Michaela was strangled in two-minute struggle

Honeymooner Michaela McAreavey was strangled during a violent struggle in her hotel room that lasted about two minutes, the trial of the men accused of her murder has heard.

A doctor who examined the Co Tyrone teacher following her death also told the court DNA traces might have been washed off her body when she was dumped into running water.

The daughter of Tyrone Gaelic football manager Mickey Harte was found in the bathtub of her room in the luxurious Legends Hotel in Mauritius in January last year.

Former hotel employees Avinash Treebhoowon, aged 31, and Sandip Mooneea, aged 42, deny her murder.

Dr Sunil Kumar Gungadin said the 27-year-old newlywed was strangled manually by hand and forearm and ruled out the use of a ligature.

The 18th day of the case in the Supreme Court in Port Louis was also told CCTV images from the hotel were set to be played to the jury.

A defence lawyer asked a senior police officer to bring to court today footage that covers a 35-minute period on the day of the crime and an hour from the day before.

No other details of the images were outlined to the nine jurors.

Dr Gungadin — chief medical officer for the police — performed an autopsy on Ms McAreavey about six hours after she was found dead.

Her husband John, brother Mark Harte, father-in-law Brendan, and sister-in-law Claire had been in court, but at the prompting of their legal representative left just before the doctor took the stand to deliver his at times graphic findings.

He told the jury the time of death was in a half-hour window between 2.30pm and 3pm on Jan 10, 2011.

The prosecution claims the defendants murdered Ms McAreavey at about 2.45pm when she walked in and disturbed them stealing.

The doctor said cause of death was “asphyxia due to compression of neck”.

“It was a violent asphyxia death where asphyxia was caused by manual strangulation and the pattern of injuries over the neck are compatible with pressure being applied by grip of a hand as well as use of the forearm.”

The teacher sustained a number of injuries to her neck, including scrape marks which Dr Gungadin said may have been caused by herself as she tried to break free.

“In this case, the fact it was a violent struggle and pressure was being applied over the neck, anybody would have the natural reflex to push away to alleviate pressure over the neck,” he said.

One of the bones in her neck was also broken. He said a number of bruises on the honeymooner’s head may have been caused by a blunt object or coming into contact with a hard surface.

While testifying, the police medic was also asked about tests he had done on the accused and other suspects in the case.

Mr Treebhoowon initially signed a statement of confession in which he admitted being involved in the murder but has since insisted it was beaten out him.

The doctor examined the defendant the day after the 72-hour period he alleges the abuse took place.

He was asked whether he found any injuries. “There were no injuries on the body of Avinash Treebhoowon,” he said.

The doctor also said the accused did not make any allegations of brutality when he saw him.

The doctor was asked whether Legends workers Raj Theekoy and Dassen Naraynen, who were both arrested, were examined by him.

Dr Gungadin said Mr Theekoy was, with no injuries visible, but Mr Naraynen was not.