'I am sorry' Hilgendorf tells DCI agent, according to testimony

DAVENPORT – Jacob Hilgendorf confessed to beating to death Curtis Bailey after an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agent encourages him, at times, pleading with him, for more than 30 minutes to tell his side of the story and say he's sorry, according to testimony in court on Thursday.

Agent  Matt George tells Hilgendorf he knows he was involved after about two hours into a three hour interview July 19, 2009, just hours after Bailey was beaten.

George repeatedly for 30 minutes tells him he's not a bad person. He asks Hilgendorf to tell his side of the story, “so you get the sympathy you deserve,”  and admit to being a scared son who was protecting his mother.

“I am sorry,” Hilgendorf says crying and admits to grabbing a rock and hitting Bailey until he was dead.

The trial continues 9 a.m. Friday in Scott County District Court. The prosecution will rest and the defense should get underway. This case was transferred to Scott from Iowa County.

Hilgendorf, 21, of Belle Plaine, charged with first-degree murder, is accused of being part of conspiracy to kill Bailey July 18, 2009, along with his mother Denise Frei, 45, of Marengo,  and friend Jessica Dayton, 20, of Belle Plaine.

Dayton was convicted for first-degree murder for her involvement last April and is serving a life sentence in prison. Frei, Bailey's former girlfriend, also charged with first-degree murder will stand trial some time after her son.

Hilgendorf, crying at times, told George and another agent he went to Bailey's that night to make him mad. He knew Bailey was drunk because his mother or Dayton told him they were drinking, but he said Bailey “started freaking out and I grabbed a rock (out of the fish tank) and hit him.”

He claimed Bailey said he was going to “burn me alive” and “slice my mom's family.” Bailey never hit him but he pushed Bailey down on the sofa, straddling him and began beating him.

Hilgendorf said he did it because of the way Bailey treated his mother and him, and because of the threats made against his family.

He also told the agents he burned the clothes he was wearing that night in the fire pit at friend Denise Templeton's house, where he and Dayton went after the beating and gathered up evidence .

George asked if Dayton and Frei were involved but Hilgendorf said they saw the beating but denied their involvement more than once.

After confessing and while agents are out of the room, Hilgendorf makes two emotional phone calls, one to Templeton and someone else, and admits to killing Bailey and apologizes over and over. He tells them he loves them and that he had to do it.

In other testimony, Amy Pollpeter, DCI criminalist, testified about DNA collected from Bailey's and Hilgendorf's Explorer.  The rock, plastic wrap and BB-gun taken from Bailey's house tested positive for blood and matched Bailey's DNA profile.

The plastic wrap taken from the Explorer tested positive for blood and one of the rubber gloves from the Explorer tested positive for blood and matched Bailey's DNA, Pollpeter said. The other glove tested positive for DNA, unknown if from skin cells or blood, and matched a mixture of Bailey's and Hilgendorf's DNA.

One stain on the toe of Hilgendorf's tennis shoes found in the Explorer also tested positive for blood and matched Bailey's DNA.

Follow Reporter Trish Mehaffey's live coverage from the courtroom below.

• WEDNESDAY'S TRIAL COVERAGE: Jacob Hilgendorf's best friend said he confessed to killing Curtis Bailey.