Mark Jensen sentenced; life without parole, 1998 death of his wife
KENOSHA, Wis. - A Kenosha County judge sentenced Mark Jensen on Friday, April 14 to life in prison without parole in the killing of his wife, Julie Jensen, in 1998.
This is the second time Jensen has been sentenced for killing Julie. This time around, Mark Jensen spoke on his own behalf.
"Please grant parole eligibility so the family and I can move forward and heal," Jensen told the court.
Jensen said that would allow him to be there for his three sons – two of them he had with Julie Jensen.
"It’s taken a toll on them. They deserve my help, if they want it," Jensen said.
"That’s a good thing. But what about Julie? She has nothing today, she's dead," said Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Anthony Milisauskas.
The judge did not buy Jensen's argument.
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"He caused that. He’s the one that put that in motion. He says, well my boys don't have two parents. Well, guess what? He’s the one that murdered Julie," Milisauskas said.
The judge said the evidence was overwhelming – that Jensen tortured Julie for years while having an affair with his boss' secretary, whom he later married. Jensen claimed Julie poisoned herself with antifreeze.
"The lack of calling a doctor when she was dying. It was a painful death. And it was all caused by Mr. Jensen," Judge Milisauskas said.
Three brothers of Julie Jensen spoke to the court before the sentence was handed down.
Julie Jensen
"I strongly appeal to you to sentence Mark Jensen to life without parole," said Michael Griffin, Julie Jensen's brother.
"I feel that Mark Jensen's cruel and inhuman actions toward the life of Julie are unforgivable," said Larry Griffin, Julie Jensen's brother.
"I wrote this letter 15 years ago, nothing has changed in that time," said Paul Griffin, Julie Jensen's brother.
Mark Jensen
There was a new trial after a letter from Julie Jensen was thrown out – pointing the finger at her husband if anything happened to her.
"He should not breathe the free air outside of a prison cell," said Carli McNeill, Kenosha County Deputy District Attorney.
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"This was planned out for a long time, it was intentional, it was researched for a purpose for evil. He’s not getting any parole eligibility," the judge said.
Sentencing options available to the court
Jensen was sentenced based on the law back in 1998. So the sentencing options for the court on Friday included:
- Life in prison with 20 years parole
- Life in prison with parole eligibility later than 20 years
- Life in prison without parole