Prosecutors and defence attorneys delivered opening statements on Wednesday in the retrial of Mark Jensen, a Wisconsin man accused of murdering his wife with antifreeze in 1998. Jensen, 63, was originally convicted in 2008 and sentenced to life without parole, but a judge vacated the conviction in 2021 after the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that a letter from his wife implicating him could not be used as evidence.
Jensen is charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the death of Julie Jensen at their home in Pleasant Prairie. He remains in custody on a $1.2 million cash bond. Prosecutors allege he poisoned his wife with antifreeze in December 1998, drugged her with sleeping medication, and suffocated her over three days.
Assistant District Attorney Carli McNeill told the jury that evidence would show Jensen murdered his wife with ethylene glycol, and that it was not a suicide. “She lived for her kids, and she died because the defendant murdered her,” McNeill said.
Defence attorney Mackenzie Renner argued that Julie Jensen was depressed and took her own life, citing her infidelity and declining mental health. “What brings us here today is Julie Jensen’s suicide,” Renner said.
The trial is expected to last four to five weeks, with jurors hearing testimony from witnesses beginning Wednesday.
