ANDREW Lindo, the music teacher accused of murdering his fiancee and storing her body in a suitcase for two months has refused to give evidence in his own defence.

Lindo, 29, denies murdering 30-year-old Marie Stewart in Holmfirth on December 18, 2010, but admits killing her.

But, yesterday, his barrister told a murder trial jury at Bradford Crown Court that Lindo would not be going into the witness box.

Lindo claims that he killed Marie Stewart to stop her allegedly mistreating their three year-old daughter.

At the completion of the prosecution case, Lindo’s barrister, Robert Smith, QC, told the judge: “My Lord, we call no evidence.”

Mr Justice Andrew Smith asked the barrister if his client had been advised that the jury “may draw such inference as appear proper?” His barrister replied: “We have advised him verbally and in writing.”

Earlier the court heard how Lindo told police how he kissed his children and tucked them up in bed at their Holmfirth home, only minutes after killing Marie.

The prosecution delivered its final speech, describing Lindo as ‘calculated’ and a ‘liar’.

Michelle Colporne QC, prosecuting, asked the jury to think back beyond the night that Marie Stewart was killed at the home the couple shared in Perseverance Place, Holmfirth.

She said: “On Valentine’s Day, 2010, Andrew Lindo professed his love and respect for Marie Stewart by asking for her hand in marriage.

“On the anniversary of that event, he was under arrest and interviewed on the suspicion of her murder.

“He asked her to spend the rest of her life with him and planned to forsake all others for her, which is no mean feat for a man who claims Marie Stewart was making his life a living hell and had done so for a number of years”.

She described how throughout the trial witnesses, including friends and family of Marie, had described the care worker as a caring and loving mum, who didn’t drink and organised meals the night before.

Ms Colporne continued: “Andrew Lindo says Marie Stewart did nothing around the house, that he did everything, but there is not a single piece of evidence to support that.

“Putting aside the fact that she was a girl guide and had a Duke of Edinburgh award, she was a beloved daughter, sister, and friend. As a mother she was overjoyed by both pregnancies, her babies were her life.

“She didn’t drink, she didn’t go out, she was even at home for her Christmas works party due to childcare difficulties.

“She booked time off for her son’s first birthday which wasn’t until January, but she wanted to spend quality time with her child.

“From a young age she chose to become a carer for children with special needs, children that were physically and emotional demanding.

“Was she so resistant that she saved it all for Andrew Lindo?”

She then addressed the jury regarding Lindo: “He was and is capable of carrying out monumental deceit.

“From the point at which he and Marie Stewart were romantically involved, he was cheating on her.

“He cheated on his friend Martin Waldron, (who was married to Ms Stewart), he then had relationships with two other women before starting a relationship with Angela Rylance, which he described as exciting.”

Ms Colporne told the jury that since Ms Stewart’s death, Lindo had misled his friends and family about her mental state, telling her sister Katie Stewart and her father Rob Stewart that she had left him and had suffered from post-natal depression.

She outlined how the prosecution believe that the two-month delay in finding Marie gave him the chance to concoct an excuse, create a story about maltreatment of their daughter, which she later described as a “whopper”.

She said: “Having taken their mother from them that night, he up-rooted his children so that he could lie in the arms of a woman that was to take their mother’s place in their lives and in his bed.

“He says he just wanted peace and quiet for the first time in three years; when he achieved that peace and quiet, he put Vanish on the stairs, stripped the bed and went to see Angela Rylance.

“On that night, how did he imagine it was going to be possible to accommodate Angela Rylance at his house when Marie Stewart was in her pyjamas planning to stay in her own bedroom?

“She was last seen with her baby in her arms and an hour later she was set upon by Andrew Lindo as she lay in her bed.

“He did not lose control, he lost his temper.”

The trial was adjourned until Monday when the defence is expected to present a speech.