Wealthy divorcee 'battered to death' by her secret lover after sex sessions in lay-bys and pub car parks

Wealthy businesswoman Diana Lee was murdered and her body mutilated by the penniless lover to whom she had given £70,000, a court has heard

A wealthy businesswoman was murdered and her body mutilated by the penniless lover to whom she had given £70,000, a court has heard.
During their 20-month affair, David Ryan left his wife at home as he sneaked off to have sex with Diana Lee in the back of her car in lay-bys and pub car parks and inside her isolated £500,000 mansion.
After one rendezvous at her house, Ryan, 48, is alleged to have bludgeoned to death 54-year-old Miss Lee, who was less than 5ft tall and weighed less than 8 stone.
The bankrupt former conservatory fitter, who was £90,000 in debt, denies murder and has said he was at home with his wife watching the Olympic Games at the time.
Chester Crown Court heard that after killing Miss Lee in August last year, Ryan mutilated her body with a saw to destroy DNA evidence, before dragging her body into the garage and setting it on fire.
Ryan then tried to frame Miss Lee’s live-in lodger.
He smeared her blood on the man’s antique German army SS dagger, slashed her dressing gown with it to make it appear it had been used to stab her to death and left some of her underwear in his bedroom.
He also sent text messages from Miss Lee’s mobile phone to customers of her cattery business, which she ran from her house near the village of Cranage, near Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, to imply that she was still alive.
Ryan then fled in Miss Lee’s car, before abandoning it 10 miles away and attempting to set fire to it.
However, Ryan’s attempts to cover his tracks failed after the fire in the garage failed to take hold and it was discovered by Miss Lee’s brother a few hours later.
Police found her naked, partly charred body in a wheelbarrow, surrounded by petrol, her bedding, shredded paper and logs.
Three weeks later, police interviewed Ryan after discovering he had contacted her by mobile phone in the days before her death.
Ryan, who had a penchant for designer clothes and Italian shoes, met Miss Lee at a dance club and she did not know that he was married, Brian Cummings QC, prosecuting, told the jury.

During their 20-month affair, David Ryan (pictured outside Chester Crown Court) left his wife at home as he sneaked off to have sex with Diana Lee in the back of her car in lay-bys and pub car parks, a court heard

He said that Ryan, who was seeing a third woman at the time of Miss Lee’s death, initially denied having been in a relationship with her.
However, after being asked to provide a DNA sample to eliminate him from inquiries, he became ‘unnerved’ and admitted that he had had sex with the former garden centre worker on the night before her death.

He told police that he would sneak off to a phone box near his home in Hale to arrange to meet Miss Lee and that they slept together at least ten times.
A post-mortem examination revealed that Ryan and Miss Lee had engaged in sexual activity hours before her death on August 9.
Forensic tests on footprints in blood found on the downstairs carpet of Miss Lee’s home, called Parklands, were also found to match a brand of Italian shoes favoured by Ryan.
Analysis of his computer also indicated that he had viewed and deleted files relating to the murder, as well as researching on the internet countries to which he could escape to which did not have an extradition treaty with the UK.
When questioned, Ryan denied borrowing or stealing money from Miss Lee, instead claiming he only took cash from her for doing odd jobs around her home.

The businesswoman's body was found in the burnt out garage of her luxury rural home. She suffered fatal injuries in the attack a court heard

Chester Crown Court heard that after killing Miss Lee in August last year, Ryan mutilated her body with a saw to destroy DNA evidence, before dragging her body into the garage and setting it on fire

Mr Cummings said: ‘The defendant was having a relationship with Diana Lee which they both kept secret from other people. Other than the fact that he had unprotected sex with her, he believed there would be nothing to link him to her... that is why he mutilated her body and attempted to incinerate it.’
A woman on the jury wept after they were shown computer-generated images and photographs of Miss Lee’s mutilated body.
Mr Cummings said he realised the images made ‘unpleasant viewing’ but stressed that they were vital to the prosecution’s case.
Police inquiries revealed that Miss Lee, who apparently had told no one about her affair with Ryan, had withdrawn £70,000 in cash from her bank accounts in the ten months before her death.
During the same period, unemployed Ryan, who had just £100 to his name, made cash purchases of £53,000 and around £7,000 had been paid into his bank account.
Mr Cummings said it was the prosecution’s case that Ryan had received ‘large amounts of cash’ from Miss Lee.
He added: ‘It would not be the first time that he had managed to persuade someone to supply him with large sums of cash, which he did not repay.’
The case continues.

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