An elementary school teacher fatally stabbed her partner because she thought he was cheating on her, a court heard today.
Fiona Beal, 49, allegedly lured Nicholas Billingham into bed for sex before killing him and then dragging his body out to the backyard and burying him.
Jurors learned that Beal had been plotting the murder for weeks after Mr Billingham ‘spit on and threatened her during sex’, a ‘chilling’ diary found in her Lake District loophole revealed.
It details how the victim’s behavior allegedly fueled Beal’s “dark side” – an alter ego she dubbed Tulip22 who was “reckless, fearless and efficient” – and charts how she persuaded Mr. Billingham to wear an eye mask before stabbing him with a knife.
The court heard that the 6th grade teacher murdered and disposed of the 42-year-old in November 2021 after calling in sick with Covid.
The body of builder Mr. Billingham was discovered under carpet wrapped in a sheet, duvet and cable ties three and a half months after he was last seen at a business meeting.
Fiona Beal is accused of stabbing her partner Nicholas Billingham to death after luring him into bed for sex
Mr Billingham’s remains were found buried in the back garden of her Northampton address
Prosecutor Steven Perian KC said Billingham cheated on Beal with other women during their 17-year relationship.
“Nicholas Billingham had left the defendant a few times but always came back to her and she accepted him,” he said.
“One of the women he slept with became pregnant and gave birth to his child.”
Mr Perian said Beal had decided to kill Mr Billingham in late October 2021.
“She thought he was cheating on her again,” the prosecutor said.
“Instead of leaving him, she worked out a plan about how and when to kill him, where to hide his body, how to cover up and explain his disappearance to others, and how to cope with her own absence from work. explain when she killed him.’
The jurors were told the murder likely took place in their bedroom in Northampton on November 1.
After she killed Mr. Billingham, the Crown claims, she tied and wrapped his body, buried it in the garden, and painted and cleaned the bedroom where the murder had taken place.
She then allegedly told others that Mr. Billingham had left her for another woman, and used his phone to text friends and colleagues as if he were still alive.
Later that month, Beal returned to work following her alleged isolation for Covid and told her headteacher that Billingham had left her, Mr Perian said.
The body of builder Mr. Billingham was discovered wrapped in a sheet, duvet and cable ties under carpet three and a half months after he was last seen at a business meeting
The court heard that the teacher continued to work and even went on a school trip to London. But just weeks after visiting the capital, Beal began repeatedly reporting to her headteacher that she was ill.
Following the reports in March, the concerned principal contacted Beal’s mother, who revealed that Beal had told her she was going on a school trip. The director then contacted the police to report her missing.
Cumbrian agents traced her to an address she rented near Kendal, but Beal assured an officer that she just wanted some “peace and quiet” and didn’t want her family to know her exact whereabouts.
The officer relayed that message to Beal’s mother, but they returned to the lodge three days later after Beal sent her family a message saying, “I’m so sorry.” I love you very much.’
Officers entered the lodge and found what appeared to be a suicide note, before discovering Beal naked in the bath with superficial wounds on her wrists.
Beal was taken to the local hospital and held under the Mental Health Act, the jury was told.
Northampton Crown Court were told police had also taken a notebook from the holiday cabin and found in it a “chilling account of how she had planned and killed someone, but it did not include the name of the person she had killed,” the officer said. prosecutor.
Cumbria Police notified colleagues in Northampton and officers were sent to search Beal’s address. A cursory initial search turned up nothing suspicious, but a second detailed search revealed a bloodied mattress and comforter in the basement, and “freshly laid bark in the yard.”
Northamptonshire Police asked for Beal’s arrest on suspicion of murder. Mr Billingham’s iPhone was subsequently found in the holiday accommodation during a search.
Jurors were read excerpts from the notebook found in the vacation cabin, which referenced the 1990s cult film Thelma and Louise, starring Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon.
Beal wrote, “Everything changed last year. There’s a quote from Thelma and Louise that feels appropriate, Thelma: “You have to be nice to them, especially your wife. My husband wasn’t nice to me.”
Prosecutors allege that Beal kept detailed notes about the murder and the disposal of the body
“I suppose I have to explain what happened to get me to this point. My mental health was declining. He was damn near again. Whenever he cheated, he raised the bar by belittling, moaning, and criticizing.”
The magazine continued, “OK, here goes. October 2021. He spat on me and threatened me during sex.
‘I started making plans as Tulip22 after he went to bed. I couldn’t sleep in bed anymore because I was breathing too hard or I was moving too much or I was snoring etc. etc. I had to go downstairs after sex and even if I wasn’t feeling well.
“I got used to sleeping downstairs and waited for him to go to bed and then got high and let Tulip22 out.”
The court heard that the entry in the notebook, which referred to 17 years in which “he” was argumentative, mean, cruel and disparaging, continued: “I knew I couldn’t let him get away with it.” Halloween sealed it. He was mean.’
The book describes how crime planning began after Halloween, with Beal realizing that coronavirus rules meant she would have a “guaranteed 10-day isolation period of positive symptoms.”
Beal wrote that she encouraged “him” to take a bath “with the sting of sex afterwards,” and hid the knife in her bed drawer while he bathed.
She then wrote, “I made him wear an eye mask.
“It was harder than I thought. Hiding a body was bad. Moving a body is much more difficult than it looks on TV.’
Part of the backyard was also excavated, revealing “partly wrapped and partly dressed” human remains. The body was located under a ‘mound’ containing ‘layers upon layers’ of bark, earth, paving stones and various casings.
Mr Perian added: ‘The prosecution says, based on the evidence collected, it is very likely that it took the defendant a long period of time to carry out the project to hide his body in the garden.’
The court heard that Mr Billingham’s ‘partially mummified’ body was identified through dental records. A pathologist concluded that the cause of death was due to a single stab wound to the right side of the neck, which severed the jugular vein.
The process continues.