Johannesburg - A South African businessman accused of murdering his girlfriend at a luxury resort in Mauritius could be spending quite some time behind bars.
This is because his legal team will not pursue a bail application until its own investigation and the police’s one are complete.
Lee-Ann Palmarozza, 35, had flown to the island on December 26 to join her boyfriend, Peter Wayne Roberts, at his luxury villa at the Anahita Resort.
Two days later, Palmarozza’s body was discovered floating in a swimming pool.
Police initially denied they were investigating the incident as a murder, but Roberts’s lawyer, Nicqui Galaktiou, confirmed at the weekend that he had been provisionally charged for the crime and was in police custody.
Galaktiou told The Star that Roberts would appear in a Mauritian court on Wednesday, but that it would probably be postponed as the police had not completed their investigation.
She was unable to say when the bail application would be held, as her firm, Brian Kahn Inc Attorneys, would not pursue the bail bid until they had completed their own private investigation.
Galaktiou said proceedings would probably be held in French and counsel from the island would assist.
She also said the firm had been representing Roberts for several years, but would not be drawn on his current emotional state in custody.
Police initially said murder had been ruled out, but Palmarozza’s brother Shaun told The Star’s sister paper, the Saturday Star that he had been given numerous details of his sister’s autopsy.
Shaun’s informant told him that his sister had suffered severe bruising and an injury to her forehead, and that asphyxiation was the cause of death.
Shaun had also allegedly been given Roberts’s version of events, namely that the businessman was with Palmarozza until about midnight, and that after leaving to take a shower, he could not find her. Hotel security conducted a search and Palmarozza was found dead in the pool.
Media reports have said that Palmarozza’s 7-year-old daughter is being looked after by her grandmother, and that her the family are “emotionally broken”.
Roberts is the director of at least 11 companies, mostly investment and financial firms, some linked to mining.
According to other media reports, Roberts owns numerous supercars and luxury properties in South Africa and abroad.
His villa in Mauritius allegedly boasts a butler, private chef, helicopter and boat.
The Star