Secret recordings suggest convicted murderer was eager to kill McDonald’s wife

The contract killer in Tonia’s McDonald’s murder yesterday gave conflicting testimony about when he reportedly secretly recorded conversations between himself and the woman’s husband about the plot to have her killed.

When asked when he had done the recordings, Denvalyn Minott – the prosecution’s key witness, who was yesterday recalled to the stand – said it was some time in 2020, but he could not recall exactly when he started.

Asked further if it was before or after Tonia’s death, the incarcerated Portland fisherman said the latter.

However, in a subsequent response to another question about one of the phones he had purportedly used to do the recordings, he told the court that he started using that phone after it was given to him by Tonia’s husband, Everton ‘Beachy Stout’ McDonald, and continued up to the point of her death.

During one of the conversations, he and the man said to be McDonald were heard discussing an “aborted attempt” on Tonia’s life, in which Minott speaks of seeing Tonia arriving home shortly before her husband reportedly showed up and signalled Minott to call off the hit.

Minott testified earlier in the trial that McDonald hired him to kill his wife but that he passed the hit off to Oscar Barnes.

McDonald and Barnes are currently on trial in the Home Circuit Court for Tonia’s murder.

Minott, shortly after Tonia’s death in July 2020, pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 19 years in prison. He is to serve 10 years before he is eligible for parole.

Minott was yesterday recalled to the witness stand to identify the voices in the recordings that were played in court and to explain some of the conversations.

CONFIRMATION

He confirmed that the voices heard were his and McDonald’s and that he had recorded the conversations.

He also told the court that he had used four phones, which were given to McDonald.

He said the phones all had dual SIMs and that he was given a Digicel chip to call McDonald and LIME (FLOW) chip to call his wife.

Additionally, he said that he had purchased a memory card, which he had inserted in each of the phones to store the recordings.

However, he explained to the court that McDonald had asked him to return all of the phones and that, for each one he handed over, he would retain the memory card for himself.

Minott claimed McDonald first told him to bring in the first phone as it contained conversations that could implicate him in his wife’s murder.

According to Minott, he subsequently placed the memory card in his personal phone, a Samsung A31, which he handed over to the police when he was being arrested.

In one of the conversations that was replayed, Minott was heard telling McDonald that he had planned to kill his wife at their home, even though he had spotted a teenager in the yard.

“But mi did a plan fi work wid him same way still. Mi did a plan fi work ‘round him same way deh so, same place, ‘cause me nuh guh wid de hitching ting, yuh nuh man. You see it?” he said.

Asked by the prosecutor what “work” meant, he said it meant to kill Tonia.

INSTRUCTIONS

McDonald was heard instructing Minott to call him before he went by the house and to make sure they communicated nightly as he did not want the murder to be done when other persons were present.

Minott was further heard saying he was not happy that they had to abort the murder because he was broke.

“It a take too long, yeah. It a take too long now,” he said.

To which McDonald replied, “Too long, too long, too long.”

In another conversation, Minott was heard telling McDonald that he had overheard Tonia speaking to a policeman on the phone when she arrived home, while he was waiting to kill her.

Continuing, he told McDonald that he heard Tonia telling the policeman that she was going to text him when she went inside.

The trial heard from a previous witness, a former employee of McDonald’s, that the businessman believed his wife was cheating on him with a policeman and had secured several pictures of the two on dates and in compromising positions.

The partially burnt body of the 32-year-old businesswoman was found with the throat slashed and multiple stab wounds, along a deserted main road in Sherwood Forest, Portland.

Minott had testified that he had lured Tonia, whom he claimed was his lover, to the area and watched as she was stabbed and killed by Barnes.

According to him, McDonald had given specific instructions for her not to be killed by a gun but for her to be stabbed and her throat cut.

Minott, the last witness for the prosecution, will continue on the stand today.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com