GUILTY UK - Det. Leanne McKie, 39, found dead in Cheshire lake, 28 Sept 2017

[jessie]

11:06
Defendant texted his wife to tell her he was coming home
The jurors hear that Insp McKie left for work at 6.20am on September 28 last year, the day he is alleged to have killed his wife.

He arrived at Stretford police station, where he was in charge of resource management for the Trafford division of GMP, at 6.49am.

The jurors are told that a parcel was delivered to his home address on 11.20am which is said to have prompted his wife to send her husband a text calling him a ‘liar’.

The prosecution has previously said the the contents of the parcel revealed to Mrs McKie that her husband had made a loan application behind her back.

Agreed facts being read to the jury reveal that Insp McKie texted his wife at 11.32am saying: “I’m coming home.”

Fellow police officers described how the Insp suddenly left work that morning even though his shift wasn’t due to finish until 3pm.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...-news/darren-mckie-murder-wife-trial-14368526

 

[jessie]

11:08
Insp McKie had ‘looked stressed’ over the previous three weeks
The jurors are told that Insp McKie’s ‘I’m coming home’ message to his wife was later deleted from his phone.

Insp McKie’s boss, Chief Insp Farhad Zaman, said in a statement read to the jury that he felt his colleague had ‘looked stressed’ over the previous three weeks.

CI Zaman said he had known Insp McKie for about three years and that ‘Darren was friendly with most people’.

He said Insp McKie never mentioned his wife in conversation.

After noticing his colleague ‘looked stressed, Chf Insp Zaman said he approached Insp McKie on September 25 and asked him if he was OK.

The more senior officer said he believed Insp McKie may have found that work was ‘too much for him’ and noted that he had recently moved house.

Insp McKie told his boss he was worried about his forthcoming ‘inspector’s assessment’, the jurors are told.

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[jessie]

11:33
Insp McKie took calls during work meeting
Chf Insp Zaman said he told Insp McKie he could have time off to complete his inspector’s assessment and told him moving house could be stressful.

The more senior officer said Insp McKie told him he needed to finish early on one of his shifts, and his boss said he agreed to the request but asked to be reminded on the day.

“I do recall he said somebody was visiting his home address who he needed to meet,” said CI Zaman in his statement.

The senior officer said that the last time he saw Insp McKie was during a meeting on the morning of September 28 at Stretford police station.

He said he noticed the officer twice leave the meeting to take calls and that he assumed it was something to do with the house move. He said the language the officer used on the call suggested it was a personal rather than professional call.

CI Zaman said he left the meeting himself to attend another meeting but added that there had been no record of Insp McKie booking himself off work that day.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...-news/darren-mckie-murder-wife-trial-14368526

 

[jessie]

11:43
Insp McKie had become ‘quieter than before and more insular’
Another fellow officer who was also based at Stretford police station, Sgt Julia Dwyer, said she had known Insp McKie for about years.

In a statement read to the jury, she said: “I would describe Darren as very quiet. He kept himself to himself. He’s a nice man although being quiet he would still talk or chat and say hello and make officers a cup of tea.”

She added: “He’s a family man with nothing unusual and nothing to cause me concern.”

However she said she had noticed a change in him in the previous few weeks and that he had become ‘quieter than before and more insular’.

She noted how Insp McKie had started going straight into his office without stopping to chat and that he was ‘always on the phone’ and that she suspected he was ‘playing games’ on the device.

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[jessie]

11:48
Defendant ‘constantly’ on his phone during meeting
Sgt Dwyer said she recalled Darren, who was ‘never late’, arrive late for his shift on September 25.

During a meeting she noticed the officer was ‘constantly’ on his phone which was in front of him on the table.

Insp McKie would nudge the screen occasionally ‘possibly to awaken the screen’, said the officer.

He left the meeting to take one call, she said.​

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[jessie]

12:03
Insp McKie left work shortly after taking phone call
Sgt Dywer said she was in a meeting which Insp McKie was also attending on September 28, the day he is alleged to have killed his wife, when the inspector left to take a call, returning two or three minutes later.

The sergeant said she left the meeting to go to her office and that she saw Insp McKie go into his own office.

She said his phone rang and that he shut the door.

A few minutes later, Insp McKie left his office with his rucksack and walked away ‘with his head down’, the jurors are told.

The court is told Insp McKie said: “I’m going. See you tomorrow.”

Sgt Dwyer said: “This behaviour from Darren was odd.”



12:14
Defendant would ‘never open up about the challenges of family life’
Another colleague at Stretford police station, Mark Ollerenshaw, said he had got to know both Insp McKie and his wife ‘quite well’.

He said Insp McKie had effectively become his boss.

Mr Ollerenshaw said in a statement read to the jury: “During the eight months I worked there with Darren I found he was a very decent man, approachable and understanding. I would describe Darren as a good boss and I held him in high regard.”

He also described Insp McKie as ‘reserved’ and added that he ‘knew very little about him on a personal level’.

Insp McKie was part of the team and would take part in conversation but only on a ‘superficial level’. Mr Ollerenshaw said he knew he had three children but would ‘never open up about the challenges of family life’.

Insp McKie never gave the impression he was under ‘domestic pressure’ although he was a ‘very closed book’, according to Mr Ollerenshaw


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[jessie]

12:22
His sudden exit caused ‘raised eyebrows’ in the office
When Insp McKie came into the office on September 28 he ‘seemed to be his normal self’, said Mr Ollerenshaw.

The witness said he recalled Insp taking a call and then closing his office door for more privacy.Ten minutes later the inspector emerged from his office carrying a rucksack and shut the door ‘with purpose’ and told staff he had to go home.”

Darren spoke abruptly and certainly with no pleasantries which I found completely out of character for Darren,” according to Mr Ollerenshaw, who said the sudden exit had caused ‘raised eyebrows’ in the office as ‘something was not right’.


12:45
Defendant arranged meeting with chartered surveyor
A chartered surveyor, Anthony Parker, told the court how he met the defendant at his home on Burford Close in Wilmslow on September 28, the day the murder is said to have taken place, to carry out a house valuation on behalf of a loan company.

Mr Parker said he called Insp McKie at 11.40am to discuss when the valuation would take place. The jurors are told that the police officer had wanted to arrange the valuation for 2pm but the chartered surveyor preferred 1pm.

The pair agreed to meet at the house at 1.30pm. Mr Parker said he parked his Volvo near the house at 1pm and waited.

He told told the jury he saw no cars in the drive and that he saw the defendant, who was wearing a white t-shirt, on foot and walking into the house with a set of keys.”

I just waited a couple of minutes and got out of the car and went to the front door,” said Mr Parker.

The court has previously heard that a pathologist believes Mrs McKie’s death probably happened at around mid-day on September 28.


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[jessie]

12:49
‘Nothing unusual' about encounter
Mr Parker, the chartered surveyor, tells the jurors he exchanged pleasantries with Insp McKie at the front door and the pair went into the kitchen at the back of the house.

Asked if there was anyone else in the house, the witness said: “Not that I’m aware of, no.”

Insp McKie told the surveyor he had had to leave work early, the court hears.

Questioned by Nigel Power QC, for the prosecution, the chartered surveyor tells the jury he checked in every room although he did not look into any cupboards as part of his examination of the house.

“Mr McKie stayed in the kitchen as I wandered around the house,” Mr Parker tells the court.

The witness said he also checked in the garage and could recall no vehicles there and that he had carried out a ‘head and shoulders’ inspection of the attic.

He said there was ‘nothing unusual’ about the encounter and that there had not been much conversation.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...-news/darren-mckie-murder-wife-trial-14368526

 

[jessie]

13:05
Visit was ‘totally unremarkable’
Under cross-examination by Trevor Burke QC, defending Insp McKie, Mr Parker agreed the visit was ‘totally unremarkable’ and the police officer was ‘not agitated’.

The witness said the officer wasn’t directing him not to look anywhere, for instance under the stairs.

Mr Burke asked:

You were free to go where you wanted and look where you wanted and took as much time as you wanted?

Mr Parker said:

Indeed, yes

The witness agreed he had detected no odd smell from the drains which he would have been obliged to report.

“An unremarkable house and an unremarkable day,” said Mr Burke and the witness replied ‘yes’.

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[jessie]

Court adjourned for lunch now.

 

[jessie]

Unless I'm completely messing reports up, I think this article contains some more evidence and information - in particular timings - which weren't included in the live updates this morning - .........


https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...-news/darren-mckie-murder-wife-trial-14368526

A police inspector calmly showed a surveyor into his home and laughed with parents on the school run in the hours after he allegedly strangled his wife to death, a court has heard.

Darren McKie, 43, is accused of murdering his wife Leanne, 39, a detective constable, and dumping her body in Poynton Lake, Cheshire, where it was discovered on September 29 last year.

His trial at Chester Crown Court has been told that a post-mortem examination revealed she was likely to have died at about midday the day before her body was found.

On Wednesday, the jury of six men and six women heard that McKie had left work at Stretford police station abruptly at about 11.30am on the day of her death, following a text message sent to him by his wife after she discovered he had applied for a £54,000 loan in her name.

He arrived back at their home in Burford Close, Wilmslow, at 12.05pm that day.

Chartered surveyor Anthony Parker said he spoke to McKie on the phone at 12.09pm to confirm a time to come to value the house, in connection with the loan application, and they had agreed he would arrive at 1.30pm.


In a statement, neighbour Ann Taylor said she drove past the home at about 12.45pm and saw a red Mini - Mrs McKie's car - reversing out of the driveway, but could not see who was at the wheel.

Mr Parker told the court he arrived at the house at about 1pm and there were no cars on the driveway.

A few minutes later, he saw the father-of-three arrive on foot and let himself into the home.

He said: "I just waited a couple of minutes and then I got out of my car and went to the front door.

"Mr McKie opened the door, we exchanged pleasantries."

He said McKie had waited in the kitchen while he looked around the property, which he valued at £505,000.

Being questioned by Trevor Burke QC, defending, he agreed that the survey had been "totally unremarkable".

Mr Parker agreed that McKie, who told him he had left work early because of the valuation, was "perfectly normal" and was not agitated or intrusive.

In statements which were read to the court, friends of the couple described seeing McKie picking children up from school later that day and taking his daughter to a ballet class.

Sarah Eaton said she saw him walking out of the school gates.

She said: "He was really laughing hard and I remember thinking he must have been told something funny.

"Looking back on it now, the laughing appeared over the top."

Friend Nick Baglin said he had spoken to McKie about their children outside the school.

He said: "He appeared a little bit more upbeat than usual, he certainly didn't appear to be carrying any stress or strains.

"The last thing Darren said to me was 'We must have you round for drinks'."


The court has heard that the couple, who both worked for Greater Manchester Police, were more than £100,000 in debt at the time of Mrs McKie's death.

McKie denies the murder and manslaughter of his wife.

 

[jessie]

The timings are very tight aren't they?

Back home by 12.05 - surveyor phoned at 12.09 - neighbour drove past house at 12.45 and saw Leanne's car reversing out - surveyor arrived at house about 1.00 pm saw no cars, but then saw McKie walked to front door few minutes later.

 

[Legally Bland]

The timings are very tight aren't they?

Back home by 12.05 - surveyor phoned at 12.09 - neighbour drove past house at 12.45 and saw Leanne's car reversing out - surveyor arrived at house about 1.00 pm saw no cars, but then saw McKie walked to front door few minutes later.

Very tight. Was she stored in the boot of the mini for a while, away from the house?

And where was his car? Based on google maps I don't think he could have got from Stretford Police Station to Wilmslow in that time with public transport. (Left work approx 11.30).

 

[jessie]

Very tight. Was she stored in the boot of the mini for a while, away from the house?

And where was his car? Based on google maps I don't think he could have got from Stretford Police Station to Wilmslow in that time with public transport. (Left work approx 11.30).

Sorry to be gruesome here, but what about lividity as well?
We hear that she was found in the lake with her arms above her head, would this be due to rigor?
Thinking if Leanne was dragged by her arms after death, then just left but covered somewhere before being placed in the lake hours later, rigor mortis would have set in at that position with arms stretched out which would explain the physical posture she was found.
Re: lividity, wouldn't that be a guiding symptom as to how she was left for hours after death?
I'm thinking that if bundled in a car boot (first thought) lividity would be apparent when found in lake?
Perhaps I think too much :facepalm:

 

[jessie]

15:32
Hearing continuing

Today’s proceedings in court are continuing - but we’re not able to report what’s being said for legal reasons.

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[jessie]

16:32
Jury sent home for the day

The jury is sent home for the day and the trial resumes in the morning.

 

[Legally Bland]

DAY THREE [Four?]

Court hears evidence from pathologist

Home Office pathologist Dr Brian Rodgers rells the jury about the results of his post mortem examination on Leanne McKie’s body.

Before conducting his examination, the pathologist was told by the police that Leanne McKie had been found dead face down in the water at Poynton Lake and that by the time the body was removed rigour mortis appeared to have already set in.

He said rigour mortis has already gone when he examined the body the following day.

There was blood around the nose and mouth but he could see no obvious injury to cause this, the jurors were told.

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[Legally Bland]

[FONT=&amp]12:25
[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Pathologist found bruising to mouth and lips

The jurors hear that tiny haemorrhages were found near the eyes and on the face which were said to be ‘highly suggestive’ of asphyxia.

Dr Rodgers told the court he also found what appeared to be bruising to the mouth, to the lips and inner lining of the lips, which he said he did not believe had been caused by being face down on the water.

Other haemorrhages were also found on the back of the neck and near the jaw line, the court is told.

Abrasions were also found on both ankles which the pathologist said had been caused after death, either when the body was dumped in the water or when it was later removed.

When questioned by Nigel Power QC, for the prosecution, the pathologist agreed the scratch marks ‘would be consistent with drag marks’.

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[Legally Bland]

12:37

Injuries 'typical with compression of neck' - bruising 'highly suspicious'

No injuries were found on the arms, the trial is told, and nor to the finger nails.

Dr Rodgers said victims of strangulation would sometimes attempt to remove a ligiature causing injuries to their own finger nails but he said such injuries were not found during his examination.

The pathologist told the jurors he found ‘scattered areas of bruising’ inside the mouth and throat, which he said was ‘highly suspicious’ in view of his previous findings.

The post mortem also uncovered fractures to two bones within the neck, the court is told.

“That’s a typical injury with compression of the neck,” said Dr Roders, referring to one of the fractures he found.

A second bone had ‘cracked completely’, the jurors were told.

“It indicated there’s been significant force applied to cause that fracture,” said Dr Rodgers.


12:40

'I think she’s dead by the time her body was put in the lake'

The pathologist said Leane McKie had not drowned in Poynton Lake.

Her lungs were a normal weight and no water was found in the airways, the jurors are told.

“I think she’s dead by the time her body was put in the lake,” said Dr Rodgers.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...-news/darren-mckie-murder-wife-trial-14368526

 

[Legally Bland]

12:47

Neck injury typical of 'karate chop'

The bruising found to her mouth, where the lips appear to have been pressed against the teeth, suggested somebody had ‘put hands over the mouth’, said Dr Rodgers.

Asked by the prosecutor what force would have had to be applied to cause the neck injuries, Dr Rodgers said he just didn’t know for certain.

“What we can say is and certainly in my experience dealing with these type of injuries... means quite significant force. There’s obviously been significant pressure applied,” Dr Rodgers said.

He described the fracture of one of the bones in the neck as an injury which may typically result from a ‘karate chop’.

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