Stewart, 56, attempted to take 51-year-old Bailey’s wealth by drugging her and hiding her body in cesspit 
 
 A “cruel” and “devious” man who drugged his fiancee, a successful author, and hid her body in a cesspit on their property has been found guilty of her murder. 
 
 
 
 Ian Stewart plied his partner, Helen Bailey, with sleeping medication for months, before killing her on 11 April last year in a plot to take her money. 
 
 
 
 Bailey – who wrote fiction for young adults, including the Electra Brown books – was planning her wedding to Stewart when he murdered her, hiding her body and that of her pet dachshund at their £1.3m property in Royston, Hertfordshire. He told her family, friends and the police that she had left a note saying she needed some time alone. 
 
 
 
 'My happy ever after': how killer fiance duped grieving Helen Bailey Read more 
 
 Stewart was also found guilty of fraud for altering a standing order; preventing a lawful burial by hiding Bailey’s body; and three counts of perverting the course of justice, including disposing of evidence, carrying out a “charade” in the days after her death and disposing of her mobile phone. 
 
 Stewart, wearing a blue and white pinstripe shirt and jeans, gave no reaction other than to shake his head slightly as he was found guilty on all six counts. As he was led from the dock Stewart tried to catch his son Jamie’s eye, but the look was not returned. 
 
 Bailey’s brother John was in court for the verdict, but there was little outward reaction from family. Stewart will be sentenced on Thursday. 
 
 Hertfordshire police have confirmed they will look again at the death of his first wife, Diane, who died suddenly in 2010. At the time an inquest ruled she had died of natural causes. Police said there was currently no evidence to suggest her death was suspicious. 
 
 The 56-year-old had attempted to convince jurors that Bailey had been kidnapped by two men, known only as Nick and Joe, who assaulted him, saying the pair were business associates of Bailey’s late husband. But the story was dismissed as a figment of Stewart’s imagination. 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sketch of Ian Stewart at St Albans crown court. Photograph: Elizabeth Cook/PA 
 
 He told police on 15 April that Bailey had gone missing and referred to her in the past tense before correcting himself. 
 
 The next day he went to her holiday cottage in Broadstairs, Kent, “to see if she was there”. Stewart had earlier told police that Bailey had taken her phone with her when she left the house. In fact, Stewart had the phone and had removed the SIM card so it would not connect with the network. But while he was at the cottage, Bailey’s phone connected to the wifi. Police discovered the clue when they gathered evidence from the router before it was later found with its data erased. 
 
 On the day of the murder, Stewart raided Bailey’s bank account, increasing a monthly standing order from £600 to £4,000. On the same afternoon, he visited a local refuse tip and was seen dumping a large white object, possibly a duvet used in the killing. 
 
 He then visited Bailey’s solicitor to attempt to push through the sale of one of her properties in Gateshead. He went to watch his son play in a bowls match, before going home and buying a Chinese takeaway. 
 
 
 
 During a six-week trial, St Albans crown court heard Stewart had befriended Bailey in an online group for bereaved people. 
 
 
 
 In a book about her struggle to cope after her husband drowned in 2011, Bailey described meeting Stewart, calling him “the gorgeous grey-haired widower”. They had been a couple for four years and living together for three when she went missing. 
 
 In the weeks after her disappearance, Stewart issued a seemingly emotional appeal for Bailey to get in touch, saying he felt “like my heart doesn’t even exist”. 
 
 
 
 A month later he renewed Arsenal season tickets using her bank account, and two months later he went on a two-week holiday to Spain. When he returned police arrested him on 11 July. 
 
 
 
 Bailey’s body was discovered in a secondary Victorian cesspit, which Stewart had kept secret during the original police search by concealing its opening with a vehicle. 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest The cesspit in the garage where Bailey’s body was discovered. Photograph: Terry Harris/Rex/Shutterstock 
 
 After a two-day excavation, the 51-year-old’s body was discovered in a hard crust in the pit’s surface. Jurors heard that in subsequent interviews Stewart had maintained near-total silence. 
 
 Postmortem investigations found the sleeping medication zopiclone in increasing concentrations in Bailey’s hair from early February. In the weeks before her death, she had made internet searches including “I’m so tired, falling asleep at work” and “falling asleep in the afternoon”. 
 
 
 
 Bailey’s mother told jurors via videolink that her daughter had said she was worried her memory was playing tricks on her, recounting how she had left her dog behind on the beach at Broadstairs. 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Helen Bailey’s dachshund Boris, whose body was found with hers. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock 
 
 Stuart Trimmer QC, prosecuting, said: “Once Helen Bailey was effectively sedated, suffocation would have been quite simple, enabling the defendant to kill her with little or no resistance.” 
 
 Trimmer added that Bailey had been “grossly deceived by someone who was preying on her”. 
 
 After the verdict, John Bailey, Helen’s brother, said the family’s thoughts were very much with Ian Stewart’s family. Bailey thanked the police and individuals who had shown “invaluable” kindness. 
 
 In a statement he said: “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.” 
 
 At her memorial service guests were asked to write down what Helen’s life had inspired them towards, he said. 
 
 Among more than 160 responses, one said: “To help people when they needed a friend.” 
 
 Charles White, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said his thoughts were with Bailey’s family and friends, who had been left “devastated”. 
 
 He said: “Ian Stewart murdered Helen Bailey and then conducted a cynical, deceitful and calculated charade as he watched the police conduct a futile missing person investigation.” 
 
 Outside the court DCI Jerome Kent, from the major crime unit at Hertfordshire police, said it was “the right and correct verdict”. 
 
 He added: “But there are no winners in this. The family are absolutely devastated at Helen’s loss. John Sinfield’s family have been incredibly upset at the way their loved one has been used during court, and of course Ian Stewart’s own family have been lied to and are extremely upset by the lies they have been told and witnessed during the course of this trial.” 
 
 Sinfield was Bailey’s first husband, who died while the couple were on holiday in Barbados in 2011. 
 
 Confirming that the police would now re-examine the death of Stewart’s first wife, Kent said: “Diane Stewart died of natural causes in 2010. It would only be right and proper that we re-looked 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.” ||||| Image copyright SBNA Image caption Stewart and Ms Bailey met online following the deaths of their respective spouses 
 
 The fiance of a children's author who drugged and suffocated her before throwing her body in a hidden cesspit has been found guilty of murder. 
 
 Ian Stewart, 56, had denied murdering Helen Bailey at their home in Royston, Hertfordshire, in order to get his hands on her near-£4m fortune. 
 
 He was convicted at St Albans Crown Court following a seven-week trial. 
 
 Police say they will look again at the death of Stewart's wife Diane in 2010 following the verdict. 
 
 Mrs Stewart died after having an epileptic seizure in the garden of the family home in Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire. An inquest was held but police will now re-examine the case. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Police released footage of Helen Bailey's fiance's arrest 
 
 Helen Bailey: A life shaped by death 
 
 Live: Reaction to Ian Stewart guilty verdict 
 
 Described by police as "a narcissist" who was "cold" and "calculating", Stewart had "grossly deceived" 51-year-old Ms Bailey when they met online following the death of her husband in 2011. 
 
 Prosecutors said he had played "the long game" in order to inherit Ms Bailey's fortune, made from the publication of more than 20 books including the popular Electra Brown teenage fiction series. 
 
 Stewart had been secretly giving his fiancee a sleeping drug zopiclone for weeks before he eventually smothered her with a pillow, a pathologist told the jury. 
 
 On the day of the murder, 11 April last year, Stewart tried to change a standing order from Ms Bailey's account to the couple's joint account from £600 to £4,000 a month. 
 
 He later tried to use power of attorney in order to sell a flat she had in Gateshead. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Ms Bailey was missing for three months before her body was found 
 
 Image copyright South Beds News Agency Image caption The author's body was discovered in a cesspit at her home three months after she went missing 
 
 He had reported Ms Bailey missing on 15 April and made a heartfelt appeal for his wife-to-be to make contact. 
 
 "Whatever has happened, wherever you are I will come and get you," he said. 
 
 He told police Ms Bailey had left a note saying she needed "space" and had gone to her holiday home in Broadstairs, Kent. 
 
 Her body was found three months later, having been pulled out of a "hard crust" of excrement inside the cesspit underneath the garage of the couple's £1.2m home. 
 
 Her pet Dachshund Boris was found alongside her. 
 
 The court heard how, in 2013, Ms Bailey had told her brother John the cesspit would be a "good place to hide a body" while giving him a tour of the house and grounds. 
 
 Stewart had been with them at the time, the jury was told. 
 
 Image copyright Herts Police Image caption The bodies of Helen Bailey and her dog were found in the pit beneath the garage 
 
 The Crown Prosecution Service said Stewart had "conducted a cynical, deceitful and calculated charade as he watched the police conduct a futile missing person investigation". 
 
 All along he had denied murdering Ms Bailey, instead claiming two business associates of her late husband had kidnapped her and tried to blackmail him. 
 
 He told St Albans Crown Court that the men - Nick and Joe - had told him not to inform police about the kidnapping and had threatened to harm Stewart's two sons. 
 
 The prosecution said he was a liar and an actor who talked "bizarre nonsense". 
 
 Following the verdicts, Stewart refused to return to the dock while the judge heard mitigation from the defence. 
 
 Simon Russell Flint QC, defending, said "there is little I can say" regarding the offences Stewart had been convicted of, and there was every prospect his client would "end his days behind bars" 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Helen Bailey murder: Neighbour 'did everything' to try to contact her 
 
 Judge Bright said he was prepared to sentence Stewart on Thursday morning, and if he refused to leave his cell he would be sentenced "in his absence". 
 
 Det Ch Insp Jerome Kent from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit described Stewart as a "particularly cold and wicked individual". 
 
 "There's no doubt in my mind that Helen Bailey loved him with all her heart," he said, "and he is the one person who should have protected her and should have looked after her. 
 
 "I don't believe he had any close feelings for Helen Bailey. Certainly the way he disposed of her body is an indication of the way he thought of her." 
 
 In a statement, Ms Bailey's family said despite the "victory for justice", there could be "no celebration", and their thoughts were with Stewart's family. 
 
 "Our families have been devastated and nothing can ever bring Helen back to us, or truly right this wrong," they said. 
 
 "A long shadow of loss has been cast over the lives of so many who will always remember Helen with enduring love and affection." 
 
 Image copyright Contributed Image caption Ian Stewart's wife Diane died in 2010 after having an epileptic seizure 
 
 Det Ch Insp Kent also confirmed his team would be looking again at the death of Diane Stewart in 2010. 
 
 He said there was "no indication" of anything untoward, but understood the murder trial verdict opened up further suspicion. 
 
 "It's only right that I consider what might have happened in Ian Stewart's past to see whether there's anything I need to get involved in, whether there's any fresh evidence that might have come out from this trial," the detective said. 
 
 "That's something we will be doing in hand with the Cambridgeshire Coroner at the end of this investigation." 
 
 Stewart was also found guilty of preventing a lawful burial, fraud and three counts of perverting the course of justice. 
 
 He will be sentenced on Thursday.
– While giving a tour of her $1.6 million home in 2013 with her partner in tow, children's author Helen Bailey noted that the cesspool beneath the garage would be a "good place to hide a body," according to court documents. Prosecutors said that's exactly how Ian Stewart got the idea to bury Bailey's body there three years later after suffocating her with a pillow, reports the BBC. Stewart, 56, was found guilty of his fiancee's 2016 murder in a UK court Wednesday in a case that now has authorities re-examining his wife's death in 2010. Prosecutors say Stewart fed Bailey sleeping drugs for weeks before smothering her on April 11—the same day he increased the monthly sum moved from Bailey's bank account into the couple's joint account from $750 to $5,000. Stewart initially told police that Bailey vanished after leaving a note saying she was staying in Kent. He later said business associates of her late husband kidnapped Bailey and blackmailed him—a story the prosecution argued was "bizarre nonsense." Prosecutors instead painted Stewart as a cold and calculating "narcissist" playing "the long game" to steal Bailey's $5 million fortune, noting that he attempted to sell an apartment Bailey owned and went on a two-week holiday to Spain shortly after the 51-year-old's death, per the Guardian. Authorities say there's "no indication" of foul play in the 2010 death of Stewart's wife after an epileptic seizure, but the case will be re-examined. Stewart was sentened to 34 years for Bailey's murder, reports the Telegraph. (A woman's death in 2001 continues to perplex: Was it a tragic accident or a murder?)