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ELKHORN, Wis. — The Kenosha County medical examiner has testified at the trial of Pleasant Prairie man accused of killing his wife that the death resulted from asphyxiation as well as poisoning, both as a result of homicide.
Mary K. Mainland took the stand Friday in the trial of Mark Jensen, 48, on a charge of first-degree intentional homicide in 1998 death of his wife, Julie, 40.
Mainland testified at an evidence hearing in the case last summer that she could not rule out asphyxiation as a possible cause of death. She reconsidered smothering as a cause of death after she heard claims from Kenosha County Jail inmate Aaron Dillard, who testified earlier in the trial that Mark Jensen confessed to smothering Julie.
“Everything in his description is consistent with the autopsy findings and the toxicology,” Mainland said.
Mainland concluded Julie Jensen was suffocated based, partly, on bruises found on her rib muscles, as shown in a photo presented to the jury.
Hemorrhages on Julie Jensen’s neck and the position of her body when she was found dead also suggested she was smothered, Mainland said.
Toxicologist Christopher Long could not provide any information on Julie Jensen’s possible asphyxiation during his testimony.
But he did agree with Mainland’s assessment that one of the reasons she died was because of antifreeze poisoning.
Long and Mainland theorized that Julie Jensen had at least two doses of ethylene glycol, the primary ingredient in antifreeze. Both doctors agreed multiple doses suggest homicide.
Julie Jensen died Dec. 3, 1998, and Mark Jensen was charged with her death in 2002. Mainland became Kenosha County medical examiner in 2005.
