Mauritius honeymoon murder: husband describes ‘wonderful’ new wife

After the discovery of the body, in Room 1025 of the Legends Hotel in the
tropical fishing village of Grande Gaude, Mr McAreavey, was handcuffed by
detectives and left alone in a room for more than five hours, he said.

The court has heard previously that Mr McAreavey, an accountant from Country
Down in Ireland, was described in police logs as a “suspect” and “the
accused”.

Mr McAreavey said that he had been taken from the hotel to a derelict-looking
building where police removed his shirt and examined him for marks.

“I could see what was going through their minds,” he said. “They
put handcuffs on me and I was sat down on a bench.”

He was then left alone. “It was for at least five hours, I’m sure, more –
actually it was late into the night.”

He was eventually released after making a statement about what he knew, and
returned to the hotel where a nurse cared for him throughout the night.

The prosecution claim cleaner Avinash Treebhoowoon, 30, and his supervisor
Sandip Moneea, 42, strangled Mrs McAreavey when she caught them stealing
from her room. Mr Treebhoowoon confessed to the crime but later claimed he
was tortured by police.

Mr McAreavey, a devout Catholic, said that he had gone looking for his wife
after she failed to return to the poolside restaurant after leaving him to
fetch biscuits from their room to eat with their cups of tea.

Finding her unconscious in the bath, with the tap running, he said he laid her
on the floor and tried desperately to revive her, before falling to his
knees and praying.

“Michaela was cold,” he told the jury at Mauritius’s Supreme Court,
his voice halting. “And her lips were blue and I kept on just saying
‘Michaela, Michaela, wake up, come on, come on’.

“Then I could see this mark on her neck. I didn’t know what was going on.
I was grabbing her and trying to press on her chest and trying to attempt
CPR. I don’t even know CPR.

“I was just holding her in my arms, telling her to come on, just to wake
up.”

As pictures were passed to the jury of a smiling Michaela, the daughter of
celebrated Gaelic football manager Mickey Harte, Mr McAreavey described her
as a “wonderful, wonderful person – a really special human being”.

Watched by his father Brendan, sister Claire and brother-in-law Mark Harte
from the public gallery, he said he did “not have to words” to
fully explain how much she had meant to them all.

“She was loved by her parents – she was their only daughter. She was
cherished by her brothers – their only sister.

“She had so many special qualities that it would be impossible for me to
fully explain how a good a person she was.”

He said that his wife had been “full of life and full of happiness”.

“Anyone who had the pleasure of knowing her or meeting Michaela would
give testament to that,” he added. “She was the most beautiful
person I have seen.”

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