Second Delivery Man Testifies in Noel Maitland Trial Over Sofa Movement

KINGSTON, Jamaica — A second delivery man contracted by policeman Noel Maitland, who is on trial for the murder of his girlfriend Donna-Lee Donaldson, took the stand this morning to testify about moving a settee between locations in Kingston.

According to the witness, he was hired to pick up a brown settee — described as being in two or three pieces — from a car wash and deliver it to an upholstery shop near the Denham Town Police Station.

The second delivery man’s testimony follows that of another delivery man who previously told the court he was hired to remove the same sofa from Maitland’s New Kingston apartment and drop it at a car wash on Half-Way-Tree Road.

The witness said he and his late co-worker, known as Carlos, were on another job when Carlos received a phone call about the work. They returned to their hardware workplace where a silver car arrived. Carlos spoke with the driver before both men followed the vehicle — the witness in his pickup truck and Carlos on a bike — to a car wash off Lyndhurst Road in St Andrew.

The delivery man said he stayed inside his truck while the sofa was loaded, then followed the silver car to an upholstery shop near Denham Town Police Station. After a brief wait, the settee was loaded back onto his truck, and they followed the car to Kingston Public Hospital, where it was finally dropped off at another upholstery shop nearby.

He told the court he was paid $5,000 for the job, of which he kept $1,000 and gave the rest to Carlos.

The witness also testified that days later, police came to his workplace, took him to Half-Way-Tree Police Station to give a statement, and swabbed and photographed his vehicle.

Maitland is on trial in the Home Circuit Court for murder and preventing the legal burial of a corpse in connection with the July 13, 2022, disappearance of Donaldson, a 24-year-old social media personality, swimwear entrepreneur, and customer service representative.

Donaldson’s mother, Sophia Lugg, had previously testified that Maitland picked up her daughter on July 11, and she last heard from her the morning of July 12. Subsequent attempts to contact her were unsuccessful.

The trial continues.