06/06/2012

Mauritius Murder Trial Hears Widower's Evidence

Police told the widower of a honeymoon strangling victim he would "get another wife," a court heard today.

John McAreavey, whose wife Michaela was killed in their luxury hotel in Mauritius last January, told the island's Supreme Court about how the police treated him.

After he found her body in the bath with the water still running and the room door open, he said he tried to revive her despite not knowing CPR.

He then cried out for help and prayed.

Mr McAreavey revealed that police drove him away from the hotel in a jeep but stopped at a road-side stall for food along the way.

They examined him for marks, then left him alone and handcuffed in a room in a "derelict-looking" building for more than five hours, with one officer saying to him: "What are you crying about? You're young, you'll get another wife."

He said he made a statement and was released.

Giving evidence at the murder trial of two former hotel workers, Mr McAreavey said her body was cold when he found it in their shared honeymoon suite.

Under cross-examination from the defence team later on, Mr McAreavey said if there were inconsistencies in his statements to police, it was because he "did not care what went down".

He said: "My life had ended and all my focus was on getting my wife home."

Avinash Treebhoowoon and Sandip Moneea deny murder, and Treebhoowoon has claimed police beat him up before he made a confession.

(NE)

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