A convicted killer jailed for drugging and suffocating to death his author fiancée has gone on trial accused of murdering his wife six years earlier after she donated her brain to science, a court heard today.
Prosecutors claim Ian Stewart, 61, is in the dock at Huntingdon Crown Court today ‘by a stroke of fortune’ because Diane Stewart, 47, chose not to cremate her entire body.
Following the murder of Helen Bailey in their Hertfordshire home, in 2016, her brain was again examined. Signs indicated that she had suddenly been cut off oxygen an hour prior to her death.
The 51-year-old Ms. Bailey was discovered in the Royston house that she shared with her husband.
Initial thought was that Mrs Stewart died from an epileptic fit. However, Stewart was found guilty of the murder of Ms Bailey and detectives began an investigation into Stewart’s wife’s death.
Stuart Trimmer, QC was the prosecutor. He said that Stewart gave her brain to medical research and made the case possible. It was her brain tissue tests that showed her oxygen levels had decreased in the hours before she died.
He explained that he had said this: “Initially he [Ian Stewart]She was able fool medical professionals into believing that she died from an epileptic fit.
The Crown said that it was not true. Reexamination revealed that the Crown was wrong in this instance and medical evidence could disprove the Crown’s explanation. He killed her.
Ian Stewart (61), was convicted in 2016 of the murder of Helen Bailey (51). He is also accused of killing his wife six years earlier.
Stewart was charged with murdering his first wife, Diane Stewart, in Cambridgeshire in 2010
Stewart is currently serving life imprisonment for the murder of Mrs Stewart (47), his mother. On June 25, 2010, Mrs Stewart, the mother of his children, died in her family home, Bassingbourn (Cambridgeshire).
Mr Trimmer explained that: “The Crown claim that this defendant intended Dianne Stewart to die. It is up to you to decide if Ian Stewart was the one responsible or if the death was accidental.”
“This defendant killed his wife in the house they shared”
A jury was informed that Ms Bailey’s guilty verdict in St Albans Crown Court January 2017 led to greater attention being paid to Stewart’s widow, Diane.
Trimmer stated to the court that Dianne Stewart had died June 25, 2010,
‘Ian Stewart was home alone with her. Calling an ambulance at 11.24am, he claimed that he was finding his wife unconscious and not breathing.
Although paramedics were summoned, they failed to rescue her. She was then declared dead.
Original cause of death for her was “sudden unexplained death due to epilepsy”.
Even though her body was cremated most of it was revealed that Mrs Stewart had given her brain to medical research, which allowed her brain tissues to be kept.
Following the guilty verdict, scientists and pathologists reviewed her case and concluded that it was unlikely that she had died of epilepsy.
Court heard that it had been 18 year since her last seizure and that there is a very low chance of epilepsy causing her death.
It was discovered that there had been an “substantial decrease in oxygen” to her brain during the hour prior to her death. This was confirmed by “well-developed ischemia”, which is a modification to the structure of tissue visible with the naked eye.
Mr Trimmer stated to the jury that the cause of death was most likely a prolong restricted breathing of Mrs Stewart from an external source. The account of Mr Stewart (the only person present on the scene) was also directly contradicted.
Helen Bailey was dragged into a cesspit below the garage of the couple’s luxury home. The couple’s dog, Helen Bailey, was also found.
Trimmer stated that the amount discovered in ischemia could not be achieved within such a limited time frame and they were “wholly inconsistent” with Stewart’s accounts.
Stewart was taken into police custody and interrogated. He gave a prepared statement, but refused to answer any questions and offered no comment.
Stewart stated that he left his home on that day and returned to find Dianne unconscious on the patio.
“I called 999 when I went in to get my cordless home phone.
Trimmer said, “There is no evidence beyond him saying he was gone. No one ever saw him. Both his sons were not in the house.”
“In all their differences and contradictions on this important life-changing event, it could be that he was lying.”
According to the court, Mrs Stewart and Mr Stewart were at home together on the day she died.
Trimmer stated that there had been disagreements in the weeks preceding the murder.
The court was informed by Stewart’s strange behavior after his death. He went out and bought a sports car, as well as started new relationships.
“The Crown acknowledges that different people handle grief differently, but there will be evidence to support that.
“In one instance, he soon bought a sportscar and began to enter into new relationships.
“Friends of Dianne remember his behavior at the funeral being strange,” Mr Trimer stated.
A jury was told that the defendant gave several accounts of what happened the morning after his wife’s death. He claimed that he was home but had gone out to shop before returning to his wallet.
Debbie Priest was the one who he told. He said that Mrs Stewart had died while he was washing the dishes and found her lying in the yard.
Jamie Stewart heard Stewart tell his son that Stewart went to Tesco, and then returned to find Stewart’s mother dead.
Trimmer explained to the jury that Ms Stewart had, “by a stroke-of-luck”, agreed to give her brain to science. The rest of Stewart’s body was cremated.
The court heard that Mrs Stewart was heard fighting with her husband during the week before her death.
The death was not attributed to epilepsy. Three specialists examined the entire material. They concluded she suffered from mild epilepsy that could be controlled with medications.
After his death, Stewart was later able to have a romantic relationship with Ms Bailey.
He murdered Ms Bailey, her dog and dumped them in a pit. Her murder was finally convicted in February 2017.
According to Mr Trimmer, police began looking at Mrs Stewart’s death while they were investigating the ‘particularly cruel crime.
He said, “In every case the victim was a woman who had an intimate relationship to Ian Stewart.”
On a forum for widowed persons, the jury was informed that Stewart had a romantic relationship with Ms Bailey.
They were married in 2016 and had been living together since then.
The jury was told she was ‘by far and away’ the wealthier of the couple as she was worth £4m whereas the defendant had been out of work for 16 years.
In March 2016, Ms. Bailey complained of falling asleep and drowsiness. She went online to investigate.
Boris disappeared with Stewart in April, and she lost contact with friends. The police treated Boris as a missing individual after Stewart said that Boris left the home because she needed more space.
Stewart later discovered that he had the phone. A jury was informed by Stewart’s’repeated efforts’ to manipulate his fiancée’s finances for his own benefit, including setting up direct deductions.
Officers searching the home found Ms Bailey’s body and her dog shot to death.
Mr Trimmer stated that Helen went nowhere with her dog and that a story she was telling about her disappearance was unlikely to be credible. Therefore, the dog was also killed. This would make it look like Helen disappeared along with her dog.
She was later found to have been given sleeping medications before being killed.
Stewart was formerly from Royston, Herts. He denies any involvement in murder. The investigation continues.