Beachy Stout bail fate delayed as defence mulls evidence

THE DEFENCE in the murder cases involving Portland businessman Everton‘Beachy Stout’McDonald, who has been identified as the mastermind behind the killing of his two wives, requested time on Thursday to peruse new evidence recently presented by the prosecution.

Attorneys-at-law Bert Samuels and Matthew Hyatt also wanted time to get further instructions from their client.

The bail decision for the 67-yearold accused has now been pushed back to June 1.

At the next hearing date, it is also expected that the prosecution will outline the contents of the document and that the defence will respond.

In the meantime, McDonald and his co-accused, Oscar Barnes, who appeared in court via Zoom, were both remanded by Justice Vinette Graham Allen.

Barnes was previously offered $500,000 bail. One of his bail conditions was to relocate to Windsor Castle in Portland.

However, the judge on Thursday ordered that he be remanded for his address to be verified by the police.

Barnes and McDonald are charged in connection with the murder of the businessman’s second wife, Tonia, which took place on July 20, 2020. Tonia’s partially burnt body was found with the throat slashed beside her burnt car along the Sherwood Forest main road in Portland.

Another man, Denvalyn Minott, said to be the contract killer, was also arrested and charged and pleaded guilty in the Home Circuit Court last September and was sentenced to 19 years in prison.