Everton “Beachy Stout” McDonald (right) and his now-deceased second wife, Tonia McDonald.
CHRISTOPHER Townsend, one of four attorneys-at-law representing Portland businessman Everton “Beachy Stout” McDonald in his murder trial, on Monday punched more holes in the testimony of Denvalyn “Bubbla” Minott, the second witness in the case.
Beachy Stout is being tried for the July 20, 2020 murder of his second wife, Tonia McDonald who was found with her throat slashed and multiple stab wounds on the Sherwood Forest main road in Portland. The body, which was burned, was found beside her charred motor vehicle on the roadway.
Beachy Stout is being tried along with his co-accused, Oscar Barnes, who was allegedly subcontracted by Minott to kill Tonia.
Numerous and damning inconsistencies emerged in Minott’s statements on Monday in the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston while he was being cross-examined by Townsend.
Townsend explored whether the witness could recall if Beachy Stout truly gave him the contract to kill his wife on the very first occasion he that he met the businessman.
Minott had previously told the court that the first time he met Beachy Stout was when he had gone to a supermarket owned by the businessman to ask him for a job. At the time, he said, he spoke to Beachy Stout about getting work to offload goods from delivery trucks, but instead, Beachy Stout showed him a picture of his wife on his phone and told him that he wanted her dead.
However, it was revealed that in the last of three statements Minott gave to the police, he said that he went to the establishment to seek a job for his son and not for himself as he had stated in Court.
Townsend reminded him that he said in the statement to the police that his son got the job and started working the following day and that he had gone to check on his son while he worked at the establishment.
“Nowhere in the four or five pages of the third statement did you tell the police about any engagement to kill Mrs McDonald. You then went on to tell your wife that you got the job for your son. You told the police that you asked him for a job for your son only, but you told the jury that you asked for a job for yourself and not for your son. You never said anything to the jury about asking Mr Mac for a job for your son. You never spoke to him about the killing of Mrs Mac.”
Minott responded to Townsend, “You can’t tell me what Mr Mac said. You never deh deh. You are taking up for somebody’s wrongs. Tonia was the one who gave my son the work. She was the one he was working with. I asked her to employ my son, but Mr Mac did take him on already. He was already employed from the Sunday and I saw Tonia on the Monday and asked her for the job for him. Mr Mac showed me the picture of Tonia before that Monday when I asked her for the job. I am not making up anything, Sir. If anything is being made up, it is you who is making it up, Sir.”
“I never went to school with her. Mr Mac introduced me to her. He introduced me to her before I asked for the job for my son,” the witness said, giving rise to confusion in the court, as he could not give a straight answer as to when exactly was the first time he met Tonia.
Townsend delved into territory that frustrated the witness and brought out shocking revelations in court.
Minott told the court that he is illiterate and, therefore, was prompted to sign a third statement he gave to the police after they had read the contents of the document to him.
He told the court that when cops read the statement to him, he heard inconsistencies but failed to raise an alarm. Minott also denied telling the police some of the things that were written in the statement, claiming that cops put things in the statement that he did not say.
“I cannot read, so I just signed. The police was lying on me. I couldn’t do anything about it, Sir. They didn’t hurt me or hold a gun to my head, [but] I just signed the paper to say it was the truth. When I signed it, it was supposed to contain the truth. I am not going to tell any lies,” he said, denying numerous assertions by Townsend that he was not being honest.
Minott, during his evidence had previously told the court that he had met Tonia for the first time when Beachy Stout brought her to his house and introduced her to him as his wife. He claimed that the reason they visited him was under the guise of them wanting to purchase a gun to kill the man who allegedly murdered Tonia’s father. But according to the witness, that link-up was all part of a plot to lure her to her death because she seemed to be desperately in need of the firearm.
Minott, who appeared to have had enough of the questions being posed by Townsend, stopped answering and instead looked to the ceiling inside the courtroom and said, “Father God, mi tired. Mi sick. Mi can’t manage nuh more. Father God, just come down and touch someone today. I am distressed, Your Honour”.
Presiding Judge Justice Chester Stamp ordered that the witness take a short break as he would not be excused from continuing to give evidence in the case.
The trial continues today.