Woman accused of murder initially told police a false account

Denise Frei told police in her first interview that her live-in boyfriend Curtis Bailey was assaulted and killed by two unknown men during a drug deal gone bad July 19, 2009 while she was upstairs.

Frei, 45, of Marengo, said she and Bailey had been drinking and smoking marijuana that night, and later after she went upstairs to watch television, she heard two men downstairs arguing with Bailey. She couldn't hear what they said but they were raising their voices and it sounded like they were fighting.

She didn't come down right away because she was “scared to death,” she told investigators. When she finally went down, she saw Bailey lying on the floor and there was “blood all over him and around him” and he wasn't breathing.

The audio-taped interviewed was played Tuesday in first day testimony of Frei's first-degree murder trial in Scott County District Court. The trial was transferred to Scott from Marengo.

Frei is accused for her part in the brutal slaying of Bailey, 33, of Marengo. He was beaten with a rock and other items July 19, 2009 in his home. Frei's son Jacob Hilgendorf, 21, and his friend, Jessica Dayton, 21, both of Belle Plaine, were both convicted of first-degree murder.

Iowa County Sheriff's deputies and Marengo Police officers testified before the interview was played in court. They said Frei first gave them the account about the drug deal but then after Hilgendorf and Dayton were interviewed Frei changed her story.

Iowa County Sheriff's Lt. Tim Walters testified Frei then said she had planned to get Bailey drunk and wrap plastic wrap around his head to suffocate him. Bailey passed out, but while Frei began wrapping him in plastic, he woke up and she, Hilgendorf and Dayton started hitting him in the head until he was dead.

Not all of the audiotape was played before court adjourned Tuesday, so the remaining hour of the tape will be played Wednesday.

Kjas Long, Frei's attorney, said in his opening statement that Frei was physically and sexually abused by Bailey for years and she suffered from the battered woman's syndrome. Frei thought Bailey had hired a “hit man” to burn her son alive and this is what led to Bailey's death that night. Frei knew it was Bailey or her son and she chose her son.

Long said Frei and Bailey had a “toxic” relationship that grew worse over time. Bailey controlled her by threats and she was scared of him.

That characterization of their relationship was contradicted later when jurors heard Frei's interview with police. Frei was repeatedly asked about their relationship and Frei said it was good. They argued like any married couple. She said Bailey and Hilgendorf didn't get along but she just tried to keep them apart.

At one point in the interview, Frei even said she tried to keep negative people out of their relationship.

The prosecution continues its case 9 a.m. Wednesday. The trial is expected to go into next week.

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