Husband was termed suspect, McAreavey trial told

MICHAELA McAREAVEY’S husband John had been described as a suspect in police logs in the hours after she was found dead, the criminal court of Mauritius heard yesterday.

The trial of the two hotel workers accused of murdering Ms McAreavey heard a diary at the police station in Grand Gaube, the village where Legends Hotel is located, referred to the husband of the victim as a suspect and noted that a police sentry had been posted to his bedroom door the night after the killing.

However, Insp Sunilduth Nucchedy of Grand Gaube station said he had not identified any suspects at that time and suggested the choice of terminology was an error. “I can’t say why the word ‘suspect’ has been mentioned in the diary book, or the word ‘accused’,” he told the jury.

Insp Nucchedy said the term “sentry” would be used by police when referring to a guard assigned to the victim of a crime or someone who needed police protection. “Given that he is a foreigner and he just lost his wife in a murder case, it could be that the police could be of assistance,” he explained.

Avinash Treebhoowoon (30) and Sandip Moneea (42) deny murdering the 27-year-old daughter of Tyrone football manager Mickey Harte at Legends Hotel in Mauritius in January last year.

Insp Nucchedy, who was one of the first senior officers at the crime scene, revealed that police were originally told someone had drowned at the hotel, but it became clear it was a case of murder when they arrived.

He said the room was in a “slightly disturbed” state – an impression he gleaned from the bed sheets, an open suitcase and clothes lying here and there.

The officer was asked by lawyers for both accused whether he was aware a hotel guest had left the resort unexpectedly at 11.45pm on the day of the murder.

“I can’t say if there was any premature departure,” he replied.

The inspector confirmed to defence counsel that police had lost track of former Legends bellboy Rajiv Bhujun, one of the first people to arrive at the room after the murder.

The prosecution had planned to call Mr Bhujun as a witness, as he had accompanied Mr McAreavey to the hotel room to let him in just before he found his wife dead in the bathtub. However, Insp Nucchedy said the former bellboy was abroad. His last known port of call was Dubai.

On the sixth day of the trial in Port Louis, the Mauritian capital, the jury heard that a witness who said he saw the accused men leaving the McAreaveys’ room at about the time of the killing did not make this allegation to the police originally.

Raj Theekoy made a signed statement to investigating officers the day after Ms McAreavey was found strangled. “I did not kill the lady,” he said. “I don’t know how she was killed. I don’t know anything about the lady.” Mr Theekoy provided no further details about the murder at that time.

He was originally charged with conspiracy to murder, but the case was dropped. He is due to appear at the trial as a witness against fellow Legends employees Mr Treebhoowoon and Mr Moneea.

The trial of the two defendants has already been told that Mr Theekoy, a room attendant, claims he heard a woman screaming in pain in the room where Ms McAreavey was killed, and shortly afterwards saw Mr Treebhoowoon and Mr Moneea leave the room.

The contents of his statement were read in court yesterday by Const Hans Rouwin Seevathian, one of the police officers present at the interview. Const Seevathian also denied threatening Mr Treebhoowoon in the days after the murder.