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almost crazy to say out loud, right? I think

1:01

my husband, the person I have two children with,

1:04

the person I live with, I think he's trying to kill

1:06

me. I'm

1:19

Scott Weinberger, investigative journalist and

1:21

former deputy sheriff. I'm

1:24

Anasiga Nikolasi, former New York City

1:26

homicide prosecutor and host of

1:28

Investigation Discovery's True Conviction. And

1:31

this is Anatomy of Murder. In

1:38

my career as a prosecutor, I've been part

1:40

of many long and winding cases. Pretrial

1:43

hearings, deciding what evidence is and

1:45

is not admissible. Trials,

1:47

mistrials, verdicts and appeals.

1:50

Sometimes it seems like there are a

1:52

million things that can delay and even

1:55

derail justice. take

2:00

between the moment law enforcement is

2:02

convinced they know who committed a

2:04

major crime and when that person

2:06

is tried, convicted, and ultimately punished.

2:09

And today's story is a perfect

2:11

example of that long road to

2:13

justice. And while the courtroom

2:15

twists and turns often pique the interest

2:18

of all you legal eagles out there,

2:20

like any homicide case, it begins with

2:22

a sudden and heartbreaking death. This

2:25

time in the quiet suburb of

2:27

Pleasant Prairie, which is part of

2:29

Kenosha, Wisconsin. So Kenosha

2:31

County is between Milwaukee and

2:33

Chicago. We're right on Lake Michigan.

2:35

You know, I can see the lake

2:37

outside my window as I sit here.

2:39

And that's the voice of Carly McNeil,

2:41

a prosecutor at the Kenosha County District

2:43

Attorney's Office. I grew up here. I

2:45

went to grade school here. I went to high school here.

2:48

I was really drawn to

2:50

criminal law and particularly being a prosecutor.

2:52

For me, there wasn't a lot of

2:54

thoughts about what I would do after

2:56

law school other than go into the

2:58

public service that is being a prosecutor.

3:00

Clearly, Carly is a person after my

3:03

own heart. And we both wanted the

3:05

same things. We just did it in

3:07

different ways. I went to the

3:09

Big Apple and served my prosecutor years there

3:11

while she stayed closer to home in Kenosha.

3:13

We're not a huge place. The

3:16

county is probably a little over 150,000 people.

3:19

And Pleasant Prairie is a great place to live,

3:21

a great place to, you know, raise your family.

3:24

But as we've learned time and

3:26

time again, big cities do not

3:28

hold the monopoly on murder or

3:30

headline-grabbing criminal prosecutions, especially

3:33

ones that stretch over 10

3:35

years. There's nothing quite

3:37

like this Jensen case. It is a

3:39

unique case. You know, even our other

3:41

homicide cases, you know, maybe be in trial for

3:43

a week and it will be a long week, but

3:45

it is still quite different from what we

3:48

confronted here. So let's go back to that

3:50

quiet but cold afternoon in December of 1998.

3:52

That's the day

3:55

that Kenosha native Mark Jensen, along with

3:57

his two young sons, pulled into the

4:00

the driveway of their home in

4:02

the quaint lakeside community of Pleasant

4:04

Prairie, Wisconsin. It should

4:06

have been a day like any other.

4:08

Instead, it was the beginning of a

4:10

decade-long nightmare. Mark's

4:13

911 call was placed at 4.30 p.m.

4:15

The emergency? He had just

4:17

discovered his wife, 40-year-old Julie

4:19

Jensen, face down on their

4:22

bed and she wasn't breathing.

4:24

EMTs arrived in less than five

4:27

minutes, but their attempts to save

4:29

Julie's life were unsuccessful. The

4:31

otherwise healthy mother of two was pronounced

4:33

dead at the scene, but with no

4:36

visible injuries, no blood or any apparent

4:38

signs of trauma, the cause of

4:40

her death was still a mystery. She

4:44

certainly was in the prime of her life,

4:46

so not someone who it's expected

4:48

or it's shocking for her age.

4:50

And so certainly it was always

4:52

going to be investigated just due

4:54

to that alone, but there were

4:56

immediately things that were concerning when

4:58

Julie Jensen was reported dead. Not

5:01

the least of which was the way her body was found

5:03

on the bed. Her face on

5:05

the pillow, her arms positioned strangely under

5:07

her body, as if her body had

5:10

been moved prior to the EMTs

5:12

arriving. But when investigators

5:14

arrived, Mark denied having done anything

5:17

to his wife's body after discovering

5:19

her unresponsive in their bed. In

5:21

fact, he appeared distraught and in

5:24

shock as any husband would be.

5:27

I don't believe that Mark

5:29

Jensen was saying anything strange or

5:31

unusual to investigators just reporting as

5:33

a upset husband. You know, I

5:35

found my wife dead, she wasn't

5:37

feeling well. So I don't think

5:39

there was anything concerning to the

5:41

immediate responders about his reaction or

5:43

what he was reporting. But

5:45

he was able to offer investigators some information

5:48

that might explain her sudden death. According to

5:50

Mark, Julie had complained of feeling sick that

5:52

morning, which is why she was home in

5:54

bed while Mark had gone to pick up

5:57

the kids from school. He

5:59

also dropped Another nugget of information

6:02

that his wife had been struggling

6:04

with depression and had recently been

6:06

prescribed antidepressants He had

6:08

gone to their

6:10

family doctor to report that she

6:13

had been depressed and things like

6:15

that shortly before her death and

6:18

He had gotten medication for her saying

6:20

that she couldn't sleep the presence

6:23

of both sleeping pills and antidepressant

6:25

medication in the home led

6:27

investigators to consider the possibility of

6:30

an accidental overdose or even

6:32

death by suicide But investigators

6:35

knew that it would take more than just

6:37

an autopsy to know for sure a

6:39

medical examiner simply looking at

6:41

test Results and slides it's

6:44

going to be really hard to make that

6:46

determination without knowing the entire context

6:48

of this person's life So

6:51

let's try to understand that life at the

6:53

time of her death Julie Jensen was just

6:55

40 years old She

6:58

was a loving mother of two

7:00

young boys a devoted wife and

7:02

the only girl in a close-knit

7:04

family of six siblings Her

7:06

friends and family described her as a sweet Kind-hearted

7:10

woman strong in her faith and

7:12

they also all agreed that taking her own

7:14

life would have been the last thing That

7:17

Julie Jensen was capable of Everyone

7:20

who knew Julie knew

7:22

that she would never leave her kids So,

7:25

you know, certainly tragedies happen people who

7:27

are parents will take their own lives

7:30

But you know when you're looking at who Julie was

7:32

as a person Anyone who knew her

7:35

knew she would never make that choice It

7:37

was a sentiment shared by her

7:39

husband mark who was eager to

7:41

cooperate with police and doctors in

7:44

their efforts To understand the cause

7:46

of his wife's sudden death. He

7:48

was talked to over and over again By

7:50

the detective on the case, you know, just sort

7:52

of like hey, we want to solve this We

7:55

want to get to the bottom of it what

7:57

happened here. And so they had those

7:59

types of conversations over and

8:01

over again, even while

8:03

waiting for the autopsy findings. But

8:06

Julie's autopsy yielded limited information and

8:08

failed to determine a definitive cause

8:10

or manner of death. Additionally,

8:13

Julie's toxicology results came back

8:15

negative for sedatives or any

8:18

type of overdose of prescription

8:20

medication, accidental or otherwise.

8:23

Now the absence of conclusive findings

8:25

only added to the mystery surrounding

8:27

Julie's death, and detectives could not

8:30

rule out foul play. So

8:32

investigators did what they do best in

8:34

these situations. They started to dig, gathering

8:37

as much information about Julie as

8:39

they could, her life, her friends,

8:41

and of course, her husband. Julie

8:44

and Mark had caught each other's eye

8:46

when they both worked part-time at a

8:48

local Sears department store, and within weeks

8:51

of graduating college, they had tied

8:53

the knot. By 1995, they

8:55

had two kids and a beautiful home

8:57

in Pleasant Prairie. And with

8:59

Mark's well-paying job as a stockbroker, Julie

9:02

was able to stake home dedicating all

9:04

of her attention to raising their sons,

9:06

supporting her husband, and as any mom

9:09

knows, doing the million of unseen things

9:11

that keep a household running. So

9:13

at this time, she was not working outside the

9:16

home, but she always had hobbies

9:18

and friends in the book club and

9:20

was volunteering through her son's school. On

9:22

the surface, the Jensen family appeared to

9:24

be the picture of happiness, but

9:27

as we all know, looks can

9:29

be deceiving. One of the

9:31

things that makes this case, I think,

9:33

so interesting is the normal life that

9:35

these individuals had. They had the ideal

9:37

life, right? They had the house, the

9:40

picket fence, right? They had the pool,

9:42

two lovely children. Mark Jensen

9:44

was making good money as a stockbroker,

9:47

so they didn't have any,

9:49

you know, significant financial concerns.

9:52

In this situation, you have this kind

9:54

of idealized life, and I think that's

9:56

what people from the outside would have

9:59

seen. It's only the people

10:01

that Julie trusted who she

10:03

gave some indication that there were problems.

10:06

And it was only a few of Julie's closest

10:09

friends who knew the truth. That

10:11

like many couples, Julie and Mark

10:13

had experienced some rough patches in their

10:15

marriage. They had been married for a

10:18

significant amount of time. Years before their

10:20

oldest child was born, there had been

10:22

a time period where Julie Jensen had

10:24

once filed for divorce, but they had

10:26

sought counseling. And those problems had

10:28

persisted for years. But according

10:30

to those who knew her best, Julie

10:33

was determined to make her marriage work

10:35

for one reason, her children.

10:37

The thing you'll hear over and over about

10:39

Julie Jensen is how devoted

10:42

she was to her children. Even if things

10:44

were not going well in the marriage, there

10:46

was never any question about her devotion to

10:48

her kids and caring for them. So the

10:50

state of the marriage at this time certainly

10:52

was not good. But one thing that was

10:55

always constant was her devotion to her kids. A

10:57

troubled marriage can definitely be a stepping

11:00

off point for a potential homicide investigation.

11:02

But in this case, the local Pleasant

11:04

Prairie Police Department had an entirely different

11:06

reason to suspect that Julie may have

11:08

been the victim of foul play. Something

11:11

that I think was a huge factor

11:13

here is that for

11:15

years leading up to Julie

11:18

Jensen's death, there was

11:20

something that was very strange that was going

11:22

on with the Jensen's. And

11:24

it's the harassment that Julie

11:26

had continually reported. According

11:29

to multiple reports filed with the

11:31

Pleasant Prairie Police, Julie and Mark

11:34

had been enduring persistent harassment from

11:36

an unidentified stalker for over seven

11:38

years. This harassment came in

11:41

the form of hang up phone calls,

11:43

threatening emails, and even evidence that the

11:45

stalker had been inside their home. One

11:47

of the things that would happen

11:49

is she would find pornography around

11:52

the home, like it had been

11:54

dashed both inside and outside the

11:56

home, in the garage. Mark

11:58

Jensen Would report that he found some... On

12:00

his car at work and

12:02

so over years. Julie Jensen

12:04

reported this harassment to The

12:06

Pleasant For a Police departments.

12:09

Despite several visits to the

12:11

Jets and home mod, Forsman

12:13

could never identified the perpetrator

12:15

that Mark Johnson had his

12:17

suspicions about, who he believed

12:19

was responsible When. She had

12:21

initially filed for divorce years ago.

12:24

She had had out a weekend

12:26

affair with a coworker, and she

12:28

admitted that to Mark Johnson and

12:30

so. When. Julie

12:33

Jensen died at the Police

12:35

had that knowledge and information.

12:37

And X lover a stalker

12:40

and. Now a suspicious death.

12:42

The potential connection between all

12:44

three was impossible. To ignore

12:46

what the truth would prove

12:48

to be even stranger than

12:50

the ever could have A

12:52

mess. I've

12:59

always said that information is powerful,

13:02

so I've got a question for

13:04

you. Have you ever had the

13:06

feeling that someone was it being

13:08

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13:10

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13:14

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15:24

seven years prior to her sudden

15:26

and mysterious death, Julie Jensen had

15:28

been tormented by a single mistake,

15:31

a weekend affair with a former colleague

15:33

during a Rocky patch in her marriage

15:35

to Mark Jensen. The

15:37

affair went nowhere, but when she

15:40

and Mark were harassed by threatening

15:42

calls, emails, even pornographic photos left

15:44

around their property, Julie

15:46

had suspected that the coworker was

15:49

behind it. And that suspicion documented

15:51

by over a dozen complaints to

15:53

the local police was enough to

15:55

make him a serious person of

15:58

interest in Julie's possible homicide. However,

16:00

when police finally tracked him down,

16:02

not only was he shocked to

16:04

know he was suspected of stalking

16:07

Julie, he claimed to not have

16:09

even set foot in Wisconsin for

16:11

years. Police were eventually able

16:13

to verify the co-worker's alibi that he had

16:16

been home in North Carolina when they thought

16:18

that Julie may have been killed. But

16:20

police weren't ready to give up on the theory

16:22

that infidelity may have been at the root of

16:25

her possible murder. But the

16:27

infidelity they began to focus on wasn't

16:29

hers. After speaking to

16:31

some of Mark's co-workers, detectives discovered that

16:34

it was Mark that was

16:36

embroiled in a very obvious and

16:38

very current affair with a married

16:41

co-worker from his firm. One,

16:45

they found that Mark Jensen was having

16:47

an affair with Kelly Labonte, who was

16:49

a co-worker. And of course,

16:51

that completely changes how the police look

16:53

at this investigation. Now there's a clear

16:55

and present motive for Mark Jensen to

16:58

want his marriage to end. In fact,

17:00

it was reported that Mark's girlfriend had

17:02

even left her husband shortly after Julie's

17:04

death. And supposedly, Mark

17:06

returned the favor by disposing of

17:09

much of Julie's personal belongings just

17:11

days after she had died. He

17:13

already has the next Mrs. Jensen lined

17:15

up. So

17:18

I think this is a really important step

17:20

back moment for investigators right here. Is this

17:22

a grieving husband or a husband who wanted

17:24

to end his current marriage by

17:27

murder? I mean, this really

17:29

is an important fact here. And I

17:31

think often we see where these type

17:33

of facts ultimately lead. However, again,

17:35

it could be coincidence. So we don't want to

17:38

have tunnel vision here. And just like the police

17:40

didn't, but it certainly was something that as soon

17:42

as they realized that this was going on and

17:44

had been secret for all these years, it

17:47

just lended itself to those eyebrows

17:49

being raised all the more. The

17:51

detective asked Mark Jensen directly about a

17:53

woman named Kelly that he had worked

17:56

with and were they actually romantically involved.

17:59

This is a portion of the story. of that conversation

18:01

Mark Jensen had with

18:03

investigators. The quality of the

18:05

audio is not great, so listen closely.

18:07

I was kind of thinking of meeting

18:09

this Kelly Luponti was, I

18:12

mean, Julie had an affair before and

18:14

I thought maybe you two would be having an

18:16

affair if you're telling or maybe

18:18

you're seeing her now. Kelly don't know, not yet. I'm

18:20

gonna let her know that. So she's your girlfriend now

18:23

or at least some of your dating or other of

18:25

your... A fair thing of dating

18:27

or... He

18:31

initially denied it and just referred

18:33

to her as some kind of

18:35

work acquaintance. Still, Mark Jensen was

18:37

now squarely in their sights. And

18:39

while Julie's death still had not

18:41

officially been declared a homicide, investigators

18:43

were eager to search the Jensen's home

18:45

in search for that proverbial smoking

18:47

gun. Now normally police would need

18:50

a warrant for this kind of search, but

18:52

not in this case. They did

18:54

not have to because Mark Jensen

18:57

certainly wished to appear cooperative. He was not

19:00

the person who said, hey, please get a

19:02

warrant. So he gave the police

19:04

consent to search the home. They took a

19:06

bunch of pictures of the home and

19:08

they see the computer and

19:11

searched the computer with consent. Utilizing

19:13

what then breakthrough technology for the

19:16

late 1990s, investigators conducted a forensic

19:18

search of the Jensen family's home

19:20

computer. It's astonishing what they were

19:22

able to find on this computer.

19:25

And that I think ended up being some

19:28

of the most powerful evidence in the case. Police

19:31

were able to successfully retrieve not

19:33

just the internet searches, but also

19:35

a trove of deleted messages and

19:37

files. They revealed both

19:39

proof of Mark's affair and

19:41

what appeared to be cryptic

19:44

clues to his twisted intentions.

19:47

It started off as things, you know, very strange, like pipe bombs

19:49

and searches of that nature. Turn

20:00

two things like physician assisted

20:02

suicide and then it turned

20:04

to. Poisons here. Were

20:06

some of the notable search terms that

20:08

appeared in the Johnson's computer: Assisted

20:11

Suicide. Bottle.

20:13

Isn't. Toxicology.

20:17

Poison. Additionally,

20:21

someone had visited a website

20:23

containing information about the effects

20:26

of a chemical called

20:28

Ethylene Glycol, more commonly known

20:30

as antifreeze. And.

20:32

That fountain investigators to quickly returned

20:35

to the medical examiner's office to

20:37

request further testing of Julie's tissues

20:39

specifically to see if they could

20:41

detect any trace of ethylene glycol

20:43

in her system, which presents itself

20:45

as tiny crystals in. A person's

20:48

organs. The results were positive.

20:51

That's. Just. An alarm bell

20:53

for poisoning. You must explain why

20:55

that is in her system is so

20:57

it's only their if it slips the

20:59

heard or. If she took it intentionally.

21:02

Now you may be asking if the

21:04

presence of and of freeze is definitive

21:07

proof of homicide or is it possible

21:09

that she ingested it herself? I mean

21:11

there are plenty of cases of people

21:13

committee guess by suicide by tricky answer

21:16

freeze, but you have to really look

21:18

at the person and the history and

21:20

the victimology. That person and she isn't

21:22

the average person might not know about

21:25

antifreeze or ethylene. Glycol, which is

21:27

that it's basically either. Flavor lists

21:29

are known to have this naturally

21:32

sweet taste, so that even adults

21:34

can be fooled ingesting it without

21:36

being aware that it's poisonous. So

21:39

again, yes, because of that, Unfortunately,

21:41

it has been used as

21:44

a means of assisted or

21:46

someone. Who purposely commits

21:48

death by suicide? but

21:51

it also has been used for homicide

21:53

for just that reason and this will

21:55

kind of goes back to how important

21:57

the find of the family computer is

21:59

not only of what is being searched,

22:01

but who was using it and

22:03

who had a habit of never

22:06

using the family computer. Julie

22:08

Jensen as a person, she just

22:10

was not a computer person. Mark Jensen was

22:12

the opposite. He wanted this

22:14

family computer. He was on this family

22:16

computer. He was very familiar with computers.

22:19

And so when you go back to

22:21

look at those internet searches about poisoning

22:23

and ethylene glycol, you get a pretty

22:25

good idea of who in the Jensen

22:27

family would have been on the computer

22:29

at that time. Because this was 1998,

22:32

you're using dial-up. People

22:35

aren't on the internet all day. And so

22:37

we can see the times when the internet

22:39

was being accessed on this computer and

22:42

it wasn't being used when Julie was alone. So

22:44

during those days when she was at home, the computer

22:46

wasn't being used. It was

22:48

when Mark Jensen, when he would have

22:50

been home from work. So the timing

22:52

of when the internet was used as

22:54

well as the evidence of Julie as

22:57

a person, showed that it was Mark

22:59

Jensen who was doing these extremely suspicious

23:01

searches. Armed with

23:03

this information, detectives concluded that

23:06

Julie Jensen had been intentionally

23:08

poisoned, likely by

23:10

her own husband, Mark Jensen.

23:13

Which means that this was not

23:15

death by suicide or an

23:17

accident, this was murder. Four

23:21

months after Julie's death, detectives

23:24

conducted another interview with Mark

23:26

Jensen. This time at the

23:28

Kenosha Police Department. During this

23:30

very long interview, the detective is

23:32

kind of continually asking about, you

23:34

know, how she died, whether there's

23:37

some kind of accident. During that

23:39

conversation, Jensen again walked investigators through

23:41

the events of the morning Julie

23:43

died. But then his

23:45

story began to change, eventually leading

23:48

to a stunning admission. There was

23:50

a point when he described watching

23:52

her die and then, you

23:55

know, put some words in her mouth, you know,

23:57

don't call. The reason that he didn't

23:59

do the most. Common sense thing on

24:01

earth and call for help. Is

24:03

because Julie told him not to the and

24:05

so yeah, his story did evolve in that

24:08

way when he was being interviewed. That. She

24:10

must have taken something kill herself and he

24:12

was only listening to her when heated did

24:14

not. Call for Help! So what

24:16

was Claiming that his wife had

24:18

intentionally in chess to poison and

24:20

despite arriving to the home to

24:22

save her life, he had just

24:24

followed her instructions to let her

24:26

die. So what is describing is

24:29

basically semi assisted suicide which for

24:31

the record was not in has never

24:33

been legal in the state of

24:35

Wisconsin. but even so there. Was. More

24:38

circumstantial. Evidence that suggested that

24:40

that to was a lie and

24:42

he came courtesy of the couple's

24:44

son. De. Had

24:47

told his teacher at school

24:49

that his mom was sick.

24:51

And so David very much wanted

24:53

to know how his mom was

24:55

doing. When is dead? Pick. Them up

24:57

from school and brought him home. But.

25:00

Apparently when they got home, Mark

25:02

had kept his sons from entering

25:04

the home. What d that? The

25:06

older child head of currently told

25:08

the police. Is that their father

25:10

told them to stay outside when he

25:12

went to the home. And then

25:14

found their mother dead. Is.

25:17

Can't you that really is telling to

25:19

me because why and that day of

25:21

all days would he not allow his

25:24

son to go into home? I guess

25:26

there's that innocent explanation if we go

25:28

with that assisted suicide story that he

25:31

gave but also really goes to you

25:33

know, using their child both as sword.

25:35

And shield unfortunately right? Going to the

25:37

school so that you're not there at

25:40

the time you would expect truly to

25:42

die, but then at least trying to

25:44

shield your child. To some

25:46

degree by not letting them be the one to

25:48

go in and find. her it was he

25:50

somebody willing to murder his wife's mother

25:52

of their son and then be concerned

25:54

enough to prevent him from seeing this

25:56

horrible site it doesn't really make sense

25:58

to me that he go to

26:00

that extreme to prevent the child from

26:02

entering the home unless he really

26:05

knew what he was about to witness.

26:07

And that's exactly it because common

26:09

sense tells you that Jensen

26:11

wasn't not letting his child go inside

26:13

to see his mother sick. It was

26:15

because he most likely knew she was dead.

26:18

Despite the mounting suspicion that Mark

26:20

was responsible for his wife's death,

26:22

detectives still lacked the definitive evidence

26:24

that would prove Julie's

26:27

poisoning was intentional homicide.

26:29

That is until police were handed

26:32

a letter that placed the blame

26:34

squarely on Mark Jensen, the author,

26:37

none other than his own murdered

26:39

wife. This is the kind

26:41

of headline grabber part of this case,

26:44

which is, you know, Julie Jensen wrote

26:46

her, you know, just pouring

26:48

her heart out letter and that she gave

26:51

to her friend and just laid out all

26:53

of her concerns, what she was afraid of,

26:55

that if she ended up dead that Mark

26:57

would be her suspect. And she gave him

26:59

this letter and said, if I die, you

27:01

know, I need you to give this to the police. It

27:08

was almost the perfect crime. Everyone

27:10

was distracted, their attention elsewhere.

27:13

Stacks of cold hard cash sitting

27:15

on the table, unguarded. Who

27:18

wouldn't be tempted to slowly reach

27:20

their handout and steal a pile

27:22

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27:24

banker? Monopoly is

27:26

one of those games that can

27:29

bring out everyone's most devious selves

27:31

and Monopoly Go takes that gleeful

27:33

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27:35

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27:38

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27:40

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27:43

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27:46

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27:48

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27:50

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27:53

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27:55

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27:57

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at the best price. In

29:42

a letter dated November twenty first, Ninety

29:44

Nine Gates just weeks before she was

29:46

found dead. To Chance and

29:48

expressed her belief that if anything terrible

29:51

were to happen to her. The.

29:53

Person responsible. Was. Your

29:55

own husband Mark Jensen. A

29:58

letter Mark first learned about. when

30:00

the detective handed it to him during

30:02

the interview. Here once again is

30:05

audio from that interview. I

30:07

think I've been doing this 15 years, Mark, and

30:10

I've never had anybody leave me a letter, talk

30:12

to me, and if they die, it's

30:14

this person that feels it's her

30:16

handwriting, right? There's only one

30:18

else's handwriting there. It did sound like it.

30:21

I need to know what. Be truthful with me. The

30:25

letter is sort of the

30:27

dramatic summary of what

30:29

Julie felt and feared, but

30:31

she said that she was afraid that Mark

30:33

was trying to poison her, that

30:35

she was afraid that he would make

30:37

her look crazy and try to take

30:40

the kids. In the letter,

30:42

she also revealed that she had

30:44

discovered a terrifying shopping list in

30:46

Mark's journal that included syringes, razor

30:49

blades, and a variety of lethal

30:51

drugs, items that she believed

30:53

he planned to plant as evidence that

30:55

she was suicidal. She went on

30:58

to stress that she was a

31:00

healthy person who did not smoke

31:02

or drink, and she urged police

31:04

to consider any illness as suspicious.

31:07

Just think about that for a moment,

31:09

a foreshadowing of what her husband may

31:12

be capable of. It's almost crazy to

31:14

say out loud, right? I think my

31:17

husband, the person I have two children with, the

31:19

person I live with, I think he's trying to

31:21

kill me. Even imagining for a

31:23

moment what must have been going through

31:25

Julie's head to put these thoughts to

31:27

paper is terrifying, yet pennant she did.

31:30

And according to the letter, Julie believed

31:32

that Mark had never forgiven her for

31:34

the brief affair she'd had seven years

31:36

before, and she feared he would one

31:38

day take his revenge. You

31:40

have to imagine the

31:43

desperation of a person who

31:45

sits down to write that, who

31:47

then seals it, who then actually

31:49

walks over to the neighbor and gives it

31:51

to them, who then gives the

31:54

neighbor instructions on when to act upon

31:56

the letter. But as shocking as it

31:58

sounds, what we're talking about... about is

32:01

an all too familiar story

32:03

of domestic abuse, how years

32:06

of emotional and psychological abuse

32:08

can metastasize into physical abuse

32:10

and tragically even murder.

32:13

It also points to a horrifying

32:15

reality, and why it was that

32:17

maybe Julie didn't just take her suspicions about

32:19

Mark directly to the police. So

32:22

often in domestic abuse cases, even

32:24

to express a fear that your life

32:26

is in danger can be used to

32:28

try and make a woman or any person

32:30

at all, the other partner I should say,

32:32

look unhinged. And that itself can

32:34

be used as a weapon. She

32:37

had that real suspicion she knew

32:39

something was wrong, but she also

32:42

had a very sincere concern that

32:44

she would look crazy, and that

32:46

that would be used against her.

32:48

And with custody of her children at

32:51

stake, she may not have been willing

32:53

to take that risk. But

32:55

really the explanation for why she just

32:57

didn't leave Mark when she had these

32:59

concerns and suspicions is because she wasn't

33:01

going to leave her kids. And

33:03

she was deeply concerned that if

33:05

she disappeared in the middle of the

33:08

night, even if she took the

33:10

kids with her, that Mark Jensen would

33:12

get them back because he would call

33:14

her crazy. Confronted with the explosive

33:16

accusations contained in Julie's letter, Mark continued

33:19

to vehemently deny any involvement in

33:21

his wife's death. So Anastasia, does

33:23

this letter raise a tremendous amount of

33:25

suspicion around Mark? And I say absolutely.

33:28

But unfortunately, there's no statute in the

33:30

penal law for suspicion. So clearly more

33:32

work needs to be done. But my

33:34

question to you is about the fact

33:36

that he would not or did not

33:38

render NE8. You know,

33:40

where does that stand in the law?

33:43

There is no good samarian law. It's

33:45

actually been ruled unconstitutionally. While morally we

33:47

can say that that's reprehensible, there is

33:49

no legal duty to help someone.

33:53

But you know, even this letter, I can certainly

33:55

tell you for New York, it would never be

33:57

admissible, right? Because it is hearsay and there's no

33:59

exception. But for police and

34:01

for prosecutors, it certainly would be

34:04

building blocks of the case. But

34:06

for me, even here, there isn't

34:08

true clarity just yet. Despite

34:10

being convinced that Mark Jensen killed

34:12

his wife, the case against Mark

34:15

Jensen sat in limbo for eight

34:17

long years. During that

34:19

time, Jensen went on to establish

34:21

a successful construction company, married the

34:23

woman he'd been having the extramarital

34:26

relationship with, and even had another

34:28

child. But all the while,

34:30

the Kenosha DA refused to give up

34:32

on his quest to find justice for

34:34

Julie. All he needed was

34:36

that last piece of the puzzle that

34:38

would convince a jury that Mark was

34:41

not the loving father and dedicated

34:43

husband he purported to be, that

34:46

he was actually a cold-blooded killer.

34:49

That last puzzle piece would

34:51

come courtesy of a new,

34:53

albeit reluctant witness. The way

34:55

we found Ed Klug as a witness is

34:58

we had other coworkers who

35:00

were witnesses, and they told us

35:02

you need to talk to Ed Klug.

35:05

Now with some prodding from police, a

35:07

coworker of Mark's revealed that he had

35:09

been privy to an alarming conversation with

35:11

Mark just weeks before Julie's death. Ed

35:15

Klug had been at a conference with

35:17

Mark Jensen, so work conference, in

35:19

St. Louis. And

35:21

they were just drinking that night after

35:23

the conference, and it was getting late,

35:25

and Mark Jensen was talking about killing his

35:28

wife, and ways that you

35:30

could do it, finding something that would

35:32

be undetectable. Eventually the coworker

35:34

realized this was not just some

35:36

dark humor between two disgruntled husbands.

35:38

At the beginning, Ed Klug's thinking

35:40

we're just doing a little bashing

35:42

of our wives, and then only,

35:45

I think it was maybe around six weeks

35:47

after that, is when Julie Jensen died. As

35:49

a member of law enforcement, I'd be wondering

35:51

why this guy didn't come forward earlier, but

35:53

you'd also have to understand why potentially

35:56

someone would be hesitant

35:58

to come forward. Mark Jensen talking

36:01

nonsense after three or four drinks,

36:03

or is this a cold

36:05

and calculated murderer? Either way,

36:07

in hindsight, of course, I'm assuming

36:09

that friend does have some level

36:11

of guilt. But it did

36:13

at least give the DA additional evidence,

36:15

not just of intentional homicide, but of

36:17

the steps taken to cover it up.

36:20

The premeditation that's necessary for a first-degree

36:22

intentional homicide, it doesn't have to be

36:24

long at all. It's really like moments.

36:26

And so, you know, anyone giving

36:28

someone poison at any

36:30

point, even if they thought about it two seconds before they gave them

36:33

the poison, well, that's going to be enough for

36:35

a first-degree intentional. Kug

36:37

was really important, showing the careful

36:39

planning that Mark Jensen did to

36:41

make it appear that he was not,

36:43

in fact, involved in Julie's death. Eight

36:46

years after Julie's murder, her husband,

36:49

Mark, was arrested and charged with

36:51

first-degree murder. But for the police,

36:53

the prosecution, and of course, Julie's

36:55

family, the battle for justice was

36:57

still far from over. Knew it was going

37:00

to be a slog. Mark Jensen had

37:02

certainly had the means to pay for

37:04

his representation and was going to fight

37:06

this tooth and nail. And of course,

37:08

there was going to be talk about

37:10

Julie's mental health, and maybe this was

37:13

a suicide. And then,

37:15

as it played out, there was

37:17

an excruciatingly long fight about

37:19

the admission into evidence of, you

37:21

know, the most dramatic piece of

37:23

evidence, which is the letter. The

37:26

letter, of course, was Julie's own claims

37:28

that she believed her husband, Mark, was

37:30

trying to kill her. And typically,

37:32

a lettermaking accusation like this would be

37:34

deemed inadmissible in courts because the law

37:37

gives defendants the right to face

37:39

his or her abuser in person. And

37:41

without getting too much into legal weeds, it basically comes down

37:43

to what's been termed the confrontation clause, which

37:46

is a right we have based on

37:48

the Sixth Amendment. It allows in

37:50

court criminals to confront or cross-examine

37:52

witnesses that are providing testimony against

37:55

them. And since you can't cross-examine

37:57

a letter, certainly where someone is no

37:59

longer... Are available. While the courts have

38:01

said like case, there is no exception to

38:03

this so it's just not coming in. However,

38:06

in this case, it was deemed

38:09

that at trial Julie's letter would

38:11

be allowed to be introduced. Marxist

38:13

went on trial on January

38:15

eighth, Two thousand Eight and

38:17

in their opening statement, prosecutors

38:20

read through his letter for

38:22

train her as a terrified

38:24

woman who had expressed both

38:26

police and friends that Mark

38:28

wanted her dead body emblazoned.

38:30

Talk about talking to Choose

38:32

his brothers about. That decision and

38:35

it didn't matter to them that

38:37

the jury heard from. Julie her

38:39

own. Words. On after a

38:41

witness. What's he wrote? In addition to

38:43

all of the circumstantial evidence, prosecutors were

38:45

also able to introduce testimony from a

38:48

couple surprise witnesses. You know? Usually you

38:50

have the case you have when you

38:52

charge it and only gets worse. You

38:54

know, when disappear. You know that kind

38:57

of thing. But in this

38:59

case, some witnesses said come forward.

39:01

Prosecutors present a testimony from an

39:03

inmate at the county jail who

39:05

claim that more had not just

39:08

confessed to killing Julie. he admitted

39:10

to something even more chilling according.

39:12

To the inmates' testimony, when Mark

39:14

entered the bedroom after poisoning his

39:16

wife, she was still clinging to

39:19

life. so he positioned her face

39:21

over her pillow until she couldn't

39:23

breathe. We. Believe what happened in

39:25

the and is that Julie Johnston did

39:27

not die when merchants and needed her

39:29

to be dead and that he suffocated.

39:31

Her in the end. As expected. To.

39:34

Defense argue that you have not

39:36

just committed death by suicide, but

39:38

that she had orchestrated her death.

39:41

To. Implicate Mark in her murder.

39:44

The. Jury just didn't buy. So he

39:46

was found guilty of the first degree intentional.

39:48

Homicide charge in March two.

39:50

Thousand and Eight. Mark Johnson was

39:52

sentenced to life without the possibility

39:55

of parole, but he never stop

39:57

fighting his conviction and after spending

39:59

years. Prison. An appellate court ruled

40:01

that Julie's letter should never have been

40:04

admitted during that trial. Yeah,

40:06

I think when people hear about this case, it's hard

40:08

to imagine. That. The law would

40:10

not allow the use of evidence. I think

40:12

it's hard for the non legal scholars to

40:15

kind of wrap their minds around that. As

40:17

a result, Mark Johnson conviction was

40:19

overturned and he was released from

40:22

prison. But. This legal battle

40:24

was still far from over. Even.

40:26

After his conviction was reversed and the

40:29

federal courts it was reinstated once in

40:31

the state courts to the for the

40:33

appellate courts. a kid that and then

40:35

finally became time where we simply have

40:38

to try him again. This

40:40

time with out Julie's letter. The.

40:42

New Prosecutor signed Currently Mcneil who

40:44

also tried this case with another

40:47

colleague was she was still in

40:49

grade school. In the merger occurred currently

40:51

was clearly up to the challenge I

40:53

would never want to be as a

40:55

prosecutor who shied. Away from a case like

40:57

this. The whole reason why I choose to

41:00

do the job, I do it basically to

41:02

take case like this. In. The second

41:04

trial, the prosecution we visited testimony

41:06

from witnesses and all the circumstantial

41:09

evidence that pointed to Jensen as

41:11

the killer, but there were also

41:13

able to introduce some critical new

41:16

evidence as well. And need

41:18

a big thing was the computer evidence. it's

41:20

not lying or a d. Don't have to

41:23

worry about it for getting more, being unavailable

41:25

or things like that. I just had to

41:27

make sure that the jury understands the way

41:29

I understand it. When. It

41:31

comes to criminal prosecution time is up

41:34

to not your friend but in this

41:36

case prosecutors got a huge assist from

41:38

recent advancements in digital forensics and it

41:41

shed new light and as threatening emails

41:43

that Julie had been harassed with. Four

41:45

years before her death. Something.

41:48

That happened with the computer evidence is you

41:50

know we're both looking at it a new

41:52

right and when my computer experts looking at

41:54

does he like this sub years and I'm

41:56

finding this These emails that are say that

41:58

are just so strange. As. It

42:00

turns out of these were

42:03

emails that Merchants Sans as

42:05

part of the harassment. And

42:07

so you can see it that she's

42:09

the one. Sending this email but it

42:11

appears to be from the anonymous harasser.

42:13

You know that was a pretty

42:15

awesome find because you know even

42:17

in the first trial Mark Jensen

42:20

claim that he wasn't the person

42:22

who was doing this harassment and

42:24

to me this was the smoking

42:26

gun of yes it was you.

42:28

The hang ups this writing emails

42:30

they were all parties are cruel

42:32

campaign of harassment conducted by Judson

42:34

out of spite and revenge. We

42:36

believe. That it was marked sense in the whole

42:38

time to was doing that. As. A

42:40

punishment to Julie Jensen because at

42:43

the time when she had initially

42:45

filed for divorce years ago, she

42:47

had had oh a weekend affair

42:50

with a coworker and she admitted

42:52

that to Mark Chance and we

42:54

believe he never forgave her for

42:57

that and continually wish to punish

42:59

her for that. Even the pornographic

43:01

images left around the house were

43:04

proven to be evidence of years

43:06

at psychological and emotional. Torture.

43:09

We. Think almost certainly these things for

43:11

from the internet. The thing about

43:13

this kind of emotional. Abuse is.

43:15

He wanted her to think

43:17

that maybe it was her.

43:20

In some fields religions and at

43:22

times was almost can censor convinced

43:24

that. And it's me and these photos.

43:27

Suggesting. That when she had this

43:29

weekend a fair the person that she slept

43:31

with of must have taken these super pictures

43:33

and and now you're. Being continually and

43:35

perennially punished for it. As for

43:38

the defense, be stuck with a

43:40

death by suicide theory which has

43:42

call he points out seemed cruel

43:45

and unusual in it's own right.

43:49

When. The only way that March

43:51

tenth in his innocence is

43:53

Julie Johnston committed suicide. Who

43:55

Julie was as a person

43:57

mattered. And of course it wasn't

43:59

just. that Julie Jensen committed

44:02

suicide, it's that she framed

44:04

her husband. It would take a special

44:06

kind of devious person to try

44:08

to frame someone after your death

44:10

and that Julie wasn't that. The

44:12

jury deliberated for more than seven hours.

44:14

If you ask any prosecutor about

44:16

deliberation, it takes a year off your life.

44:19

And so I was certainly on pins and

44:21

needles waiting for the jury to come

44:24

back. Ultimately, the jury found Mark Jensen

44:26

guilty of first degree murder. And once

44:28

again, he was sent off

44:30

to prison and this time for

44:32

the rest of his life. And while justice

44:34

was ultimately served, we can't help but

44:37

wish that Julie had been given the

44:39

chance to escape what she tragically knew

44:41

was coming. I think what

44:43

was happening was Julie was trying

44:45

to form a plan, but she didn't want

44:48

to just run off without having

44:50

preparation and having a plan because

44:52

her main fear would be acting

44:55

in a way that was viewed as

44:57

rash would cause her legally to lose

44:59

her kids. As we've said

45:01

before, often these cases of domestic

45:04

abuse can turn fatal. We

45:06

also can't help but wonder why someone would

45:08

choose murder over say a

45:10

divorce. But of course, when

45:13

you're dealing with that level of cruelty and

45:15

evil, there's just no

45:17

rational answer. He was a

45:19

person who didn't want a part from any

45:21

of his money. Didn't want to share control

45:24

of the kids with anyone.

45:26

It's hard to, I think, for

45:28

just regular people to understand whatever

45:30

rage or whatever was driving him,

45:33

but he had dedicated years of

45:35

his life to punishing Julie for

45:37

her weekend affair. And sadly for

45:39

Julie, there was no escape. I

45:42

think Julie had a plan. I

45:44

think Mark just enacted his plan

45:46

faster. Mark Jensen spent almost

45:49

his entire marriage to Julie tormenting

45:51

her and punishing her for the

45:53

affair that she had during their

45:55

relationship. Then once

45:57

he found her replacement, He

45:59

put a plan out of his life. In Motion. Researching.

46:01

Ways to kill Julie without

46:03

a trace. So we thought.

46:06

Just. Days later after his wife's death.

46:08

Just as friends if face thought it

46:11

was appropriate if he brought his girlfriend.

46:13

The. Woman he would eventually marry if it

46:16

was right if she can be by

46:18

his side at choose funeral as well.

46:21

Could. You imagine that this wasn't

46:23

just insensitivity, it was an

46:25

outrageous display of disrespect. But.

46:28

Mark. Wasn't. On yet at

46:30

his trial he played his final

46:32

desperate card. He wanted the jury

46:34

to swallow the tallest of tales.

46:37

The julie to curl. Nice to

46:39

frame him. To. Jury's

46:41

verdict obliterated that story. And

46:43

for me, this is not

46:46

just a case of murders,

46:48

it's a saga of calculated

46:50

cruelty and actually reminder that

46:52

sometimes the most dangerous monster.

46:55

Is. The one who once vowed

46:57

to love. And. To cherish.

47:00

Out known about, I'm actually followed what was

47:02

happening and Julie chances case for a while

47:04

new. At one point I even considered going

47:07

to Canosa to watch the retail back. And

47:09

Twenty Twenty three. Every merger

47:11

gets me in a different way. this

47:13

one because. Of how many years Julie

47:16

Jensen with me to suffer emotionally, a

47:18

fear that her husband was going to

47:20

one day take her life and she'd

47:22

lived like that for so long before

47:25

he ultimately did just that. Her

47:27

sons were just eat and three when

47:30

they lost. Their mom and dad is

47:32

just another level of heartbreak Internet itself

47:34

Both. Boys, No man has stood

47:36

by their Dad, at least

47:38

outwardly during both trials. and

47:41

i've seen this before with children

47:43

supporting their living parent even when

47:45

the evidence seems clear and while

47:47

i mean not completely understand it

47:49

i come out that i support

47:51

whatever the children need to do

47:53

or believe for their own inner

47:55

peace the pain and inner turmoil

47:57

must be incredibly hard to bear

48:00

The tragedy of homicide runs deep

48:02

and thick in ways most cannot

48:04

even fathom. Julie, you

48:07

are remembered and mourned and we

48:09

support your children's journey and hope

48:11

they are well, as we know

48:13

that you would have wanted, since

48:15

they were always the most important

48:17

thing to you in life. Tune

48:22

in next week for another new episode of

48:24

Anatomy of Murder. Anatomy

48:26

of Murder is an Audiochuck original

48:29

produced and created by Weinberger Media

48:31

and Frasetti Media. Ashley

48:33

Flowers is executive producer. This

48:36

episode was written and produced by

48:38

Walker Lamont, researched by Kate Cooper,

48:40

edited by Ali Seerwa, Megan Hayward

48:42

and Phil Jean Grande. So,

48:46

what do you think Chuck? Do you approve? Time

48:55

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