A primary school teacher has pleaded guilty at trial to murdering her ‘cheating’ boyfriend by luring him to their room for sex before tying him to the bed with cable ties, stabbing him in the neck and leaving his body in their garden buried.
Fiona Beal, 50, planned the 42-year-old’s murder builder Nick Billingham advances by writing in a diary as her alter ego, ‘Tulip22’, before purchasing a knife and chisel.
After killing him ‘in cold blood’ on November 1, 2021 tThe ‘very capable’ teacher then told friends who the pair had tested positive for Covid so that she would not be disturbed while they buried Mr Billingham in the garden of their Northampton home.
His mummified body was found four months later, wrapped in tarps, in a makeshift grave after Beal’s diaries were found by police.
Judge Mark Lucraft told Beal today: “You have pleaded guilty this morning to murder, which, as you have no doubt been told, carries a life sentence.”
Fiona Beal, 50, has admitted murdering her 42-year-old boyfriend Nicholas Billingham (who she is pictured enjoying dinner with).
The ‘very capable’ teacher (left) then told friends the pair had tested positive for Covid so she wouldn’t be disturbed as she buried Mr Billingham’s body (right)
Officers outside the couple’s home in Kingsley, Northamptonshire in April 2023
Beal then used her partner’s phone for months to message his friends and relatives, pretending he was still alive and had moved in with another woman.
She initially committed manslaughter, but denied the murder, claiming a ‘loss of control’.
Mr Billigham previously had affairs and moved out of the house, but the couple had reconciled.
Prosecutor Hugh Davies QC told the Old Bailey: ‘Central to the plan was the knowledge that after stabbing him, claiming she had Covid, she would have ten days to bury him and commit her crime blur.
‘And that’s exactly what happened. She thought about what time would be best to do that, or whether he would snore, but she knew or visualized that this would happen by stabbing him “from left to right, down slightly to the right.” And that’s what she did: she stabbed him in the jugular vein in his neck.
‘On November 1 she returned a positive Covid test result – all you had to do was complete the NHS questionnaire online app and self-report a positive test.
‘There is no evidence that she ever took a PCR test. Her actions over the next ten days are completely inconsistent with the debilitating effects of Covid she claimed to be experiencing.”
Beal sent messages to her sisters saying she and Mr Billingham had split, with one message referring to him leaving because he had had an affair with another woman.
He continued: “She murdered him in their bedroom late on November 1st. On November 2, the cleaning started at 1:07 am. Using her late partner’s account, and then her own on Amazon, she purchased multiple cleaning supplies, including for blinds, a new mop and bucket, ultra-heavy duty trash bags, a new mattress, bedding, clothing, wall art and mirrors .
‘This is thoughtful and controlled behavior that is intrinsically practical on the one hand and indulgent on the other.’
Beal had written in her diary that Mr. Billingham asked, “Why?” after she stabbed him, the court heard.
Mr Davies said: ‘You are also likely to hear evidence from a psychologist and a psychiatrist.
“It’s up to you to decide whether her claimed amnesia is false; There is no conclusive test for that. It’s up to you to determine the facts of the relationship, not experts.”
Beal remains in custody and will be sentenced on May 29 and 30.
