THE Lu Na McKinney murder trial entered its third week by hearing evidence from police who spoke her husband at hospital after he learned she had passed away.
Stephen McKinney (44) of Castletown Square, Fintona, denies murdering his wife on 13 April 2017, during a family trip on a hired cruiser, on Lough Erne.
They had stopped at Devenish Island for the night, where during the early hours, Lu Na entered the water, after allegedly going on deck to check the mooring ropes after believing the boat had moved.
Her death was originally treated as a tragic drowning accident until a number of witnesses raised suspicions.
McKinney, pictured below, gave conflicting accounts and following intensive investigations, a murder inquiry was launched.
The prosecution says McKinney was a controlling individual who had tired of his wife but could not accept she may divorce him.
Dungannon Crown Court heard how he described jumping into the water, initially managing to grab hold of Lu Na and while he lost his grip, searched for her underwater.
McKinney was noted to have blamed himself and shouted to his lost wife: “Lu Na, Lu Na, Lu Na – it’s my fault”.
A detective said she spoke with McKinney at South West Acute Hospital shortly after he broke the news to his two children that their mother was dead.
When she asked what happened McKinney replied: “I’m trying to get a slow-motion picture of it”.
He said the boating trip was a treat for the children and to celebrate the couple’s 14th wedding anniversary the following month.
The night before the incident, they played Monopoly as a family and the children gone to bed about 10pm.
He and Lu Na shared a few beers and discussed a number of planned home improvements.
McKinney pointed out his wife a taken a sleeping tablet and the couple retired around midnight.
At some stage Lu Na woke him and said the boat was moving.
While McKinney contends he asked her to wait while he lit a cigarette, she had put on her coat and gone out on deck.
He insisted being just a second behind her and believed she: “Fell in sideways and shouted help. I jumped in straight away.”
McKinney described grabbing the arm of her jacket and trying to hold her up while gripping on to the boat.
“She kept pulling me down. I lost my grip. I tried to look under the water for her… but she was gone”.
He was unable to recall if they were in the water, “one minute or ten” and on getting back onto the boat used the torch on his phone to search for her, then rang police.
When they arrived he kept shouting: “I think she’s over here”.
The detective told the court McKinney admitted the sleeping tablet Lu Na had taken was bought online and that she’d used them once or twice before.
He didn’t know why she hadn’t gone to her GP for them.
Matters moved forward almost a fortnight later, when the detective contacted McKinney to enquire how he was.
He broke down and told her it was: “Very difficult”.
When spoken to about the sleeping pills he became very emotional and asked the detective: “Am I in trouble about this? … Do I need to arrange something for the children? … I know I shouldn’t have bought them”.
The trial is continuing this week at Dungannon Crown Court.
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