Who Is Ian Stewart? Author Found Guilty Of Murder For Killing Wife Diane And Fiancee Helen Bailey

Ian Stewart was convicted of murdering his fiance, Helen Bailey. She was a British author.

According to The Telegraph, Ian Stewart will die in jail following his latest conviction. He is serving a life sentence for killing his author fiancée in 2017.

On February 9, 2022, the court gave him a life sentence for the “horrifying and terrible” murder of his first wife, Diane, in 2010.

Ian Stewart Was Convicted Of Murdering Fiancee Helen Bailey- Who Is He?

Ian Stewart was sentenced to 34 years in jail for murdering his fiance, Helen Bailey. He reported her missing from her home in Royston, Hertfordshire, in 2016.

He said that she was last seen out walking her dog. He also added that he discovered a message stating that she would be staying at the family vacation house in Broadstairs. However, he found out that she had not been there.

Bailey’s mother and mother regarded her disappearance was regarded by her brother and mother as “abnormal,” while the police classified it as “perplexing.”

After a few months of her disappearance, police said they detained and questioned a 55-year-old Royston man on suspicion of murder and disposing of a corpse. However, they freed him on bond.

But after several days, police found the human remains and those of Bailey’s dog in a hidden second septic tank at her Royston home, Hartwell Lodge. Thus, they charged Ian with murder, perverting the course of justice and preventing a lawful burial.

He was taken into custody and appeared in court at St Alban’s Crown Court. However, he pleaded not guilty, and his trial was set on for January 2017.

Finally, prosecutors provided evidence that suggested that he was involved in the murder in the 2017 trial. They claimed that she was most likely suffocated while drugged. Thus, he was found guilty and sentenced to 34 years in prison.

Ian Stewart, A Murderer Of Author Fiance Guilty Of Killing Wife Diane As Well

Police started investigating the death of Ian Stewart’s first wife, Diane, after finding him guilty of murdering his author fiance, Helen Bailey.

Her cause of death was listed as Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) at the time. Stewart said in court that he arrived home from the grocery to find his wife slumped in the yard of the family house in Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire.

He stated that he believed she had had an epileptic fit. However, the jurors heard a compelling fact from consultant neurologist Dr. Christopher Derry.

He said that Mrs. Stewart had not had an epileptic seizure in 18 years and was on daily medication. He said that her chance of having a fatal epileptic seizure was at one in 100,000.

According to Daily Mail, Diane’s death was not first considered suspicious, and while a post-mortem investigation was performed, it was not a forensic post-mortem. Then, her remains were cremated.

However, after finding Ian guilty of murdering Bailey, the investigators asked Professor Safa Al-Sarraj, a consultant neuropathologist, to examine preserved parts of Mrs. Stewart’s brain donated for medical research.

As a result, he concluded that she had suffered a lack of oxygen before her death. Thus, prosecutor Stuart Trimmer QC argued that her death was most likely caused by prolonged breathing restriction from an outside source, such as suffocation or a neck hold.

Was Ian Stewart Arrested?- Is He in Jail?

Ian Stewart was arrested for murdering his first wife, Diane when he was already in jail for killing Helen Bailey. Police suspected his involvement after his first conviction.

Thus, he was arrested for a second time. And, recently following the four weeks of trial, he is found guilty of murdering Diane as well. The court has given him a whole life sentence. He was previously sentenced to 34 years. Now, he will spend his entire life in prison.