A man whose wife was murdered on their honeymoon in Mauritius has returned to the island offering a cash reward for information about who killed her.
John McAreavey was left widowed when his new bride Michaela, 27, was found strangled in a bath at the four-star Legends Hotel where they were staying in January 2011. The couple had been married for only 12 days.
Six years after the appalling tragedy, Mr McAreavey is offering 2 million Mauritian rupees – about $55,000 – for details which lead to finding the murderer or murderers. The sum is the rough equivalent of two years’ annual salary in Mauritius.
Two hotel workers were tried for murdering Mrs McAreavey shortly after her death but were found not guilty in 2012. Mauritian police launched a new investigation following the trial, but it came to nothing.
Mr McAreavey from Northern Ireland, was in Mauritius this week with his sister, Claire, and Mark Harte, Michaela’s eldest brother. On Monday, he met Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth after police told him a task force was still working on the investigation into his wife’s murder.
Speaking at a news conference in Port Louis, Mr McAreavey who remarried last September, appealed to people to help him get to the truth.
He said he and his family had felt “let down” and “betrayed” by the Mauritian justice system but his resolve was “undiminished”.
He said: “We believe we have given the Mauritian authorities every chance to deliver on their very public promise that justice would be done. However, until this visit, the reality falls far short of that and as the years have passed, it appears that the unofficial policy has become one of ‘out of sight – out of mind.’
“But we have no intention of just slipping out of mind or sight. Michaela deserves justice and we intend to get it. We should not have needed to make this very painful return journey. We take some comfort from the assurances given by the prime minister yesterday that Michaela will get justice, but to achieve that we need the help of those who may know something, but have not yet come forward for whatever reason,” he said.
“As time marches on this could be our final chance to obtain justice for Michaela, but we can’t do it alone. We need the help of the people of Mauritius. Please help us as our fight goes on,” he said.