Going West: True Crime - Julie Jensen // 146

Episode Date: November 6, 2021

In December of 1998, a 40-year-old wife and mother from Wisconsin became violently ill, and after 3 days of being sick, she sadly passed away. But was there more at play here? Between multiple marital affairs, harassing photos, and a letter from beyond the grave, this case is shocking at every turn. This is the story of Julie Jensen. BONUS EPISODES patreon.com/goingwestpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on True Crime fans, I'm your host Tee. And I'm your host Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Welcome to the Friday episodes. This is our first Friday release. Yes, the first of our two episode a week situation. Yeah, so now we're doing two episodes a week if you did not listen to our most recent episode that just came out a few days ago. We're officially doing two a week, so this is super exciting.

It's all because of you guys sharing the show, telling your friends and family to listen, posting on social media. That is really helping our show and it's giving us this ability. And so is having our new editor, Drew. Yes. Welcome Drew, we love you. We're so happy to have you on our team, and we're just really excited to be, you know, doing to a week.

It's amazing that it took us this long to get an editor, but I'm really, really excited about it. I know, I'm excited about it too, so thank you guys for tuning in. We have a Wisconsin case for you today, and I'm excited, really excited about it. I know, I'm excited about it too. So thank you guys for tuning in. We have a Wisconsin case for you today, and I'm excited to dive in. All right guys, this is episode 146 of Going West, so let's get into it. Thank you. කැක්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න්න් In December of 1998, a 40-year-old woman and mother from Wisconsin became violently ill,

and after three days of being sick, she sadly passed away. But was there more at play here? Between multiple marital fairs, harassing photos, and a letter from beyond the grave, this case is shocking at every turn. This is the story of Julie Jensen. Julie Carol Griffin was born on February 26, 1958 to parents Raymond Griffin and June Hacker Griffin in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Kenosha is located in the southeastern region of Wisconsin, by the way, on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, and it has a population of around 100,000 residents and, fun fact, it's the fourth largest city in Wisconsin. Julie grew up with

four brothers, Larry, Michael, Paul, and Patrick and they were all raised in a strong Christian family. Julie was described as very easy going and somewhat quiet but extremely caring with a warm personality and a gentle nature. She was a beautiful and petite blonde who was very intelligent and faith-man a lot to her. From an early age, Julie loved music, so she learned to play the accordion and violin, and she also sang in her church and school choirs. She attended tremper high school in Kenosha where she acquired street aes and she also sang in her church and school choirs. She attended Trempor High School in Kenosha,

where she acquired three days and she was an honor role student before she graduated in 1976. After graduation, Julie wanted to stay close to families so she attended a fairly local college and also worked at a Sears department store in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, which is about a two-hour

drive north of her hometown. While Julie was attending college, she ran into a guy that she went to high school with, who also grew up in Kenosha, at a party through Mutual Friends one night named Mark Jensen. They knew each other, but they hadn't dated previously, they just kind of like saw each other in the halls of their high school. Both Mark and Julie were going to the same college after high school, and they hit it off pretty quickly. Mark was studying finance, and Julie really liked how driven, confident, and ambitious Mark was, and Mark liked that Julie was endearing and nurturing, so on April 15th, 1984, the couple

actually decided to get married after a few years of dating, and this was before they graduated from college. Mark finished college and began a career as a stockbroker, but Julia dropped out and taken a position in the same field as Mark, but for a different company as an administrative assistant and bookkeeper, and the two appeared to be happily in love. So after graduating, Mark and Julie moved into a beautiful home in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin,

which is located in Kenosha County, by the way, in the upscale neighborhood of Carol Beach. A few years later in 1990, Mark and Julie would bring their first born child into the world, a baby boy named David. Julie was so happy to be a mother and her personality always matched that energy, but while Julie was occupied with the couple's newborn, Mark seemed a little bit distant. Everyone had always described Mark as a go-getter

and a person who needed the best of everything, so during this time, Mark was very focused on his career. I mean, Mark was a pretty competitive guy like he wanted nicer things than all of his neighbors, so it's safe to say that Mark cared a lot about money. And although this was something that initially had attracted Julie to Mark, she now felt that it was a bit off-putting. She was looking for this picture perfect family, but Mark didn't seem to have time for his family. After taking a short time off of work for maternity leave, she ended up back at work where she developed a friendship with a co-worker

named Perry Toreka. Perry was a stockbroker for Dean Whitter, which is a brokerage based in Wisconsin in 1990, and Julie was an assistant for a different broker at that same company, and by the way, Mark Jensen did not work for this particular brokerage. Perry was a new parent himself, but going through a divorce, and he and Julie began to strike up conversations around the water cooler at first. They talked about being new parents and their relationships, and to Julie, this is exactly what she felt like she was missing. She was feeling neglected by Mark in every aspect of their marriage, and she began to confide in

Perry telling him that her husband was strange and that she felt unhappy in her marriage. Soon, the two exchanged numbers and Perry began to develop feelings for her as did Julie for him. They would sometimes meet up outside of work to just talk, but it was never anything sexual. Until one weekend in 1991, when Mark Jensen was at a town on business. So, Julie was alone with her son David, and she had called Perry to just invite him over to her house for dinner, just to keep her company because she didn't like being in her big house by herself. Perry agreed to meet her and he brought along some old toys that his daughter didn't play with anymore, to give to David.

So the two shared a meal together and they enjoyed a conversation, but when Perry felt the night was over and was about to leave, Julie finally asked him to stay. They ended up having a romantic encounter that lasted the weekend, but on Sunday night, Perry left the Jensen home because Mark was due back late that night. Julie asked Perry not to speak about their affair and that weekend, and within the next few days, she actually informed Perry that she had made a mistake and she was going to try to make her marriage with Mark work. Julie even resigned from her position at Dean Whitter a few days later because she felt kind of some remorse about her

affair and didn't really want to be around Perry, and she felt so much remorse and guilt about the affair since it was just hanging over her. So she decided to come clean and admit to Mark that she had been on faithful. And a few weeks later, the Jensen's began to receive harassing letters to their home, as well as hang up phone calls and pornographic photos. And Mark even described that he received a note at his place of employment that said, mine is bigger than yours. Officers from the Pleasant Prairie Police Department began to investigate this harassment, and a phone call was made to Perry Toreka, in which officers informed him that if he was the person responsible,

he needed to stop. Perry explained that he wasn't the person behind this harassment, and that when Julie Jensen broke things off with him, he ceased all contact with her immediately, like he definitely respected her boundaries in that way. But then Perry did something that may have not been very bright on his part. He sent a letter to Julie's sister addressed to Julie specifically that said that he was worried about the harassment that was going on and that he wasn't responsible for it. So he wanted to like clear his name, but police were like, hey, we told you not to contact

her. He then goes into some details about co-workers that they once shared and how things were going around the office without or there. Just basically small talk and life updates and then he ends the letter with. A friend in need is a friend indeed. I'll always be your friend and I'll always be here for you. Which I feel like honestly only makes his case look worse. I feel like this only makes him look more like a potential soccer. Exactly, and Little Did Perry know, police were actually listening to his phone calls, and they didn't find anything that would indicate that he was responsible for the harassment, but Perry was cited for that letter that he sent, and he was actually ordered to pay a fine,

so they were like, you know, not playing games with Perry Tureka. At this point, Julie was looking for forgiveness from Mark, and she swore that she would never betray him again, but she could tell that he wasn't interested in forgiving her. So the marriage basically just continued to plummet, and the affair only made matters worse. So in June of 1992, Julie, kind of seeing that things weren't going to get any better, finally decided to file for divorce after they had been married for about 7 years. But Mark wasn't having any of it. He was definitely the type of person, you know, as I mentioned earlier, that just didn't

like to lose. He had already been cheated on and he wasn't going to be made a fool of again, so he began to tell Julie that if she went through with a divorce, she would never see her son again and that he would make her life a living hell. Obviously this was a terrible thing to hear, like just the thought of losing her son was way too much to bear. So she decided not to go through with a divorce

and Mark had successfully manipulated her into staying, which is so messed up and I don't know why, you know, he would think that he would just automatically gain full custody and he has the power to take their son away from her when by all accounts she's a great mother. Yeah, I don't know. I think maybe because, you know,

he's like flexing on her trying to say like, oh, well, I make more money than you. So the children are definitely going to come with me if we if we get a divorce. You know, because obviously this whole time, he's been the breadwinner. And he kind of, I think he likes to, you know, obviously, is a competitive person. So I think he likes to hold that power and kind of like throw it in her face. It's just sad because she is over this. She was over it before she had the affair, which she felt guilty about doing, even though she doesn't want to be with this guy. And he's just saying, oh well, if you're going to divorce me, then I'm going to do all

this stuff to you and make your life a living hell. Like what a terrible thing to say. Yeah, it's definitely like a domestic manipulation. I know this is a true crime case, so obviously just bad shit, but It's messed up So the harassment that was happening previous to this continued periodically for years which obviously put much more strain on Mark and Julie's marriage But in 1995 Julie found out that she was pregnant again, and in March of that year, she gave birth to her second son, Douglas.

Sometimes in these scenarios couples believe that having another child will be, you know, the answer to all their problems and fix everything for them, but oftentimes it just creates more tension and kind of, you know, ruins the situation. And I can't say that this is always the case, but for Mark and Julie it definitely was. The relationship remained pretty stagnant and filled with resentment over the next few years, but in the summer of 1998, Mark caught the eye of an attractive co-worker of his named Kelly La Bonte, who was engaged to another man named Mark. Before we even go into this, this is already so annoying because like how dare he punished Julie for having an affair and then manipulate her into staying in your marriage and then you

suddenly are interested in somebody else. Yeah, you turn around. Yeah, it's like I'm going to get back at you, but then I'm gonna like get back at you even more. But we're still gonna be married even though neither of us are happy. So anyway, Mark had met Kelly in St. Louis on a business trip when his company was being acquired by hers. And Mark was very attracted to how different Kelly was from Julie. She was business-oriented and driven, she was more outspoken and adventurous,

and probably the thing he liked the most was that she seemed more flirtatious and promiscuous than Julie. Mark and Kelly exchanged emails, and at first, the flirting started on the internet. Mark would tell Kelly about his sexual fantasies and how he would dream up scenarios about having sexual encounters in his office, on his desk desk and the two would regularly talk about sexual positions and what they wanted to do to each other, which I only wonder how it escalated to this point. But anyway, Kelly even said once in an email to Mark, quote, If you're a good boy, you might just get what you want.

Mark made several trips to St. Louis to see Kelly and they went to restaurants, the zoo, et cetera, but their sexual relationship didn't start until early September of 1998, the same month that Kelly was set to marry her fiance. So obviously that's fucked up as well. You know, like she's literally about ready to marry this other guy named Mark conveniently probably not a good idea. Yeah, and she's having an affair

Going back to the pornographic photos that were being sent to the Jensen home investigators found out that Perry Toreka had left town years prior But the Jensen's were still receiving them even in 1998. Suspicious. Very suspicious. So initially police thought that the photos were of Julian Perry's affair and that Perry had been sending them to get back at Mark, but they eventually found out that the images were actually photocopied from magazines. So now knowing that it couldn't have been Perry who was leaving the photos all around the Jensen residents, police began to suspect that Mark Jensen himself had been the one

to leave the photos around in order to shame Julie for her affair. Such a weird thing to do. Extremely weird and it's gonna get even weirder. So police believed that this was a way for Mark to punish Julie because he couldn't forget what she had done, so he didn't want her to either. Then police told Julie that they suspected Mark had been the one behind the photos all along, and at first she couldn't believe what they were telling her. And then detectives told her that they weren't going to waste any more resources or time on the harassment, and this is how strongly that they believed it was Mark and if she couldn't accept that they didn't know what else to tell her.

I'm kind of surprised that she was surprised to hear this just knowing how the relationship wasn't going well. You know that she- The manipulation. Yeah, the manipulation that she wasn't like, wait this kind of connects. Yeah, and I think she just maybe didn't want to believe it. So then the photos and phone calls began to taper off, and pretty soon they stopped all together.

And this was in September of 1998, which was the same time that Mark began a sexual relationship with Kelly LaBonte. Pretty soon, Kelly was all that Mark could think about. He'd become infatuated by her, and allegedly, he even thought about her while he was having sex with Julie. He became so interested in Kelly that he began to ask her about her previous sexual partners. He wanted to know every detail about them including who they were, where the encounters happened, and the size of their genitalia, so he could compare them to his own.

All right, Mark, weird. I mean, I'm not trying to kink shame, but a little strange. Yeah, it kind of sounds like that mine is bigger than yours note that he got as his office years prior, huh? Yeah, a little bit, yeah. To make things even weirder, he took notes of Kelly's sexual encounters and even sketched the penises that she described Okay, now I know I'm officially gonna call this weird. It's I just I have nothing to say

So it was clear that Mark had some insecurities in that area possibly and his masculinity felt the retina some insecurities in that area possibly, and his masculinity felt the retin' just an assumption on my end, I don't know. But Kelly gave him exactly what he wanted, which was a red hot love affair filled with heated passion. Julie even described that Mark began to expect a different nature in the bedroom when they were together. She even told a neighbor, quote,

Mark wants me to be like these other women, his friends. They go to the bar, three in the morning, they go to strip clubs, drinking, I'm not that, I don't want that. Yeah, at this point, Mark's just having such a good time with Kelly that when he is home and he's being romantic with Julie, he's expecting the same thing of her.

And she's like, wait, where did this come from? Like, you never asked for this before, and all of a sudden he has these expectations for Julie in their sexual relationship. But again, if Julie's not what you want, then why are you practically forcing her to be in a marriage with you when you guys are so different now? Get a divorce. So Julie automatically knew that something was off and she became depressed at the thought of Mark having an affair so she began to question her relationship altogether.

Julie suspected that he was being unfaithful and she told him once again how unhappy she was so Mark recommended that Julie go see a doctor. Julie was then prescribed an antidepressant, but after taking her first dose of the medicine, she had a very strange reaction. It was just after midnight on December 2, 1998, and while Mark was lying next to her, she woke up abruptly and couldn't go back to sleep. Mark described her as being a bit out of it and kind of loopy, and then she began jumping up and down on the bed, so clearly not in Julie's normal nature. The very next morning, Julie called a neighbor, and this neighbor described that Julie sounded

off as well, like maybe she had been drinking. But then Julie explained that Mark was taking good care of her, and that she shouldn't worry. And this made Julie feel good because Mark was taking good care of her and that she shouldn't worry. And this made Julie feel good because Mark was finally giving her attention. You know, this is attention that she was desiring all this time. I'll be it that, you know, it was because she was having a bad reaction from medication. So Mark decided to go back to Julie's doctor and explain that she was acting strange and that she had an adverse reaction to the antidepressant and that she couldn't sleep.

So the doctor then prescribed Julie sleeping pills. So Julie took one and she still couldn't seem to shake this just unwell feeling and it wasn't allowing her to sleep either. And it wasn't just like she didn't feel well. Julie was actually vomiting and shaking because of how bad she was feeling. Her temperature continued to increase throughout the day, and she couldn't even get out of bed. Even Mark and Julie's two young boys were extremely worried about their mother, but Mark assured them that it was okay and if she continued to feel that way in the morning, he would take her to the doctor.

But when the sun came up on December 3, 1998, 40-year-old Julie Jensen was found dead in her bedroom by her husband, Mark. Mark called 911 who dispatched an ambulance right away to the Jensen home, but at that point, it was just too late. Mark seemed to be in a state of shock and appeared to be emotional about his wife's death. He explained to police officers on the scene that Julie was depressed and that she had recently been taking different medications and wondered if possibly a bad drug interaction could have caused Julie's death.

But right off the bat, the scene was extremely suspicious. Julie's body was lying on the bed with her arm tucked underneath of her body, which investigators felt couldn't have been done by Julie. They said that she probably didn't roll over into that position on her own. The other thing that threw investigators off was the fact that Mark told officers that Julie had been

very sick for about three days, but he never once thought about taking her to the hospital. I was just going to say why didn't he take her to the hospital if she's this sick, like this, this, it was bad. Yeah, she's, she's violently shaking and violently throwing up, throwing up, projectile, vomiting. And he's like, oh, well, we're on day three. Also, I'm so sorry to interrupt you. Also the fact that he went to the doctor and said, oh, she's having an adverse reaction

and she can't sleep and then he gets her more pills to give her. Instead of saying, something's wrong, this medication is screwing with her. She needs to go to the ER now. Yeah, he's basically like, you know, she's not feeling very well, and she can't sleep, can we get some like sleeping pills for her, essentially. Right, which I just feel like is not the solution here. She needs, she needs immediate assistance. So the medical examiner initially stated that Julie died of natural causes,

but the district attorney working Julie's case got smart. He told Mark that insurance companies typically needed a full crime scene investigation done, because, you know, they have a lot of questions. He then proceeded to ask Mark's permission if they can conduct one in the Jensen home. Obviously dangling this life insurance scheme in front of Mark was pretty smart because Mark immediately agreed. But when the district attorney told Mark that he would be seizing his home computer too, Mark's face went pale and he hesitated before nodding in agreement. And sadly, the crime scene evaluation didn't yield any evidence that Julie's death was

a homicide, but they still took the computer. So Mark and his two children, David and Douglas, had to move on with their lives, and for Mark, it was pretty easy, because just weeks after Julie passed away, Kelly LeBonte moved into the Jensen home for good. Kelly had divorced her husband who she had been cheating on with Mark, and she was now free to openly see him without judgment. It's just weird that she even went through with the marriage, and I don't even understand why you went through with it if you're just gonna leave him but whatever. So anyway, it seemed that things were working out a little too conveniently for Mark. But in April of 1999, so about five months after Julie's death, police brought Mark in

for questioning to see if they could get some more answers that they were looking for. Because at this point, detectives really believe that Julie didn't die of natural causes, and her autopsy results came back inconclusive. Mark didn't confess to killing Julie, but he did admit that he had been the one behind those harassing photographs years prior. He said that he was angry with Julie for her affair, and that he would leave the photographs for Julie to find when he was upset with her, because he knew that it would make her feel ashamed. Julie had also requested that her remains be buried in a feasible plot in Wisconsin, and

had previously discussed this with her brother Paul, but against Julie's wishes, Mark decided to cremate her instead, which really upset her whole family. And again, is really suspicious. Exactly. Exactly, because now they're asking about this autopsy report and he's like, well, I really suspicious. Exactly. Exactly once her cremated. Exactly. Because now they're like, you know, they're asking about this autopsy report. And he's like, well, I cremated her. So when asked what he did with Julie's ashes,

he said that his son, David, had scattered them in Lake Michigan. A neighbor named Carrie Ashley stated, quote, Mark was standing five feet from Julie's casket, laughing and joking, and acting like someone at a cocktail party. I would probably mourn a stranger more than he mourned Julie. And I did look this up because I was confused about Julie being in a coffin if she was

cremated, but apparently that's pretty standard procedure and actually it's a legal requirement in most states. So essentially they had a memorial for Julie where her body was in a casket and then that casket was taken to the crematorium and you know cremated. Right, so back when they were talking to Mark, so during this interview detectives continue to press Mark and explain that he is the only person that could have killed her and that he was the only person with her at the time of her death. But Mark continued to deny having anything to do with it.

Then, detectives slid a piece of paper across the desk to Mark and what he sees absolutely shocks him. See, so two weeks before Julie's death, she suspected something strange was going on, so she had written a letter and given it to one of her neighbors, which included a photograph if anything should happen to her. And this is what it said.

Pleasant Prairie Police Department. I took this picture and I'm writing this on Saturday, November 21, 1998 at 7am. This list was in my husband's business daily planner. Not meant for me to see, I don't know what it means, but if anything happens to me, he would be my first suspect. Our relationship had deteriorated to the polite superficial. I know he's never forgiven me for that brief affair I had with that creep seven years ago. Mark lives for work and the kids. He's an avid surfer of the internet. Anyway, I

do not smoke or drink. My mother with an alcoholic, so I limit my drinking to one or two a week. Mark wants me to drink more with him in the evenings. I don't. I would never take my life because of my kids. They mean everything to me. I regularly take Tylenol and multivitamins, occasionally take over the counter stuff for colds, reantach or emotium. Have one prescription for migraine tablets, which Mark uses more than I do. I pray I'm

wrong and nothing happens, but I am suspicious of Mark's suspicious behavior and for fear of my early demise. However, I will not leave David and Douglas. My life's greatest love, accomplishment and wish. My three D's, Daddy, David, and Douglas, Julie Jensen. Just the fact that Julie had to write this letter at all is like, what a terrifying moment in your marriage that you have to write a letter like that. Yeah, exactly. What an eye-opening moment as well, because, you know,

to come to this point to say I think that my partner might be trying to kill me that is a huge moment that's a threshold that's crossed that you know is just unthinkable. It's horrifying and so it's great that she did write this but the fact that she wrote it and she did end up dying oh my god god. Exactly. So this list, you know, that she had taken a photograph of this list, and it contained aspirin, a syringe, various poisons, razorblades, and a bottle of booze, and a few other items. And this is the list that was in Mark's daily planner. Yes, correct. So it seems at least to Julie that Mark had been planning her death. Julie also left a few voicemails for the Pleasant Prairie PD explaining her concerns

before she died. But sadly, this letter and these voicemails still wouldn't be enough to convict Mark of any wrongdoing, so investigators would need more if they were going to make that happen. While detectives continued to dig, Mark, on the other hand, was living life like Julie never existed, and shortly after being questioned by police, he announced his engagement to Kelly Labonte. Finally, police began to look into the Jensen's home computer, and they recovered information on its hard drive. Months before Julie died, Mark and Kelly had been emailing about how they could make their relationship official, but first they needed to get rid of their spouses.

And one email, Kelly says, I can divorce my husband. What are you going to do about your wife? Well, Mark doesn't respond to Kelly's question, but that same night, recognized through time stamps, Mark begins to look up different ways to kill Julie. What an idiot! Yeah, so he doesn't say, oh I'm going to get rid of my wife, but he goes on the internet and he starts searching up, you know, pipe bombs, electrocution, and even poison. But not just any poison. He searched for ethylene

glycol. And some of you may actually know what this is, but for those of you who don't, it's the main ingredient in antifreeze. While investigators were working hard to uncover as much evidence as they could, Julie's brothers were fighting to have her letter become admissible in court. In 2002, the courts ruled it not admissible, but the brothers continued to fight, explaining that it was the only way for Julie to defend herself, and that it was like her voice speaking after death. Here's another shocker. So, ethylene glycol doesn't usually show up with an autopsy, like when it's performed, it doesn't show up, and you actually have to request a specific test for it.

And police didn't just uncover, you know, ways to murder your spouse on Mark's computer. But strangely enough, they also uncovered an obsession of his. Mark had 2,800 photos of penises in three different files labeled large, medium, and favorites. And I really wish that we were making this up, but no, we're not. It's all true. Like not only does, you know, he draw pictures of penises,

but he's just got like a bunch of dicks on his computer. Like, and I don't know how you acquire 2,800 photos of penises, but he's just got like a bunch of dicks on his computer. Like, and I don't know how you acquire 2,800 photos of penises. I just think the names of the files are funny. Large medium favorites. Yeah, I wonder what's in his favorite's file. I know. Anyway, so next the medical examiner who had originally conducted the autopsy on Julie, he actually reanalyzed his own report by looking at slides taken of Julie's organs after death.

And he was able to finally identify these sort of crystals created by ethylene glycol, which had oxidized and metabolized inside Julie's body. So this is amazing because at this point, she was cremated, so it's not like they could do another autopsy on her, you know, zoom her body. So this is amazing because at this point she was cremated so it's not like they could do another optopsy on her, you know, zoom her body. Yeah. So the fact that he was able to make this conclusion based off his original report is amazing, but it also makes you. Yeah, it makes you question like why he didn't see those in the first place. Exactly. Yeah. So he also noticed by looking at the optopsy that Julie wasn't just poison when she died.

When Mark realized that Julie wasn't dying as quickly as he wanted, he rolled her onto her stomach, which was the position that she was found in, and he pressed her face into her pillow to suffocate her. So with this new computer evidence, the letter, the re-examination of the autopsy, Mark was finally arrested in March of 2002 for the first degree intentional homicide of his wife, 40-year-old Julie Jensen. Mark's trial began six whole years later in February of 2008. The prosecution first heard testimony from a jail house informant who explained that Mark had told him the details of his wife's gruesome murder. The defense attacked the

informant's credibility as they usually do and proposed that Julie was depressed and had killed herself and wrote the note to frame Mark for her death to get back at him. Yeah, right. Then the prosecution fired back with the evidence found on Mark's computer, pertaining to the Google searches for different poisons, and the medical examiner backed up those suspicions as well. But Mark actually never took the stand at his own trial to defend himself, but his new wife Kelly had taken the stand and was questioned regarding the nature of she and Mark's affair prior

to Julie's death. They just kind of asked, you know, when did your relationship start, how did it progress, etc. So Perry Toreka also was questioned as a witness during this trial. When it was all said and done, the jury who deliberated for four days had finally reached a verdict. They found Mark Jensen guilty of first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

He was 48 years old at this time. But hold up, we're not done yet. Mark filed multiple appeals on grounds that Julie's letter and her voice mills to police shouldn't have been used in the original trial, and his lawyers fought for a new trial because the letter apparently violated Mark's constitutional rights to confront a witness testifying against him, and in 2013, the court overturned his conviction. But, here's the kicker. Mark Jensen remains in prison held on a $1.2 million bond because he is scheduled for a retrial in March of 2022. But this time, the voicemails

and, you know, the letter from Beyond the Grave cannot be used against Mark. It's been more than 20 years since Julie was found dead in her Wisconsin home, and ever since, her case has been a roller coaster of emotion and back and forth rulings. Her family still fights for her justice to this day, and with a new trial just ahead of us, I wonder what do you guys think? Is Mark Jensen guilty? Thank you guys so much for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening and next week we'll have an all new case for you guys to dive into.

Actually, we'll have two of them. Yes. God, with this case, I feel like Mark is so guilty. The fact that he's getting a new trial in just a few months from now is Infuriating I feel like we should all fight this and as soon as that trial is over We will do an update episode on this case so that you guys know everything that's going on I just feel like this is not right. Yeah, I mean with all of the evidence, you know It is so obvious the harassing photos the fact that Mark is manipulative,

and you know, the crystal's found inside Julie's body, and just everything. The multitude of evidence that there is, I just, in my opinion, I believe that he's guilty. So, you know, if you are interested, you should watch the trial that's coming up in March. Yes, absolutely. And I just feel like I don't think it's fairer.

I mean, maybe it's more fair for him, but it's not fair in general. And for Julie, who's the victim of all of this, that her letter and voicemails can't be used because that was like her saying, hey, if something bad happens to me, I didn't do this. I then means a lot. Yeah, it means, you know, it means a ton, especially in this case, so. Please keep updated with us.

Thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. Thank you for tuning in for our second one of the week. Please, please, please listen up as we release episodes because we're doing it all for you and we love you guys. Yeah, keep sharing, keep leaving us, you know, reviews if you can, and also we have a Patreon. So if you guys want bonus episodes head over to patreon.com slash going west podcast, hit subscribe,

get listened to all that bonus content, and yeah! For everybody out there in the world, cheerio and don't be a stranger! Thank you. you