7:37pm UK, Wednesday January 12, 2011
The husband of murdered newlywed Michaela McAreavey has said he has been left 'totally devastated' by the loss of his best friend and 'rock'.
John McAreavey, 30, described his wife as a gift from God and said he now had an angel looking over him.
The pair had been on their honeymoon in Mauritius when Mrs McAreavey was strangled in their hotel room.
"I can't describe in words how lost I feel as Michaela is not just the light of my life - she is my life," Mr McAreavey said.
"My beautiful wife, my best friend, my rock Michaela, has been taken from me and I still can't take it in."
Read John McAreavey's full statement here
Three hotel workers have been charged in connection with Mrs McAreavey's murder.
The men, all employed at the luxury Legends Hotel where the daughter of Gaelic football manager Mickey Harte was found strangled, were remanded in custody.
Two have been accused of murder and one charged with conspiracy to murder.
The charges came as it emerged the newlywed was discovered in a bath with the water still running.
Skin tissues were also discovered underneath the teacher's fingernails after she fought for her life when she disturbed thieves in her hotel room, according to reports from Mauritius.
Michaela Harte appearing on an Irish TV show two years ago
Investigating officers believe that, once the 27-year-old was wrestled to the ground, she was dragged into the bath tub and strangled before the water was turned on.
Police suspect she came face to face with at least one attacker who used a dummy swipe card to gain access to the room.
Detectives said the assailant entered just two minutes before she arrived to fetch some biscuits while she had tea with her new husband in the hotel restaurant.
Accountant John McAreavey went to look for his wife after she had been gone for 10 minutes and found the hotel room door locked.
He knocked but there was no response. A hotel employee eventually let him into the room using a master card.
According to reports, the staff member then left the scene while Mr McAreavey went inside and discovered the body of his wife of just 12 days.
All three of the men charged worked at Legends Hotel
Abinash Treeboowoon, 29, a room attendant from Plaine des Roches, and Sandip Moneea, 41, a floor supervisor from Petit Raffray, have been charged with murder.
Room attendant Raj Theekoy, 33, is accused of conspiracy to murder.
Magistrate Bono Mally remanded them in custody until another court hearing next Wednesday.
Mrs McAreavey's brother, Mark Harte, and her husband's brother and parents have arrived in Mauritius.
They will help with arrangements to take her body back to Northern Ireland and the funeral at St Malachy's Church, near the family home in Co Tyrone, where she married on December 30.
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