Jury selection got underway Monday in the new homicide trial of the man accused of killing his wife at their Pleasant Prairie home in 1998.
Mark D. Jensen, who was convicted almost a decade later in February 2008 of the murder of his wife Julie Jensen, is standing trial again in Kenosha County Circuit Court after years of court battles.
Jensen, 63, is again charged with first-degree intentional homicide, and he remains in custody on a $1.2 million bond in Kenosha.
The new trial, before Judge Anthony Milisauskas, is expected to last about four or five weeks. Opening statements are expected later this week.
A 2020 US Supreme Court ruling helped pave the way for this new trial. The nation’s highest court declined to hear the case after an appeal from a Wisconsin State Supreme Court ruling that Jensen should receive a new trial without a letter used as evidence in the first trial.
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Mark Jensen was convicted on evidence that included a letter Julie Jensen wrote before her death and gave to a neighbor. In it, she wrote that “if anything happens to me” that her husband “would be my first suspect,” among other things.
The letter was revealed after her death. The so-called “letter from the grave” will not be allowed into evidence during this trial.
On Monday morning, eight groups of 10 prospective jurors entered Milisauskas’ court and answered questions from the prosecution and defense about their familiarity with the case and whether they could serve impartially. Milisauskas told the jury some basic information about the case from the charging documents, and that Jensen has pleaded not guilty.
The pool of jurors will likely be whittled down to 16 with four alternates.
At least one person from every group of 10 prospective jurors told the court they were familiar with the case, had read news reports about it, knew someone involved or could not be impartial. Before lunch 15 of the 80 were dismissed.
The original prosecutor, Robert Jambois, a former Kenosha County District attorney, returned as a special prosecutor before Milisauskas, now the third circuit court judge to preside over the matter.
Jambois asked jurors if they could make decisions “exclusively based on evidence that is presented here in the court room.”
Defense Attorney Bridget Krause asked whether some potential jurors could “push aside” what the may have recently read or heard about the case in the media.
During the jury selection process known as voir dire that continued into the afternoon Monday, Milisauskas thanked the potential men and women of the jury for carrying out their civic duties, and said he understands serving as a juror at times can be difficult.
Jury selection was expected to continue throughout the evening with additional prospective jurors questioned. Jury selection is set to continue Tuesday morning.
Mark Jensen has maintained his innocence for decades. His attorneys have argued Julie Jensen, 40, was depressed and died by suicide after framing her husband for her death. In court Monday, Jensen wore a gray suit and smiled from time to time at his parents seated behind him in the gallery.
Prosecutors argued Mark Jensen killed his wife by poisoning her with antifreeze and then suffocating her in order to be with a mistress, and that he searched the internet for ways to make her death look like a suicide.
Mark D. Jensen, who was convicted in February 2008 of the murder of his wife, will appear in court again Monday for a new jury trial.
Daniel Gaitan
Mark Jensen was previously sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole by Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder.
Mark Jensen was sentenced in 2008 after a jury convicted him. A series of appeals followed and in 2013 a federal court overturned his conviction and ordered that he be retrieved or released from prison. A federal judge ruled Julie Jensen’s letter was harmful to Mark Jensen’s defense.
When a second prosecution began in 2017, Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Chad Kerkman ruled the letter should be admitted and Kerkman reinstated Jensen’s conviction without a second trial.
However, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in March 2021 that Jensen must receive a new trial and that the letter and incriminating statements his wife made cannot be used by prosecutors. What followed were appeals that ended when the US Supreme Court declined to take up the case.
Prior decisions from courts ruled the so-called “letter from the grave” violated Mark Jensen’s Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses against him.
Mugshots: Kenosha County criminal complaints from Jan. 4-6
Ashley Marie Barrientes-Womack
Ashley Marie Barrientes-Womack31, of Kenosha, faces charges of probation and parole.
Danielle Lashee Beavers Jones
Danielle Lashee Beavers Jones27, of Milwaukee, faces charges of receiving stolen property (greater than $10,000).
Justin Michael Bollinger
Justin Michael Bollinger27, of Twin Lakes, faces charges of intimate victim/use or attempt force, disorderly conduct, battery, kidnapping/carry without consent, burglary of a dwelling/boat with person present, criminal damage to property, first degree recklessly endangering safety, vehicle operator flee/elude officer, possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia (methamphetamine), and possession of THC.
Anthony P Daniels
Anthony P Daniels31, of Kenosha, faces charges of false imprisonment, battery (domestic abuse repeater), disorderly conduct (domestic abuse repeater), and bail jumping.
Lakera T Grady
Lakera T Grady18, of Milwaukee, faces charges of vehicle operator flee/elude officer, first degree recklessly endangering safety, and receiving stolen property (greater than $10,000).
Christian Ryan Green
Christian Ryan Green30, of Chicago, Illinois, faces charges of probation and parole.
Randy Allen Grosch
Randy Allen Grosch36, of Wisconsin, faces charges of probation and parole.
Kevin Donald Kuhn
Kevin Donald Kuhn48, of Franklin, faces charges of bail jumping.
Lamar Dion Lewis
Lamar Dion Lewis39, of Janesville, faces charges of vehicle operator flee/elude officer.
Deeavlon Day by Riley
Deeavlon Day by Riley21, of Milwaukee, faces charges of bail jumping, receiving stolen property (greater than $10,000), and possession of THC.
Austin Lawrence Siferd
Austin Lawrence Siferd30, of Kenosha, faces charges of probation and parole, battery (domestic abuse repeater), and disorderly conduct (domestic abuse repeater).
Fernando Torrez Jr.
Fernando Torrez Jr.45, of Kenosha, faces charges of probation and parole, and retail theft (intentionally take less than or equal to $500).
Gary Michael Anthony Williams
Gary Michael Anthony Williams24, of Kenosha, faces charges of disorderly conduct (domestic abuse repeater), bail jumping, battery, second degree recklessly enduring safety, strangulation and suffocation, and false imprisonment.
Shovona Danielle Williams
Shovona Danielle Williams19, of Milwaukee, faces charges of bail jumping, resisting or obstructing an officer, and receiving stolen property (greater than $10,000).
Davionne Kalel Wright
Davionne Kalel Wright22, of North Chicago, Illinois, faces charges of vehicle operator flee/elude officer.
Robert Joseph Wypych
Robert Joseph Wypych34, of Kenosha, faces charges of discharge bodily fluids at public safety worker/prosecutor, resisting or obstructing an officer, and disorderly conduct.
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