Man charged with murder of friend

A Minnetonka man has been charged in the death of his friend, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Wednesday.

Ronald Gary Bailey, 54, was charged with the second-degree murder of Riley B. Housley III, who lived in Minneapolis. He is expected to make his first appearance this afternoon.

According to the criminal complaint, police were dispatched to Hennepin County Medical Center on Jan. 21 for a reported assault. Investigators met with a doctor who was treating Housley, who had been brought in by ambulance earlier that morning. During surgery, the physician saw that three parts of Housley’s skull had been fractured and the wounds could have come from the claw portion of a hammer. Housley died Jan. 31 from his injuries.

Housley’s girlfriend told the physician that she had come to his apartment at 204 Lowry Ave. NE just after midnight Jan. 21 and Housley was conscious, but bleeding profusely. At the time, she assumed he had fallen. She called a friend, identified as JV, for assistance.

After speaking with Housley’s girlfriend, officers went with her to Housley’s home. She led them into a living room area and said that she had found Housley seated at a desk. She also showed them the laundry room where they saw a hammer with blood on it.

On Jan. 25, JV was interviewed by investigators. He said that Housley’s girlfriend contacted him about 1 a.m. on the morning of the 21st. JV called the ambulance and both he and Housley’s girlfriend tried to reach Bailey who lived in a recreational vehicle parked on the property of the apartment building but Bailey did not respond, according to the complaint.

JV said all Housley would say in response to his questions about who caused his injuries was “Ron.” JV stated Housley’s eyes were swollen “and he looked really bad.” JV also said earlier in the day, he’d heard that two friends of his had seen Bailey coming out of Housley’s apartment, all cleaned up, like he was going somewhere. According to the complaint, JV said that Bailey was the only one who had a key fob for Housley’s apartment besides his girlfriend who was not around during the day on Jan. 20.

Surveillance video from the entrance of Housley’s apartment showed that he entered it about 7:30 the morning of the 20th and did not exit again until he was taken away by the ambulance. The only other person seen entering the apartment during the day was Bailey who came and went multiple times.

Bailey Criminal Complaint (PDF)