Kenosha antifreeze murder case, Mark Jensen seeks third trial
Kenosha antifreeze murder case, Mark Jensen seeks third trial
The man twice convicted of poisoning and killing his wife in 1998 is now seeking to get a third trial, arguing ineffective counsel and key evidence wasn’t turned over.
KENOSHA, Wis. - The man twice convicted of poisoning and killing his wife in 1998 is now seeking to get a third trial, arguing ineffective counsel and key evidence wasn’t turned over.
2023 conviction
The backstory:
In February 2023, a jury convicted Mark Jensen of first-degree intentional homicide in the death of his wife Julie. It was the end of a years-long successful effort by Jensen to seek a new trial after he was first convicted in 2008.
Mark Jensen sentenced; life without parole, 1998 death of his wife
A Kenosha County judge sentenced Mark Jensen on Friday, April 14 to life in prison without parole in the killing of his wife, Julie Jensen, in 1998.
Jensen, now 67, argues his defense attorneys in the latest trial didn’t connect the dots on key pieces of evidence in the latest trial.
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"This was planned out for a long time. It was intentional, it was researched," said Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Anthony Milisauskas at Jensen’s sentencing in April 2023.
Milisauskas – who has since retired from the bench – said the evidence at trial was overwhelming – that Jensen psychologically and emotionally tortured his wife, Julie, for years while Jensen had an affair with his boss’ secretary, whom Jensen later married. Jensen claimed Julie poisoned herself with antifreeze.
Trial file footage
"The lack of calling a doctor when she was dying. It was a painful death. And it was all caused by Mr. Jensen," Milisauskas said at sentencing.
A letter written by Julie Jensen before her death, pointing police to her husband if anything happened to her, was a key piece of evidence in the first trial. That letter was later thrown out and a new trial ordered.
On Friday, Sept. 18, Jensen filed a motion seeking an evidentiary hearing and to call his defense attorneys in the most recent trial to testify, arguing the jury convicted him on inaccurate evidence, and evidence that should have been turned over by the state.
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Request for new trial
What's next:
The motion, filed by Jensen’s latest attorney Joseph Bugni, argues ineffective counsel, and claims his defense attorneys failed to investigate the timeline of internet searches presented at trial, didn’t closely examine computer files, and that certain computer evidence wasn’t turned over by the state that could clear Mark Jensen.
Bugni declined to comment. FOX6 also reached out to the special prosecutor in the 2023 trial, and former Kenosha County District Attorney who prosecuted the case in the first trial, Robert Jambois and haven’t heard back.
The court has 60 days to enter an order or deny the motion, which could then be appealed to the appeals court.
The Source: Information in this report comes from court records and prior reporting.