LU NA McKinney, the mother of two whose limp body was pulled from the waters of Lower Lough Erne four years ago, “most likely drowned” but it is “unable to prove that conclusively”, Northern Ireland’s State Pathologist said on Wednesday.

Dr. Alastair Bentley was giving evidence at the Dungannon Crown Court tr ial of her 44-year-old husband, Stephen McKinney, who denies murdering her during a family boating holiday in April, 2017.

 While the prosecution claim he was a controlling husband who couldn’t accept his 35-year-old wife Lu Na might divorce him, he maintains she slipped and fell into the lough while checking on the mooring ropes of their hire cruiser at Devenish Island.

 Dr. Alastair Bentley, who was the then Deputy State Pathologist at the time, said in the conclusion of his post-mortem report: “The circumstances suggest that death was due to drowning. However, this could not be confirmed.” He went on to say while the autopsy also raised a possibility of strangulation, the features he found “were not typical, and other possible causes such as the consequences of resuscitation must be considered”. “In view of this, it would not be unreasonable to state the cause of death remains undetermined,” he added. Pressed by prosecution QC Richard Weir on the “mos tlikely” cause of Lu Na’s death, Dr. Bentley said: “I think given the circumstances... thefact there was fluid in the lungs ... I think the most likely cause of death was drowning, but I wasn’t able to prove that conclusively.”

Earlier the pathologist in explaining his inconclusive findings said in drowning there is no one feature at autopsy which allows it to be said “that person has drowned”, adding “you rely on the history of a body being removed from water and then there are other non-associated specific features... waterlogging of the lungs is common in drowning ... but which can also be seen in other instances”.

Dr. Bentley said his examination also uncovered a number of injuries, including fractured ribs and breastbone, but these could be put down to the “prolonged” attempts to resuscitate the mother of two after she was taken from the water.

 Earlier, he told the court tests were also carried out on blood and other samples taken during the autopsy and that traces of the “commonly supplied sleeping pill Zopicone” were found, and given the concentration found, it could have led to aan increased level of drowsiness”.

On Tuesday, the court heard that one of the children of Lu Na McKinney blamed themselves for her death. The jury of eight men and four women also learned the youngster thought their 35-year-old mum had committed suicide because of an argument they had “over a pack of crisps” the evening before her death.

On Monday, evidence of troubles in the McKinney marriage were given by friends who claimed she confided in them they no longer shared the marital bed. Lu Na it was said, often either slept with one of her children or on a settee. The trial resumes on Monday while legal matters are dealt with in the absence of the jury until then