The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Did killer murder his first wife?
Detectives are to investigate the sudden death of Ian Stewart’s first wife after he was convicted of murdering his fiancée, children’s author Helen Bailey.
The 56-year-old smothered the sedated Electra Brown writer and dragged her body into a cesspit as part of a plot to acquire her riches.
She was found in the foetid burial site beneath their garage three months after she abruptly disappeared in April last year.
Dead at her side was her pet dachshund Boris.
Stewart was convicted of the “despicable” killing in a unanimous verdict at St Albans Crown Court, prompting police to turn their focus to the death of his first spouse.
Diane Stewart, an epileptic who was mother to his two sons Jamie and Oliver, was found dead in the couple’s garden in June 2010. An inquest at the time concluded she died of natural causes.
Detective Chief Inspector Jerome Kent, who helped secure Stewart’s conviction, said: “There is not a murder investigation into Diane Stewart, there is a re-examination of a sudden, unexpected death. It is only right that I would look back on somebody’s past.”
The former software engineer showed no emotion as he was found guilty by a jury of seven men and five women of murder, fraud, preventing a lawful burial and three counts of perverting the course of justice.
As he was led from the dock, he fixed his gaze on Jamie, his eldest son, who did not meet his eye.