Murder-accused Ian Stewart was paid £28,000 from a life insurance policy following the death of his wife, a court has heard.
Stewart, 61, is accused of killing 47-year-old Diane at their home in Bassingbourn in 2010. Mrs Stewart died six years before Stewart murdered his fiancee Helen Bailey in Royston - which he was convicted of in 2017.
Neil King, prosecuting, said that Stewart - originally from Letchworth - received £28,500.21 from a life insurance policy and also received sums of money from his wife's bank accounts.
“The total amount received was £96,607.37,” the barrister told jurors at Huntingdon Crown Court.
“In addition, there was £56,059.07 held by other financial institutions that was not claimed, as no correct probate paperwork had been presented to them.”
Reading from a document of facts agreed between the prosecution and defence, Mr King said that Stewart sold the family home in July 2014 for £530,000.
“There was only £2,500 outstanding on the mortgage at this time,” he said.
“This sum was put towards the purchase of a house where the defendant then moved in with Helen Bailey.”
The cause of Mrs Stewart’s death was recorded in 2010 as sudden unexplained death in epilepsy (SUDEP).
Police investigated the case after Stewart, 61, was found guilty of the murder of Ms Bailey and sentenced to life in prison with a minimum jail term of 34 years.
Mr King said that when Stewart was arrested in 2018 for the murder of Mrs Stewart, he told officers: “You’re joking. Haven’t you got anything better to do?”
Mr King also told jurors about “evidence upon which” Stewart’s 2017 conviction for the murder of Ms Bailey was recorded.
He said that children's author Ms Bailey lived in a £1.5m home in Royston and had assets worth more than £4m.
She lived there with Stewart and his two sons Jamie, then aged 24, and Oliver, then aged 21, in April 2016, Mr King said.
Stewart had moved in during 2013, having been in a relationship with Ms Bailey since 2012, the court was told.
“By 2016, there were plans for a wedding,” Mr King said.
“They had made financial arrangements that meant in the event of the death of Helen Bailey before the wedding, Ian Stewart would obtain the house and substantial financial advantage.
“The total capital payment on Helen Bailey’s death to Ian Stewart would potentially total £1,835,000, in addition to the main house and the second home in Broadstairs (in Kent).”
He said that Ms Bailey’s last proven activity was an email sent on the morning of April 11, 2016, and that both of Stewart’s sons were at work that day.
Mr King said Ms Bailey was murdered “by what a forensic pathologist found was most likely suffocation whilst she was sedated by drugs”.
“Her body was put in the garage cesspit,” he said.
“Her dog Boris, a pillow slip, a dog’s toy and lead, together with some plastic bags, were also put in the cesspit.”
The court heard that Stewart had “formally consented to the retention of microscope slides and tissue blocks from the brain, heart and lungs of Diane Stewart” following her death in 2010.
Mr King said: “Without this consent, the material would have been destroyed.”
Stewart denies the murder of his wife.
The trial continues.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here