Almost 16 hours after Martha Freeman's husband was strangled and beaten to death in the couple's upscale south Nashville home, she finally reported his death to police.

If her decision to wait was puzzling, so was the explanation she gave police: She claimed her lover, an illegal Mexican immigrant who was living in her closet, killed Jeffrey Freeman after Freeman discovered him snoring in his makeshift abode.
 
But prosecutors deny Martha Freeman's version of events that led to the April 10, 2005, murder, and are expected to outline their theory during opening statements next week in the 41-year-old widow's murder trial.

Freeman and her former lover, 36-year-old Rafael Rocha-Perez, are each charged with first-degree murder in the violent bludgeoning of Jeffrey Freeman. If convicted, they face life in prison.

When police responded to the 911 call that Freeman asked a neighbor to make, they found the body of Jeffrey Freeman, 44, lying face-down in the master bathroom.

His head, which had sustained multiple blunt-force trauma injuries, was wrapped in a black plastic garbage bag and the rest of his body in a sleeping bag. A medical examiner's preliminary examination also detected possible signs of ligature marks around his neck.

Story continues

The rest of the home appeared undisturbed, according to police, except for the discovery of several other black garbage bags containing wet bath mats, towels, a pillow case with apparent bloodstains and wads of torn telephone cord.

Metro Nashville Police Department detectives also found the closet that Martha Freeman claimed her lover lived in for about a month before her husband's death.

The 2-by-8-foot storage space contained a foam pad, pillows, blankets, three loaves of bread and several objects of diversion, including a Nintendo GameBoy, a radio, and several adult magazines.

Investigators also found an "overnight bag," which contained lingerie and pictures of Martha Freeman in various states of undress.

Martha Freeman was seemingly forthcoming with authorities about her relationship with Perez, whom she referred to as "Christian," and his alleged role in her husband's death sometime after 9 p.m. that evening.

Initially, only Perez was charged with Jeffrey Freeman's murder, and Martha Freeman became a witness at his preliminary hearing, providing detailed information about their relationship and the night her husband was killed.
 
Freeman said she met Perez at a July 4 celebration in 2004 during a rocky period in her marriage. The two went to a hotel in downtown Nashville with two of his friends, and she admitted to having "intimate" relations with the three men.

From there, the lovers conducted an on-and-off relationship with the aid of an English-Spanish translator, which eventually culminated in Perez moving into a closet in the Freeman home in March 2005.