Millionaire heiress WAS killed by husband after being found dead in holiday pool, judge rules
manchestereveningnews.co.ukA man cleared of murdering his wealthy wife has been blocked from inheriting her £4.4m estate after a judge in a civil case ruled he drowned her. 'Serial liar' Donald McPherson, 51, was ordered to be found not guilty of the murder of his wife Paula Leeson, 47, on a judge's direction to the jury halfway through his trial in 2021.
Carrying wads of cash rolled up in elastic bands, he liked to give the impression of a man of means, but was in reality a 'man of straw', Manchester Crown Court previously heard. READ MORE: Dad vanished after going to pub toilet - 56 years on, his family finally have answers Ms Leeson drowned in the swimming pool at a remote holiday cottage, booked by McPherson for a summer break in Denmark in 2017.
The judge in his murder trial ruled that despite circumstantial evidence, a jury could not be sure to the criminal standard – beyond reasonable doubt – that he had killed her.
Ms Leeson's family brought civil proceedings against McPherson at Manchester Civil Courts of Justice, to block him benefiting from her death and her £4.4m estate.
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