A primary school teacher pleaded guilty mid-trial to the murder of her unfaithful boyfriend, whom she buried in her garden.
Fiona Beal, 50, attracted to a 42-year-old man Builder Nick Billingham entered the bedroom to have sex and then stabbed him in the neck while he was tied to the bed on November 1, 2021.
Beal planned the murder beforehand by writing in a diary as his alter ego, ‘Tulip22’, and bought a knife.
The “highly capable” teacher then told friends the couple had tested positive for Covid so they would not disturb her as she buried Mr Billingham in the garden of their Northampton home.
His mummified body was found four months later wrapped in sheets in a makeshift grave after police found Beal’s diaries.
Judge Mark Lucraft today told Beal: “This morning you pleaded guilty to murder, which, as you have no doubt been told, carries a penalty of life imprisonment.”
Fiona Beal, 50, admitted murdering her boyfriend Nicholas Billingham, 42 (right)
Officers outside the couple’s home in Kingsley, Northamptonshire, in April 2023.
Beal then spent months using his partner’s phone to message his friends and family, pretending he was still alive and had moved on with another woman.
It was originally manslaughter, but he denied murder, claiming “loss of control.”
Mr Billigham had affairs before and moved out of the house, but the couple reconciled.
Prosecutor Hugh Davies, KC, told the Old Bailey: “At the heart of the plan was knowing that after stabbing him, if he claimed he had Covid, he would have 10 days to bury him and cover up his crime.
And that’s exactly what happened. She was thinking about what was the best time to do it, whether she would be snoring, but she knew or visualized that she would be stabbing him “from left to right, slightly down to the right.” And that’s what she did: she stabbed him in the jugular vein in his neck.
‘On November 1 he obtained a positive Covid test result; all he had to do was complete the NHS app’s online questionnaire and self-report a positive test.
‘There is no evidence that he ever had a PCR test. His actions over the next 10 days are totally inconsistent with the exhausting effects of Covid that he claimed to be experiencing.
Beal sent messages to her sisters telling them that she and Billingham had broken up, and one message referenced that he left because he had had an affair with another woman.
He continued: ‘She murdered him in his bedroom late on November 1st. The cleanup began at 1:07 a.m. on November 2. Using her deceased partner’s account, and then her own on Amazon, she purchased several cleaning supplies, including Venetian blinds, a new mop and bucket, ultra-strong garbage bags, a new mattress, bedding, clothing, wall art and mirrors.
“It is considered and controlled behavior that is, on the one hand, inherently practical and, on the other, forgiving.”
Beal had written in his 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 is up to you to decide whether the alleged memory leak is false; There is no conclusive evidence to prove it. It’s up to you to decide the facts of the relationship, not the experts.
Beal will remain in custody and will be sentenced on May 29 and 30.
