Helen Bailey: Fiance Ian Stewart guilty of drugging and murdering children's author before dumping body

Helen Bailey went missing
Hertfordshire Police
Patrick Grafton-Green23 February 2017
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The fiance of Helen Bailey has been found guilty of drugging and suffocating the children’s author before hiding the body in a cesspit at the couple's home.

Driven by greed, Ian Stewart secretly spent months poisoning the Electra Brown writer with his sedatives, smothering her once she had been stupefied in April last year.

The lifeless 51-year-old was dragged into a foul cesspit hidden deep below their luxury Hertfordshire home, where her body lay undiscovered for three months.

Following a six-week trial at St Albans Crown Court, a jury of five women and seven men found Stewart, 56, of Baldock Road, Royston, Hertfordshire, guilty of murder, fraud, three counts of perverting the course of justice and preventing a lawful burial.

Police said the "sudden, unexpected" death of Stewart's first wife, Diane - who was found in the couple's garden in 2010 - will now be re-examined.

Convicted: Ian Stewart with Helen Bailey

Stewart scoped out the vulnerable widow on the internet in 2011 - earning his way into her trust and later her £3.3 million estate after launching a "love-bombing" offensive.

"She was being grossly deceived by someone who was preying on her," prosecutor Stuart Trimmer told his trial.

Murderer: Ian Stewart (Hertfordshire Constabulary/PA )
Hertfordshire Constabulary/PA

Over many weeks, Stewart surreptitiously fed Ms Bailey his prescription anti-insomnia drug, Zopiclone, possibly by slipping it into her morning scrambled eggs.

She soon became panicked by her deteriorating state of mind, searching online for terms such as "can't stop falling asleep" and expressing concern to loved ones.

A pillowcase found next to the author's body led the prosecution to suggest Stewart used a pillow to smother her while she was sedated.

Helen Bailey with her dog Boris
Hertfordshire Constabulary/PA

Ms Bailey, known for her young adult stories and memoir on bereavement, was finally found submerged in a tank of human sewage underneath the couple's garage on July 15 last year.

Dead at her side was Boris the dog, her loyal companion.

Stewart, wearing a light blue top, remained emotionless in the dock as the verdicts were delivered by the jury foreman.

Police: The author's body was discovered after three months
Hertfordshire Constabulary/PA

The author's shattered family welcomed the verdict, but said her death had left them lingering in a "long shadow of loss".

Ms Bailey's brother, John, sat in court for almost every day of her killer's trial, while their elderly mother Eileen broke down as she gave her testimony.

Ian Stewart: Police will now probe his previous wife's death
Hertfordshire Constabulary/PA

The family said in a statement: "Despite this victory for justice there can be no celebration.

"Our families have been devastated and nothing can ever bring Helen back to us, or truly right this wrong.

"A long shadow of loss has been cast over the lives of so many who will always remember Helen with enduring love and affection."

A court artist sketch of Stewart ( Elizabeth Cook/PA )
Elizabeth Cook/PA

Stewart sparked a major search effort after feeding Ms Bailey's loved ones the lie that she had left abruptly to seek some "space" at her seaside cottage in Broadstairs, Kent.

The former software engineer's deceptions culminated with a fantastical tale of a deadly kidnap plot by two mystery men called Nick and Joe.

The process of recovery of the body of Helen Bailey
Tania Butler/Hertfordshire Constabulary/PA

The couple had met on a Facebook group for the bereaved and started a relationship within a year of Ms Bailey's first husband drowning on holiday.

Stewart soon became the chief heir to her fortune in a re-written will and gained power of attorney over her affairs.

He stood to gain around £1.8 million from her investment portfolio, plus the value of their home in Royston and her coastal cottage in Kent.

Convicted: Ian Stewart during his arrest interview
Hertfordshire Constabulary/PA

Hours after the murder, he also illicitly boosted a standing order to himself from her account.

This earned him an extra £12,000 over the three months following her disappearance, during which he played the part of a man wounded by his bride-to-be's abandonment.

Detective Chief Inspector Jerome Kent said: "To kill somebody was despicable enough, but to dispose of her in the way he did and lie to everyone including his own children shows how wicked and despicable that man is."

Stewart was branded a man who "lacks any remorse and empathy" by prosecutor Charles White.

He added: "He was an arch dissembler, he was able to trick everyone, so I think anybody who came across his path was a potential victim."

A financial inquiry will be held to ensure Stewart does not profit from the crime, Mr White said.

The death of his Stewart’s first wife of apparently natural causes will also now be probed by detectives involved in securing his conviction.

DCI Kent said: "Diane Stewart died of natural causes in 2010. It would only be right and proper that we relooked at what the causes might be.

"She did die seven years ago, there is no suggestion that she died of anything other than natural causes, but of course it will be part of our inquiries moving forward from this conviction."

Stewart will be sentenced on Thursday.

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