LOUGH ERNE DEATH
HUSBAND APPEARS IN COURT ACCUSED OF MURDERING HIS WIFE
THE husband of a woman who died during a family boating holiday has been remanded in custody charged with her murder.
Stephen McKinney is accused of killing Lu Na McKinney in April.
Ms McKinney, who was originally from China, died after going into the water at Devenish Island on Lough Erne, Co Fermanagh. It was initially believed to have been a boating accident.
However, last week police arrested her husband on suspicion of murder.
Yesterday — four days after his arrest in Londonderry — Stephen McKinney appeared at Omagh Magistrates’ Court.
The 41-year-old, from The Flax Fields, Convoy, Co Donegal, is charged with the murder of his wife of 15 years on a date unknown between April 11 and April 14.
During the brief hearing McKinney spoke only to confirm he understood the charge against him.
A PSNI Detective Inspector told District Judge Bernie Kelly that he believed he could connect McKinney to the charge and that police would be objecting to bail.
The detective said that while Ms McKinney’s death was originally thought to have been an accident, it was now being treated as a premeditated crime.
The officer explained police objections to bail on the grounds that they believed the defendant posed a “significant” flight risk. They said McKinney’s home address was in the Irish Republic, and that he had recently travelled to China where he owned “property and had money”.
Bail was also objected to on the grounds that the defendant could interfere with witnesses. The officer explained that the defendant had previously refused permission for the couple’s two children to be interviewed.
The children, aged 11 and 14, were the only other people on the boat at the time the alleged crime was committed, and have yet to be questioned by police.
The detective agreed that McKinney had given permission since his arrest for the children to be interviewed but that so far they had refused.
Defence barrister Martin McCann said McKinney “vehemently denied he was responsible for his wife’s death”, and was willing to surrender his passport.
District Judge Kelly said she “had concerns about the risk of flight”, given McKinney’s trip to China in October, and refused bail.
McKinney will appear at Enniskillen courthouse next Monday, December 11, via videolink.