Millionaire heiress found dead in pool was killed by husband for her £4m fortune, judge rules | UK news

A husband acquitted of murdering his wealthy wife will not inherit her £4.4million fortune after a judge ruled he drowned her in a swimming pool while on holiday.

The body of 47-year-old millionaire heiress Paula Leeson was found in a remote holiday home in Denmark in 2017.

Her death was initially treated by the Danish authorities as a tragic accident – ​​even though she had suffered 13 individual external injuries.

The summer break was booked by her husband Donald McPherson, 51, who had taken out several secret life insurance policies for his wife before her death.

In 2021, he stood trial for her murder – and the proceedings were dramatically halted halfway through when the judge ruled that, despite circumstantial evidence, a jury could not be criminally certain – beyond a reasonable doubt – that he killed her.

Following the judge's instructions to the jury, McPherson was found not guilty of murdering his wife.

Mrs Leeson's family brought proceedings against him in Manchester Civil Court to prevent him from benefiting from her death and estate.

After hearings earlier this year, Judge Richard Smith ruled on Friday that McPherson killed his wife – and the “clear” motive was “money.”

“Don intentionally and unlawfully killed Paula by placing an arm hold around her neck, rendering her unconscious, and dropping her body into the pool to ensure her drowning and death,” he said.

“Don's motive for the wrongful killing of Paula Leeson is clear: money.”

Judge Smith said the “crucial question” was how Ms Leeson, who was 5ft 5in tall, ended up in water that was only 4ft deep and was unable to save herself.

He said she must have been unconscious and the distribution of her neck injuries suggested compression from an arm hold by her husband.

He added: “It is no exaggeration to say that lies and dishonesty permeate every aspect of Don's life. Don will lie to anyone if it serves his interests.”

McPherson was neither present nor represented in court and is believed to live somewhere in the South Pacific.

Mrs Leeson's elderly father Willy Leeson, her brother Neville and her son Ben were in court when the verdict was announced.

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Outside the courtroom, the family called on Greater Manchester Police and the Crown Prosecution Service to reopen the murder investigation.

“Today is bittersweet. It has been very difficult for us to learn of this outcome without Donald McPherson subsequently being sentenced to prison,” their statement said.

“This was a premeditated, cold-blooded murder motivated solely by Donald McPherson's malicious greed to profit from insurance policies totalling £3.9 million, the majority of which he had obtained fraudulently and without Paula's knowledge.”

They added that they would not rest until McPherson – whom they called an “evil, dangerous man” – is behind bars for killing their loved one.

The family ran a successful container and construction equipment rental business in Sale, Greater Manchester, which Mrs Leeson and her brother were to inherit.

There she met McPherson, who used a “cover story” of being an orphan to hide his past after serving a prison sentence in Germany for an £11 million bank fraud.

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Born Alexander James Lang and originally from New Zealand, McPherson was described as a “Walter Mitty” who had changed his name several times, had 32 criminal records in three countries over a 15-year period, and whose former wife and their child died in a house fire.

Ms Leeson and McPherson married in 2014 in a lavish ceremony at a Cheshire castle after a “whirlwind romance”.

McPherson has always denied any involvement in his wife's death and after being acquitted of murder, he described the incident as a “tragic accident” in a statement issued through his lawyers.

His lawyers had argued that Ms Leeson's injuries could have been a result of her rescue from the pool and resuscitation attempts, and that pathologists could not rule out the possibility that she might have fainted or accidentally fallen into the pool and drowned.