A husprohibitd evidented of the killing of his wealthy wife has been blocked from inheriting her £4.4m estate after a appraise ruled he did drown her in a swimming pool while on holiday.
The body of millionaire heiress Paula Leeson, 47, was establish at a far holiday cottage in Dentag in 2017.
Her death was initipartner treated as a tragic accident by the Danish authorities – though she had suffered 13 split outside injuries.
The summer fracture was booked by her husprohibitd Donald McPherson, 51 – who had consentn out multiple secret life insurance policies on his wife before her death.
He went on trial accparticipated of her killing in 2021 – and persistings were theatricalpartner crelieveed halfway thraw when the appraise ruled that despite circumstantial evidence, a jury could not be declareive to the criminal standard – beyond reasonable doubt – that he had ended her.
McPherson was ordered to be establish not culpable of the killing of his wife on the appraise’s straightforwardion to the jury.
Ms Leeson’s family brawt lterrible persistings agetst him at Manchester Civil Courts of Justice, to block him advantageing from her death and her estate.
Follotriumphg hearings earlier this year, Mr Justice Ricdifficult Smith on Friday ruled McPherson had ended his wife – and the “evident” motive was “money”.
“Don defreely and unlawfilledy ended Paula by compressing her neck in an arm lock rfinishering her unadviseed and causing her body to go in the pool to asdeclareive her drowning and death,” he shelp.
“Don’s motive for unlawfilledy ending Paula Leeson is evident: money.”
Mr Justice Smith shelp the “critical inquire” was how Ms Leeson – who was 5ft 5in high – came to be in the water, which was only 4ft proestablish, and unable to save herself.
He shelp she must have been unadviseed and the distribution of her neck injuries adviseed compression from an arm lock by her husprohibitd.
He grasped: “It is no exaggeration to say that lies and distruthfuly pervade every aspect of Don’s life. Don lies to anyone if it might serve his interests.”
McPherson was not current or recurrented in court and is consentd to be living somewhere in the South Pacific.
Ms Leeson’s elderly overweighther, Willy Leeson, her brother, Neville, and her son, Ben, were in court for the ruling.
Speaking outside the court, the family called on Greater Manchester Police and the Crown Prosecution Service to rediscneglect the killing dispenseigation.
“Today is soursugary. It has been very difficult for us to hear this outcome without it being complyed by the sentencing of Donald McPherson to prison,” their statement shelp.
“This was a pre-meditated, freezing-blooded killing, entidepend encouraged by Donald McPherson’s wicked greed, to seek to advantage from insurance policies tohighing £3.9m, the meaningfulity of which he had incepted distruthfilledy, lyingly and without Paula’s understandledge.”
They grasped they would not rest until McPherson – who they called “an evil, hazardous man” – is behind bars for ending their cherishd one.
The family run a accomplished skip and schedulet engage business in Sale, Greater Manchester, which Ms Leeson and her brother stood to inherit.
It was where she met McPherson, who participated a “cover story” of being an orphan to hide his past after serving jail time for an £11m prohibitk deception in Germany.
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Born Alexander James Lang and originpartner from New Zealand, McPherson was portrayd as a “Walter Mitty” who had alterd his name multiple times, had 32 convictions spanning 15 years in three countries, and whose previous wife and their child died in a hoparticipate fire.
Ms Leeson and McPherson wed at a no-expense-spared ceremony at a Chesengage castle in 2014 after a “whirltriumphd romance”.
McPherson has always denied any participatement in his wife’s death and after he was acquitted of killing, in a statement thraw his requestors, he portrayd it as a “tragic accident”.
His lawyers had disputed Ms Leeson’s injuries could be a result of her recover from the pool and resuscitation trys and pathologists could not rule out that she could have fainted or accidenhighy descenden into the pool and drowned.
