A New Zealand man has been blocked from inheriting his dead wife's nearly $10 million estate after a judge ruled he drowned her — years after the initial murder case ended with a not guilty verdict, the BBC reports.
Skip hire business heiress Paula Leeson, 47, was found dead in a shallow pool at a cottage in Denmark where she was staying with her husband in 2017. Her husband was convicted Kiwi fraudster Donald McPherson, 51.
McPherson was charged with murder after the death. He denied the charge and a criminal court proceeding in 2021 was halted when the judge said there was insufficient evidence to convict McPherson, the Guardian reported.
The jury was directed to enter a not guilty verdict by the judge in that case.
However, in light of "new and compelling evidence", a civil case was later launched at the Manchester Civil Justice Centre, the Leeson family said in a statement.
The family opposed McPherson being able to access Leeson's 4.4 million pound (NZ$9.3 million) estate.
Their lawyers argued Leeson, who stood at 5-foot-5-inches and could swim, could have simply stood up in the four-foot pool to save herself from drowning if it was an accident.
Therefore, she must have been choked before being put into the water unconscious, the lawyers said.
The judge ruled at the civil case that McPherson killed Leeson.
In his statement, judge Justice Richard Smith said: "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," the BBC reported.
"Don's motive for unlawfully killing Paula Leeson is clear: money."
The court heard that McPherson had taken out secret life insurance policies on Leeson prior to her death, totalling around 3.5 million pounds (NZ$7.4 million), the BBC reported.
He had also transferred thousands of pounds from Leeson's bank accounts in order to pay for his debts, the courts heard.
McPherson left the UK in December 2021, the Leeson family said in a statement, where he "continued to orchestrate his defence from afar, apparently in New Zealand, Australia and countries of the South Pacific".
Justice Smith said: "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."
Who is Donald McPherson?
Born Alexander James Lang, McPherson reportedly has 32 convictions over 15 years in three countries, including for his part in a multi-million dollar German bank heist. The New Zealand Herald reports he was born in Takapuna, Auckland.
While he was in prison in Germany, McPherson's previous wife Ira Kulppi and their daughter Natalie, four, died in a house fire in Queensland, Australia. The coroner ruled the fire was started deliberately by Kulppi, the Guardian reports.
(Source: Breakfast)
In a statement, the Leeson family said they wanted Greater Manchester Police and the Crown Prosecution Service to reopen the criminal case against McPherson.
"He is an extremely dangerous individual, and we do not wish any other person or family to experience the pain we have gone through and will continue to endure from Paula's loss."
They claimed McPherson had established a new persona, Rob Jones, before Leeson's death.
"We invite people in Australia, New Zealand, the countries of the South Pacific or wherever Donald McPherson may be to be vigilant, and to inform us where he is and what he is doing."
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