Murder of Curtis Bailey by Denise Frei profiled on Snapped

Oxygen is re-airing the Snapped investigation into the murder of Curtis Bailey, who was beaten to death by his common-law wife, Denise Frei, at their home in Marengo, Iowa.

Frei planned and executed the murder with the help of her 18-year-old son, Jacob Hilgendorf, and his girlfriend, 18-year-old Jessica Dayton.

On July 19, 2009, Frei called the cops to report Bailey had been murdered in a drug deal gone bad. She told the officers she had been upstairs when Bailey let two drug dealers into the house, but something had gone wrong, and they had beaten him to death.

The police found the 33-year-old had been beaten with a rock, a candy dish, and an ashtray.

However, this version of events was soon dismissed when Frei’s son, Hilgendorf, promptly admitted his role in the murder.

It emerged that Frei had planned to get her husband so drunk he passed out and then smother him with Saran wrap in the mistaken belief that it would not make any marks and the police would think he had a heart attack.

Denise Frei fooled murder victim Curtis Bailey into thinking he was going to have a threesome

Frei told Bailey that she and Dayton would perform sex acts on each other while he watched. She told him he had to drink a shot of vodka for every sex act. Earlier on the day of the murder, Bailey happily told his coworkers he would take part in a threesome that night.

The plan failed when Bailey woke up as they tried to smother him, and a struggle ensued. The three killers improvised by beating him to death with nearby objects.

Frei eventually admitted to the murder but claimed it was in self-defense and that she suffered from battered woman syndrome.

She accused Bailey of subjecting her to emotional, verbal, and sexual abuse throughout their relationship. She claimed he had threatened to kill her children and grandchild if she ever left him.

Bailey was also accused of being a jealous control freak to the point of forcing her to return store items if he learned the cashier had been male. Frei also claimed that he forced her to cut off her family.

Denise Frei convicted of killing Curtis Bailey

In August 2011, Frei was convicted of first-degree murder following a week-long jury trial. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

At the sentencing, Bailey’s son, 16-year-old Alex Bailey, told the killer, “You took my dad from me. He will never see me grow up. He will never see my graduation. He will never meet his grandchildren.”

Hilgendorf and Dayton, who were promised $5,000 by Frei for their assistance, were also convicted of first-degree murder and given life sentences.

This epsiode of Snapped re-airs Tuesday at 7/6c on Oxygen.