DONNA-LEE DONALDSON MURDER TRIAL
Defence raises ‘banana boat’ theory as PICA confirms no legal exit by Donaldson
Published:Tuesday | November 25, 2025 | 12:11 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
Well-known social media influencer Donalee Donaldson did not leave the island at any point during 2022, according to official immigration records.
The deputy director of immigration at the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) testified that Donaldson’s travel history showed that she last travelled in 2021.
“It is recorded as an arrival on the island on March 12, 2021,” the witness said.
She further testified that Donaldson’s records showed she previously left the island in December 2013 and returned in December 2016.
However, under cross-examination by the defence, the witness conceded that PICA’s system only captures legal travel through authorised ports of entry, and would not reflect illegal departures, such as leaving the island on a “banana boat”.
Donaldson, a 24-year-old swimsuit entrepreneur, went missing on July 13, 2022, after visiting the home of her boyfriend, Constable Noel Maitland, at his Chelsea Manor apartment in St Andrew.
Maitland is currently on trial in the Home Circuit Court before a seven-member jury for murder and preventing the lawful burial of a corpse.
Earlier in the trial, Maitland’s defence team had raised questions about Donaldson’s passport, suggesting that she had left home with the travel document for a reason, hinting at the possibility of leaving the island.
Donaldson’s mother, who had testified that her daughter had the travel document in her possession when she had left home, explained that the passport was her daughter’s only means of identification and that she was planning to collect money sent by her father from overseas.
During her evidence-in-chief, the PICA executive explained that the agency uses a border management system known as EMTREX, which captures all passengers processed through the island’s ports. The system records information such as name, passport number, date of birth, dates and times of travel, and vessel used.
The witness, who has held the post since 2019, said PICA received three requests for Donaldson’s travel history, and she personally retrieved the data using her credentials. The most recent request was made on November 21 of this year.
She also told the court that the information generated by the system is in a read-only format and cannot be altered.
During cross-examination, attorney-at-law Chadwick Berry questioned whether the system would detect illegal travel.
“So if Donna-Lee left the country on a banana boat, would it show?” he asked.
“It wouldn’t show,” the witness replied.
He continued: “If she left by way of an unregistered craft in St Mary?”
The witness maintained her earlier answer.
“So you can’t say definitively that Donna-Lee has left the country?” Berry pressed.
The witness responded: “I am able to speak to her travel events as it relates to authorised ports.”
Donaldson’s mother previously testified that she last saw her daughter on July 11, 2022, when Maitland picked her up from their St Andrew home. She said she last heard from her the following morning. Donaldson’s brother also testified that he spoke with her via FaceTime on July 12 and saw her at Maitland’s apartment, noting a brown curtain in the background.
The trial continues today before Justice Leighton Pusey, with the evidence from a forensic digital officer.