Mark Jensen Awaiting Opinion/ Decision From Appellate Court

Mark Jensen

update 12/29/2010
 MARK JENSEN LOSES APPEAL


ORIGINAL REPORT:
Mark Jensen filed to appeal  his  first-degree murder conviction back in June 2008 but the appeal wasn't opened until April 2009. This week the appeal has finally been assigned to a three Judge panel with the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, District 2. On June 24, 2010 all briefs were submitted and the case is now pending an opinion/decision.

Julie Jensen

 Jensen was convicted of first- degree murder in February 2008 for the Ethylene Glycol (antifreeze) poisoning of his wife Julie in December 1998. The case took 10 years to come to trial because of evidentiary issues, including a letter written by Julie several weeks before her death.

Julie gave the letter to a neighbor with instruction the letter was to be given to police in the event of her death. The letter detailed her suspicions that Mark may have been planning to kill her.This case has become widely known as "The case of the letter from the grave."

At the end of the murder trial Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder  ruled the letter was Julie's Dying Declaration. The WI Supreme Court had already ruled the letter was admissible under the "Forfeiture of Wrong Doing Clause" if Judge Schroeder, after conducting a forfeiture hearing,  found by a preponderance of evidence that it was likely Mark had killed Julie to keep her from testifying. With that ruling Mark forfeited his right to confront his accuser. Special Prosecutor Robert Jambois said in 2009 that he won't be surprised if this case makes it to the US Supreme Court because of the constitutional issues involved.

Katfish...ponders doesn't know how long it will take for an opinion/decision to be reached but I'll continue to keep a close eye on the case. Both parties have requested they be allowed oral arguments,  I assume that will be considered and hope it is allowed. There is a mountain of evidence to be considered in this case, so it may take some time. Mark Jensen was sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole and is serving his sentence at the Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun, WI.

Click here to see earlier coverage at Katfish...ponders of this case and the appeal of the conviction. Throughout these entries are links to various legal documents, Julie's letter and the WI Court of Appeals website and media coverage. Here is a link to a site constructed by Julie Jensen's brothers in her memory. oursisterjulie.com It is a lovely tribute and a great one-stop place to learn about this case..

A final note, many have asked where Mark and Julie's son's are and about Mark's marriage to Kelly (LeBonte) Jensen.( Mark's mistress at the time of Julie's death and wife soon after.) On the memorial website Julie's brothers have a time line where they note that in April 2008, Kelly Jensen was named as legal guardian of Mark & Julie’s youngest son. (The older son is of legal age.) Julie’s brother was  granted co-guardian of his estate to insure money is properly set up for his future. In May 2009, Kelly filed for divorce from Mark. There are links to some of the legal documents about the divorce in the older entries here at Katfish....ponders. Sphere: Related Content

An Absence Of Blogging DOES NOT Indicate An Absence Of Interest

Happy New Year readers! Hope your holidays were merry!

You might have noticed it has been a while since Katfishponders has been updated. There hasn't been much time for the computer with the holidays and tending to a few "leaks in the pond", however, as I indicated in the title, the interest is still there. :)

This entry will summarize two of the cases featured on Katfishponders in 2009 and give you an update on where they stand at the beginning of 2010:


Mark Jensen

Mark Jensen 50, is a Kenosha WI man sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole. Jensen was found guilty on February 21, 2008 for the 1998 poisoning death of his wife Julie Jensen, 40. Attorney General Bob Jambois argued that Jensen poisoned his wife with anti-freeze and then suffocated her so he could start a new life with his mistress. Indeed, Jensen's mistress, Kelly LaBonte moved into Mark and Julies home shortly after Julie Jensen's death, and she and Mark Jensen were married in 2002.


The 2008 trial was a high profile case covered on CourtTV and live streamed on the internet. To see the complete coverage of this case on Katfishponders click here.


Mark Jensen (also known as inmate# #525607) calls the Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun, WI home as he awaits the appeal of his case. The appeal which was opened in April of 2009 is slowly making it's way through the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. As of this writing, the case maintenance is listed as "In briefing, Motion pending, Pending supplemental record". To see the case history of the appeal click here. Katfishponders will continue to follow the appeal and update what is found.


In 2009 this case continued to garner attention, InSession (formerly CourtTV) showed the trial again in July. On October 25, the Investigation Discovery Channel aired a 48 Hours Mystery segment entitled "The Letter" about the case. The segment featured interviews with many involved in the case including family of both Julie and Mark.


A reader recently commented that Kelly was granted a default judgment of divorce from Mark Jensen in October. The divorce was published in the newspaper on December 27. Here is another link with details of the divorce case. Is anyone surprised by this development?



Stacey Barker

Stacey Barker is a 24 year old woman from Lancaster CA accused of suffocating her 18 month old daughter, Emma Leigh Barker, to death on March 18, 2009.


Stacey Barker initially told police Emma was abducted from her car in the parking lot of a Lancaster, CA park as they prepared to leave. She claimed she was knocked out by the kidnapper and woke up six hours later, several miles away at the Palmdale Park-n-Ride. Detectives said Barker had injuries consistent with a struggle, including bruises on her head and was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Authorities say Barker later admitted making up the abduction story and inflicting the wounds on herself. She said the little girl died accidentally, but the fear of being blamed caused her to panic and leave the girl's body near the freeway. Barker led police to Emma’s body 12 hours later, dumped in a grassy lot near the Golden State Freeway in Sylmar, CA.


On April 27 Barker was arrested and the charges filed against the young mother include murder, assault on a child causing death and child abuse. The complaint alleges that Barker willfully caused and permitted the child to be injured and harmed and that injury resulted in death.


After a two-day preliminary hearing, Judge Carlos A. Chung ruled on July 27 that he found probable cause to hold Stacey Barker over for trial in the murder of Emma. On August 10, Barker formally pled Not Guilty to all counts. She is being housed in the Century Regional Detention Facility in the city of Lynwood on $1 million bail.


There has been numerous pretrial hearings in this case, most recently on December 29. Friends of Katfishponders have been attending these hearings and keeping us posted. (Thanks! You guys are the best!) Deputy District Attorney (DDA)S. Kelly Cromer is representing the people and Stacey Barker is being represented by Public Defender (PD)Roberto F. Dager. It appears that Judge Hayden Zackey will be presiding over the trial, he has handled most of the pretrial hearings.


At the latest hearing the public defender handed over his witness list to the state. (Our friends report DDA Cromer sounded unhappy when she was overheard telling another DA none of the names on the list include addresses.)


PD Dager also told the judge he would like to "run the Pitchess" motion at the next court date.
Pitchess is the partial name of a California court case that established a criminal defendant's right to information about a police officer's misconduct or dishonesty when the defendant alleges in a declaration that the officer used excessive force or lied about the events surrounding the defendant's arrest. It was alleged during the preliminary hearing that Barker made some very incriminating statements to police....I guess we can see where the defense is going regarding those statements.

After a hearing on December 17th the AntelopeValley Press reported that according to the prosecutor the trial may start in as little as a few weeks....I guess that isn't happening as there is no court date set yet, check back for on going coverage of this case .

If convicted, Barker will face 25 years to life in prison.

For previous reports on this case at Katfishponders and links to media sources click here. Sphere: Related Content