A WEALTHY heiress found dead in swimming pool was unlawfully killed by husband so he could cash in on £4m fortune, the High Court has ruled.
Judge Mr Justice Richard Smith has ruled that wealthy heiress Paula Leeson, 47, was unlawfully killed by her husband, Donald McPherson.
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McPherson, 51, was previously cleared of murdering Paula after a judge ordered the jury to find him not guilty.
Today’s ruling blocking McPherson from inheriting Paula’s £4.4m estate.
She was found dead in the pool at a remote holiday cottage in Denmark where the couple were staying in June 2017.
The following day, McPherson, 50, began transferring large sums of money from her accounts to clear his debts.
He also joined a group called Widowed and Young, which he described as “Tinder for Widows”, a week after Paula’s death.
Her family asked a judge to rule McPherson killed the heiress to stop him benefiting from her £4.4million fortune.
Before her death, he had taken out seven “secret” life insurance policies on his “besotted” wife, his 2021 murder trial heard.
McPherson stood to gain £3.5million from these policies if she died.
Paula’s dad Willy, brother Neville and son Ben brought the case to Manchester Civil Court of Justice.
McPherson did not attend the hearing and is believed to be living in several countries in the South Pacific, including French Polynesia and Fiji.
The court heard he has been convicted of 32 criminal offences of dishonesty or fraud in New Zealand, where he was born.
McPherson, who claimed to be sleeping when his wife drowned, was also jailed for his involvement in an £11.8million bank fraud in Germany.
Lesley Anderson KC, for the family, said: “The central issue still stands – what happened in Denmark?
“It is not an issue the cause of death was drowning. The only issue is the manner of death. It is the manner of death that causes the death to be unlawful.”
The court was told 5ft 5ins Paula drowned in a pool that was under 4ft deep despite being a good swimmer and a healthy mum-of-one.
Ms Anderson said the family’s case centres on the point she must have been unconscious when she entered the water as otherwise her “natural reaction” would be to stand up to save herself.
The lawyer added: “Therefore, she must have gone into the water unconscious. We do say it probably was a choke hold or a neck hold.”
Holiday tragedy
The court was told McPherson was struggling financially at the time – despite walking around with wads of cash in elastic bands.
Paula’s family said he was “running out of money”, which “super charged the financial motive” for him.
McPherson also “systematically” deleted data from his wife’s phone which may have explained what happened and showed “almost no upset or remorse” over her death, the court heard.
His trial was dramatically halted in 2021 when Mr Justice Goose ruled there was insufficient evidence for jurors to safely convict.
The trial judge said the prosecution case was circumstantial and crucially, an accidental death could not be ruled out.
He told the court there were two available possibilities over how Paula died.
Family’s agony
Firstly, McPherson restrained his wife under water or overcame her in a struggle or pushed her to cause her to drown.
Or secondly, Paula drowned by an accident, by a trip, fall or a faint – causing her to fall into the water.
Mr Justice Goose added: “Whilst the first of those alternatives is clearly more likely, that does not mean that a jury, on the face of the pathological evidence alone, could be sure of it.”
Jurors heard Paula suffered 13 separate injuries, which she could have sustained while being restrained or in a resuscitation attempt.
Prosecutors alleged that while her death may have looked like a tragic accident, it was in fact a pre-planned killing by her husband.
Her family screamed out in disbelief when McPherson was cleared.
Paula and McPherson married in June 2014 following a “whirlwind” romance.
Their “no expense spared” ceremony was held at Peckforton Castle, Cheshire.
Paula stood to inherit the family business owned by her dad and oversaw the successful skip hire firm where she met McPherson.
Following his trial, McPherson denied any involvement in his wife’s death in a statement through his solicitors.
