Teen son of Lough Erne murder victim Lu Na and wife killer Stephen McKinney dies

Mum-of-two Lu Na (35) was drugged and bundled over the side of a boat into the freezing water of the lough by her husband, McKinney, while the couple’s children slept just yards away.

And now the family’s heartache has been compounded by the recent death of her teenage son.

At the second murder trial, Dungannon Crown Court was told one of Lu Na’s children had blamed themselves for the death of their mother after a silly row over a packet of crisps.

We can now reveal that person was Lu Na’s son, who had been studying at a university in England for a short period before he died in a suspected suicide.

The murder trial was told he thought his mum died by suicide because of their crisp row.

The Sunday World understands his killer dad has asked to be released from prison on compassionate leave to attend the funeral – a date for which is yet to be determined.

Strong objections from family members to having McKinney there at all may see them have a private service.

McKinney, who is 46 years old and originally from Strabane, has always denied killing his wife during the boating holiday which he said was a treat for their children and to celebrate their up and coming 14th wedding anniversary.

After hearing he must serve a minimum of 20 years of a life sentence behind bars, he started proceedings to ask for leave to appeal his conviction.

After McKinney was convicted his son and daughter were given new surnames and were sent to live in a secret location with a carer.

The Sunday World understands throughout the trial the son had been in close contact with his father.

However, sources have told this paper that changed after his conviction.

During the lengthy second murder trial the jury of eight men and four women was told the youngster thought their mum had committed suicide because of an argument they had “over a pack of crisps” the evening before her death.

Last year we revealed how sex-obsessed McKinney had bullied his wife into painful sex acts in the years leading up to her murder.

Police seized mobile phones and computers from McKinney which led to the recovery of Skype chats, sex videos and sexual images involving the defendant, his wife and other unknown individuals.