No evidence of blood at carwash in Maitland murder trial
THE seven-member jury in the high-profile murder trial of constable Noel Maitland heard on Thursday that a forensic crime scene officer found no trace of blood at a carwash on Lyndhurst Road in St Andrew where a settee was taken to be power-washed in July 2022 by him.
Maitland is being tried in the Home Circuit Court in Kingston for murder and preventing the lawful burial of a corpse in relation to the disappearance of his social media influencer girlfriend, 24-year-old Donna-Lee Donaldson.
Donaldson, who was last seen in his company at the Chelsea Manor Apartment complex where the policeman lived, went missing on July 12, 2022. She had been picked up at her house in St Andrew by Maitland on July 11 and taken to his house.
Not long after Donaldson’s disappearance, Maitland hired a truck to remove a large settee from his apartment and took it to a carwash on Lyndhurst Road.
A former employee of the carwash had told the court that while she was washing the settee, she observed what she believed to be a large amount of blood running out of the furniture. She also claimed the smell coming from the settee was raw like blood. She said she even remarked that someone must have bled out in it.
However, on Thursday, the forensic crime scene officer told the court that after combing the scene for blood and other forms of DNA evidence, nothing was found.
“I did my checks and carried out processing of the scene. I used my crime scene light to make checks for possible DNA. Nothing of evidentiary value was observed. After using the light, I used a chemical known as Luminol to carry out further checks. I used a piece of cloth to darken the area. I then applied the Luminol by spraying the area. I gave it a few minutes before using the blue light to see if there were any reactions,” she shared.
“No reactions were observed. With the use of Luminol, if there are any traces of blood or DNA, the Luminol will give off a light blue colour to show that something is actually there. Once blood is present it will give off a reading,” she added.
She explained that photographs were taken of the area with a Nikon camera which was authorised by the Jamaica Constabulary Force.
The trial resumes on Monday with a new witness.
