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The Profiler with Kerry Daynes

The Murder of Helen Bailey Part 1

Season 1, Ep. 4

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)



Subscribe & follow

Follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. A rating/review is quick and helps new listeners find us.



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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  • 3. The Baxter Murders

    34:36||Season 1, Ep. 3
    On Easter Sunday 2023, retired couple Stephen and Carol Baxter were found dead in the conservatory of their home on Mersea Island, off the Essex coast. Initially their deaths were - until toxicology revealed both had been poisoned with the powerful opioid fentanyl. Suspicion fell on Luke D’Wit, the unassuming IT consultant who had spent a decade quietly embedding himself in the Baxters’ lives as friend, employee and unofficial carer. In this episode, forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes profiles a real-life puppet master — a man who built twenty fake online identities to control his victims, forged a will to inherit their business, and watched on a hidden phone feed as they died. Listen now to The Profiler, with Kerry Daynes. Key psychological themesThis episode explores: psychopathy and the urge for control • the long con — grooming adults over a decade • catfishing and the use of fake online identities • performative care and the "surrogate son" persona • power, patience and the puppet-master mindset Contributors featured in this episodeKerry Daynes — Forensic psychologist, presenter, and author of Dark Side of the Mind and What Lies Buried.Ellis Whitehouse — Chief Reporter, Essex Live; covered the case from the day the bodies were discovered.Hannah Pettifer — ITV News reporter; reported on the investigation and trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.Gary Cunningham — Former homicide detective.Professor Atholl Johnston — Professor of Clinical Pharmacology; expert on fentanyl and overdose.Detective Superintendent Rob Kirby — Senior investigating officer, Essex Police  What you'll learn in this episodeHow Luke D’Wit spent ten years embedding himself in the Baxters’ lives as IT consultant, friend and carer for CarolWhy fentanyl — fifty times stronger than heroin and a hundred times stronger than morphine — was the near-perfect murder weaponHow D’Wit created twenty fake online identities, including a Florida-based doctor and a confidante called "Jenny", to control Carol Baxter’s medical treatmentWhat a metal tack found inside Carol’s body, more than a year before the murders, revealed about D’Wit’s earlier intentionsWhy a hidden phone live-streaming the Baxters’ final hours back to D’Wit’s home was the "silver bullet" piece of evidenceWhat Kerry Daynes identifies as the true motive — power and control, not money — once D’Wit’s plan to inherit a failing business unravelled Relevant links and further readingKerry Daynes — Dark Side of the Mind (Endeavour, 2019)Kerry Daynes — What Lies Buried (Endeavour, 2021)https://www.essexlive.news/news/essex-news/listen-999-call-between-accused-9100011 — Essex Live: the harrowing 999 call from the sceneEssex Police — DI Rob Kirby on convicted killer Luke D’Wit (court-steps statement, available on Essex Police’s YouTube channel)BBC News and The Guardian — contemporary coverage of the Mersea Island murders and the Chelmsford Crown Court trialSupport for those affected by sudden bereavement, poisoning and coercive control — Cruse Bereavement Support • Victim Support • Hourglass (for older victims of abuse) Subscribe & followIf you’re gripped by The Profiler, with Kerry Daynes, follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. A rating or review takes thirty seconds and genuinely helps new listeners find us. Visit theprofiler.co.ukFor an exclusive filmed interview with Kerry Daynes on the cases behind the series — including untold detail on the Luke D’Wit investigation — visit theprofiler.co.uk. Subscribe to the newsletter for case updates, parole-hearing alerts, and early access to new episodes. Content noteThis episode contains an emergency-services recording made at the scene of two sudden deaths, and descriptions of poisoning, coercive control and the deliberate killing of vulnerable adults. Listener discretion is strongly advised. If you have been affected by the issues raised, support is available from Cruse Bereavement Support (0808 808 1677) and Victim Support (0808 168 9111).