Micheala Hartes murder, suspects caught

Harte's body to be flown home

The body of murdered woman Michaela Harte is to be flown home from Mauritius later today.

Her coffin has been taken from the hospital morgue to the airport, where it will be flown to London on the first stage of her journey back home.

Ms Harte's body is set to be flown out tonight at 10.20pm local time (6.20pm Irish time), along with her husband and other family members. Relatives hope her remains will arrive in London sometime early tomorrow and then be flown on to Belfast.

It is expected her funeral will take place close to her Co Tyrone early next week - in the same church where she wed only weeks ago.

Irish Ambassador in South Africa Brendan McMahon, who is on the island, said his immediate aim was to get Ms Harte's remains and family members home as soon as possible. Her brother and her husband's brother are on the island.

“We are certainly very hopeful this will happen this evening. We hope and pray there will be not any last minute hitches,” he said. Mr McMahon said people on the island were shocked by the murder.

"This is not a violent societey. Staff at the hotel are stunned and are attending a memorial service for Michaela this afternoon," he said on RTE.

He said a number of Irish people were currently staying at the hotel. Mr McMahon made no comment on the investigation or the speed with which it is progressing.

The repatriation is taking place as police continue their investigation into her murder in the luxury Legends Hotel on Monday.

Three employees of the hotel were charged yesterday over the death of Michaela Harte, who was murdered last Monday on the tropical island.

Room attendant Avinash Treebhoowoon (29) of Plaines des Roches, floor manager Sandip Mooneea (41) of Pettit Raffray and cleaner Raj Theekoy of the Cottages appeared before Mapou district court in the north of the island.

Mr Treebhoowoon and Mr Mooneea were provisionally charged with the murder of Ms Harte, who was found strangled in her hotel bedroom, while Mr Theekoy was charged with complicity to murder. An autopsy report confirmed Ms Harte died as a result of neck compression.

Initially six people were questioned over Ms Harte's killing, which took place while she was on honeymoon with her husband John McAreavey, the former Down footballer.

However, the police have reduced the number of suspects to those charged, the court heard.

International and local media waited for three hours for the accused to arrive at the old colonial-style courthouse. All of the men appeared to be distressed.

With tears rolling down their faces they were marched past their friends, relatives and onlookers in handcuffs into the courthouse, where they were placed in a holding cell until proceedings began.

In front of a packed courthouse which included relatives of the defendants, Magistrate Bono Mally was told by the police what charges were being brought against them. She subsequently remanded them all in custody until February 2nd next when a bail hearing will take place.

Only one of the three men had a legal representative present.

Barrister S Ravi Rutnah asked the magistrate if his client, Avinash Treebhoowoon, could address the court in relation to an alleged assault he had suffered at the hands of the police while he was in custody.

According to Mr Treebhoowoon, he was brought to the office of the major crime investigation team where he was hit around the ears before being beaten with a hose on his feet.

“They undressed me and lay me on a table and with a water hose they beat me on the bottom of my feet. They then put a towel over my head and beat, choked and kicked me,” he claimed.

The barrister called on the court to immediately take his client for a medical examination to ascertain if there were signs of any injuries.

“An atrocious crime has been committed and our country is now being watched by the international community. Our name has been tarnished and if the police start acting like this what will be left of our country,” he said to the court.

The magistrate agreed that Mr Treebhoowoon should be sent for a medical examination and she called for an investigation into the allegations.

Speaking outside the court, Mr Treebhoowoon’s new wife Reshma, who had spoken to her husband, said: “He insisted he was innocent and that he has not committed this awful crime,” she said.

dRNk SAnTA wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0113/breaking5.html


What's up with the Irish Times now calling her "Ms Harte", was she not Mrs McAreavey? It seems a bit insensitive to the husband unless they have a good reason for it.

Renn wrote: »

Give it a break OisinT...

Police in Mauritius are staging a reconstruction Thursday of the death of an Irish newlywed on the Indian Ocean island this week, they said.
Three suspects appeared in court Wednesday in connection with the death of Michaela Harte-McAreavey, daughter of a leading Irish sports figure and wife of Gaelic football star John McAreavey.
Her body is due to leave Mauritius Thursday and arrive Friday in Ireland, where she will be buried early next week, her family said.
The three suspects are all employees of a luxury hotel where the 27-year-old newlywed was found strangled Monday, according to the Mauritius Police Force.
Room attendant Avinash Treebhoowoon, 29, and Sandip Moneea, 41, a floor supervisor, have been charged with murder. Room attendant Raj Theekoy, 33, faces a conspiracy charge.
Police say one of the men has confessed and will participate in the reconstruction. CNN was not able to confirm that independently.
The men appeared Wednesday morning at Mapou District Court in northern Mauritius, police said. They've been remanded in custody to appear again in court January 19.
"We believe we have substantial evidence to connect them to the case," said police Superintendent Yoosoof Soopun, who is leading the investigation.
Soopun said the three men were employees of the Legends Hotel, and authorities believe they were inside the teacher's hotel room when she returned alone.
"We presume they were inside and burgling the room when the lady returned and were surprised and attacked her," Soopun said.
The killer used an electronic key card to enter the room, authorities said.
The former beauty queen's husband was in the restaurant of the hotel when his wife was killed and was not a suspect, Soopun said.
She had returned to their room to fetch biscuits to go with her tea. When she failed to return, her husband went to look for her and found her dead, Soopun said.
An autopsy showed that she had died from asphyxiation, said Dr. Sudesh Kumar Gungadin.
Harte was the daughter of one of the best-known figures in Irish sports, Mickey Harte, the Tyrone Gaelic football manager.
In a statement outside his house Tuesday, Harte said his family was "devastated," and offered support to his son-in-law.
"What a day she had on her wedding day. She was just radiant, a beautiful girl, and I just love her to bits. So did her whole family," Harte said.
"We will miss her so much," he added. "This is the worst nightmare that anyone can imagine. If you think things can be bad, then you go beyond that because that is where we are.
"This is too horrible to contemplate. We are just all devastated. It is the worst of the worst and our hearts are broken," Harte said.
Harte asked the media to refrain from contacting his son-in-law, who's "isolated out there" in Mauritius, he said.
"Our hearts go out to him," Harte said. "The lad is devastated. He is our son-in-law. He is a wonderful young man. Please lay off."
Harte-McAreavey taught Irish at St Patrick's Academy in Dungannon, County Tyrone, in Northern Ireland. She won the Ulster Rose of Tralee contest and participated in other beauty pageants.

Head of Police Investigation wrote:

"We presume they were inside and burgling the room when the lady returned and were surprised and attacked her"

aidan24326 wrote: »

We presume? It doesn't seem like they have a huge amount to go on here.

Why haven't they mentioned the (alleged) skin under her nails? Surely the lab results from that would give conclusive DNA evidence?

OisinT wrote: »

It may be that only one of the guys actually murdered her and the rest are being brought down with him via the doctrine of common design.

homerjay2005 wrote: »

terrible terrible tragedy, one of the hardest stories to hear in a long long time. for the poor man, to have his wife taken from him, 10 days into their marraige, is perhaps the most shocking thing that can ever happen to anybody. deepest sympathys go out to both familys also, really difficult to understand what they are going through.

homerjay2005 wrote: »

i had been planning to going to Maurituas, got quotes off a local travel agent a few weeks ago for going there in July, however just out of sheer principal, ill never go there. maybe knee jerk, but if those hotels cant keep people safe and employ people that are trust worthy, they f*ck them and their poxy resorts. hope the ba*tards all rot in hell..

lametisse wrote: »

"Il a tenu à rassurer la population, après avoir exprimé ses condoléances à la famille de Michaela Harte et à tous ceux touchés par ce meurtre. “L’équipe chargée de l’enquête travaille de manière très professionnelle afin d’élucider cette affaire. La force policière comprend des effectifs très compétents et je suis très satisfait du déroulement des choses”, a précisé le commissaire de police. Il a mis l’accent sur le fait qu’aucun meurtre n’est resté non élucidé ces trois dernières années" quote in www.lematinal.com

Here the commisioner of police says that all murders have been resolved in the past 3 years ... and I just read the confession of one of the suspect " Dans ses aveux, le présumé auteur du crime déclare qu’il est entré dans la chambre 1025 qu’occupait le couple McAreavey facilement puisque la porte était entrouverte. Alors qu’il se trouvait dans la chambre, il a été surpris par le retour de Michaela Harte. Il est parti se cacher à l’arrière du lit d’où il pouvait observer les mouvements de la jeune femme à travers une vitre près du lit. A un certain moment, il s’en est pris à la nouvelle mariée et l’a étranglée à mort avec son bras. Michaela Harte a reçu aussi des blessures à la tête.

Il ressort de nos recoupements que le présumé meurtrier aurait bénéficié de la complicité d’un collègue pour déplacer le cadavre alors qu’un troisième assistait passivement à la scène. Mais peu après, ce dernier aurait aidé les deux autres à faire le ménage."

I will try to translate this bit as it might help In his confession the presumed suspect of the crime declare that he entered the room 1025 which was occupied by the McAreavey couple easily as the door was not close properly. When he was in the room he got surprised by the return of Michaela Harte. He went hidding behind the bed where he could observe the movements of the young woman through the mirror near the bed. At a certain time, he just jumped ( cant find the right translation for s'en est pris..) and strangled her to death with his arms. Michaela Harte had received head injuries also.

What we also found out that the presumed murderer had got help from the accomplicity of a college on the murder scene and shortly afterwards, the later also help the other two to clean up.. hope it helps

thebigleap wrote: »

So she wasn't strangled in the bath then? Okay....the story is ever-changing, but interesting that their door was not completely closed which explains why their room was targeted.