A builder sent a gushing love letter to his murderous partner before she knifed him to death and entombed his body in a makeshift grave in their garden, a court heard.
Nicholas Billingham, 42, told teacher Fiona Beal she was the "most beautiful woman in the world" as he desperately fought to save their 17-year relationship.
As he begged her to forgive him for having an affair, Mr Billingham wrote: "I can't see any future alone. My body, my heart, my love has been yours since I met you and will be yours until the day I die."
Less than two years after reconciling Beal, 50, lured him to bed with the promise of sex before cable-tying him and stabbing him in the neck with a kitchen knife she hid in her dressing gown pocket.
Beal buried the body in the garden (PA)
Fiona Beal taken in February 2022 (Northamptonshire Police / SWNS)She buried him in the side return of her garden in a grave consisting of concrete she had mixed and a “de facto coffin” made of breeze blocks and timber.
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His mummified remains were found five months after the murder wrapped in sheeting and covered with compost and ten 22.5kg bags of Cotswold Stone that she bought from B&Q especially for the purpose.
Beal is currently being sentenced at the Old Bailey during a two-day hearing after she admitted the November 2021 murder of Mr Billingham.
The court was told Beal had suffered from depression and enuresis - or “bed-wetting” - during her adult years and blamed a "dark alter-ego called Tulip 22" for the horrific stabbing.
Nicholas Billingham was stabbed to death (Northamptonshire Police / SWNS)
Nicholas Billingham, 42, was killed at the couple's home (Northamptonshire Police / SWNS)She met Mr Bellingham in a club in Northampton in around 2004 and they began a relationship, however he had a brief affair with a woman in 2011 and again in 2018.
He begged for forgiveness in heart wrenching letters, telling Beal she was "the most beautiful woman in the world". He told her she was so "kind hearted" and "if there were more people like her then the world would be a better place". He wrote: "I promise to never, ever again belittle you or make you feel rubbish again. "Did I ever tell you that you were the most perfect woman for me? You are my purpose and reason for living."
He added: "Have I actually told you that I'm sorry? If not, then here goes. I'm so sorry for all the pain and all the tears that I've caused. I can only beg for your forgiveness one day. I can't see any future alone. My body, my heart, my love has been yours since I met you and will be yours until the day I die."
He signed the letter: "I love you with all my heart, Nick." Beal forgave him but she continued her daily use of cannabis and would smoke in the garden after Mr Billingham had gone to bed.
Forensic officers at the scene of the incident (SWNS)Mr Hugh Davies KC, prosecuting, said: "This time of day is when she says her dark alter ego ‘Tulip 22’ would emerge."
In chilling journal entries documenting how she planned the "execution", she wrote: "I thought about leaving but the things he said and did fuelled my dark side.
"I call her Tulip22, she's reckless, fearless and efficient. Ruthless. I'd planned it mentally so many times before."
Mr Davies said Mr Billingham had finished work when he set off home to "a carefully-planned domestic execution". The court was told he had suffered a 6cm knife wound to the right of his neck and begged “Why?” as his life ebbed away.
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His hands were cable-tied, making it impossible for him to remove the eye mask he was still wearing when detectives excavated his body.
Mr Davies said: "The fact he was still in an eye mask when found suggest that he could not use his hands to remove it after he was stabbed.
"He was cable tied when excavated. To maintain control over him there was every reason for him to have been cable tied when he was stabbed."
Experts said Mr Bellingham would have been able to “move or react for a period of time of up to a number of minutes prior to collapsing as a result of blood loss”.
Mr Billingham’s body was excavated from a multi-layered burial site in the yard of their home on Moore Street on March 19, 2022. Mr Davies said: "The body was in an advanced state of decomposition. The conclusion of the forensic pathologist Dr Hollingbury is that he was killed as a result of a single stab wound to the right hand side of the neck transecting the right jugular vein, and incising the oesophagus and trachea."
Mr Davies said Beal "could have ended the relationship without violence", but for "selfish reason" she killed him and "painted herself as a victim".
He added: "This was murder, and no less than murder." The "highly capable and respected" teacher told friends she and Nick were isolating after testing positive for Covid.
It was a ploy to allow her time alone to build a makeshift grave and repaint their home to hide the blood.
She returned to work at Eastfield Academy, in Northampton, behaving normally and took pupils on a school trip to London.
In the weeks after the murder she messaged Nick's pals, and herself, from his phone saying he had run off with a woman she had made up.
But in March 2022 police traced her to a cabin in Cumbria, where they found the journal, triggering an investigation.
He added: "She planned to execute him, and did. She planned and delivered a false narrative as to his having had another affair, run off and ceasing communication.
"She accepted the sympathy that inevitably came from those hearing the false narrative from her.
"She planned for, and took, elaborate and sustained steps over a period of weeks to conceal her crime, including disposing of his body as if it was building waste in her garden.
"She posed as him in communication with her friends, colleagues, family and even manufactured arguments between him and her relating to the house.
"For several months she was continuing to deliver high-quality teaching to Year 6 pupils as if nothing had happened. Colleagues noted her weight loss and good spirits."
After her arrest, Beal claimed to have "traumatic amnesia" and could not remember murdering Mr Billingham. She also said she had no recollection of disposing of his body and covering up her crime - despite documenting it in her diaries.
Experts said the condition was a "rare disorder" and affected only 1% of the population. However they said that the overall evidence did not support Beal's defence of diminished responsibility and said her drug abuse may have played a role.
Beal, of Northampton, is facing a life sentence after she admitted murder midway through a retrial earlier this year.
Her first trial at Northampton crown court last year was halted after a key defence witness was found to have been a court custody officer who had conducted welfare checks on Beal in her cells. The hearing continues.
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