Ian Stewart received nearly £100k after Diane Stewart's death

A man accused of murdering his wife received nearly £100,000 following her death, a court heard.

Ian Stewart, 61, has denied killing Diane Stewart, 47, at their home in Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire in 2010.

Huntingdon Crown Court heard he received £96,607.37 after she died, including £28,500.21 in life insurance and the rest from her bank accounts.

Her death was investigated after Mr Stewart was convicted of the 2016 murder of his fiancée Helen Bailey.

The cause of Mrs Stewart's death was recorded in 2010 as sudden unexplained death in epilepsy (SUDEP).

Prosecutor Neil King told the court that in addition to the money Mr Stewart received, there was an unclaimed £56,059.07 held by other financial institutions, 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 Mr Stewart sold the family home in July 2014 for £530,000 with £2,500 outstanding on the mortgage.

"This sum was put towards the purchase of a house where the defendant then moved in with Helen Bailey," he said.

Mr Stewart was jailed in 2017 for killing children's author Ms Bailey and the court was also told "evidence upon which" that murder conviction was recorded.

Mr King said Ms Bailey lived in a £1.5m home in Royston, Hertfordshire, with Mr Stewart and his two sons, and had assets worth more than £4m.

Mr 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]."

Mr King added that Ms Bailey was murdered "by what a forensic pathologist found was most likely suffocation whilst she was sedated by drugs".

The prosecutor said that when Mr Stewart was arrested in 2018 for Mrs Stewart's murder, he told officers: "You're joking. Haven't you got anything better to do?"

At the opening of the trial, the court had heard that although most of Mrs Stewart's remains were cremated, she had donated her brain to medical research and some tissue was kept.

Analysis of the brain tissue indicated her death was "most likely caused by a prolonged restriction to her breathing from an outside source", the prosecution said.

On Monday, the court heard Mr 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.

"Without this consent, the material would have been destroyed," Mr King said.

The trial continues.

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]