McDonald’s phone communicated with killer’s on night wife was killed

A mobile phone attributed to businessman Everton ‘Beachy Stout’ McDonald was communicating with a phone linked to one of his wife’s killers on the night and in the area she was stabbed to death, a police witness has testified.

However, the witness, an expert communications analyst, acknowledged during cross-examination that his detailed report on the activities of the two mobile phones was created in September last year after the murder trial of McDonald and his co-accused Oscar Barnes began in the Home Circuit Court.

The partially burnt body of Tonia Hamilton McDonald, 32, was found with the throat slashed inside her car along a deserted roadway in Sherwood Forest, Portland, on July 20, 2020.

Denvalyn Minott, a Portland fisherman, was given a 19-year prison sentence and ordered to serve 10 years before he is eligible for parole after he pleaded guilty in September 2020 for his role in Tonia’s killing.

Minott, in a tearful confession to the police, claimed that Beachy Stout offered him $3 million to kill Tonia.

He admitted that he subcontracted the hit to another man, lured her to the deserted road and watched as the man held the businesswoman by the neck and stabbed her repeatedly inside the car.

‘Told him what happened’

The convicted killer said he left the scene and called Everton McDonald and “told him what had happened”.

The police witness testified that a phone attributed to Minott, also called ‘Bubbla’, placed two calls to a cell phone attributed to Beachy Stout, the first one at 7:25 p.m. and the second at 8:15 p.m.

Minott’s first call was picked up by the Norwich Halt Cell Site while the second call was completed using the Sherwood Forest Cell Site, the witness testified.

According to the witness, the Port Antonio RoofTop and the Port Antonio PO cell sites completed the calls to the phone attributed to McDonald.

The police expert testified, too, that between 6:38 p.m. and 7:26 p.m. on the day Tonia was killed there were a total of five “communications” between her mobile phone and the device attributed to Minott.

“Communications” include text messages and phone calls, the witness explained.

The calls from the phone attributed to Minott were made via the Norwich Halt Cell Site while the Port Antonio RoofTop Cell Site completed the call to Tonia’s phone, according to the witness’ testimony.

The police expert testified that between June 1, 2020 and August 5, 2020, the phone attributed to Beachy Stout initiated a total of 91 “direct communication” with the phone attributed to Minott.

Over the same period, the phone attributed to Minott initiated 43 direct communication with the device attributed to Everton McDonald, the witness testified.

Under cross-examination by defence attorney Courtney Rowe, the witness acknowledged that the attribution of Beachy Stout’s number was done by detectives probing Tonia’s murder.

“When you said the phone attributed to Mr McDonald communicated with the phone attributed to Mr Minott, you can’t say that information is correct,” Rowe asked the witness.

“According to the information I received, it is correct,” he replied.

“Can you say the information you received from the investigators is correct,” the defence attorney pressed.

“That is correct,” he replied.

The trial will continue on Monday.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com