Justice Chester Stamp on Thursday likened the murder of Tonia Hamilton McDonald to that of the slaughter of an animal before imposing a life sentence on her husband, Everton “Beachy Stout” McDonald, and his co-convict, Oscar Barnes, in the Home Circuit Court, downtown Kingston.

The judge ordered that McDonald and Barnes spend 28 years and 11 months in prison for the gruesome killing of Tonia, McDonald’s second wife, before they become eligible for parole. McDonald, who turns 70 in October, also received four years and six months for conspiracy, while Barnes was given a six-year and six months sentence for conspiracy. The murder and conspiracy sentences for both men will run concurrently.

McDonald’s life sentence came even while he awaits trial for the murder of his first wife, Marlene “Petal” McDonald, which occurred on May 2, 2009.

Judge Stamp took a number of factors into consideration before handing down the sentences. He pointed out that the gruesomeness of the crime, committed on July 20, 2020 in Sherwood Forest, Portland, meant that he had to start at the highest point possible as it relates to the number of years handed down to both men.

McDonald and Barnes were found guilty of the crime in March this year by a seven-member jury.

“The finding of the jury, or any objective assessment, puts this case among the worst of the worst cases of murder of one individual. The features of this case include the deliberate killing of this woman for a payment or promise of payment, and this contract killing involves a substantial degree of premeditation and planning on the part of Mr McDonald and Mr Denvalyn Minott, and later on the part of Mr Minott and Mr Barnes. There was deliberateness in the stabbing of this woman several times in the chest and neck and the cutting of her throat like an animal taken out for slaughter,” Justice Stamp said.

“The offence was accompanied by a high degree of brutality and cruelty and is extremely heinous how it was planned and done. The heinousness also involved the planned abduction of the victim, taking her away, and her vulnerability in trusting those which she travelled with in her own car. The victim was unarmed and defenceless. She was taken to a place where it was unlikely that there would be any assistance. After the stabbing and the cutting of the throat, her body was set alight and that is if she was dead by then. The murder involved a prolonged degree of suffering, as this young woman fought for life, breaking back the seat of her car, kicking out the windscreen of the car, and screaming for her mother,” Justice Stamp said in reference to the evidence presented in court.

“With all those circumstances, this murder, even if there was discretion to decide which category to fit it, could only be placed, in my view, where the sentence of life in prison would be appropriate,” he said.

The judge then turned his focus on the reasons he decided on the higher point for sentencing in terms of the number of years.

“The next question is the minimum term to be served before each of the convicts is eligible to be considered for parole. In Jamaica, the normal range for a minimum of pre-parole period for murder of one single individual is anywhere between the statutory minimum period of 20 years and 25 to 30 years. However, in my judgment, those features which I just enumerated, which make this crime among one of the worst of the worst cases, also warrant a higher starting point than the normal range in determining the minimum pre-parole period.

“In my judgment, an appropriate starting point with respect to Mr McDonald is 35 years before being eligible for parole, him being the original author and instigator of this crime. In my judgment, a starting point of 34 years is applicable to Mr Barnes, who was the actual perpetrator of this grizzly and horrific deed,” Justice Stamp said.

Both men had time shaved off their sentences as Judge Stamp considered the time they already spent in custody, from 2020 up to the point of their conviction. Judge Stamp also considered the fact that McDonald had no previous convictions.

The judge decided to disregard the fact that Barnes had a previously suspended six-month sentence for praedial larceny.

Tonia, who was constantly accused by her husband of entertaining other men and disgracing his name, was lured to her death by Denvalyn “Bubbla” Minott, a man she knew well. Minott had confessed to his involvement in Tonia’s murder and is now serving a prison sentence.

He later agreed to turn State witness against McDonald and Barnes. He testified that McDonald had contracted him for $3 million to kill Tonia by stabbing her to death and cutting her throat. According to Minott, because he couldn’t carry out the crime, he hired Barnes, who he said committed the actual stabbing and throat-cutting before setting Tonia’s body and her car ablaze on the main road in Sherwood Forest.

For his decision to turn State witness Minott received a reduction in his sentence.

In February 2023 McDonald’s son, US Air Force Major Andre McDonald, was sentenced to the maximum 20 years in prison for manslaughter in the February 2019 death of his wife, Andreen McDonald, in Texas.