Michaela McAreavey: BBC documentary examines Mauritius murder

Allison Morris and Darragh MacIntyre conducted a series of interviews in Mauritius for the three-part documentary, Murder In Paradise

One of the men cleared of murdering Michaela McAreavey in Mauritius in 2011 has spoken about the killing in a new BBC documentary.

Sandip Moneea, a former worker at the luxury hotel where the County Tyrone woman died on honeymoon, denied any involvement in her murder.

In Murder in Paradise, it was put to Mr Moneea that some police still regard him as a suspect in the case.

Mr Moneea replied: "I don't know why they come and harass me.

"They don't have the right," he added.

Mrs McAreavey, the 27-year-old daughter of former Tyrone GAA manager Mickey Harte, was found strangled in a bath, 12 days after her marriage to John McAreavey.

After a seven-week trial in 2012, hotel workers Sandip Moneea and co-worker Avinash Treebhoowoon were found not guilty of her murder.

Sandip Moneea denies any involvement in the murder

Mr Moneea was asked directly if he had anything to do with the murder.

"No, no. Honestly I have nothing to do [with it]," he said.

"I'm sad. I'm very sad. A young person, a young couple come in my country, in my hotel where I work and she is dead."

Asked what he thinks happened to her, he said: "It's difficult for me to say something because really I was not there."

The prime minister of Mauritius at the time of the murder was Dr Navin Ramgoolam.

He denied putting undue pressure on the police to try to secure a conviction to protect the island's tourism industry.

Dr Navin Ramgoolam was prime minister in 2011

"It's all rubbish," Dr Ramgoolam told the documentary team.

"I can't give instructions to the commissioner of police, but I can give him some indications that this is an important case, he must make sure that we get the guilty person.

"That's ok. What's wrong with that?"

One of the two men who went on trial for the murder in 2012, Avinash Treebhoowoon, made a confession while in custody but later insisted it was a result of being beaten by police.

A former deputy commissioner of police in Mauritius, Heman Jangi, told the documentary: "There may be some cases where police have used torture or something like that.

"But in this particular case, I can assure you 100% no police brutality had been used."

The attorney general in Mauritius, Maneesh Gobin, insisted the authorities on the island have not given up on the case.

"As time goes by, it becomes more and more difficult, of course, but justice has to be done and must also be seen to be done," Mr Gobin said.

John McAreavey said new evidence was needed for any case to proceed

Developments in the case are being watched closely by the family of Michaela McAreavey.

Her brother, Mark Harte, told the documentary: "To my last day, this campaign will be pursued in search of justice for Michaela in whatever form that comes."

He recently held talks in Dublin with the Irish minister for foreign affairs, Micheál Martin. Also at the meeting were John McAreavey and his sister Claire McAreavey, who is a lawyer.

Family members went to Mauritius in April 2017 and offered a reward of 2m Mauritian rupees (£44,000) for information.

Mr McAreavey said: "Ultimately we need fresh and compelling new evidence in order to proceed."

In the three-part series Darragh MacIntyre and Allison Morris conducted a series of interviews in examining what happened during the trial in 2012.

They also examine events since, including the death of a witness in the case, Raj Theekoy.

Lawyers who represented the two accused men in the 2012 trial are also interviewed.

The documentary team was given access to original case files and some crime scene reconstruction photos.

Murder In Paradise will be shown on Monday 10 April at 10.30 BST on BBC One NI. The full series will be available on the BBC iPlayer.

An eight-part podcast series entitled Assume Nothing: Murder In Paradise begins on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Sounds on Saturday 29 April.