29 May 2024 , 14:08
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Chilling Gone Girl-style diaries helped convict twisted Fiona Beal as she intricately documented her partner's horrific murder.
In echoes of the Hollywood blockbuster - in which Rosamund Pike frames husband Ben Affleck for her murder using her diary - Beal's writings revealed her "different and darker" side.
They lay bare how Beal had murdered her partner, Nicholas Billingham 42, by luring him to bed and stabbing him in the neck. Today Beal is facing life in prison after admitting murdering Mr Billingham in their home in Moore Street, Northampton, in 2021.
The primary school teacher originally only admitted manslaughter but changed her plea earlier this year during a retrial. Today she is appearing at the Old Bailey for a two-day sentencing hearing. The court has heard Mr Billingham's mummified body was only discovered after cops were called to a cabin in Cumbria after Beal tried to kill herself.
Police today issued an image of the journals "written in her hand" that showed "a wholly different side to her personality" as a respectable primary teacher. She spent months trying to paint Mr Billingham as an adulterous, abusive cheat, but she was really laying the groundwork for her horrific crime.
Man who 'killed 4 students' was 'creepy' regular at brewery and 'harassed women'
The diary helped lead to her conviction
Nicholas Billingham was knifed to deathOne of the entries detailed the events leading up to the killing: "Everything changed last year. "There’s a quote from ‘Thelma and Louise’ that feels appropriate, 'Thelma: ‘You be sweet to them, especially your wife'. My husband wasn’t sweet to me. I suppose I ought to explain what happened to get me to this point. My mental health had been deteriorating. Whenever he was cheating he would up the ante on belittling, moaning and criticising."
And she eventually admitted the crime, writing: "I have to confess. Ok here goes. October 2021. He spat on me and threatened me during sex. 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.
The backyard where Mr Billingham was buried
His body was found four months later"Ruthless. I started plotting as Tulip22 after he’d gone to bed. I could no longer sleep in the bed due to my breathing being too loud or I moved too much or I was snoring or etc etc." Another note book entry referred to "him" being mean and cruel for 17 years, adding that it was him being "vile" at Halloween that made her decide she "couldn’t let him get away with it".
A diary entry said: "That night I planned. Covid rules meant I had a guaranteed 10-day isolation period from positive symptoms. I called [Beal’s headteacher] on the Monday and said we’d tested positive and had symptoms. He went to work. Tulip22 smoked and planned. I’d planned it mentally so many times before. I had a bath. I left the water in. I encouraged the bath with the incentive of sex afterwards.
"While he was in the bath I kept the knife in my dressing gown pocket and then hid it in the drawer next to the bed. I brought a chisel, bin bag and cable ties up too." The note revealed she got him to "wear an eye mask" before stabbing him.