The murder of Royston author Helen Bailey will feature in the first episode of a new true crime series.

Royston Crow: Royston author Helen Bailey. Picture: Alice BoageyRoyston author Helen Bailey. Picture: Alice Boagey (Image: Alice Boagey)

Ms Bailey was murdered by her fiancé, Ian Stewart – who is orginally from Letchworth – in April 2016. Her body, and that of her beloved dachshund Boris, was discovered in a cesspit of the home they shared in Baldock Road, Royston, three months after Stewart reported her missing.

In What the Killer Did Next, Philip Glenister – who has starred in Life on Mars and Living The Dream – sheds light on some of the most callous and violent murders in recent years, by examining killers’ actions after their crimes.

Helen Bailey was reported missing by Stewart – who she fell in love with after meeting on a bereaved widows group on Facebook – when she had not been seen for four days. There had been no sign of her or her faithful dachshund, Boris, in Royston or at their holiday home in Broadstairs, Kent.

As a missing persons investigation intensified, the programme will report how Stewart carried on with life as normal, even going on a holiday that he and Helen had booked together, buying an Arsenal season ticket on Helen’s credit card, and increasing monthly bank transfers from Helen’s account to their joint account.

Supported by compelling testimonies from serious crime detectives, defence lawyers and expert criminologists and psychologists, What the Killer Did Next provides a step change in true-crime storytelling by focusing on the behaviour of killers in the immediate aftermath of a murder to unpick their mind-set and understand their motive.

Stewart was sentenced to 34 years at St Albans Crown Court in February 2017 for murder, fraud, preventing legal burial and three counts of perverting the course of justice.

The death of his wife, Bassingbourn woman Diane Stewart – who died suddenly in 2010 – is currently being investigated by Herts police.

The new series of What The Killer Did Next begins on the Crime + Investigation channel at 9pm on Monday, February 4. The series is available on all catch up and on-demand services.