Dayton found guilty of first-degree murder

Jessica Dayton was found guilty of first-degree murder today by an Iowa County District Court jury.

Dayton and her family were crying in the courtroom just after the verdict was read, as was the family of murder victim Curtis Bailey.

Dayton, 20, of Belle Plaine, was accused of beating to death Bailey, 33, of Marengo, in his home July 18.

Bailey's live-in girlfriend Denise Frei, 44, of Marengo, and her son Jacob Hilgendorf, 19, of Belle Plaine, are also charged with first-degree murder in the case. Their trial is set for January.

Bailey's family and friends seemed relieved and hugged each other after court. They were taken into another room to talk with Assistant Attorney General Doug Hammerand. Sounds of muffled clapping could be heard outside the door.

Penny Galvin, a victim's advocate with Horizons, spoke for Bailey's family – his ex-wife Michelle Geary, her son with Bailey Alex, 16, and her mother Joan Gaffield, all of Marengo. They didn't want to speak to media themselves.

Galvin said the family was happy with the verdict and felt justice was served.

“It was difficult for the family to go through this because it was like it was happening again,” she said.

The prosecution claimed the three planned a murder conspiracy where they would lure Bailey into a menage a trois with Dayton and Frei and then get him drunk so they could kill him.

The defense didn't put on any witnesses and claimed in a closing argument that the state didn't prove Dayton was involved in the murder. Defense attorney Doug Eichholz said the state's case was full of “speculation and assumptions.”