Unmasked

THE MAN accused of slaughtering honeymooners Ben and Catherine Mullany cuddles his BABY in a happy family snap.

It is an idyllic image—but one the tragic British couple’s relatives will never be able to enjoy.

That dream ended when the newlyweds were gunned down on a Caribbean paradise isle.

The Mullanys barely had the chance to begin their married lives together—let alone plan for children—when they were slain in Antigua last month.

By contrast this first picture of Kaniel Martin, 20, captures him tenderly holding daughter Kienna, now 11 months, as his long-term girlfriend Johanna Quezada stands proudly behind him.

Martin appeared in court this week with his best friend Avie Howell, 17. Both are accused of the murders.

Last night a close family friend of the victims said: “The devastation the couple’s families are going through is beyond belief.

“And seeing this man posing with his young child brings home even more what has been so cruelly taken away from them. Catherine and Ben had a lifetime of happiness ahead of them.”

Antiguan detectives, helped by officers from Scotland Yard, are said to have tracked down Martin and Howell by tracing CALLS made on mobile phones stolen from the newlyweds.

The pair have been described as tough guys who became involved in FIGHTS, smoked CANNABIS and bought STOLEN GOODS on the streets.

We can also reveal that Georgette Aaron—an islander charged with conspiracy in connection with the case—has been in a relationship with Howell for three months.

She is alleged to have hired a Jeep that the men drove to the murder scene. But Martin’s girlfriend Johanna—who is not involved in any way with the killings—insists her boyfriend is innocent.

She told us: “I can’t believe he had anything to do with it. When they arrested him I was shocked but I thought he would be released soon.

“Now it is just a nightmare and I’m so worried about what’s going to happen.”

Johanna, an 18-year-old cashier, told how the night before the murder Martin and Howell went to a party that continued into the early hours of Sunday, July 27—the day the Mullanys’ were murdered in their villa at the Cocos Hotel.

Speaking from her bedsit five miles from the murder scene, she said: “I spoke to him (Martin) that morning and there was nothing unusual about him at all.

“We even talked about what had happened. He was shocked. He said, ‘Those people just got married, why would someone do that?’”

Catherine, a 31-year-old GP, died instantly when she was shot in what is believed to be a bungled robbery.

Ben, also 31, lingered in a coma for a week before his life support was turned off, 24 hours after he was flown to a hospital in South Wales.

The tragic couple, from Pontardawe, were buried at the church where their wedding took place four weeks earlier.

Johanna, who has been in a relationship with Martin for nearly three years, said she had heard her boyfriend had received a call from Ben Mullany’s phone and police may have traced that.

She added: “It could be one of them bought the stolen phones. But he had nothing to do with the murder.”

Ithrone Howell, 22, brother of the other suspect, Avie, told a similar tale. He said: “The police told me Avie used the stolen phone. Maybe someone sold it to him.

“He is no angel but he is definitely not a killer. He smokes weed like everyone else around here but he and Kaniel are not the kind of guys who will sell drugs.”