Mum of murdered Northampton man visited home where he was buried
Yvonne had no idea son Nicholas Billingham had been killed and buried in the garden.
The mother of a murdered Northampton man has been speaking to us, as his killer admitted to his murder mid-trial.
50 year old Fiona Beal was standing trial at the Old Bailey, and on Friday 26th April admitted to his murder.
His remains were found in the garden of the Moore Street home in Kingsley in Northampton in March 2022.
Nicholas Billingham's mum Yvonne has been speaking out about her distress at having been in the home, without realising her son was lying dead yards away.
Yvonne says she visited the home in December 2021, and Fiona Beal offered her a festive drink.
At this stage Yvonne didn't know her son was dead, let alone buried a few feet away and had no idea it was at the hands of Fiona:
"It always gets to me, because I think, Nick was buried in the garden just a few feet away."
"I try not to think about it too much, but when I do, it's draining, it's horrible."
Fiona Beal was accused of stabbing her partner to death "in cold blood", which mum Yvonne finds impossible to understand:
"How you could hate someone that much do do what she did, I can't believe it. And apparently his last words were, 'why?'"
Beal had initially pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter by reason of of a loss of control, but denied murdering Mr Billingham between October 30 and November 10 2021.
42-year-old Nicholas Billingham's partly mummified remains were discovered four and a half months after he was last seen in March 2022.
The teacher, of Moore Street, Northampton, was arrested in March 2022 after police discovered the body.
The court heard that her actions were revealed through journal entries discovered by police.
Last week, prosecutor Hugh Davies KC told jurors that Beal, "a high-functioning professional", messaged several people on November 1 2021 - and in the days after - that she and Mr Billingham had contracted Covid-19 and needed to isolate.
The prosecutor called the narrative "sustained and dishonest" and told jurors there is "no evidence" that Beal took a Covid test.
The court heard similar messages were sent from Mr Billingham's phone from November 2nd.
Mr Davies told jurors the messages from Mr Billingham's phone were Beal "pretending to be him" in a move that was "as heartless as it was self-serving".
Fiona Beal will now be sentenced on 29th May and 30th May.