A crime scene examiner employed to the Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom) testified Thursday that on July 28, 2022, Constable Noel Maitland watched as members of his team secured bloodstained drapes and a cushion from his Chelsea Manor apartment in New Kingston, St Andrew.

Maitland is charged with murder and preventing the lawful burial of a corpse following the disappearance of his 24-year-old girlfriend, Donna-Lee Donaldson, in July 2022.

Donaldson was last seen at the Chelsea Manor apartment complex. Based on circumstantial evidence, including blood found on drapes, prosecutors theorise that she was killed between July 12 and 13, 2022 inside Maitland’s apartment.

They also believe that her body was unlawfully disposed of thereafter.

“At about 2:00 pm on July 28, 2022, I proceeded to an apartment at Chelsea Manor. I was not alone. There were several people there from INDECOM, from the forensic lab, the Jamaica Constabulary Force, and also Mr Maitland was present on that day at the location, at that time. At about 1:59 pm when I arrived, I began my visual examination to include the yard area, stairway, steps, and passageways for the northern block, identified as block A. I also conducted a visual examination of the apartment located on block A.

“Mr Maitland was inside the apartment around the dining table area. Inside of the apartment, I observed several stains resembling blood on a pair of brown drapes on the northern wall of the living room. There were also some markings on the wall to the left of the living room, which is the western wall in the apartment. I also observed additional stains on a cream-coloured cushion cover, which was on top of a barrel at the northern wall where the curtains were in the living room.

“After my observations, I took several photographs,” he explained during examination-in-chief, pointing out that he took steps to secure the items before later taking them to the Institute of Forensic Science and Legal Medicine to be examined for DNA evidence.

After visiting the scene at Chelsea Manor, the crime scene examiner went to the Half-Way-Tree Police Station where he conducted an examination of a cream-coloured Toyota pickup truck

“The pickup truck had yellow crime scene tape wrapped around it. The rear car door area of the truck was covered with a blue tarpaulin. There were additional items observed in the rear cargo area of the pickup truck after I took the initialled photographs using the Indecom-issued Nikon camera. There were several items in the rear of the pickup truck. Other than that, there were no stains resembling blood on the truck. The driver was standing near the pickup truck observing the processing,” he said.

The matter was adjourned until July 7, 2025 as there are a number of administrative issues to sort out in the case.