A husband cleared of the murder of his wealthy wife has been blocked from inheriting her £4.4m estate after a judge ruled he did drown her in a swimming pool while on holiday.
The body of millionaire heiress Paula Leeson, 47, was found at a remote holiday cottage in Denmark in 2017.
Her death was initially treated as a tragic accident by the Danish authorities – though she had suffered 13 separate external injuries.
The summer break was booked by her husband Donald McPherson, 51 – who had taken out multiple secret life insurance policies on his wife before her death.
He went on trial accused of her murder in 2021 – and proceedings were dramatically halted halfway through when the judge ruled that despite circumstantial evidence, a jury could not be sure to the criminal standard – beyond reasonable doubt – that he had killed her.
McPherson was ordered to be found not guilty of the murder of his wife on the judge’s direction to the jury.
Ms Leeson’s family brought legal proceedings against him at Manchester Civil Courts of Justice, to block him benefiting from her death and her estate.
Ms Leeson’s brother Neville Leeson (left) and father Willy Leeson (right) outside Manchester Civil Courts of Justice. Pic: PA
Following hearings earlier this year, Mr Justice Richard Smith on Friday ruled McPherson had killed his wife – and the “clear” motive was “money”.
“Don deliberately and unlawfully killed Paula by compressing her neck in an arm lock rendering her unconscious and causing her body to enter the pool to ensure her drowning and death,” he said.
“Don’s motive for unlawfully killing Paula Leeson is clear: money.”
Mr Justice Smith said the “critical question” was how Ms Leeson – who was 5ft 5in tall – came to be in the water, which was only 4ft deep, and unable to save herself.
He said she must have been unconscious and the distribution of her neck injuries suggested compression from an arm lock by her husband.
He added: “It is no exaggeration to say that lies and dishonesty pervade every aspect of Don’s life. Don lies to anyone if it might serve his interests.”
McPherson was not present or represented in court and is believed to be living somewhere in the South Pacific.
Ms Leeson’s elderly father, Willy Leeson, her brother, Neville, and her son, Ben, were in court for the ruling.
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Speaking outside the court, 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 hear this outcome without it being followed by the sentencing of Donald McPherson to prison,” their statement said.
“This was a pre-meditated, cold-blooded murder, entirely motivated by Donald McPherson’s wicked greed, to seek to benefit from insurance policies totalling £3.9m, the majority of which he had incepted dishonestly, deceptively and without Paula’s knowledge.”
They added they would not rest until McPherson – who they called “an evil, dangerous man” – is behind bars for killing their loved one.
The family run a successful skip and plant hire business in Sale, Greater Manchester, which Ms Leeson and her brother stood to inherit.
It was where she met McPherson, who used a “cover story” of being an orphan to hide his past after serving jail time for an £11m bank fraud in Germany.
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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 multiple times, had 32 convictions spanning 15 years in three countries, and whose previous wife and their child died in a house fire.
Ms Leeson and McPherson wed at a no-expense-spared ceremony at a Cheshire castle in 2014 after a “whirlwind romance”.
McPherson has always denied any involvement in his wife’s death and after he was acquitted of murder, in a statement through his solicitors, he described it as a “tragic accident”.
His lawyers had argued Ms Leeson’s injuries could be a result of her rescue from the pool and resuscitation attempts and pathologists could not rule out that she could have fainted or accidentally fallen into the pool and drowned.