A convicted conman was cleared in court of killing his wealthy heiress wife, who was murdered, a coroner has concluded.
Jurors in the criminal trial of fraudster Donald McPherson, 53, were ordered to find him not guilty of the murder of his wife Paula Leeson, 47, halfway through proceedings at Manchester Crown Court in 2021.
He had taken out £3.5m life insurance on the mother-of-one, from Sale, Trafford, shortly before her death on June 6, 2017, the court heard, and within hours of her 'accidental drowning' was emptying her accounts of thousands of pounds to pay off his debts.
Civil ruling and inquest conclusion
Two years ago, Ms Leeson's family, which runs a successful plant hire business in south Manchester, blocked him inheriting his late wife's £4.4m estate.
A judge in civil proceedings brought by the Leeson family at the High Court ruled McPherson had unlawfully killed his wife for money by throttling her unconscious then drowning her in the swimming pool while on holiday in Denmark in 2017.
At the inquest into the death of Ms Leeson, delayed until Thursday (August 6) by the criminal trial and civil hearings, a coroner concluded she agreed with the unlawful killing verdict.
Alison Mutch, senior coroner for Manchester South, told Stockport Coroners' Court McPherson was heavily in debt and he was the only person to benefit from his wife's death.
Coroner's verdict
She added: "I am therefore satisfied he did murder his wife. Her death occurred because her husband compressed her neck to render her unconscious, causing her body to enter the pool, causing her to drown, to financially benefit from her death. Her death was as a result of an unlawful killing."
In criminal trials, juries must convict of being sure of guilt. In civil cases, a finding such as unlawful killing can be returned on the balance of probabilities. Such a finding can be also be returned by coroners at inquests - or inquest juries - on the balance of probabilities.
Police evidence
Earlier, Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Clegg, of Greater Manchester Police told coroner Ms Mutch: "There's no doubt this was a homicide. She died at his hands. I have not looked for anyone else."
The coroner asked the officer: "You don't believe this was an accident. There's too many coincidences and only one person benefited from her death?" He replied: "That's right."
Sophie Cartwright KC, representing the Leeson family at the inquest, asked the officer: "Your firm belief is that Donald McPherson murdered Paula Leeson?"
Mr Clegg replied: "That's correct, yes. Donald McPherson had backed himself into a financial crisis and the only way out was with the death of his wife."
The officer said he agreed with the Leeson's family view that this had been a miscarriage of justice and McPherson, currently living in New Zealand, should be serving a life sentence for murder.
Family's fight for justice
The inquest heard no retrial for murder can take place unless compelling new evidence is found.
Ms Cartwright said 'investigations are ongoing' and that the Leeson family hopes police, having in the last 12 months gained access to McPherson's old laptop, will uncover evidence to 'get them over the line for a retrial', adding: "Their fight will continue after today."
Ms Leeson’s brother Neville told the hearing her life had been taken by McPherson's 'greed'. He added: "Now the man who murdered her is walking around free. Paula has repeatedly been let down by the criminal justice system."
"We will never accept that and will continue fighting for her."
Background of the case
Ms Leeson drowned in the swimming pool at a remote holiday cottage, booked by McPherson for a summer break in Denmark in 2017. She was 5ft 5in and could swim but drowned in the pool of a depth of 4ft, the criminal trial heard.
McPherson told police he awoke to find Ms Leeson face down in the pool. Her death was initially treated as a tragic accident by the Danish authorities. She had 13 separate external injuries.
Within hours McPherson was transferring thousands of pounds from her accounts, the trial heard. Soon after, McPherson cleared their home in Sale, Greater Manchester, of his late wife's possessions and joined bereavement group Widowed And Young - which he called 'Tinder for widows' - trial jurors were told.
Ms Leeson's elderly father Willy sat in the inquest hearing with his son Neville and Ms Leeson's son Ben. Ms Leeson oversaw the skip hire part of her family's successful ground-working business that her father had built up in Sale after emigrating from Co Wicklow, Ireland, in the 1960s.
Ms Leeson and brother Neville stood to inherit the business. She had the 'misfortune' of coming across McPherson, a failing and indebted property developer, who came in to hire a skip in 2012.
Two years later the couple wed at a no-expense-spared ceremony at a Cheshire castle after a 'whirlwind romance'. McPherson used multiple name changes and a 'cover story' of being an orphan to hide his past after serving jail time for an £11m bank fraud in Germany.
He had 32 convictions spanning 15 years in three countries. McPherson has always denied any involvement in his wife's death, describing it a 'tragic accident'.
His lawyers argued Ms Leeson's injuries could be a result of her rescue from the pool and resuscitation and pathologists could not rule out that she could have fainted or accidentally fallen into the pool and drowned.
McPherson's trial was halted by Mr Justice Goose, ruling insufficient evidence for jurors to safely convict as accidental death could not be ruled out.
He directed the jury to return a not guilty verdict to murder.
