14 March 2023 , 15:25
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A primary school teacher stabbed her boyfriend to death before being found in a bath with "sinister" music playing following a botched suicide attempt, a court heard today.
Fiona Beal, 48, allegedly lured 42-year-old Nicholas Billingham to bed for sex before blindfolding him and stabbing him in the neck.
A court heard how she then buried his body in the back garden after wrapping him in bin bags, carpet, a duvet and cable ties.
Nicholas' mummified remains were discovered at the property in Northampton four months later with an eye mask on that read: "This is my morning after face".
Police were alerted after they found Beal had plotted the murder in a "chilling" diary which was discovered when she tried to take her own life, jurors were told.
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The prosecution told the court how Fiona Beal's notebook detailed how she was driven to killing an unnamed person and blamed her dark alter-ego Tulip22 - who was "reckless, fearless and efficient".
Mr Billingham, a builder, whose body was found buried in a back garden (Northamptonshire Police / SWNS)She also made a reference to the 1991 film Thelma and Louise and wrote about struggling to move the body which was "much more difficult than on TV".
The court heard Beal carried out the attack on November 1, 2021 before penning the "confession" after fearing her partner of 17 years had been cheating on her again.
The Year 6 teacher was arrested following the discovery of the journals and the body in March last year.
She admits unlawfully killing Nicholas but denies murder at Northampton Crown Court.
On the second day of her trial today, jurors were told how Cumbria Police discovered Beal motionless in a bath after being called out to a welfare check.
Officers had attended the lodge Beal was renting in the Lake District just four days earlier after she was reported missing from her home more than 200 miles away.
Officers said she appeared "relaxed" and "chatted freely" telling officers to inform her family she was safe and well.
But during the second visit after her family raised further concerns for her safety, PC Josh Parkin found Beal seriously injured lying naked in a bloody bath.
Giving evidence in court, the officer described how "sinister" music was playing from her mobile phone and that he originally believed she was dead.
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Police and forensic officers outside the house in March last year (SWNS)PC Parkin said: “I saw a female laying in the bath completely naked. It looked like bodily fluids in the bath leading me to believe the individual was deceased.
“What I would describe as sinister acoustic music was playing from a mobile phone that was next to her. I immediately requested an ambulance to attend our location. I suggested that we tried to get her out of the bath to perform CPR.
“She then roused and became somewhat conscious. I pulled quite violently on her ear to try and get a pain response. She moaned and went to turn over in the bath. We sat her up and that’s when she started to become emotional.
“I found a blue leather-bound notebook with some sort of logo on the front of it. The significance at the time to me was that the paper was the same as the suicide note.
"On a quick look at the notebook it was clear that it was a document into her mental health at the time. I could recall that when I went to the last page of the book it said vomiting and s***ing.
“I thought at that time that it was basically an extension of the suicide note.”
When asked to describe Beal during the incident, PC Parkin added: “Vacant, emotional and a closed book.”
In police bodycam footage which was shown to the jury, Beal could be heard sobbing "leave me alone" and "I don’t want to live".
PC Benjamin Lawson also gave evidence, and told how he initially attended the lodge several days before Beale's suicide attempt.
He said: "I was assigned a missing person enquiry relating to Fiona. Fiona had last been seen in the Northamptonshire area on March 6.
“I contacted Julia Beal (Beal's mum) by phone who gave me Fiona Beal's bank details and permission for a press release.
Mr Billingham in a police handout photo (Northamptonshire Police / SWNS)“At approximately 10:00 hours PCSO Jackson informed me that she had made an enquiry with Lakes Lovers who had taken a holiday booking from Fiona.
“I approached the lodge via the decking area and knocked on the patio doors and there was no response. I knocked a few more times and again there wasn’t a response. I entered the lodge as I was concerned for the welfare of Fiona.
“Fiona appeared in her night wear, she reappeared in her dressing gown.
“Fiona told me that she intended to travel home after the weekend, but she didn’t want her family to be informed of her location but was happy for them to know that she was in the lake district.
“Fiona appeared to be relaxed and chatted freely with us. She admitted to me that she was feeling depressed. I asked Fiona directly if she had any suicidal thoughts to which she replied ‘I have in the past, but not now'.
"I did not feel that she was an immediate threat to herself or others. Although depressed she made no threats to self-harm.”
PC Lawson later guarded Beal in hospital after being alerted by doctors to a blue book which contained graphic information regarding a death.
He added: “At approximately 17.15 I travelled to the Royal Lancashire Infirmary to take over the supervision of Fiona Beal who had been detained under the mental health act earlier by police officers.
“We took over the supervision of Beal. At this time we were in a small room. Beal was laying on the floor under a small blanket. She appeared to be a shadow of the person I met that day.
“Again there was no meaningful interaction with myself and Beal. After a number of hours the doctors arrived. One of the doctors showed me a passage in a blue book which was A5 size.
"I don’t recall exactly what was said, the notes appeared to be rambling. To be honest I deemed these notes as rambling.
“As I thought about the book I decided to make a call to the Northants Police control room to establish if there were any missing persons relating to Beal.
“I was aware that she had separated from her partner before Christmas. I still believed at that point it was very unlikely that anyone had been killed."
The court heard previously that Beal killed Nicholas in their bedroom before painting and cleaning the crime scene and phoned in sick to work to cover her tracks.
She then allegedly told people he had left her for another woman and used his phone to send messages to friends and family pretending he was alive but had Covid.
Prosecutor Steven Perian KC said the messages showed Beal's "true cunning, cruel, deceptive and devious nature".
After police found the notebooks they alerted detectives at Northamptonshire Police, who searched the couple's home in the Kingsley area of the town.
They found a bloodstained mattress in the basement before the victim's partially wrapped and partially-clothed remains were discovered buried in the garden.
A post mortem revealed the cause of death was given as a single stab wound to the right-hand side of the neck, which severed the jugular vein.
Beal admits unlawfully killing Nicholas but denies murder due to her state of mind at the time.
The trial continues.
*If you're struggling and need to talk, the Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email jo@samaritans.org or visit their site to find your local branch