FAMILY ANGUISH OVER MAURITIUS HOLIDAY MOM'S DEATH
THREE weeks into the trial of the man charged with murdering their daughter, Santa and Jack Haye are relying on Google translations to find out how the case is progressing in Mauritius.
The couple are still struggling to accept the death of Lee-Ann Palmarozza, 35, who drowned in a swimming pool at a luxury resort on the island in December 2014. Her boyfriend, millionaire Johannesburg businessman Peter Wayne Roberts, is charged with manslaughter in her death.
According to Mauritian media reports, the island’s police chief medical officer, Dr Sudesh Kumar Gungadin, who performed the autopsy, testified that he believed Palmarozza had been strangled.
“There is no issue of accidental death,” he was quoted as saying by the newspaper Le Mauricien.
Gungadin said the dead woman had bruises on her forehead, arms, neck, chin and elbow. These injuries had likely been caused by “considerable force”.
“It could have been by a punch or a kick,” he said.
The Hayes said they lay awake at night, replaying the many scenarios that could have led to the death of their daughter. They both have dark rings under their eyes, and Santa has lost 12kg since the death.
“We are trying to stay sane, but we aren’t getting any answers,” said Jack.
Palmarozza had been seeing Roberts on and off for a few years when he invited her to join him in Mauritius just after Christmas in 2014 in an attempt to patch things up after their latest spat.
After spending Christmas with her family at their home in Henley-on-Klip, near Johannesburg, Palmarozza joined Roberts in Mauritius on Boxing Day.
Her body was found floating in the swimming pool at the Anahita resort three days later. Roberts was ordered not to leave the island while the police investigated, and was arrested on January 2 last year.
His trial started last month, but the family have been struggling to get updates. They have been PARADISE LOST: The five-star Anahita resort in Mauritius where the body of Lee-Ann Palmarozza, right, was found. Businessman Peter Wayne Roberts, left, was charged with manslaughter following her death relying on online coverage of the trial by Mauritian newspapers, but would like to know what is going on in more detail. The reports are all in French and have to be translated.
Jack said the family were disappointed because the South African government had failed to help them. Their e-mails and phone calls to representatives in Mauritius and South Africa had received no response.
Nelson Kgwete, spokesman for the Department of International Relations, said the department’s website explained the policies about what assistance it provided to South Africans overseas and their families at home.
But Kgwete did not respond to questions about the specifics of the Palmarozza case.
Palmarozza’s daughter, Dante, 8, is now being raised by her grandparents, and is still struggling to understand what happened to her mother.
“She is seeing a therapist. She still speaks of her mother in the present tense,” said Santa.
“It’s very hard to live with the fact that you’re never going to see your mother again, that you’re never going to see your daughter again,” she said.
Jack added: “You suffer in silence. When the lights go out, it gets harder. I try to be strong for my wife and for Dante, but it really hits me hard at night.”
The trial in Mauritius was delayed this week because Roberts’s lawyer fell ill.
She must have suffered in agony in the last 30 minutes of her life
Le Mauricien reported that a toxicology report indicated traces of alcohol, caffeine, codeine and the tranquilliser clonazepam in Palmarozza’s system.
But the paper said the report did not suggest she had taken an overdose.
Jack said it was “absolutely ridiculous” to think Palmarozza might have had a problem with alcohol or prescription medicine.
“She hardly ever had a drink because she always put Dante first,” he said.
“They were on holiday and she probably had a drink, but to suggest she was depressed and reliant on alcohol is ridiculous. They’re trying to tarnish her name. Even if she drank, did she deserve to die?
“She must have suffered in agony in the last 30 minutes of her life. She had bruises all over. Her throat was crushed. Her liver was ruptured and her spleen popped. She was broken.”