My evil dad murdered mum with bootlace & calmly confessed to me on our driveway

TWISTED by years of resentment and living miserably in a narrowboat, Michael McDaid had a noticeable change of mood one spring morning when he began whistling and singing: ‘I’m very happy’.

Just days later, the reason became clear. As his son, Owen, popped home during a work break, he was met on the driveway by his father, who calmly explained he couldn’t go in before adding: “I’ve killed her.”

On the morning of April 19, 2024, warped Michael McDaid, 60, murdered his estranged wife Rachel, 53, strangling her to death with a bootlace in the Nottinghamshire family home they had once shared.

Having locked all the doors and forced his desperate son to climb through a bathroom window to discover his mum’s body, the cowardly killer then fled the scene.

After eventually turning himself in to cops, McDaid was jailed for 23 years and four months after admitting murder at Nottingham Crown Court.

Now his heartbroken sons, Owen, 25, Alfie, 22, and Isaac, 19, are speaking for the first time, telling The Sun how – even from behind bars – their evil dad is still trying to control and torment their lives.

Owen tells us: “Dad did his best to control and manipulate mum, but she held her head high.

“She was a wonderful mother and to have her taken from us by our own father is something we can never accept or forgive.”

Rachel and McDaid, known as Mick, had been together for 30 years after meeting in a local pub. She was a full-time mother who adored her three sons and was well-known within the community.

Isaac says: “Mum took us to swimming and football. She helped out at the football club café and she loved baking scones and lemon curd tarts for bake sales at school.

“She had a heart of gold. She was very close to her mum, Isobel, and niece, Jade, who lived nearby.”

For the most part, the boys enjoyed a happy childhood.

Owen says: “Dad had a successful gardening business and was well-known in our community.  We had a lovely five-bedroom home and holidays in Devon and later in Spain.

“Mum and dad had nights out and weekends away. To the outside world, we were the perfect family.”

But in 2020, when Isaac was 13, McDaid abruptly left the family home and bought a narrow boat where he would spend the night. He came back to the house daily for meals and to have his washing done.

Owen says: “We asked why he’d left and couldn’t get a straight answer. He accused mum of having an affair years ago, which there was no evidence of. He blamed her for everything.

“Mum got a job in a local café to pay the bills and did her best to keep the family home going.

“Dad didn’t want her back, but he wouldn’t leave her alone either. It caused friction between us and him. We didn’t realise at the time that he was controlling her. He wouldn’t allow her to move on, and he checked up on her every day.”

At first, Rachel went along with McDaid’s demands, hoping they might get back together.

But by 2024, she had decided that enough was enough.

Owen says: “Mum saw a solicitor and told dad she wanted a divorce. She needed boundaries and she needed to get on with her life.”

Twisted & vengeful

McDaid’s response was to withdraw financial support, cancelling her home and car insurance and refusing to contribute.

Owen says: “Mum didn’t retaliate and that probably annoyed him that he couldn’t get a reaction.

“She had Isaac’s 18th and Alfie’s 21st birthdays coming up and she sold her car to pay for their presents. She walked to work instead. She was proud and would not ask anyone for help.”

But over the summer of 2023, Rachel called Isaac to say McDaid had grabbed her wrists in their garden.

Isaac says: “Mum told me she was worried he might do something. But really, we thought he might hurt himself, not her. He was always playing the victim.”

Rachel was happy in the months before her death, celebrating Isaac’s 18th birthday and planning Alfie’s 21st. She also planned a trip to the races with her sons.

Tragically, she did not live to mark Alfie’s milestone birthday in May, nor did she make the trip to the races.

Owen says: “We were pleased mum was finally moving on. Dad was very morose; he blamed her for all his problems.

“But a few days before the murder, his mood changed. We heard him whistling and singing: ‘I’m very happy.’”

‘You can’t go in… I’ve killed her’

On the day of Rachel’s death, McDaid parked further up the road and calmly did his business invoices while he waited for his three sons to leave for work.

When his estranged wife was home alone, he attacked her and strangled her with a lace. Police officers would later discover a boot with its laces missing on the narrowboat he was living in.

McDaid then closed the curtains and blinds and locked the doors.

Owen says: “I had passed dad on the road on my way to work. On my break at 11.30am, I decided unexpectedly to nip home for a snack.

“When I arrived, dad was on the driveway, and all the curtains were closed.

“He said, very calmly: ‘You can’t go in.’ I asked him where mum was, and he replied: ‘I’ve killed her.’

“I tried to unlock the door, but it was locked with the key in. I spotted the ensuite bathroom window was open, so I ran for a ladder.

“I didn’t think he’d killed her at all, I thought he was attention-seeking because they’d had a row. But I needed to make sure she was OK.”

When he got into the house, Owen found his mother murdered on the floor downstairs. McDaid had vanished, but later handed himself into police at the house, after dropping his dog off with a friend.

Owen says: “Even the arrest was on his terms. Everything was about control.”

In shock, Owen tried to gather his family together. Rachel’s mother, Isobel, was at the local bus stop and saw the police cars as they raced to the scene.

Her father, Malc, was on his way out and saw his son-in-law being arrested. Cruelly, Alfie saw the reports on social media before Owen could reach him.

Alfie says: “Because we live in a close-knit community, there were posts on social media and I saw the police cars outside our home before my family could break the news. It was devastating.

“Our lives fell apart. I couldn’t go back home because it was a crime scene. I didn’t even have a toothbrush.

“Me and my cousin Jade were eventually allowed back to get some belongings but there was blood on the staircase.”

The family’s agony continued in the months that followed.

Owen says: “We had no idea how mum died until we read it in the local paper.

“We felt completely abandoned and unable to grieve because each day brought more upset.”

McDaid pleaded guilty to murder at Nottingham Crown Court in July 2024 and was jailed for life.

Owen says: “Because he pleaded guilty, we didn’t get answers. In court, he said he would pray for forgiveness. But since, he has refused to help support us financially, despite him having money.

“He is trying to manipulate us, just as he did our mother. We can no longer live in our family home because he owns half of it. We’ve been staying with our grandmother but that can’t go on indefinitely.

“We are heartbroken to lose mum so suddenly and so brutally. She was the beating heart of our family and we adored her.

“For her to be taken away by the one person who should have supported us is unfathomable. He is a monster and we can never forgive him.”

Rachel’s three sons are hoping to raise awareness and support for other women at risk.

Owen is raising funds for Support after Murder and Manslaughter (SAMM). Meanwhile, Rachel’s work colleagues did a sky dive on the first anniversary of her death, raising money for Women’s Aid.

Owen says: “Through sharing our story, we hope another life can be saved.

“Our mother did not realise she was being controlled and abused until it was too late. Please don’t let this happen to you.

“Our focus for the future is each other. We have to stay strong together and make mum proud.”