ELLSWORTH, Wis. — The live-in girlfriend of a former Pekin man will spend no time in prison for gunning him down and boxing up his body last year, according to Wisconsin media reports.

Rose M. Kuehni, 45, was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years’ probation for fatally shooting Douglas Bailey, 51, on Nov. 22, 2015 in their Prescott home, according to the Eau Claire Leader Telegram. The case involved a ruse by Kuehni that led police on a wild-goose chase through Peoria County, with the body eventually found in rural Kentucky, allegedly dumped there by her off-and-on lover.

In court, Kuehni did not contest pulling the trigger. Rather, her defense relied on battered-spouse syndrome, claiming she killed him as a last resort to end long-term abuse by Bailey. Though outside court his family decried those allegations, her defense worked twice.

In August, a Pierce County jury found her not guilty of first-degree intentional homicide, which carries a penalty of natural life in prison. Jurors were hung on a count of second-degree intentional homicide, punishable by up to 60 years, which implies a defendant acted in self-defense but was in no imminent threat.

The jury did convict Kuehni of hiding a corpse, punishable by up to 12½ years. However, at the time she was released on $20,000 bail while awaiting retrial on that charge. The trial set for Tuesday, Kuehni instead agreed to plead guilty to a charge of aggravated battery. Despite statements from Bailey’s family painting him as a decent man, Judge James Duvall sentenced Kuehni to the decade of probation and one year in jail, with credit for 277 days already served. It was not clear if she will have to serve any further jail time.

“Sending her to prison is not going to make her a better person, I’m sure of that,” Duvall said, according to the Red Wing (Wis.) Republican Eagle.

Last Thanksgiving, Bailey was supposed to drive to a family gathering in Pekin. After he did not show, family called police. Kuehni told police that the two had been motoring toward Pekin when they got in an argument near Edwards. She said he stopped the car and stomped off, never to return, prompting an extensive search of the area by police and relatives.

Actually, while naked in their bedroom days before Thanksgiving, she cut him down with a 20-gauge pump-action shotgun. She dragged his body outside, stuffed it into a box and called Clarence Hicks, 61, of Harrodsburg, Ky. They'd originally met at a Walmart in Mankato, Minn., and thereafter would sometimes rendezvous in various states for sex.

On the day of Bailey’s death, Hicks allegedly agreed to meet Kuehni in central Illinois along Interstate 74. There, he took the box, drove to mountainous Kentucky and allegedly dumped it down a ravine near the town of Pineville.

Hicks, also charged with hiding a corpse, took the Fifth Amendment and refused to testify at her trial. A hearing in his case is set for Monday.

PHIL LUCIANO is a Journal Star columnist. He can be reached at pluciano@pjstar.com, facebook.com/philluciano and (309) 686-3155. Follow him on Twitter.com/LucianoPhil.