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Honeymoon bride strangled to death over less than £100: Police reveal horrific last moments in her luxury hotel room
By Catherine Fegan
Last updated at 1:03 PM on 16th January 2011
- Robbers only planned to take a few notes... hoping couple wouldn’t notice
- Michaela was crying as her killer strangled her, says detective in charge
- Thousands pay their respects as she is laid out wearing her wedding dress
Portrait of happiness: A new picture of Michaela Harte, murdered on honeymoon, with her husband John McAreavey
Micheala Harte was murdered for less than a hundred pounds, according to information gathered by police officers investigating her death on the paradise island of Mauritius last week.
The thieves who targeted the newlywed’s room only planned to slip a few rupee notes out of her purse – hoping she and her husband John McAreavey would never even know they had been robbed.
It comes after police revealed the 27-year-old had been crying as her killer strangled her.
The detective leading the probe into Michaela’s death told the Irish Mail on Sunday that confessions by the three suspects under arrest suggested they did not even plan to take any of her jewellery – or the sterling or euro notes that were also in her purse.
Having slipped a few notes from her purse, the thieves would have been gone from her room at the Legends Hotel had she arrived just a minute or two later.
Instead, Michaela came in to get biscuits to go with her tea – almost certainly her favourite Rich Tea, brought all the way from Ireland – and surprised the robbers.
A struggle ensued and she was strangled and dumped in a half-filled bath, where she was discovered by John after he came to find out where she had gone.
Workers Avinash Treebhoowoon, 29, and Sandip Mooneea, 41, were charged on Wednesday with the murder of the teacher. They were both in the hotel room and caused Michaela’s death, police maintain.
Raj Theekoy, 33, was charged with conspiracy to murder. He allegedly passed by the room and heard Michaela scream and saw two men leave in a suspicious manner.
Detective Inspector Ranjit Singh Jokhoo, the man leading investigations into her murder, has revealed that the thieves had intended to take only a small amount of money from the couple’s room.
Det. Insp. Jokhoo told the MoS that the purse they intended to steal from, which was on a table in the honeymoon couple’s room, contained notes in three different currencies. He said: ‘There was €250, 3,500 rupees and £50.’
He said the sight of money sticking out of the purse had tempted one of the suspects, Treebhoowoon. He thought the couple wouldn’t notice if he took a small cash sum.
‘They intended to take only a small amount, probably less than €100. They were not intending to steal the purse – or even all the money. They just wanted to take a little, so that might go unnoticed. But it was while Avinash [Treebhoowoon] was in the process of opening the wallet that the lady got in.’
The officer said that both Theekoy and Treebhoowoon have given written confessions to police. Last night, Mooneea was being questioned with a view to securing a confession. Det. Insp. Jokhoo said he was confident that Mooneea would confess to killing Michaela.
‘Whether Sandip [Mooneea] confesses or not is immaterial for us,’ he said. ‘Of course, a confession would be in his own interests because if he comes up with a cock and bull story at trial, the jury will appreciate that when he had the opportunity to tell the truth, he didn’t.
Suspects: Sandip Mooneea is alleged to have strangled Michaela and muffled her cries according to police and, right, Avinash Treebhoowoon had reportedly spotted cash in the couple's hotel room
Det. Insp. Jokhoo stressed that the Mauritian police had made no errors with their investigation ‘We are sure that we have made no mistakes. We have the right people. We can speak out of experience. Of course we are not going to try these people without a proper investigation.
All the evidence will be subject to close scrutiny by a court of law. I can tell you out of my own experience that we haven’t made any mistake.’ According to the police, Treebhoowoon’s sworn admissions say that the purse and a few small pieces of jewellery, which were also on the table, were spotted by the room attendant on his first visit to the room.
At some point during the couple’s stay, Treebhoowoon spoke to his colleague, Sandip Mooneea, a floor manager in the hotel, telling him about the purse stuffed with cash. He decided he would steal the money and, together with Mooneea, planned to carry out the theft when Michaela and John were out of the room.
ALLEGED WITNESS: Raj Theekoy says he heard Michaela crying out as he worked in the hotel
On Monday, the two men entered room 1025 while the couple had lunch by the pool. Minutes beforehand, Michaela told husband John that she was popping over to their room to get some off her favourite biscuits to have with her tea.
On opening the door of the groundfloor room, she found Treebhoowoon with his hand in her purse. Startled by her unexpected arrival into the room, Treebhoowoon pushed Michaela from behind and she fell to the ground, hitting her head. After rising to her feet, the 27-year-old teacher began to scream.
Approaching her from behind to muffle her cries, Mooneea placed one hand over her mouth. He then placed his other arm around her neck in an attempt to stop her from moving. She is believed to have suffered compressions to the neck during a struggle and lost consciousness.
Panicked by what had happened, the two men lifted Michaela and carried her into the bathroom. They placed her in the bath and turned on the tap.
Meanwhile, Raj Theekoy, also working as a room attendant in the hotel, had heard Micheala’s screams. He saw one of his colleagues emerge from the room in what was described as an ‘unusual state’. He has told police that the man was sweating profusely.
He claims that the two men went off in different directions but at one point they met each other again. He didn’t hear what they said but when they separated again he talked to Treebhoowoon, and asked him what was wrong in the room.
According to Det. Insp. Jokhoo, Treebhoowoon said to Theekoy: ‘You just keep quiet. There is nothing wrong in the room. You just keep quiet and forget about it.’
Approximately 30 minutes after his wife left a poolside restaurant where they had been eating lunch. John McAreavey made his way to the room to check on his wife. He noticed that his keycard wasn’t in his bag and, upon reaching the door, called out to Michaela to answer the door.
When she failed to respond, he went to reception and asked for help in getting into the room. Once inside, he discovered his wife’s body in the bathroom.
The three suspects appeared in court on Tuesday, where they were provisionally charged in connection with the killing. The following day, the three men took part in a reconstruction held at the actual location of the crime.
In the reconstruction, the suspects outlined what they said happened, notes were recorded by the police and photographs were taken. Journalists were prevented from attending the reconstruction by hotel management.
Mauritian police have said that skin tissue found under Michaela’s fingernails will prove crucial to the police case against the three men.
The island’s prosecutor will decide whether the two men charged with murder will face those charges in court or whether they will face a lesser charge. If they are found guilty of murder, they face up to 45 years in jail. If they are found guilty of manslaughter they could spend 18 years in prison.
All three suspects will return to court on Wednesday, when it is expected that they will either be formally charged or released.
TEARS WERE RUNNING DOWN HER CHEEKS AS SHE WAS STRANGLED TO DEATH
Michaela Harte was crying in the minutes before she was strangled, the detective heading the investigation into her death has revealed.
Detective Inspector Ranjit Singh Jokhoo told the Irish Mail on Sunday that tears were running down the 27-year-old teacher’s cheeks minutes before she died.
He said: ‘According to Avinash’s (Treebhoowoon) confession, she was crying after he pushed her to the ground.
‘When she came into the room, Sandip (Mooneea) was near the bathroom, out of her line of view. Avinash has told us that he [Avinash] was searching the purse.
‘The lady said, “What are you doing?” and stayed shouting at him. She was furious that someone was searching her purse and she confronted him.
‘He says he pushed her and she fell near the bathroom. She tried to get up and she was caught by Sandip from behind. She started to cry, the tears were running down her cheeks and she started shouting.
‘Sandip covered her mouth with his hand to quieten her. At the same time he grabbed her with his other arm around her neck. She was standing up at this stage. He tried to press his arm around her neck and this is why there was neck compression. He held her too tightly.’
According to Insp. Jokhoo, Michaela frantically tried to free herself from Sandip’s grasp as she gasped for air. He said: ‘From the marks we have seen on her neck, we have found that she tried to liberate herself from the arm.
‘We have seen the pattern of the scratches on her neck are going down ways. They are not conclusive observations, but that’s what we have seen.
The pattern coming down comes from pulling and the only person pulling down would have been herself.
‘She was trying to get free from him. When forensics examine the nail clippings we will be able to confirm our own observations.’ He added that when Michaela saw Avinash attempting to take money from her purse she didn’t realise there was someone else in the room – a chilling fact that proved fatal.
Insp. Jokhoo added: ‘From what we have seen, there were not many visible injuries because I think she had been taken by surprise by Sandip. He was pressing hard on her neck and she didn’t have much time. ‘Before that she had made her anger clear to Avinash.
‘She wasn’t happy at all, she was angry and shouting at the man, but she perhaps may not have done that if she had known there was a second man in the room.’
Michaela’s body was later discovered by her husband in the bath, where her killers had put her and then filled with water in an apparent bid to remove traces connecting them to the crime. She was still wearing an orange-coloured bikini top and black shorts and her clothing had not been disturbed.
JOHN WAS 'OBVIOUSLY' INNOCENT
Broken man: John McAreavey wears his wife's wedding and engagement ring around his neck as he returns home
The detective in charge of investigating the murder of Michaela Harte knew ‘straight away’ that her husband had nothing to do with her death. Detective Inspector Ranjit Singh Jokhoo said John McAreavey was left ‘shattered and broken’ by the murder of his new bride.
He said: ‘When I saw him he was just like a child, crying and weeping. He was in tears the whole time, he was shattered. We tried to comfort him but we had to ask him some questions. We were actually embarrassed asking him those questions because he was so grief-stricken. He was shattered and broken.’
Mr Jokhoo, heading up investigations in Mauritius, was one of the first police officers to speak to Mr McAreavey after he found his wife’s lifeless body.
‘My colleagues took him for questioning because he was the first person on the scene, which is normal. At around 10pm I went to see him. He was in a very bad state, but I knew straight away that he was in no way involved. I knew by his behaviour and my instinct told me he had no part in her death.’
The day after the murder, John McAreavey was accompanied back to the room by Detective Inspector Jokhoo. ‘He just kept weeping, it was very hard to see. He had lost his wife and was inconsolable.’
