KENOSHA, Wis. — Mark Jensen, the Pleasant Prairie man whose murder conviction was vacated, returns to court Tuesday following a break for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day on Monday.
Proceedings are expected to pick back up with continued testimony from 2008. Pleasant Prairie Police Officer Ronald Kosman's 2008 testimony was shown in part on Friday, with the remainder expected to be shown today.
Kosman said he spoke to Julie Jensen many times. According to Kosman, she reported to police an extended campaign of harassment — someone was leaving printed pornographic images outside her home.
On Friday, Jensen's former co-worker, Edward Klug, took the stand first for the state. He gave testimony about a night of drinking after a conference in 1998, the year Julie died. Klug claims that during their conversation, Jensen told him about his plans for Julie.
Case background:
Mark Jensen, 63, was convicted in 2008 of killing his wife, Julie Jensen, at their home in the Kenosha County village of Pleasant Prairie and was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
But a Kenosha County judge vacated his conviction in April 2021 after the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Jensen deserved a new trial. The court found that a letter his wife wrote incriminating him in the event something should happen to her could not be used by the prosecution.
Prosecutors allege that he began poisoning his wife with antifreeze in December 1998, drugged her with sleeping medication, and later suffocated her to death over a three-day period.
Jensen has maintained his innocence, with his attorneys arguing that Julie Jensen was depressed and killed herself after framing her husband.
Criminal Defense Attorney Patrick Cafferty closely followed the case. He explains that under the U.S. Constitution, a defendant has the right to question an accuser, which is impossible if the accuser is testifying with a letter and essentially "from the grave."
Still, even without the letter, Cafferty believes the defense has a tough road ahead considering the circumstantial evidence presented by the prosecution.
