Man who murdered wife to find out minimum jail term in two weeks

A TYRONE man who murdered his wife during a boating trip on the Fermanagh lakes four years ago will find out in two weeks’ time the minimum term he will spend in prison before being considered for release.

Stephen McKinney (44), with an address at Castletown Square in Fintona, but previously of Convoy, Donegal, was found guilty of the murder of his wife Lu Na after a 12-week trial at Dungannon Crown Court. He received an automatic life sentence with a minimum tariff to be spent in custody to be set. At a hearing in Belfast today (Thursday), a Prosecution lawyer called for the sentence to be set at “a higher starting point” of 15 to 20 years. He said the murder was planned and the victim was vulnerable.

The boating trip on Lough Erne on April 13, 2017 was supposed to be a celebration of the couple’s forthcoming wedding anniversary and a treat for their children. McKinney claimed Lu Na fell into the water and insisted he jumped in after her, initially managing to catch hold of her, but she slipped from his grasp and went underwater. The death was originally treated as a tragic accident until suspicions were raised and a murder inquiry was launched. McKinney pushed or led his wife into the water. She was unable to swim and at the time of her murder had consumed a quantity of sleeping pills.

The Prosecution lawyer told the Crown Court hearing that his spouse was rendered more vulnerable through the consumption of the sleeping tablets. He also stated that his “controlling behaviour” was a feature of her vulnerability as was her desire to leave the marriage when as a Chinese national, she was without a close family network.

The lawyer also said the murder was planned. He stated, “It was not a case of a husband and wife flare-up and someone doing something in a temper. This was a calculated action.”

He also pointed to the presence of the couple’s two children on the boat when the murder was carried out. While they were sleeping in a cabin downstairs, he stated they were an intrinsic part of the trip and were “not there by accident rather by design”.

Defence barrister, Martin O’Rourke QC, suggested it was “difficult to understand” how the prosecution described the murder as pre-meditated as during the trial they (the prosecution) had submitted they couldn’t precisely say how the victim entered the water. He also stated that the consumption of the sleeping tablets was part of the murder rather than an aggravating feature that would put the sentence into a higher range.

Mr O’Rourke said there was no evidence the crime was planned and pre-mediated adding that “something could have happened that evening and he put her in the water while under the influence of sleeping tablets”. He added that the evidence didn’t suppose “he took her there to murder her”.

Trial judge, Madam Justice McBride, said she will reflect on the submissions from the prosecution and the defence and set the minimum tariff McKinney must spend in jail on November 25.