WATCH: Noel Maitland to return to court August 22 Loop Jamaica

Black Immigrant Daily News

Constable Noel Maitland, who is charged with the murder of missing social media influencer Donna-Lee Donaldson, was Friday morning remanded to custody until August 22 when he is to reappear in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court.

Maitland’s attorney Christopher Townsend is to make an application for bail when the matter returns. The prosecution is not yet ready for trial.

In court, Maitland was properly dressed but appeared stressed, as is normal with someone being in custody.

Maitland, who is also a producer who goes by the name Noel Onetime, was charged on August 2 during the peak of a high-level investigation, which suggested that Donaldson, who was reported missing at the time, was dead.

The police have yet to recover a body but they say there is forensic proof that she is dead. Deputy Commissioner of Police Fitz Bailey said, based on their investigation, they believe that Donaldson was killed on July 12.

DCP Bailey said, too, that the police have carried out several operations – including a visit to the Riverton City Dump in St Andrew – aimed at recovering Donaldson’s body.

The senior law enforcement officer said that while investigators suspect that Maitland may have acted alone in causing the alleged death of Donaldson, they believe that he received help to dispose of the body.

Donaldson was reported missing on July 13 after she had gone to Maitland’s home to spend her birthday. Family and fans of Donaldson, who was the host of the reality show 876Roommates, staged several protests days after her disappearance, claiming a lack of urgency on the part of the police.

The police, with the help of INDECOM and the Institute of Forensic Science and Legal Health and oversight from the police command, was able to make several breakthroughs, and, by July 26, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution was brought in for a case review.

By July 27, Maitland was in custody, taken before the parish court and remanded. And on August 2, a charge of murder was laid against him.

Maitland has maintained his innocence.

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