An Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom) crime scene investigator admitted on Tuesday that other people had arrived at Constable Noel Maitland’s apartment before he got there, on July 28, 2022, to process the scene when he found brown stains on curtains resembling blood.

Maitland is on trial for murder in the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston following the disappearance of his 24-year-old social media influencer/entrepreneur girlfriend, Donna-Lee Donaldson, who was reported missing on July 12, 2022 and last seen at Maitland’s apartment at Chelsea Manor in St Andrew.

During cross-examination, Chadwick Berry, one of the attorneys representing Maitland, asked the Indecom investigator if he was aware that a team from the Institute of Forensic Science and Legal Medicine and the Jamaica Constabulary Force attended the scene before he and his team had arrived.

“I am aware of that,” the investigator said.

Berry asked the witness if, as a crime scene examiner, he would agree that the preservation of a location, when it is deemed to be relevant to an investigation, is important.

“Correct,” the witness said.

Berry further asked if that meant that the location would have had to be maintained to ensure the integrity of potential evidence and to ensure a proper investigation was done.

The investigator said that he agreed.

“In keeping with maintaining the integrity of potential evidence, it is also important to ensure that the location is not contaminated, do you agree with me?” Berry asked.

“That’s always ideal,” the Indecom investigator replied.

Berry then asked the witness if he would agree that contamination could be defined as the introduction of foreign material to a scene.

The investigator said that would be based on what the contaminating factor was.

“What are some contaminants in your mind that should be considered?” Berry probed.

“Biological, to include blood, other bodily fluids, saliva, semen, chemical, disinfectants, bleach,” the witness responded.

“You would also agree with me that knowing the person that interacts with a particular location that is deemed to be a location of interest to an investigation is important?” Berry asked.

“That is true,” the witness said, adding that it would include people who would have gone to the location.

During examination-in-chief led by the prosecution on Monday, the crime scene investigator explained for the seven-member jury how he packaged and stored evidence related to the case, including curtains found at Maitland’s apartment which had what he said were several stains resembling blood.

From Maitland’s apartment, he also secured a cream-coloured pillow cushion. The investigator also spoke of how he secured a toothbrush which belonged to Donaldson that was taken from her mother’s house in St Andrew. The toothbrush and the other items were swabbed for DNA evidence.

“I collected the package [the brown curtain] and placed it in storage which is our exhibit room or vault at Indecom headquarters in Kingston. At that time I alone had access to that room. I collected it from the exhibit room and carried it with me here to court. It was intact. It was unopened.

“When I delivered the [cream-coloured pillow cushion] to the Institute of Forensic Science and Legal Medicine, it was in the same condition. On the 11th of July, 2024, I took it from the lab and carried it back to Indecom headquarters and stored it in our exhibit room or vault. I last saw it this morning. The package is intact and unopened,” he said on Monday.

The trial continues today.

— Renae Osbourne contributed to this story.