Fiona Beal admitted manslaughter at an Old Bailey hearing on Friday
A primary school teacher has admitted killing her partner whose tied-up body was found buried in the garden.
The remains of Nicholas Billingham, 42, were found at a home in Moore Street, Northampton in March 2022, four and a half months after he was last seen.
At the Old Bailey Fiona Beal admitted the lesser charge of manslaughter but is now on trial for murder.
The prosecution told the jury she admitted the killing by writing about it in a journal.
Judge Mark Lucraft KC, said Ms Beal pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter – but she denied murdering Mr Billingham between October 30 and November 10 2021.
Opening the murder trial, prosecutor Hugh Davies KC said: “She had planned to, and had, killed him in cold blood.”
The Old Bailey was told how Ms Beal had confessed to the killing by writing details in her journal which police later found.
The prosecution said she had purchased a forged handle utility knife in the days before and also said she was in possession of a chisel and cable ties.
Mr Davies’s submission to the court was that Ms Beal stabbed Mr Billingham in the neck as he was wearing a sleep mask and probably cable-tied him to the bed.
The trial continues and is expected to last six weeks.
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