Fiancé accused of Helen Bailey murder weeps in the dock as court hears police interview tapes from time of children’s author’s disappearance
Defendant wiped his eyes as he listened to a recording of himself being interviewed
Helen Bailey's fiancé wept in the dock as the jury at his murder trial was played police tapes from the time of the children's author's disappearance .
It was the first time Ian Stewart had showed any emotion during the trial.
The defendant wiped his eyes as he listened to a recording of himself being interviewed by detectives, following his arrest in April.
As he was asked about the note millionaire children's author, Mrs Bailey allegedly left before her disappearance, Stewart was heard telling officers: "The note was handwriting, it wasn't typed. I thought it was Helen's.
"And she signed the note, no one else would have signed it like that. LB is a nickname I had for Helen, my nickname is BB. It's going back to when we first met. She was little bean and I was big bean."
related stories
He also told detectives "she really had gone" when referring to the day Mrs Bailey went missing.
He said: "I remember bits of it. Helen loaded my car with a large duvet and some boxes to be sent to the dump.
"Then she was in her office for a while, I went back to bed. She went out in the car to get some milk but came back almost instantly.
"She was upset with something that had happened and she said she was never going to drive again.
"I phoned up and rearranged my doctor's appointment. Helen said 'If possible, make it this afternoon and then you can take stuff to the solicitors at the same time'.
"I dashed out because I was late. I realised I'd only taken half of the solicitors papers, so I rushed back, saw the other paperwork on the side.
"Then I went back to the solicitors and came home. Helen wasn't here, then I thought she had gone to Broadstairs.
"I remember thinking 'she really has gone'."
During the interview, Stewart was asked to describe how Mrs Bailey was at the point of her reported disappearance.
He said: "She was frustrated with herself, there were no tears or anything, she was just upset with herself.
"Something had gone wrong and she wasn't happy."
He added: "I remember being frustrated with Helen that she had gone off. I do remember that."
Stewart also revealed he and Mrs Bailey had set a date for their wedding, but hadn't yet told members of their family.
The jury heard him tell police: "We planned to get married on September 23 (2016). We'd been engaged for a while but not everyone knew.
"My mum and dad didn't know - they knew we were engaged but they only found out we were getting married through interviews for Helen's book."
The court also heard from Detective Constable Hollie Danes who visited Stewart to take his first statement.
She said Stewart "didn't want to be interviewed" and "snapped" when she pushed to talk to him.
Det Con Danes told the jury: "Stewart took me by shock on a couple of occasions, as he snapped at me when I pushed to do the interview with him.
"I told him it was really important, that his excuses of being ill weren't good enough, and we needed to obtain this information to find his fiance who was missing.
"He was slouched in the chair. Eye contact was limited, he felt uneasy in our presence.
"He appeared anxious, he didn't want us there.
The detective also described Stewart as "restless" and "upset" when police decided to use police dogs in the search of the house.
She said: "He was really anxious, pacing around, quite stressed out, speaking quickly, saying he didn't know these people were going to be there today.
"He appeared to be quite upset at the search which was being conducted, with a police dog.
"He was restless, packing round the house, asking what they were doing.
"He continued to look out onto the back garden whilst officers were searching.
"He said he was worried about ornaments being broken. He was asked if he wanted someone with him so that he could be calmer."
Det Con Danes added: "We left, but later on there was another suggestion there was a sighting of Helen in Royston, and we returned to the house to speak with him about this.
"He'd sigh and tut about the fact we were asking for all this, and said he would have to think about it and needed to get some sleep."
Ms Bailey’s body was found in a cesspit dumped alongside her beloved dog Boris at her £1.5million home in Royston in July.
Stewart, of Royston, Hertfordshire, denies murder, one count of fraud, preventing lawful burial, and three counts of perverting the course of justice.
Earlier this week the jury heard a recording of the 999 call he made reporting her as missing.
The trial continues.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368