Details of Michaela trial to be finalised

POLICE investigating the murder of Michaela Harte are due in court today to finalise details for the trial of the two men accused of her death.

The hearing, expected to last several days, will determine which witnesses will be called to testify and what evidence is admissible to the full trial later this summer.

Michaela, daughter of Tyrone football manager Mickey Harte, was murdered in her honeymoon suite in the Legends resort in Mauritius on January 10, just 12 days after marrying Down footballer John McAreavey.

The 27-year-old school- teacher and former Rose of Tralee contestant is believed to have been strangled after catching two hotel workers rifling through her belongings.

Her devastated husband found her body in the bath when he went looking for her after she failed to return to the dining room where they had been having lunch.

Initially, four hotel workers were charged in connection with her death but charges against one were dropped after he agreed to give evidence. Cleaner Raj Theekoy, 31, is now a key prosecution witness and it is believed he has made statements describing how he heard screams coming from Michaela’s room and met two of the accused in an agitated state as they emerged from it.

Avinash Treebhoowoon, 29, and Sandip Moneea, 41, have been charged with Michaela’s murder, while a third employee, Dassen Narainen, 26, is charged with conspiracy to commit theft after allegedly supplying the other two with a master key for the room.

The Harte and McAreavey families are not travelling to Mauritius for this week’s proceedings but are planning to attend when the full trial takes place. John McAreavey may have to give evidence — a detail that will be clarified this week.

Michaela’s murder sparked a massive investigation in the Indian Ocean island, which is hugely dependent on tourism revenues. Murder in Mauritius carries a jail sentence of about 45 years.