Aug. 22, 2009
The Letter
A Letter Written By A Suspicious Young Mother Helps Solve Her Own Murder
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Julie and Mark Jensen (CBS)
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Play CBS Video Video The Letter: Mark Jensen Interrogation Initially, investigators thought suicide was a strong possibility in the 1998 death of Julie Jensen. But a letter she left behind gave them other ideas. Watch excerpts as police question her husband, Mark, about Julie's death.
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Video Julie's Letter Julie Jensen's brother Paul Griffin reads his sister's ominous letter, which was handed over to authorities after her death.
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Video A Brother's Musical Tribute Julie Jensen's brother Patrick Griffin produced an album as a tribute to his late sister. Hear him perform "Failing Virtues," from the album "Voices From Beyond," released by Papercup Publishing, BMI.
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In March 2002, Mark was arrested and charged with the first-degree murder of his wife Julie.
Mark's parents believe the police have it all wrong, and that as a trained nurse, Julie knew all about drugs and poisons. Dan and Florence Jensen say that Julie, after going on the home computer to do research, took the small amount of ethylene glycol herself but never intended to die.
They believe Julie was trying to make it look as if she was being poisoned by Mark so that he would go to prison and she would end up with the kids and the house. And they think that she had miscalculated the dose and died as a result.
They also say Julie's letter was part of her plan. "It was all part and parcel of several years of her framing and planning how she was going to do this," Dan says. "She needed witnesses besides the poisons. She made sure that she gave this letter to the next door neighbor. She needed to establish people who would be witnesses on her behalf."
"The fact that Dan Jensen or Florence Jensen say they believe something, that carries no weight with me at all. They're both a couple of liars," Jambois says.
But the Jensens aren't the only ones who think Julie may have orchestrated her own death: a forensic pathologist hired by Mark's defense called the letter "contrived, unbelievable, and self-serving."
What will a jury think? They may never see the letter. By law, Mark has the right to confront his accuser in court. But Julie was dead. So before trial, Jensen's attorneys argued the letter should be thrown out as evidence. Shockingly, the judge agreed.
Jambois decided to fight for the letter. His appeal, which took another five long years, went all the way to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. "We fought hard to get this letter into evidence. By God, her word should be heard by that jury," he says.
The state Supreme Court agreed: Julie's letter could be used at trial, but only if the state could show at a preliminary hearing that there was enough other incriminating evidence to point to Mark as the killer.
It was now July 2007, almost nine years after Julie's death. Free on bail, Mark was now married to his lover, Kelly Labonte. As the hearing began, he was looking and feeling confident until, suddenly, a surprise witness took the stand.
Ed Klug, who used to work with Mark, claimed that three weeks before Julie died Mark told him he was looking up ways to kill her. "He started talking about Web sites that you could go to different poisons that would be non-detectable in a normal autopsy," Klug tells Moriarty.
Klug and Mark were in St. Louis at a company convention. They'd been drinking.
"He put a lot of thought into how he was going to get rid of her, cover it up and make it look like it was a suicide or that, you know, she was a sickly unstable woman," Klug recalls.
Asked if Mark seemed serious, Klug says, "You know, I never really saw anything in Mark that he wasn't serious."
Yet Klug never reported the conversation to the police. Why not?
"You know, at that point, I was busy, transitioning my business," he says.
"Wait a minute, though. I mean your life was busy, but well, we're talking about a possible murder," Moriarty points out.
"Right, right. You know, I guess I just didn't at that point come forward," Klug replies.
He says he didn't tell the D.A.'s office because he "was afraid to get involved."
In fact, Klug only became involved because one of his co-workers tipped off the prosecutor; Klug was then ordered to testify.
"You can't really rely on a story that comes out from drinking in the middle of the night," Dan says.
But the judge believed Klug, and raised Mark's bond to more than $1 million. Unable to pay it, Mark hugged his son goodbye and was taken to jail to await trial for murder.
Julie's brothers struggle to understand why she never shared her fears with them.
"The defense says, and will argue to this jury, that Mark didn't kill Julie at all. Julie planned this whole thing. She was going to commit suicide and punish her husband with it because he was having an affair. Isn't that a possible reason why she didn't tell any of you?" Moriarty asks.
"It's not. Julie would never, ever try to get back at her husband and leave the kids she loves with the guy she hates. It doesn't make sense," Patrick says.
Produced by Peter Henderson and Linda Martin
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See all 38 CommentsI find it bizarre that she could honestly feel that she was in danger, that she truly feared for her life, yet did not take any measures to protect herself - if only to ensure that she would be around to be there for her boys. If she was in a rational, sound state of mind she would have listened to the neighbors that tried to help her or she would have confided in her brothers who would have insisted that she not continue to live there.
It was clear that she WANTED to be there, that she wanted people to worry about her without taking any steps to ensure her safety. She made sure that she told people who would testify on her behalf about her "fears". She wrote a letter to seal her husband's fate.
We did not see a discussion as to whether that post-it note was really her husband's note. We did not see handwriting analysis of that note, nor did we hear his explanation of what it was for if it was proven to really be his note. That note side-by-side with the letter were the ultimate pieces of evidence that the jury used to make their decision.
I do not know if the jury were actually qualified to make this decision if this is the main basis of their thought process.
If Julie was truly depressed (as she seemed to be) and knew about the affair, this is a most-effective way for her to punish her husband and ensure that he would suffer tremendously (whether he was convicted or not).
What's more, if she really wanted to be there for her sons like she claimed in the letter ('I would never commit suicide because of my sons'), I am convinced that she would have taken refuge away from someone she feared: if she honestly feared him! And she would have taken her sons. And she would not have ingested food or drink that she herself did not buy and prepare.
I fear the justice system may have incarcerated an innocent man.
WARNING: WOMEN WHO PERCEIVE THEIR HUSBAND MAY POISON THEM EAT OUT EVERY MEAL AND ONLY DRINK FROM A BOTTLE FROM WHICH YOU HAVE BROKEN THE SEAL OR "MOVE OUT" UNTIL YOU DON''T THINK THIS ANYMORE. I HOPE MY SISTER KNOWS I LOVE AND RESPECT HER ENOUGH TO MAKE ME THE FIRST ONE SHE WOULD CALL IF PRESENTED WITH JULIE HENSEN''S TYPE EVIDENCE.
I cant believe they actually interviewed Dan Jensen on this show. He has such a shady background that there is no way you can believe a single word he says.
The part that surprises me the most is how convinced everyone else is - one way or the other - there''s a reason this case was published on 48 hours "mystery"
The part that surprises me the most is how convinced everyone else is - one way or the other - there''s a reason this case was published on 48 hours "mystery"
The part that surprises me the most is how convinced everyone else is - one way or the other - there''s a reason this case was published on 48 hours "mystery"
The part that surprises me the most is how convinced everyone else is - one way or the other - there''s a reason this was published on 48 hours "mystery"
What''s really sad is how in the end, Mark had obviously turned Julie''s sons against her through the years. The note they had read mentioned their "birth mother" Julie. She was their MOTHER, period, and would still be alive had it not been for their cold-hearted father.
To answer your question, you can always google it and you''ll get loads of information.... that''s the thing with anything these days......
But trust me, Jensen is where he belongs, with or without the letter. He was cold and heartless. A complete loser who really got leniency for what he did.When you murder somebody, you don''t go around bragging it to other people.... the jailhouse snitch could not be lying, as his account of the story matched the forensics (wife''s face was smeared to the side). As if he could have made that up. Please, spare me!
I don''t think the entire letter was read during the episode. You can view the unabridged reading of the sons'' letter here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ668aYH5BY
Julie Jensen''s family has a website which includes a source-annotated timeline of the events leading up to her death and highlights some of the events at trial-- could be a helpful resource in learning more about the case: http://www.oursisterjulie.com./Julie/Timeline.html
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O.J. was judged by a jury of his peers.
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