Key witness unable to give evidence
File photo dated 07/06/12 of Sandip Moneea, who has been acquitted of murdering honeymooner Michaela McAreavey in Mauritius, Moneea and fellow former hotel worker, Avinash Treebhoowoon were found not guilty by a jury at the island's Supreme Court in Port Louis. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Thursday July 12, 2012. See PA story IRISH McAreavey. Photo credit should read: Paul Faith/PA Wire
A BELLBOY, who was amongst the first people to enter the hotel room after Michaela McAreavey’s death, was unable to give evidence because he had left the country and police could not trace him.
The fact that the former Legends Hotel bellboy Rajiv Bhujun’s whereabouts were not pinned down by the members of the Mauritian Police’s Major Crimes Investigation Team (MCIT) in advance of the trial casts further doubt on the quality of the investigation.
Mr Bhujun was a critical witness for both the defence and prosecution after he accompanied John McAreavey to his room at the Legends Hotel in Mauritius just moments after his wife’s murder.
Mrs McAreavey was having lunch with her husband in the restaurant on the day she was killed, and left to return to her room to fetch biscuits.
Mr McAreavey waited 15 minutes for her return, before leaving to go back to the couple’s room.
He knocked on the door, and received no answer. As he didn’t have a key card with him, he returned to the hotel reception where Mr Bhujun was sent with him to gain access to the bedroom.
The pair walked to the room, Mr Bhujun opened the door, and Mr McAreavey entered alone.
Mr Bhujun reportedly told police that while he did not enter the McAreavey’s bedroom, he heard a scream from Mr McAreavey and rushed in to see Mrs McAreavey lifeless in the bath.
During the course of the trial, prosecution barrister Mehdi Manrakhan told the court in Port Louis that it was his understanding that the former bellboy had left employment at the hotel, left the country and was working on a cruise ship.
Defence lawyer Sanjeev Teeluckdharry demanded Mr Bhujun’s previous statements to police in relation to the case be entered as evidence because, as he put it, he was the “first independent witness” to reach the crime scene the day Michaela died.
But the prosecution objected to the motion, saying that such evidence would be “hearsay”.
The statement wasn’t admitted.
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