The Murder of Helen Bailey Part 1

In April 2016, the bestselling children's author Helen Bailey vanished from her £1.4 million home. Her fiancé Ian Stewart called the police, then wrote an open letter begging her to return. But, behind the public grief, he was hiding a terrible secret. Forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes traces how 51-year-old Helen fell for a quiet, unassuming father of two she met on a Facebook bereavement group after her husband’s death. She and Stewart got engaged. But as the wedding approached, she grew exhausted and forgetful. Then, on Monday April 11th, every trace of her online life suddenly went dark. This is the story of how detectives saw past Stewart's lies and began to suspect he was a man who had not only murdered once – but twice.

Key psychological themes

This episode explores: the predatory courtship of a grieving widow • performative grief and manufactured intimacy • coercive control disguised as care • the psychology of a killer who stays close to the investigation

Contributors

• Kerry Daynes — Forensic psychologist, TV presenter, and author.

• Colin Sutton — Former Senior Investigating Officer, Metropolitan Police; expert commentator on the Stewart case.

• Jack Hardy — Press Association journalist who covered the Helen Bailey investigation and trial.

• Mavis Drake — Neighbour and close friend of Helen Bailey in Royston.

• Trevor McCallum — Close friend of Helen and her first husband, John Sinfield.

• Helen Bailey — In archive video-blog material from October 2015.

What you'll learn in this episode

• How a Facebook group for the bereaved became the meeting place that would change — and end — Helen Bailey's life

• What Kerry Daynes calls the 'predatory courtship' — how some offenders identify, isolate and emotionally re-shape a grieving partner

• Why Helen's friends were taken aback by the man she chose to marry — and why their unease did not, on its own, protect her

• The chronic fatigue, confusion and memory loss Helen began suffering in the months before her disappearance — and what toxicology reports revealed

• How police pieced together what happened on April 11th 2016 — and why Stewart's own account of his fiancée's disappearance kept shifting

• The reason a passing remark from a neighbour became one of the most important moments in the case

• Why detectives, by the end of this episode, were no longer sure that Helen was Ian Stewart's first victim

Relevant links and further reading

• Kerry Daynes — Dark Side of the Mind (Endeavour, 2019) What Lies Buried (Endeavour, 2021)

• Faking It (Warner Bros. Discovery) — some interviews in this episode were originally featured in the series. Watch on discoveryplus.com.

• https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/feb/23/helen-bailey-murder-ian-stewart-jailed-years-killing-author — The Guardian: contemporary trial coverage and verdict

• https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4105158/ — Daily Mail: 'Partner of children's author Helen Bailey goes on trial'

• Helen Bailey — When Bad Things Happen in Good Bikinis (Blink, 2015) — her own writing on grief and the early days with Ian Stewart

• Support for those bereaved by homicide — Victim Support • AAFDA (Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse)

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Visit theprofiler.co.uk

For an exclusive filmed interview with Kerry Daynes on the cases behind the series — including untold detail on the Ian Stewart story - visit theprofiler.co.uk. Subscribe to the newsletter for case updates, parole-hearing alerts, and early access to episodes.

Credits

• Presented by Kerry Daynes

• Produced by Shearwater Media

• Executive producers: Jeff Anderson and Steve Anderson

• Editing & Music by Rob Warner

Content note

This episode contains descriptions of homicide, the drugging and isolation of a partner, and the discovery of human remains. Listener discretion advised. If you have been affected by the issues raised, speak to Victim Support (0808 168 9111) and the Samaritans (116 123).

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