Dayton murder trial goes to jury

Jessica Dayton told friends and a jail cell mate what happened to Curtis Bailey the night he was murdered, Assistant Iowa Attorney General Doug Hammerand said during his closing argument today.

“The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray,” Hammerand said. “That's what happened in this case when Bailey woke up that night.”

The jury remains out in the first-degree murder trial of Jessica Dayton, 19, of Belle Plaine. They will resume deliberations 9 a.m. Tuesday. The defense didn't put on any witnesses and rested. The defense didn't give an opening statement but in a closing argument, Dayton's attorney, Doug Eichholz claimed the state hadn't met its burden of proof for first-degree murder.

Dayton is accused, along with Denise Frei, 44, of Marengo, and her son Jacob Hilgendorf, 19, of Belle Plaine, of beating to death Bailey, 33, of Marengo, July 18 in his home. Frei was Bailey's live-in girlfriend. The trial for Frei and Hilgendorf is set for January.

Hammerand said Dayton's best friend, Alesandrea Musel testified Dayton told her “I need to help ‘D' (Denise Frei) kill Curt.” Dayton talked about coming up with the “perfect crime.”

Dayton told former cell mate, Heather Szakacs, she and Frei were at Bailey's drinking and smoking marijuana that night and Bailey passed out, Hammerand said. Hilgendorf came inside to get her and Bailey woke up and started fighting with Hilgendorf. Dayton told Szakacs she panicked and got a rock from outside and then dropped it on Bailey's head three times. Hilgendorf also hit him in the head with the rock several times, Dayton told Szakacs.

Hammerand said Dayton told Denise Templeton “things didn't go according to plan” after Bailey was killed that night. She also asked her to get rid of evidence in Hilgendorf's Ford Explorer after she was interviewed by police. Templeton refused and told her she had given police permission to search and Dayton told her “we are all going to jail.”

“What do you know? It's the central question in this case,” Eichholz said in his closing. “What's proven and what is unproven?”

Eichholz said it's the state's obligation to show the jurors beyond reasonable doubt what it accuses the defendant of doing.

“If they don't do that, then it's your obligation to find them not guilty,” Eichholz said.

The state didn't prove its case and the only thing Dayton may have done is help clean up after the crime, he said. It doesn't mean she aided and abetted in the crime or participated in the murder.

Eichholz said the proved Bailey was killed. What else is known? A lot of people who testified changed their stories or had different memories on the stand.

“Why did these people change their stories or have different memories? Eichholz said. “We've heard about people getting deals and heard of others that didn't get (charged).”

Eichholz said there was all this talk about a “plan” but the only evidence of a plan was about Frei promising Bailey a menage a trois. What makes sense is the threesome was going to happen and Dayton was going to participate. There's no proof of anything more sinister going one, he said.

Eichholz even questioned the rock being the murder weapon.

“The only thing we know about the rock is that it had Bailey's blood on it,” he said.

Eichholz said if Dayton was there the night Bailey was murdered, she was an accessory. The text and call to Templeton show nothing.

Szakacs can't be trusted as a reliable witness, she's a “thieve and forger,” Eichholz said. She was in trouble for writing a love letter to a jailer and decided to make these statements about Dayton to get the heat off her.

Hammerand on rebuttal argument said this plan was well thought out and Dayton participated in the murder.

“She needs to be held accountable. This was a murder in the first degree. It was willful and premeditated.”