Heart-broken Tyrone GAA manager Mickey Harte last night spoke of his devastation over the murder of his “beautiful” daughter.

He said: “This is the worst nightmare that anyone can imagine. If you think things can be bad, then you go beyond that because that is where we are.”

He was speaking as police in Mauritius questioned six suspects about the murder of Michaela, 27, strangled as she fought for her life in her honeymoon suite.

Mr Harte said her death had left his family shattered.

In his home near Ballygawley, Co Tyrone, he stood with two of his three sons, Matthew and Michael, and said: “This is too horrible to contemplate. We are just all devastated. It is the worst of the worst and our hearts are broken.”

His son Mark is expected to arrive in Mauritius today with a brother of Michaela’s husband, John Mc-Areavey, who is a Down senior Gaelic footballer. The couple were on honeymoon after getting married less than two weeks ago.

A police officer in Mauritius said the young Irish language teacher had tried to save herself after it appears she found an intruder in her room.

“The victim fought for her life. There was a struggle in the room,” he said.

A post-mortem examination revealed that she had been strangled. She was found dead in the hotel room by her husband after she had left him in the restaurant of their four-star Legends Hotel 45 minutes earlier to fetch biscuits for her tea.

Her father said: “We just loved our Michaela. She was such a good girl. Every father says that about their daughter, but I can say that without a shadow of doubt. She was a gem and we will always remember her. “What a day she had on her wedding day. She was just radiant, a beautiful girl, and I just love her to bits. So does her whole family. We are so devastated.

“The McAreavey family are so special to us to. There is a special bond. John is a special lad. You have to be special if you’re going to be Michaela’s husband.

“John is out in Mauritius. He is isolated out there. It has been an awful time. Our hearts go out to him and I would ask everyone to please respect his privacy.”

In a further development Superintendent Yoosoof Soopun of the Mauritius Police Force, said work was continuing to identify the killer: “We are confident of a positive result.”

He said Mr McAreavey was in the restaurant of the hotel when his wife was murdered, and police have ruled him out as a suspect.

“She had gone back to the room to get some biscuits to put in her tea and, when she failed to return, her husband went to look for her,” he said.