Honeymoon murder: Michaela McAreavey’s husband wants cleared men to be retried
Written by News on 31/12/2019
The husband of an Irish woman murdered in Mauritius nine years ago wants two men acquitted of her murder retried.
John and Michaela McAreavey were on their honeymoon in 2011 when he returned to their hotel room and found her strangled.
Mrs McAreavey, the daughter of Tyrone Gaelic football coach Mickey Harte, had been married to Mr McAreavey for just 10 days.
He told Sky News: “For me, unfortunately I have to live with the events of that day every day.
“They’re in my head and there’s not too many days go by now, even at this stage… nine years on when I don’t think about different little elements.”
Soon after her murder, police in Mauritius said Mrs McAreavey, 27, had disturbed burglars in her hotel room and been strangled.
Two men, Avinash Treebhoowoon and Sandip Moneea, were charged with her murder but acquitted after a trial on the island.
Mr McAreavey, his sister Claire and Michaela’s brother Mark have now recorded a podcast discussing the evidence against the two accused.
It raises questions about the “not guilty” verdicts and they are urging authorities in Mauritius to order a retrial.
Mr McAreavey said: “They have to take that opportunity, they have to take that risk… because you have Michaela, who was a young woman, 27 years of age, visiting their island on her honeymoon and she was brutally murdered in a hotel room.
“For them to just leave things the way it is now is completely unacceptable so I would appeal to them to essentially start doing their job again. At least give Michaela and our families another chance at justice.”
More than 100,000 people have downloaded the podcast and Mr McAreavey has received messages of support from all over the world.
He says two Mauritian prime ministers vowed to see justice done and he is calling on them to honour that commitment.
He said: “It’s very hard to say, ‘Yes I have hope that justice will be delivered’ given the experience that we’ve had, but I will continue to press the issue, I will continue to ask the questions.
“Until someone can tell me that there is literally nothing else we can do here, I will just continue.
“For me personally, I always felt that this is the least that Michaela deserved.”
(c) Sky News 2019: Honeymoon murder: Michaela McAreavey’s husband wants cleared men to be retried
