Primary school teacher, 50, stabbed her cheating boyfriend in the neck in ... trends now
A primary school teacher stabbed her cheating boyfriend in the neck in a 'chilling domestic execution' then told her friends she had Covid to buy herself more time to bury him in their garden, a court today heard.
Fiona Beal, 50, lured builder Nick Billingham into the bedroom for sex then knifed him in the neck when he was tied to the bed on November 1, 2021, the Old Bailey was told.
Prosecutor Hugh Davies, KC, told the jury that Beal had planned the murder purchasing a knife in advance.
The 'highly capable' teacher then told friends the pair had tested positive for Covid-19 so that she would not be disturbed while she buried her victim, 42, in the garden at their Northampton home, jurors heard.
His mummified body was found four months later wrapped in sheeting in a makeshift grave after Beal's journals - where she plotted the killing as her alter ego 'Tulip22' - were found by police, it was said.
Beal then spent months using her partner's phone to message his friends and relatives pretending he was still alive and had moved in with another woman, the court heard.
Beal admits manslaughter but denies murder claiming 'loss of control'.
Fiona Beal, 50, admits to manslaughter but denies murder claiming 'loss of control'
Mr Billingham's partly mummified remains were discovered four-and-a-half months after he was last seen
Mr Billigham had affairs before and moved out of the home, but the couple had reconciled, the court heard.
Mr Davies said: 'Central to the plan was knowing that after stabbing him, if she claimed she had Covid, she would have 10 days to bury him and cover up her crime.
'And that's exactly what happened. She was thinking about what time was best to do it, whether he would be snoring, but she knew or visualised it would be by stabbing him ''left to right, down slight right''. And that's what she did - she stabbed him in his jugular vein in his neck.
'On 1 November she manufactured a positive Covid test result- all you had to do was complete the NHS questionnaire online app self-report a positive test.
'There is no evidence she ever did a PCR test. Her actions in the next 10 days are wholly inconsistent with having the exhausting effects of Covid which she was claiming to be experiencing.'
He continued: 'She murdered him in their bedroom late on 1 November. The clean-up started as early as 01.07am on 2 November. Using her dead partner's account, and then hers on Amazon, she bought multiple cleaning products, including for Venetian blinds, a new mop and bucket, ultra heavy duty bin bags, a new mattress, bedding, clothing, wall art and mirrors.
'This is considered, controlled, conduct that is on the one hand intrinsically practical, and on the other indulgent.
'It is the more so given she must literally have watched her partner bleed to death in front of her.
'Later that same day she changes a Tesco order, itself already containing multiple cleaning products, to add three rolls of duct tape.
Mr Billigham had affairs before and moved out of the home, but the couple had reconciled, the court heard
Officers outside the couple's home in Kingsley, Northamptonshire in April 2023
'At 2.19pm she purchased heavy duty long gardening gloves, a stainless steel digging spade and a galvanised incinerator bin garden leaves wood burner. To state the obvious, this was not for burning leaves.
'More of the same followed over the next 10 days. You will remember that she was concurrently telling friends, colleagues and family that she and Mr Billingham were laid low with Covid.
