John McAreavey admits he still questions decision to upgrade to hotel room where his wife was killed

A man whose wife was murdered on their honeymoon in Mauritius 12 years ago has revealed that he still thinks about what could have happened if he hadn’t asked for an upgrade to the room in which his new bride was killed.

In a new documentary for BBC Northern Ireland, Murder in Paradise, which is released on Easter Monday, John McAreavey candidly opens up about the pain of losing 27-year-old-Michaela just 12 days after they got married when he discovered her body in the bathtub of the hotel room.

Speaking to journalist Darragh MacIntyre, who presents the three-part series revisiting the murder alongside fellow reporter Allison Morris, he heartbreakingly revealed he still questions whether the incident would have taken place if they stayed in another suite.

‘That particular hotel was actually very popular with Irish honeymooners, I guess there was a degree of security in that,’ he said.

‘I always have this habit whenever you go to a hotel, you ask about an upgrade.

‘And I’ve often wondered, you know, if I hadn’t have requested that would we have been, in another room, something like that couldn’t have happened.

‘Who’s to know?’

The couple, from Ballygawley, County Tyrone, set off on a dream holiday to the Legends Hotel on the paradise island in 2011, but their celebration soon turned to tragedy. 

Michaela’s death sparked a huge murder investigation on the island nation in the Indian Ocean – but after more than a decade, the authorities appear no closer to tracking down the killer. 

Two men who worked as cleaning staff at the hotel, Avinash Treebhoowoon and Sandeep Mooneea, were charged with her murder but were later acquitted.

In the first episode of the documentary John became visibly emotional as he heartbreakingly recalled the events which led to him finding his new bride dead in their hotel room.

He had been waiting for her in the nearby restaurant where the pair had lunched, as she slipped away to fetch some biscuits from their hotel room to have with her tea.

Worried, he decided to follow her after it had been a while. 

Michaela – who was the only daughter of Irish Gaelic sporting legend Mickey Harte (left) – touched the hearts of hundreds in her home country who attended her deeply moving funeral. A heartbroken John (right) clearly struggled to contain his emotions

The couple, from Ballygawley, County Tyrone, set off on a dream holiday to the Legends Hotel on the paradise island in 2011, but their celebration soon turned to tragedy

John spoke to journalist Darragh MacIntyre, who hosts the programme, Murder in Paradise – alongside fellow reporter Allison Morris

‘On the walk back I started to feel anxious because quite a bit of time had passed,’ he said.

Once inside the room – he could ‘immediately see into the bathroom’.

‘I could hear the gushing water and I could see Michaela bobbing in the bath,’ he recounted.

‘I just grab her out and she was very, very cold and I could see the marks on her neck.’

John had ‘screamed for help’, and said the crime scene then soon descended into chaos.

‘I can remember different people coming in,’ he said. ‘The security guard coming in. Placing a towel over Michaela’s head. And then there was just other people there. It was just pandemonium.

‘I was adamant about getting the staff to perform CPR and…but sure they knew immediately she was gone.’

John’s nightmare didn’t stop there, as he was then considered a suspect. 

He told the documentary about the horror of being seen as someone who could have killed Michaela.

Despite two men who worked as cleaning staff at the hotel – Avinash Treebhoowoon (right) and Sandeep Mooneea (left) – facing trial, no one was found guilty

Michaela’s death sparked a huge murder investigation on the island nation in the Indian Ocean. John pictured at the funeral with Michaela’s father

‘I can remember feeling sort of annoyed that these policemen were with me but yet they should be out trying to find out who did this,’ he said.

‘And I can always remember the policeman saying “what are you crying for, you’re young, you’ll get another wife.”‘

He explained that at one they ‘took his top of’ and ‘observed his body’ before placing him in handcuffs. 

‘I did sort of think – “God, there’s a chance that these guys…they think it’s me”.’

But once police had determined John wasn’t responsible, he recalled being told that ‘they’ll get the b******’.’

Michaela’s brother Mark Harte also recounted the heartbreaking moment he had to identify her body.

‘I’m still holding on to that hope, holding on to that thought that I’m going to see somebody else,’ he recalled.

‘But that all disappeared the second that I saw Michaela.

Michaela, who was a teacher, was buried in her wedding dress at St Malachy’s church outside Ballygawley. Pictured, a photograph on the Order of Service at her funeral

Allison Morris – who has worked as a crime reporter for more than 20 years and covered the original case 12 years ago – hit out at the investigation. John, Mickey and Michaela’s mother Marion pictured at the funeral

‘I remember giving her a kiss on the forehead, I remember saying that we were there to take her home, that we loved her.

‘We flew home together, all of us, including Michaela. I can remember touching down in Ireland. It doesn’t bring peace but it just brings a sense of, “great, we’re one car journey away from allowing us to grieve properly as a family”.’

Allison Morris – who has worked as a crime reporter for more than 20 years and covered the original case 12 years ago – has also hit out at the investigation, which she says from the beginning was frantic and unprofessional. 

‘It was day three by the time I had checked into the hotel and there was no indication that Michaela has been murdered,’ she told Darragh.

‘You go to a crime scene and it’s cordoned off with a considerable distance to allow police to do fingertip searches around the location.’

But what Allison saw when she got to the island was a far cry from what was expected. 

‘There was a small piece of tape in front of the room and the back doors, the patio doors of the room, and that was it,’ she recalled. 

Prosecutors alleged that Michaela had caught the two hotel workers stealing, and they had then strangled her, but the jury rejected this claim. John and Mark Harte (right) pictured at the Supreme Court in Port Louis, Mauritius in 2012

John has in past said in the past that nothing can stop his first wife remaining part of his life. Pictured carrying Michaela’s coffin

She also felt the investigation too heavily focused on the assumption that the incident had been a case of a robbery gone wrong.

Prosecutors alleged that Michaela had caught the two hotel workers stealing, and they had then strangled her, but the jury rejected this claim. 

Allison says she can why police considered the motive, but felt they ruled out all other possibilities too quickly. 

‘Other guests at the hotel were unaware that a murder had even happened, so clearly they hadn’t been questioned,’ she added.

‘I asked the police, had they compiled the hotel guest list and the other staff list to see if there were people in the hotel who might have been previously offenders.

‘They hadn’t done any of that. They basically just identified these suspects and that was their case.’

Michaela – who was the only daughter of Irish Gaelic sporting legend Mickey Harte – touched the hearts of hundreds in her home country who attended her deeply moving funeral.

A heartbroken John clearly struggled to contain his emotions as he held his head in his hands and at one point, tenderly kissed the casket of his bride of just 12 days as the mourners made their way towards church in bright winter sunshine.

Michaela, who was a teacher, was buried in her wedding dress at St Malachy’s church outside Ballygawley and then-Irish president, Mary McAleese, was among those paying their respects. 

In 2015, it was revealed that John, after his horrifying ordeal, was remarrying a woman called Tara Brennan.

He has in past said in the past that nothing can stop his first wife remaining part of his life – and in the BBC programme said he still feels her ‘guiding them’.

He has also set up a charity foundation in her honour. 

According to a press statement on the BBC’s site: ‘Murder In Paradise starts on Monday 10 April at 10.30pm on BBC One NI. The full series will be available on BBC iPlayer.

‘Assume Nothing: Murder In Paradise, an accompanying eight-part podcast with Darragh and Allison, begins on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Sounds on Saturday 29 April.’