Suspected murder of Douglas Bailey by Rose Kuehni investigated on Snapped

Snapped on Oxygen is examining the murder of Douglas Bailey, who was shot dead before being left in a box on an embankment in rural Kentucky in 2015.

Bailey’s girlfriend, Rose Kuehni, confessed to the killing and was aided in hiding the body by her secret lover, Clarence Hicks. Both Kuenhi and Hicks were convicted of charges relating to the murder, but no one has actually been charged directly with murder.

In November 2015, Bailey and Kuehni shared a house in Prescott, Wisconsin, and Bailey’s family was expecting the pair to visit them in Pekin, Illinois. The couple supposedly set off together but never arrived, and 51-year-old Bailey was never seen again.

Bailey’s family reported him missing about a week later. Kuehni told the police that she had argued with her boyfriend in the car about him leaving her for another woman. She claimed she dropped him off in Edwards, Illinois, and drove back to Wisconsin.

The authorities and Bailey’s family began searching the area around Edwards. However, cops in a rural part of Bell County, Kentucky, discovered a box on an embankment that contained Bailey’s remains.

Rose Kuehni confessed to killing Douglas Bailey

Kuehni was questioned by detectives of Pierce County Sheriff’s Office in Wisconsin and actually admitted to shooting Douglas with a shogun. She also told them Clarence Hicks had helped her dispose of the body. However, she claimed she was being abused by the victim.

She was charged with first-degree murder, but her legal team was successful in portraying Bailey as a violent abuser who had threatened and demanded sex from Kuehni.

A jury dismissed the first-degree murder charge and was hung on a secondary charge of second-degree murder.

In the end, a jury acquitted Kuehni of murder but convicted her of the lesser charge of hiding a corpse. She also agreed to plead guilty to aggravated assault.

Rose Kuehni spent only one year in jail for killing Douglas Bailey

Kuehni was sentenced to ten years of probation and one year of jail time. She was released on credit, having already served a year in prison while awaiting trial.

Judge James Duvall claimed that “Sending her to prison is not going to make her a better person, I’m sure of that.”

Bailey’s family has since expressed their dismay at the lack of jail time Kuehni received.

Clarence Hicks, Kuehni’s supposed secret lover, pleaded no contest to hiding the body in Kentucky. He was sentenced to three to seven years in prison.

Snapped airs Sundays at 7/6c on Oxygen.