THIS is the moment a teacher bought compost to bury the cheating boyfriend she allegedly murdered in the back garden, a court heard.
Fiona Beal, 49, allegedly stabbed Nicholas Billingham, 42, at their home in Northampton after finding out he was having an affair.
Nottingham Crown Court was today shown footage of Beal in B&Q where she bought compost to help conceal Nicholas’ body.
The primary school teacher could be seen walking around the store with a face mask on almost two weeks after he died in November 2021.
She stops to speak with staff at the click and collect area and waits as two loaded trollies are brought out to her.
Beal then heaves one out the store by herself as a staff member follows her with a second cart.
Police confirmed the trollies held ten 50 litre bags of compost and ten large 22.5kg bags of Cotswold stone and a plastic trough.
Beal is then captured on CCTV driving away from the B&Q in a Ford Focus.
Jurors were told she buried Nicholas in the back garden after wrapping him in bin bags and a rug.
His mummified remains were discovered four months later with an eye mask on that read: “This is my morning after face”.
The grim find was made when police came across a notebook after Beal attempted suicide months later, it was said.
Jurors heard it gave a “chilling account of how she had planned and killed someone, but it did not contain the name of the person she had killed.”
Beal made a reference to the 1991 film Thelma and Louise in the diary and claimed she was subjected to cruel and belittling treatment.
The movie – starring Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis – centres around two oppressed friends who flee the police after Louise kills a man who attempts to rape her at a bar.
The diary read: “Everything changed last year. There’s a quote from ‘Thelma and Louise’ that feels appropriate, ‘Thelma: ‘You be sweet to them, especially your wife. My husband wasn’t sweet to me’.
“I suppose I ought to explain what happened to get me to this point. My mental health had been deteriorating. Whenever he was cheating he would up the ante on belittling, moaning and criticising.”
The teacher also wrote about her “alter ego” Tulip22, who she described as “reckless, fearless and efficient. Ruthless”.
She said: “I have to confess. Ok here goes. October 2021. He spat on me and threatened me during sex. I thought about leaving but the things he said and did fuelled my dark side – I call her Tulip22.”
Beal told how she could not “let him get away with it” and described the unnamed person as “vile”.
The teacher also wrote how she told her headmaster she had Covid and needed to isolate, it was said.
The entry continued: “Tulip22 smoked and planned. I’d planned it mentally so many times before.
“I had a bath. I left the water in. I encouraged the bath with the incentive of sex afterwards.
“While he was in the bath I kept the knife in my dressing gown pocket and then hid it in the drawer next to the bed. I brought a chisel, bin bag and cable ties up too.
“I got him to wear an eye mask. It was harder than I thought it would be. Hiding a body was bad. Moving a body is much more difficult than it looks on TV.”
Jurors were told Beal killed Nicholas in their bedroom on November 1, 2021, then wrapped his body up and buried him in the garden.
She then allegedly painted and cleaned the bedroom where the killing had taken place before telling people he had left her for another woman.
Beal used his phone to send messages to friends and work colleagues pretending the builder was still alive, the court heard.
Jurors heard this included a message to his mum and others claiming he had Covid, and to a couple whose home he was renovating to cover her tracks.
Prosecutor Steven Perian KC said the texts showed Beal’s “true cunning, cruel, deceptive and devious nature”.
In March last year, she was discovered at a lodge in the Lake District with superficial wounds and taken to a local hospital.
Officers then visited Beal’s home where they found a bloodied mattress in the basement.
Part of the back garden was also dug up – revealing “partially wrapped and partially-clothed” human remains, it was said.
A cause of death was given as a single stab wound to the right-hand side of Nicholas’ neck, which cut through the jugular vein.
The court was told Beal admits unlawfully killing Nicholas but denies murder due to her state of mind at the time.
The trial continues.
