Two guilty of honeymoon murders

Ben Mullany and his wife Catherine were shot dead during a robbery in their chalet on the Carribean island in 2008.

The couple, who were both 31 and from Pontardawe near Swansea, had been married for just two weeks.

Mrs Mullany died almost instantly and Mr Mullany a week later after he was flown back to Swansea to be placed on a life-support machine.

They were buried in the grounds of the church where they had married.

Antigua’s High Court, in St John’s, found 23-year-old Kaniel Martin, and 20-year-old Avie Howell, guilty of murder, three years to the day after the shooting.

The pair refused to face questioning in court and had protested their innocence throughout their two month trial, which saw more than 90 witnesses give evidence.

They were also convicted of the murder of 43-year-old shopkeeper Woneta Anderson, who was shot dead 10 days after the Mullanys.

Mr and Mrs Mullany’s parents broke down in tears as the jury of eight men and four women delivered its verdicts – following an anxious 10 hour and 20 minute wait.

The family said it would never be able to comprehend the nature of the couple’s deaths.

A statement said: “There is no joy at today’s verdict, just a sense of relief that after three years of waiting there is justice for our children, and for Woneta Anderson and her family.

“These two individuals can never again inflict the same anguish and devastation to any other family as they have to ours.”

Detective Superintendent Keith Niven, the Metropolitan Police detective who led the British team that assisted with the investigation, said it had been a ‘long, complex and challenging inquiry’.

‘Howell and Martin stole two relatively cheap mobile phones, an inexpensive camera and a small amount of cash. It leads me to believe that the murders were their primary objective and that theft was a secondary intention. Neither defendant has shown any sign of remorse.’

Martin and Howell will be sentenced in September.