Children’s writer ‘may still have been alive after fiance dumped her in garage cesspit’
A WRITER could still have been alive when her fiance dumped her in a cesspit under their garage, a court heard yesterday.
Helen Bailey, 51, was allegedly plied with sleeping pills by Ian Stewart, rendering her stupefied or possibly unconscious.
Stewart, 56, is accused of drugging her for more than a month before suffocating her and dumping her in the cesspit at their £1.5million home.
The computer software engineer carried out the ‘cynically executed murder’ so he could inherit her £4million fortune, it was said. Miss Bailey penned the Electra Brown and Daisy Davenport novels for young teenagers.
Nathaniel Carey, a pathologist, said she could have been killed by a martial arts ‘sleeper hold’ around her neck.
But he also told jurors it was ‘possible that she was put down the well in an unconscious state and then drowned’.
Giving evidence at St Albans Crown Court yesterday, Dr Carey said there was no evidence of obvious injuries, suggesting a less violent death.
He said: ‘Subtle modes of death including smothering and compression of the
‘No need to be an expert’
neck by means including an arm lock, using the crook of the elbow, also called a sleeper hold. It is used in martial arts to reduce consciousness. This was not a case of a violent assault that would have caused deep bruising or fractures. It’s unlikely that natural causes resulted or played any part in Helen’s death.’
Miss Bailey wrote a will before her death last April that left Stewart around £1.8million. He was also in line to inherit their main home in Royston, Hertfordshire, and a holiday home in Broadstairs, Kent, and was the sole beneficiary of her pension fund of £230,000.
Stewart also allegedly killed his lover’s dog and threw its body into the septic tank.
Dr Jonathan Williams, a vet who conducted an examination of the dachshund, said he was unable to establish whether it was alive or dead when it was dumped in the tank. ‘Confirming drowning in this case would require additional evi- dence,’ he said. Dr Carey admitted he could not provide an exact cause of death for Miss Bailey because her body had been in the cesspit for three months.
But his tests revealed significant traces of a sleeping drug called zopiclone that a GP had prescribed for Stewart.
‘It is my understanding that zopiclone is a prescription- only drug and was prescribed to the defendant,’ the pathologist said. ‘It may be that the deceased ingested zopiclone unbeknown to her.’ Russell Flint QC, for the defence, suggested to Dr Carey that his evidence was speculation.
The pathologist replied: ‘On the basis of the case as a whole, it is my opinion that not only was she concealed by a third party but it seems likely she died at the hands of the third party by some means.
‘It’s almost common sense the concealment of Helen’s body together with a dog in the cesspit speaks of third party involvement.
‘You don’t need to be an expert to know that. I can’t say how she died in this case, I can’t say she was suffocated, or she was throttled or strangled.’
Dr Carey said Miss Bailey was wearing a pair of jeans, a longsleeved top and was barefoot when she was pulled out of the cesspit in July. A month before her death, Miss Bailey told relatives that she feared she was losing her memory.
She also made a series of web searches, including: ‘Why do I keep falling asleep?’
Mark Piper, a toxicologist, said Miss Bailey had taken zopiclone multiple times before her death. The side effects include short-term amnesia, nausea, headaches and dizziness.
Dr Piper said: ‘If taking the zopiclone drug in the morning, it would have the same effect as in the evening. If taken in the morning you would effectively be fighting the side-effects to stay awake.’
Stewart is charged with murder, three counts of perverting the course of justice, preventing a lawful burial and fraud. He denies all the charges. The trial continues.