The Tribune

AT ABOUT 5:30 yesterday morning a newspaper vendor phoned The Tribune’s circulation department to have 120 newspapers set aside for him. He said he was on his way to collect them. Twenty-five minutes later he was dead — shot by an unknown assailant in the area of Market Street and Wulff Road.

Harry Ellis, of The Tribune’s Circulation Department, received a call on his cell phone from Marco Donaldson, 36, to make certain that his usual order of newspapers would be ready for pick up. Mr Ellis said that Marco usually stopped at The Guardian for his order there, then continued on to The Tribune for his Tribunes. His route was Shirley Street, which took in the two hospitals and the Post Office, and then on to East Bay Street.

“Marco never showed up,” Mr Ellis said. “About 7am another customer called to say that Marco had been shot.”

Police say they received an anonymous call that gunshots had been heard in the Market Street-Wulff Road area at about 5:55am. When they arrived they saw a man lying on the ground behind a building. He was dressed in a black shirt and black trousers. He was dead.

Supt Paul Rolle, officer in charge of the Central Detective Unit, said there was a trail of blood leading from the front to the back of the building where the body was found. The police had no motive or suspects for the murder. However, he encouraged anyone who might have information to call the police at 911 or 919, the Central Detective Unit at 502-9991 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 328-Tips.

Marco’s murder is the second in two days and the fifth for the first 14 days of the year.

Marco, a father of seven, is the son of well known newspaper vendor, Frankie Donaldson, 56. Frankie started selling Tribune’s at the age of 20. Soon his small sons joined him until eventually second son, Marco, had his own route and his own vending business.

In other crime news, Tracey Rolle was stabbed to death early Saturday morning by a man who police say “kicked down her front door.”

She was at a residence on South Beach off Bougainvillea Avenue shortly after 4am with a man when another man kicked in the door and forced his way in.

The intruder then stabbed both victims before fleeing on foot. Sources say Tracey was stabbed several times in her chest and the man, twice in one of his arms.

The woman died at the scene, the man was taken to hospital where he was treated and discharged.

A 32-year-old man is expected to be charged in connection with this murder sometime this week.