Helen Bailey murder: Fiancé found guilty of killing Northumberland born author

Helen Bailey was wealthy from her success as a children’s author. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

The fiancé of Northumberland author Helen Bailey has been found guilty of her murder.

Ms Bailey, 51 and from Ponteland, was found dead alongside her dog, in a cesspit at her home in Hertfordshire last July.

Ian Stewart, 56, had reported her missing three months earlier, sparking a nationwide search.

The prosecution told his trial at St Albans Crown Court that it was “a long-planned and cynically executed murder that had money as its driving motive.”

She was wealthy from her success as a children’s author, and he secretly drugged her with his own sleeping pills, before suffocating her.

Stewart was also found guilty of fraud, preventing a lawful burial, and three counts of perverting the course of justice.

He shook his head as the verdicts were read out.

He is due to be sentenced tomorrow.