Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Cop killed wife over dream house debts Strangled and dumped in a lake
HER CAR DITCHED SPOTTED
A DETECTIVE was murdered by her police inspector husband after she confronted him over their mountain of debt.
Super-fit martial arts enthusiast Darren Mckie strangled petite mum of three Leanne and dumped her body in a lake.
He had admitted manslaughter but a jury yesterday convicted him of murder.
Just days before the killing, the couple had moved into a fourbedroom detached house, after spending £63,000 on renovations.
Leanne, a detective constable, had posted images of the ongoing improvements on her Instagram page. A month before her death, alongside a snap of her new kitchen, she wrote: “My island. So happy I persuaded Darren to go for it! Love it!” But the couple owed £103,000 to banks, credit card firms and builders.
The house had cost them £435,000 and they had a mortgage of almost £300,000.
Mckie, 43, described by officers as “controlling”, kept the true scale of their money woes from his wife.
He was already £20,000 in debt, mainly on credit cards, when he met Leanne in 2001 and their financial troubles continued to spiral, despite getting £80,000 over the years from both sets of parents.
The couple both worked for Greater Manchester Police. Mckie earned about £51,000 a year and Leanne, who went part-time after becoming a mum, was on £16,500.
But they lived way beyond their means. In just eight years, they spent £30,000 on holidays and their supermarket bill was £70,000.
And as the debt piled up, Mckie continued applying for loans without telling his wife.
On the day she died, Leanne, 39, discovered he had applied for £54,000 behind her back, using her salary and passport documents.
She sent him a furious message saying: “You liar. Just got back a loan application with my passport and my name. WTF.”
Mckie replied “I’m coming home”, before leaving work and murdering her last September.
He then put her body in the boot of her red Mini Countryman, after reversing it up to the front door. After their three children had gone to bed, he drove the car to Poynton Lake, near their home in Wilmslow, Cheshire, and dumped the body in the water.
As he walked home, he was twice questioned by two police patrol officers. On the second occasion, they noticed he had no shoes.
Mckie had dumped them in a bin because they had traces of Leanne’s blood. The officers raised their suspicions to colleagues.
Moments later, news came through of a woman’s body being found in the lake and Mckie was arrested on suspicion of murder. He will be sentenced on Tuesday.
Outside Chester crown court, Leanne’s parents Ellen and Ray Dodd said: “Our lives will never be the same again. We have lost our beautiful daughter and our grandchildren their beloved mummy.”
LEANNE’S DISTRAUGHT PARENTS BLOODIED SHOES