Dillon Adams Seeks New Trial

On August 31st of 2024, at about 9:57 am, firefighters, police, and medics were dispatched to the 200 block of South Elmwood Avenue and came upon a scene of a deceased 33-year-old woman by the name of Maddy Bakoylis. First responders pronounced the woman DOA, or in other words, dead on arrival, meaning they could do nothing further to help or revive her. Pending autopsy, first responders initially named the cause of death as an overdose of some kind. After receiving the results on Thursday, October 10th, that the cause of death was to be named homicide, they officially began a new investigation to find the perpetrator. It was later uncovered that Adams lured Maddy to his mother's home in the middle of the night under the lie of offering her a place to sleep. In the home is where Adams would go on to assault and strangle Maddy to death.

The Original Trial

The trial for Adams started with jury selection on December 8th, 2025. After hearing testimony from a list of witnesses, it took a jury four days to make a controversial decision of Adams being guilty of second-degree murder. Despite the argument that the murder was beyond grounds to qualify as premeditated and should have been considered 1st degree murder. On the 12th, Adams was sentenced to 50 years in prison, required to serve at least 80% of his time, and was transferred from Scott County Jail to Anamosa State Prison, where he will serve his time if he isn’t resentenced. He will also have to pay $150,000 of restitution to Maddy's family.

The Motion

Adams’s attorney, Alex Gilmore, filed a new motion for a new trial on December 23, 2025, to be heard by a judge on January 27, 2026, according to court documents. Gilmore approached the motion, stating Adams didn’t get a fair trial. Because the judge “denied his request to instruct the jury that it could consider voluntary manslaughter.” This date was pushed back to an unknown date as of this point, but if the judge denies the motion, Adams will be sentenced the same day and continue his time in Anamosa.