had been sent by her Bahamas-based father and she would have given the witness money to settle the bill, but the witness never heard from Donaldson again.