Michaela murder suspects identified by police

Four suspects have been reportedly identified by police in Mauritius investigating the murder of Michaela McAreavey in a hotel there in 2011.

Media reports in the country suggest a fresh trial could happen in a “matter of days” and that the suspects are all understood to have been employed by the Legends Hotel where the young woman’s body was found during her honeymoon.

Confirmation of the development is understood to have come from the country’s Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Satyajit Boolell.

The case is being investigated by the country’s Central Criminal Investigation Department (CCID), but it is believed that the potential breakthrough in the trial has come following the processing of forensic evidence which was taken to a laboratory in France for analysis.

The Express newspaper in Mauritius said an expert from the laboratory, accompanied by Mauritian officials, visited the scene of the crime at the beginning of last month and that more than 300 samples signs were taken for scientific analysis.

It is understood that statements have been taken from 60 staff at the hotel.

In a statement last night, a spokeswoman for Ms McAreavey’s widower John and her family said: “The McAreavey and Harte families have been recently informed about new developments in the investigation into Michaela’s murder.

“They will await further information on those developments before making any additional comment.”

The spokeswoman later said she was not in a position to give precise details other than that the families had been contacted by the authorities in Mauritius.

“They have been told of new developments in the case but we don’t know the exact extent of those developments and, therefore, cannot verify the veracity or otherwise of reports from Mauritius,” the spokeswoman said.

In 2012, the trial of two hotel workers accused of Ms McAreavey’s murder heard that she had momentarily left her husband John at a poolside restaurant to return to the room to fetch biscuits when she was attacked.

The only daughter of Tyrone manager Mickey Harte was found strangled in the bathroom of her honeymoon suite.

Former Legends employees Sandip Moneea and Avinash Treebhoowoon were found not guilty of her murder by jurors at the island’s Supreme Court.

Subsequently, a security guard at the hotel was linked to the murder with witnesses claiming he was seen on CCTV near the hotel room in the hour before Ms McAreavey was found.

Earlier this year John McAreavey revealed how both he and his sister had been putting pressure on Mauritian authorities to keep the investigation alive.

“Ever since the acquittal, myself and my sister have worked tirelessly trying to reinvigorate it. I’ve worked closely with the Mauritian authorities, keeping the pressure on them.

“I’ve been working with the PSNI. It’s a long and slow process,” he said at the time.