Missing woman's body found in suitcase in garage of her home.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1357216/Missing-mother-Marie-Stewart-stabbed-death-home-garage.html

A music teacher was under arrest last night after the decomposing body of his partner was found in their garage.

Andrew Lindo, 28, had told neighbours that Marie Stewart had walked out on him and their two young children before Christmas.

But police found the 30-year-old’s body stuffed inside a suitcase after being called in by her worried parents.

Lindo had moved a new girlfriend into the house shortly after Miss Stewart’s disappearance.

The pair were having a drink together when police found them on Sunday.

The 29-year-old woman – said to be the ‘double’ of Miss Stewart – was later released without charge.

Miss Stewart is believed to have been dead for weeks and neighbours had recently noticed a foul smell coming from the house.

A post-mortem examination revealed she had died after a series of heavy blows and multiple stab wounds.

Lindo and Miss Stewart were renting a modern townhouse in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire – the picturesque location for the long-running TV series Last of the Summer Wine.

Until his arrest, Lindo had been living in the property with his children Isobelle, three, and Joseph, one, as well as his new girlfriend.

But he had told neighbours he could no longer afford the £650-a-month rent for the three-bedroom home and would be moving out in March.

Tracy Barber, a neighbour, said: ‘He is a lovely, friendly, quiet man and I would regularly speak to him.

‘He told me that Marie had left him and the children before Christmas, and I felt sorry for him because he was such a lovely guy.
Scene: A police tent stands at the door of a garage where Marie Stewart's body was discovered in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire

Scene: A police tent stands at the door of a garage where Marie Stewart's body was discovered in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire

‘Nobody had seen anything of Marie, but we thought nothing of it and he continued in his regular routine of going to work and runs to the nursery.’

Text messages and Facebook entries are thought to have been used to make it appear as if Mrs Stewart was alive and well.

Mrs Barber said that a few weekends ago she noticed the Vauxhall Corsa of Lindo’s new girlfriend parked on the driveway alongside Lindo’s car and assumed she had moved in.
Arrested: Andrew Lindo was being questioned by police in suspicion of murder last night after the body of girlfriend Marie Stewart was found

Arrested: Andrew Lindo was being questioned by police in suspicion of murder last night after the body of girlfriend Marie Stewart was found

‘There seemed to be nothing shady going on, but now it is really creepy to think they were all living there whilst poor Marie’s body was just a door away under the same roof,’ added the 31-year-old.

Mrs Barber said she was taking her daughter to ballet on Saturday when she first noticed a ‘horrendous stench’.

Miss Stewart’s body was found the next day after police had questioned Lindo and his new girlfriend, who has not been named.

Another neighbour said that Lindo and Miss Stewart had moved into the property 15 months ago.

An older woman, who is assumed to be the children’s grandmother, was a regular visitor to the townhouse. The couple were last seen by neighbours rowing on the street on December 11.

Police have not revealed the date of the last known sighting of Miss Stewart.

They are looking at activity on her Facebook page and mobile phone since Christmas. They are investigating whether messages were sent to family and friends to make them believe that all was well in Miss Stewart’s life.

Yesterday a worker at the lettings agency which was trying to find a new tenant for the property said she had arranged to show a client around the house last Friday only for Lindo to call her back to insist he be present during the viewing.

Miss Stewart, whose parents lived locally, worked as a classroom assistant.

She married a man named Martin Waldron in 2005 but the marriage broke up and she moved in with Lindo about three years ago.

Lindo, who hailed from Stockton-on-Tees, taught music at the Take 2 Theatre School in Barnsley.

He also played in a band, Battered Soul, and wrote on his Myspace site: ‘I love music, preferably live. Nothing better than a good gig.’

His father is a property developer and financial adviser.