Second defendant on trial in Bailey slaying

A 21-year-old Belle Plaine man will stand trial this week in Scott County District Court for his alleged role in a conspiracy involving booze, the promise of a menage a trois and a brutal beating.

Jacob Hilgendorf, charged with first-degree murder, is accused of beating his mother's boyfriend, Curtis Bailey, 33, of Marengo, with a landscaping rock at Bailey's home in July 2009.

Denise Frei, 45, of Marengo, will be tried for first-degree murder after Hilgendorf, her son, is tried. His friend Jessica Dayton, 20, of Belle Plaine, was convicted in April and is serving a life sentence for her role.

The trial was transferred from Iowa County to Scott County after Dayton was convicted to ensure a large enough jury pool was available to select 12 fair and impartial jurors and alternates.

Jury selection begins at 9 a.m. Monday. Testimony will get under way Tuesday, and the trial is expected to last about two weeks.

Reporter Trish Mehaffey will provide live coverage at www.TheGazette.com from the courtroom when the testimony starts. Viewers can follow court action, ask questions and provide comments.

According to testimony at Dayton's trial, Frei and Dayton promised Bailey three-way sex if he participated in a drinking game, but they actually planned to get him drunk and then kill him. Witnesses testified that Hilgendorf was to come to the home to help the women after Bailey was drunk, but Bailey awoke and a struggle started between the men.

Dayton then picked up a landscaping rock from outside his home and dropped it on his head three times, according to evidence, followed by Hilgendorf hitting Bailey with the rock at least once.

Frei plans to claim insanity and diminished responsibility as her defense.