[ad_1]
The article mentions suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.
KENOSHA, Wisconsin (AP) — A Wisconsin prosecutor and attorney accused of murdering his wife with antifreeze in 1998 gave opening statements at a retrial on Wednesday.
Mark Jensen, 63, was convicted of murdering his wife, Julie Jensen, at his home in the Kenosha County village of Pleasant Prairie in 2008 and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
However, a Kenosha County judge vacated the conviction in April 2021 after the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Jensen deserved a new trial. A court ruled that a letter written by his wife to convict him if something happened to her could not be used by the prosecution.
Jensen, who was charged with first-degree manslaughter in the death of his wife, remains in custody on a $1.2 million cash bond, according to the Kenosha News.
Prosecutors alleged that he began poisoning his wife with antifreeze in December 1998, forced her to take sleeping pills, and then suffocated her to death over the course of three days.
Jensen has maintained her innocence, and lawyers allege that Julie Jensen was depressed and committed suicide after cheating on her husband.
Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Carly McNeil told jurors in his opening statement that the prosecutor “presented evidence that the defendant murdered his wife with ethylene glycol, which was evidenced by Julie Jensen ingesting the substance.” I didn’t commit suicide because of this,” he said.
“She lived for her children and died because the defendant murdered her,” McNeil said.
Jensen’s attorney said Julie Jensen’s infidelity and depression weighed on the couple’s marriage and drove her to commit suicide.
Mark Jensen’s attorney, Mackenzie Renner, said, “What brought us here today was Julie Jensen’s suicide: ‘Suicide of a woman with failing mental health.'”
Jurors began hearing testimony from witnesses after Wednesday’s opening statements. Jensen’s trial he expects to last four to five weeks.
[ad_2]
Source link
