Stewart, 56, attempted to take 51-year-old Bailey’s wealth by drugging her and hiding her body in cesspit 
 
 A “cruel” and “devious” man who drugged his fiancee, a successful author, and hid her body in a cesspit on their property has been found guilty of her murder. Bailey – who wrote fiction for young adults, including the Electra Brown books – was planning her wedding to Stewart when he murdered her, hiding her body and that of her pet dachshund at their £1.3m property in Royston, Hertfordshire. He told police Ms Bailey had left a note saying she needed "space" and had gone to her holiday home in Broadstairs, Kent. 'My happy ever after': how killer fiance duped grieving Helen Bailey Read more 
 
 Stewart was also found guilty of fraud for altering a standing order; preventing a lawful burial by hiding Bailey’s body; and three counts of perverting the course of justice, including disposing of evidence, carrying out a “charade” in the days after her death and disposing of her mobile phone. The court heard how, in 2013, Ms Bailey had told her brother John the cesspit would be a "good place to hide a body" while giving him a tour of the house and grounds. Simon Russell Flint QC, defending, said "there is little I can say" regarding the offences Stewart had been convicted of, and there was every prospect his client would "end his days behind bars" 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Helen Bailey murder: Neighbour 'did everything' to try to contact her 
 
 Judge Bright said he was prepared to sentence Stewart on Thursday morning, and if he refused to leave his cell he would be sentenced "in his absence". Image copyright Contributed Image caption Ian Stewart's wife Diane died in 2010 after having an epileptic seizure 
 
 Det Ch Insp Kent also confirmed his team would be looking again at the death of Diane Stewart in 2010. The 56-year-old had attempted to convince jurors that Bailey had been kidnapped by two men, known only as Nick and Joe, who assaulted him, saying the pair were business associates of Bailey’s late husband. He told St Albans Crown Court that the men - Nick and Joe - had told him not to inform police about the kidnapping and had threatened to harm Stewart's two sons. On the day of the murder, 11 April last year, Stewart tried to change a standing order from Ms Bailey's account to the couple's joint account from £600 to £4,000 a month. During a six-week trial, St Albans crown court heard Stewart had befriended Bailey in an online group for bereaved people. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Ms Bailey was missing for three months before her body was found 
 
 Image copyright South Beds News Agency Image caption The author's body was discovered in a cesspit at her home three months after she went missing 
 
 He had reported Ms Bailey missing on 15 April and made a heartfelt appeal for his wife-to-be to make contact. Her body was found three months later, having been pulled out of a "hard crust" of excrement inside the cesspit underneath the garage of the couple's £1.2m home. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Helen Bailey’s dachshund Boris, whose body was found with hers. In a statement, Ms Bailey's family said despite the "victory for justice", there could be "no celebration", and their thoughts were with Stewart's family. "Our families have been devastated and nothing can ever bring Helen back to us, or truly right this wrong," they said. A long shadow of loss has been cast over the lives of so many who will always remember Helen with enduring love and affection.” 
 
 At her memorial service guests were asked to write down what Helen’s life had inspired them towards, he said. He said: “Ian Stewart murdered Helen Bailey and then conducted a cynical, deceitful and calculated charade as he watched the police conduct a futile missing person investigation.” 
 
 Outside the court DCI Jerome Kent, from the major crime unit at Hertfordshire police, said it was “the right and correct verdict”.
– While giving a tour of her $1.6 million home in 2013 with her partner in tow, children's author Helen Bailey noted that the cesspool beneath the garage would be a "good place to hide a body," according to court documents. Prosecutors said that's exactly how Ian Stewart got the idea to bury Bailey's body there three years later after suffocating her with a pillow, reports the BBC. Stewart, 56, was found guilty of his fiancee's 2016 murder in a UK court Wednesday in a case that now has authorities re-examining his wife's death in 2010. Prosecutors say Stewart fed Bailey sleeping drugs for weeks before smothering her on April 11—the same day he increased the monthly sum moved from Bailey's bank account into the couple's joint account from $750 to $5,000. Stewart initially told police that Bailey vanished after leaving a note saying she was staying in Kent. He later said business associates of her late husband kidnapped Bailey and blackmailed him—a story the prosecution argued was "bizarre nonsense." Prosecutors instead painted Stewart as a cold and calculating "narcissist" playing "the long game" to steal Bailey's $5 million fortune, noting that he attempted to sell an apartment Bailey owned and went on a two-week holiday to Spain shortly after the 51-year-old's death, per the Guardian. Authorities say there's "no indication" of foul play in the 2010 death of Stewart's wife after an epileptic seizure, but the case will be re-examined. Stewart was sentened to 34 years for Bailey's murder, reports the Telegraph. (A woman's death in 2001 continues to perplex: Was it a tragic accident or a murder?)