Jury begins deliberation in Mark Jensen murder trial

NOW: Jury begins deliberation in Mark Jensen murder trial
NEXT:

KENOSHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- We have the latest on the anti-freeze murder trial in Kenosha.

Mark Jensen was convicted of poisoning and suffocating his wife in 1998 in Pleasant Prairie. 

The jury is now in deliberation at the Kenosha County Courthouse. 

Both sides are telling very different stories about Mark Jensen's action in early December 1998 before Julie Jensen's death. 

The state's prosecutor says Mark Jensen's son, David, claimed his mother was bedridden the morning of her death on Dec. 3, 1998.

"He asked his dad to take his mom to the hospital and his dad said no."

They focused in part on internet search history recovered from a computer at the scene, searching for symptoms of antifreeze poisoning and other poison chemicals. 

They say Julie wasn't behind the searches.

"And I've already showed you that that's impossible, but if this was Julie Jensen on the computer, hypothetically, why would she delete that internet history?" said the prosecution.

That search history was recovered after being deleted. 

"If you wanted to frame your husband you wouldn't delete it, but it is what you do when you're trying to clean up."

The defense claims she was making these searches, and argued she was even suicidal because of searches for suicide made in the weeks ahead of her death.

"There's only one person in that house that would've been searching for suicide with what we know about the context of what was going on with Julie in those last couple of months."

While the prosecutors say witnesses remember her asking for help and fearing for her life, the defense says Julie had opportunities to get away from Mark Jensen but didn't. 

"She didn't leave with the boys, she didn't take the money. She had her own car, Officer Costman said if this is real, go to the shelter if your life is in danger."

The defense contends Julie was disturbed, depressed and dealing with many personal issues, even telling people she wouldn't be around anymore before she died. 

"On Dec. 2 she wrote the note to Therese Defazio that she wouldn't be seeing her. Her conversation with Margaret Wojt on Dec. 2 -- you won't be seeing me, don't worry, I'm fine."

The prosecution told the jury they should believe what Julie was telling people -- that her life was in danger. 

"You'll believe Julie and you'll find the defendant guilty."

Jensen was originally charged with homicide in 2002 and convicted in 2008. He was granted a retrial after a federal judge ruled a key piece of evidence was hearsay. It was a letter written by Julie Jensen that named her husband as her killer. 

We will bring you the jury's decision as soon as it is released. 

Share this article: