Fraudster who was found to have killed his wife for a £4.4million insurance payout years after being cleared of murder is jailed... but not for her death

Daily Mail​

a day ago

A fraudster who was found to have unlawfully killed his wealthy wife in Denmark has been sentenced to two years in prison but not for his partner's death.
Donald McPherson was originally cleared of the murder of Paula Leeson when a judge directed a jury in 2021 to find him not guilty through a lack of evidence.
Ms Leeson drowned in the swimming pool at a remote holiday cottage in Denmark booked by McPherson for a summer break in 2017.
A civil case brought by Ms Leeson's family last September concluded that the 47-year-old mother-of-one's death was not accidental and that McPherson had unlawfully killed his wife, hoping to cash in on life insurance policies worth £4.4 million he had secretly taken out.
The High Court judge found that McPherson compressed his wife's neck in an arm lock until she was unconscious.
Danish authorities initially treated the death as a tragic accident, though she had suffered 13 separate external injuries.
Her husband of three years McPherson has always denied any involvement in his wife's death and claimed he had found her there, fully clothed and unconscious, during their Scandinavian weekend mini-break
In January this year, McPherson was found to be in contempt of court when he failed to disclose assets.
However, a civil case brought by Ms Leeson's family last September concluded that the 47-year-old mother-of-one's death was not accidental and that McPherson had unlawfully killed his wife, hoping to cash in on life insurance policies worth £4.4 million he had secretly taken out
Once they were husband and wife, and without Ms Leeson's knowledge, he started paying £460 a month in life insurance premiums, despite his huge debts.
Months after their wedding, he forged a new will and trust documents which would give him control of MS Leeson's finances if she died.
Judge Mark Cawson KC said in a judgment in February, published on Wednesday, that the contempt is 'so serious that only a custodial sentence will suffice'.
He sentenced McPherson to two years in prison, adding he will only serve half of that in the event that he complies with the asset disclosure order.
Last April, the High Court in Manchester was told that McPherson was 'a serial liar' who had been convicted of 32 offences of fraud or dishonesty in New Zealand, Germany and the UK.
The court was played recordings of McPherson's phone calls to a string of insurers in which he checked he would receive a pay-out in the event of her death.
Mr Cawson continued: 'In these circumstances, there is simply no basis for any discount being given on the basis of the defendant being of good character. He is plainly a man of bad character.'
Ms Leeson's family run a successful skip and plant hire business in south Manchester, which Ms Leeson helped to run, and where she first came into contact with McPherson, who claimed to be a successful property developer.
McPherson had taken out multiple secret life insurance policies on his wife before her death, worth £3.5 million alone.
Despite running out of money, he was paying about £500 a month on insurance policies.
McPherson was described at a previous court hearing as a 'Walter Mitty' who had changed his name multiple times and whose previous wife and their child died in a house fire, while his 32 convictions span 15 years in three countries.
At the time of the High Court judge's ruling in September, he was believed to be living somewhere in the South Pacific.