Michaela McAreavey Murder - Two Hotel Workers Cleared!

[John]

Two hotel workers accused of murdering an Irish woman who was on her honeymoon on the island of Mauritius have been found not guilty.



A photo of the couple on their honeymoon


After just a few hours of deliberation, the jury acquitted 32-year-old Avinash Treebhoowoon and 43-year-old Sandeep Mooneea of killing Michaela McAreavey.

The eight week trial - which was shambolic at times - has been extremely closely watched by both local and international media.

It is the biggest hearing of its kind in the island's judicial history.

The case was all the more high profile because Mrs McAreavey was the daughter of Mickey Harte, the manager of the highly successful County Tyrone Gaelic football club.

The atmosphere in court was described as tense as Mrs McAreavey's family awaited the verdict inside the packed courthouse.

The case was meant to last just two weeks but instead went on for a month and a half and involved more than 50 witnesses.

In the end the jury decided the evidence was not compelling and delivered a not guilty verdict.

Both men broke down in the dock as the news was read out.



Avinash Treebhoowoon and Sandip Moneea were found not guilty in the eight week trial.


Read more...

[John]

Inside Court No. 5 – The Michaela McAreavey Murder Trial

http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=10037640

[Milly]

Inside Court No. 5 – The Michaela McAreavey Murder Trial

http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=10037640

These latest revelations that crime scene photos have been published in Mauritius reminds me of the Jeremy Bamber case and all those horrible picture of Sheila, June and Nevill.  Do they not deserve the same respect as Michaela McAreavey or is there one law for her and another for the Caffell/Bamber family?

[Jerry]

Inside Court No. 5 – The Michaela McAreavey Murder Trial

http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=10037640

These latest revelations that crime scene photos have been published in Mauritius reminds me of the Jeremy Bamber case and all those horrible picture of Sheila, June and Nevill.  Do they not deserve the same respect as Michaela McAreavey or is there one law for her and another for the Caffell/Bamber family?

Isnt it wonderful how the passage of time changes how we perceive these things.

[Joanne]

I think (and I know this isn't going to sit well with members of the group) that a lot of the public have a voyeristic nature and want to be armchair detectives and by and large the media feed information and pictures to the public and the more they publish the more the public want. JB's case is a classic because there's always going to be the guilty and not guilty debate and in cases like this, it sparks debate because people will be 'who's done it then?'.
My friend was a high profile kidnap victim about 20 years go and she once asked why the public was so interested in the case now, so I had to try and say that it was like the media asked for the public's help, the public wanted to help and were so glad when they came home alive but then they wanted to know all the details and how they were doing now because in 'their' minds, they were sort of involved in the search and I don't think it was for any other reason than they were interested and were pleased with the ending.

[only me]

Agree completely Joanne.  I've seen a very similar thing with the West Memphis 3 - many people have invested years of time and support into attempting to secure their release (which happened perhaps not quite in the way people wanted), and now they want to know how all three are doing.  While this is quite normal and healthy, I've seen some quite staggering cases of over-investment in the WM3 case - for some people, the line isn't a line anymore, it's a fading dot on the horizon.

[ActualMat]

The crime scene was bungled in this case, wasn't it? I know Scotland Yard sent over a few officers to help out.. but they were told they weren't needed.