Jury in Noel Maitland murder trial now deliberating

The seven-member jury in the trial of Police Constable Noel Maitland in the Home Circuit Court has gone into deliberations.

The jury of four men and three women retired at 11:28 a.m.

Maitland is charged with the murder of his girlfriend, 24-year-old social media influencer and entrepreneur Donna-Lee Donaldson, as well as preventing the lawful burial of a corpse.

Donaldson has been missing since July 11, 2022, and her body has never been recovered.

Before retiring, Justice Leighton Pusey instructed the jury to return a guilty verdict if they are certain beyond a reasonable doubt that Maitland committed the murder and, if not, to instead find him not guilty.

The prosecution relied heavily on circumstantial evidence, arguing that it formed an unbroken chain pointing to Maitland as the only person who could have caused Donaldson’s death.

Crown counsel highlighted blood evidence recovered from Maitland’s apartment at Chelsea Manor in St Andrew, the removal and disposal of furniture, and phone records tracking Maitland’s movements and communications after Donaldson’s disappearance.

Prosecutors also pointed to what they described as Maitland’s calculated behaviour in the days following Donaldson’s disappearance, including attempts to mislead investigators and members of her family.

The defence, however, maintained that the case was based on speculation and urged the jury to reject what it described as unreliable and incomplete evidence.

Maitland, in an unsworn statement from the dock, denied killing Donaldson, telling the court that he loved her and had no reason to harm her.

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