Jacob Hilgendorf’s best friend says he confessed to killing Curtis Bailey

Jacob Hilgendorf's best friend testified Wednesday he admitted to her about killing Curtis Bailey after his mother told her of a plan she had to “hurt” her boyfriend Bailey.

Elisha Runyan, also a former roommate of Hilgendorf's, said he called her from jail after being arrested July 19, 2009 two times and in the second call said he killed Bailey earlier that day, told her he was sorry and asked her to bring him some cigarettes.

The first-degree murder trial of Hilgendorf, 21, of Belle Plaine, continues 9 a.m. Thursday in Scott County District Court. The prosecution will wrap up its case and the defense could start late today or Friday. This case was transferred from Iowa County.

Hilgendorf is accused of being part of conspiracy with his mother Denise Frei, 45, of Marengo, and Jessica Dayton, 20, of Belle Plaine, to get Bailey, 33, of Marengo, drunk and kill him July 18, 2009. Bailey was beaten to death in his home.

Dayton was convicted of first-degree murder last April and Frei will stand trial for first-degree murder after Hilgendorf's trial.

Runyan, who worked at Bailey's Lincoln Café in Belle Plaine, testified Frei, who managed the cafe, told her about plans for Bailey July 18, 2009 while they were working. Frei told her Dayton was also involved.

“They were going to try to overdose him,” Runyan said. “Frei said if they (Dayton and Hilgendorf) helped they would get $5,000 (to kill Bailey).”

Hilgendorf, who knew Runyan was having some financial difficulties, also told her she would get a“pretty penny if she kept her mouth shut.”

The next day, she received a call from Dayton, who was at the police station for questioning, and she asked Runyan to get some items out of Hilgendorf's Ford Explorer. Runyan told her no.

Later in the day, Dr. Jerri McLemore, a pathologist and former associate state medical examiner, testified about the autopsy performed on Bailey. She said Bailey's head, neck and face had multiple lacerations and bruises. The largest laceration, about five inches, was just over one of his ears.

“You could almost take a flap of skin and fold it over, she said.

He had some other deep lacerations at various places on his scalp and there were clusters of tears and abrasions on the back of his head.

McLemore said it was difficult to determine how many blows he suffered. It could be 11 to 30 or so, depending on how you counted the cluster of injuries. The kind of injuries he suffered indicated forceful impact from an object was used to depress bone fracture into the skull.

There were also pieces of glass in Bailey's head, which are consistent with some items taken from the crime scene. He also had what could have been defensive wounds on the back of his arms and knuckles.

Assistant Attorney General Douglas Hammerand asked her if the landscaping rock collected at the scene could have cause injuries like this.

She said it was possible.

In other testimony, Dennis Kern, a criminalist with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, testified about items collected from the crime scene.

Of the 65 items taken, only 45 were tested and only five had suitable prints for identification.

Quint Meyerdirk, Hilgendorf's other attorney, asked Kern if Hilgendorf's prints were found on any of those items tested.

Kern said no. All five belonged to Dayton.

Read coverage from day one: Jacob Hilgendorf confesses to killing his mother's boyfriend in a recorded phone call

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