Verdict expected next week in McAreavey trial
The remaining four defence witnesses testified and the last exhibits were produced at the Supreme Court in Port Louis yesterday, bringing to a close the case for defendant Sandip Mooneea. The case for co-accused Avinash Treebhoowon was heard last week.
Judge Prithviraj Fecknah told jurors the closing statement from the prosecution will be heard tomorrow.
Defence statements will follow on Monday.
Both the accused worked at the island’s Legends Hotel at the time the daughter of Tyrone football boss Mickey Harte was found dead in room 1025 last January. Ex-floor supervisor Mr Mooneea, aged 43, and former room attendant Mr Treebhoowon, aged 32, deny her murder.
The prosecution claims they attacked the newlywed when she interrupted them stealing in her room.
The final witness called was a representative of a phone company who confirmed that a call from a mobile owned by Mr Mooneea was made just after 2.45pm on the day the teacher was strangled. This is around the time the prosecution contends Mrs McAreavey was attacked.
While the defence insist the call proves Mr Mooneea was not involved, the prosecution claim he was phoning his sister to ask advice on what he had just done.
Dhanraj Lillah from Mauritius Telecom said it was made at 14.45 and 20 seconds. “It lasted four minutes, 18 seconds,” he said.
The witness also said the time was synchronised with GPS satellite, adding: “It’s accurate time.”
During the trial key prosecution witnesses Raj Theekoy implicated Mr Mooneea and Mr Treebhoowon, claiming he saw them coming from the direction of room 1025 minutes after he heard a woman scream in pain from inside.
Under cross-examination it was revealed the star state witness called his wife during this period. He said he phoned her when waiting near room 1025 to see who would emerge.
Mr Lillah confirmed a phone registered to Mr Theekoy made an outgoing call at 2.47pm that lasted 83 seconds. Mr Theekoy was originally provisionally charged with conspiracy to murder but all criminal proceedings against him were dropped after he spent 77 days in prison and he was granted immunity from prosecution to testify.
Mr Mooneea has denied prosecution claims he doctored a cleaning report sheet the day after the murder to try to make it look like Mr Treebhoowon was cleaning 1028 and not 1025.
Earlier yesterday, the housekeeping manager at Legends, Vivekanana Jeerasoo, was called by the defence team to testify.
He said the room report sheets were kept by the housekeeping department and it was he who handed them to police.
According to both defendants, Mr Treebhoowon came to find Mr Mooneea around 2pm on the day of the crime to ask him if he should clean the McAreaveys’ room even though there was a do not disturb sign on it.
Mr Treebhoowon told the court he had met Mr McAreavey around half an hour earlier and he had told him to come back in five minutes.
Mr Mooneea has claimed he rang through to the room to see if anyone was there, and when nobody answered he dispatched his co-accused to clean it. Mr Treebhoowon said that task took him 25 minutes and he left at 2.35pm — about 10 minutes before the prosecution contends Mrs McAreavey was killed.
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