Dark Crossroads
A podcast about all things true crime & paranormal
Welcome to Dark Crossroads Podcast! We bring you gripping stories and intriguing discussions in the fascinating world of the paranormal, true crime and the unknown. We offer a captivating range of episodes that will leave you questioning the boundaries of reality.
At Dark Crossroads Podcast, we pride ourselves on delivering thought-provoking content that keeps our listeners on the edge of their seats. Our episodes explore supernatural phenomena, unsolved mysteries, and unexplained events, providing a unique platform for those interested in the uncharted and enigmatic.
Whether you're a devoted follower of the paranormal or just searching for something off the beaten path, Dark Crossroads Podcast invites you to join our growing community of curious minds. Immerse yourself in our immersive storytelling and engaging discussions, and let your imagination run wild. Check us out at the link below and embark on a journey that will challenge your perception of the world around you. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast for all bonus content!
Don’t. Trust. Anyone.
Dark Crossroads
Veil of Deception: The Mysterious Death of a Betrayed Wife
Step into the shadows of the Jensen household, where infidelity and dread culminate in the chilling demise of Julie Jensen, a story that not only grips the heart but also challenges the boundaries of legal evidence. In an episode rich with suspense, we meticulously piece together the fractured portrait of a marriage poisoned by deceit, guided by the voices of those closest to the case. From the neighbor who bore witness to Julie's foreboding words, to the legal minds wrestling with the admissibility of her haunting premonition, we lay bare the events that led to Mark Jensen's life sentence.
As the specter of domestic violence looms large over the narrative, we extend beyond the courtroom to touch upon the lives irrevocably altered by this tragedy. The echoes of Julie's letter reverberate through time, shaping the contours of a retrial that once again ends with Mark Jensen behind bars. The discussion is raw, the implications profound, and through it all, we pay homage to those who have suffered in silence. Join us in a somber reflection on the ripple effects of one woman's demise and the ceaseless quest for justice that follows. Don't forget to come back for our next episode as we remain committed to illuminating the darkest corners of human experience.
Packed With Purpose
Woman Owned business that embeds social & environmental impact into the everyday act of gift giving
Curiosity Box
Use promo code dark30 when Subscribing to Quarterly or Annual Plan and get a FREE Lightyear Bottle!
Please don't forget to like, rate, review & subscribe. ♡
Be Weird. Stay Different. Don't Trust Anyone!
Our website, places to listen, where to find us on social media and how to subscribe to have access to bonus content, become our bestie and receive a shout-out in upcoming episodes!!!
Query. Welcome to Dark Crossroads podcast, hosted by Roxanne Fletcher. This is your stop for all things true, crime and paranormal. From the infamous story of the new Bedford Highway Killer to the chilling tale of the black-eyed children, dark Crossroads podcast is a truly deep dive into the stories that frighten and fascinate you. All links to the show will be provided in this episode's description, and don't forget to let us know what you think of today's episode.
Speaker 1:Wherever you listen to podcasts, dark Crossroads podcast is brought to you by Problem Wildlife. Problem Wildlife serves all of western Massachusetts and has been humanely protecting your house and your family from unwanted pests for over 20 years. Take back your space with an animal control service that you can trust. They are family owned, fully licensed, and are knowledgeable and dependable. To find out more about their services, simply visit their website at wwwproblemwildliferemovalcom. Again, that is wwwproblemwildliferemovalcom, and their information will be included in our show notes.
Speaker 1:On December 3rd in 1998, mark Jensen found the body of his wife, julie Jensen, in their bedroom.
Speaker 1:He told investigators that she had been sick for the past three days but that otherwise he didn't know what had happened to her.
Speaker 1:The initial autopsy was inconclusive, with Kenosha County, wisconsin, medical examiners unable to determine the cause or manner of 40-year-old Julie Jensen's death, but after investigators seized the family's computer, they began to suspect that Mark Jensen had actually murdered his wife. In the end, it took two murder trials one in 2008 and another in January of 2023, to finally convict Mark Jensen of killing his wife by poisoning her with antifreeze, drugging her while sleeping with pills and eventually suffocating her to death. After years and years of legal back and forth, which centered largely on a letter that Julie Jensen had written shortly before her death, pointing the finger at her husband should anything happen to her, a judge finally sentenced Mark Jensen to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Mark and Julie Jensen lived in Pleasant Prairie, wisconsin, a small town situated on the shores of Lake Michigan, about 40 miles south of Milwaukee. Mark Jensen worked as a stockbroker, while Julie worked as a stay-at-home mom and watched the couple's two young sons, david and Douglas.
Speaker 4:He told me that his mother is sick and that his dad will not take her to the hospital. David's demeanor was grave, concerned, nervous worried.
Speaker 1:The Jensen's marriage was, for the most part, a rocky one. In the early 1990s, julie had a brief affair with a co-worker and after she admitted the affair to her husband, somebody began harassing her For years. The unknown perpetrator left pornographic photos around the house and on the Jensen's vehicles, and they would make hang-up phone calls, which Julie diligently recorded in a logbook. Julie's mental health suffered and on December 1st of 1998, just two days before her death she had visited the family doctor who wrote her prescription for the antidepressant Paxil. It was stated that she was miserable and depressed by the doctor and he had also testified during the January 2023 trial.
Speaker 1:At trial, mark Jensen's attorneys used Julie Jensen's mental health struggles as part of their defense, arguing that she had died by suicide and framed her husband for her murder. But prosecutors painted a very different picture. When they scoured the internet browser history on the family's computer, they found searches for ways to kill somebody, including ethanol glycol poisoning. Ethanol glycol is a primary ingredient in antifreeze. Medical examiners also found ethylene glycol in Julie's Jensen's blood, stomach and urine. Investigators also found emails that indicated that Mark Jensen had been having an affair also with a woman named Kelly LeBont now Kelly Brooks and the months leading up to Julie Jensen's death.
Speaker 4:And saw Kelly laying on their bed. And as I continued past the door, I saw Mr Jensen standing away from the bed with his shirt off.
Speaker 1:And not long after Julie had died did Kelly move in with Mark, and a few years later the two were married. Prosecutors argued that Mark Jensen killed his wife so that he could be with Kelly, and they also claimed that he had never forgiven his wife for the brief affair that she had had with the co-worker before.
Speaker 5:She was afraid her husband was going to make it look like a suicide, because when she went to counseling he would always say things that were Making her look like she was crazy.
Speaker 1:It was stated, mark Jensen, who had tormented and punished and never forgiven his wife for years, found her replacement and then killed her. It was also stated during the trial if Mark Jensen did kill his wife so that he could be with his new lover, poison makes sense as a murder weapon. He likely did not love his wife anymore so he wouldn't have cared if she was in pain, and poison suggests that he spent time carefully planning how to get rid of her. And A lot of murders. Someone just flips out and stabs or shoots somebody. There's a situation that pushes them to have a very violent physical response, whereas poisoning is more deliberate and planned out. It's generally more premeditated and it's usually a more dispassionate approach. You're watching that person suffer and you're fine with it because it's a means to an end. You're not connected to your victim anymore.
Speaker 1:Beyond Mark Jensen's extra marital affair, in the incriminating internet research history that they found on his computer, investigators were also convinced of his guilt by a letter that Julie Jensen had written just before her death. That letter, however, also created years of legal headaches. About a week and a half before she died, julie Jensen pinned a letter, sealed it inside of an envelope and gave it to a neighbor. In it she had written that if anything happens to me, mark Jensen would be my first suspect, according to the killer cases episode on A&E. She also wrote I would never take my life because of my kids. They are everything to me.
Speaker 3:This letter was written by Julie Jensen, pleasant Furry Police Department, ron Cosmer, detective Rathsburg. I Took this picture and I'm writing this on Saturday November 21st 1998. This list was in my husband's business daily planner, not meant for me to see. I don't know what it means, but if anything happens to me he would be my first suspect. Our relationship has deteriorated to the plight Superficial I know he's never given me for the brief affair I had with that creep seven years ago. Mark lives for work and the kids. He's an avid surfer of the internet, anyway.
Speaker 4:I do not smoke or drink.
Speaker 3:My mother was an alcoholic so I live by drinking to one or two a week. Mark wants me to drink more with him in the evenings. I don't. I Would never take my life because of my kids. They are everything to me and she underlined everything. I regularly take Tylenol and multivitamins, occasionally take OTC stuff for a colds, xanthic or modium, have one prescription for migraine tablets which Mark uses more than me. I pray I'm wrong and nothing happens, but I'm suspicious of Mark's suspicious behaviors, fear for my early demise. However, I will not leave David and Douglas, my life's greatest love accomplishment, and wish my 3Ds Daddy Mark, david and Douglas. And sign Julie Jensen. And this letter was written November 21st 1998. This is the list that she'd seen. This is the list of this photographed by Julie and given to the police.
Speaker 1:Inside of the envelope she also included a photo that she had taken of a list written in Mark Jensen's handwriting that included items like own drug supply bag, hands and Surringe. It was stated by prosecutors that it certainly seemed Mark Jensen was making a list of potential ways to murder somebody. Letters like this are rare but not unheard of in murder cases, and if the Jensen's marriage was falling apart, it's not surprising that Julie Jensen felt some indication that something was not right. Listen to your god, everybody.
Speaker 1:Prosecutors presented Julie Jensen's so-called letter from the grave to jurors during Mark Jensen's first murder trial in 2008. At the end of that trial, the jury convicted Mark Jensen of killing his wife, and a judge Sentenced him to life in prison without parole. But Mark Jensen argued that the letter should not have been admissible in court because it violated his Constitutional right to cross-examine a witness who provided evidence against him. Since Julie Jensen was dead, mark Jensen couldn't confront her and therefore the letter shouldn't have been allowed at trial. The case ended up making it all the way to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which, in 2021, ruled that Mark Jensen deserved a new trial, one at which the letter would not be allowed as evidence. So in January of 2023,. Prosecutors tried the case for a second time and again secured a conviction. The judge at the time, bruce Schroder, handed down the maximum sentence in the case life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Speaker 2:There's other avenues that people can do if they don't get along with people, and that was mentioned by the state. We're all human beings. Sometimes we just don't get along in a marriage and things don't work out, and other people do things that make us mad. And some people stay married and they're unhappy for the rest of their lives or they work it out. And Mr Jensen could have had that opportunity. He could have walked away. He was having a difficult time with his wife. He could have divorced her, separated or whatever, but he chose not to do that. What he chose to do is to torture her for a long time. This ain't he freeze?
Speaker 2:The theory that somebody would drink that to commit suicide. I don't buy that. That's not a way people commit suicide. It's torture. He was jealous, he was vengeful, he manipulated people, he was a controlled person over Julie committed a cruel act and it happened for a long period of time, as mentioned by the state. It wasn't like somebody made a decision to shoot somebody within 10 seconds or whatever, and it's over. And it's a young person. He's a grown adult, married, and he tortured his wife for a long period of time, for years.
Speaker 2:You know we go to funerals and sometimes you wonder what do I say to the family at a funeral? Well, sometimes we say, well, at least it was a quick death, the person didn't wake up or had a heart attack and they died right away, at least they didn't suffer. Or if they had a major medical issue and they suffered, sometimes we say well, at least the suffering's over and they're in a better position right now. Well, in this case, there's no doubt in my mind that Julie Jensen suffered for a long time. The evidence showed that through the trial, she did not have a good life for a period of time, that she was married to Mr Jensen. The harassment, the ainty-trees, poisoning, the lack of calling a doctor when she was dying. It was a painful death and it was all caused by Mr Jensen. You know, I look at the pictures that I have in front of me. There are pictures of Mr Jensen with his children. But I still remember Julie Jensen's picture that we had during a trial. She was a loving mother. She loved their children. Both sides agreed to have it and she will never get to see her children grow up because she was murdered by the defendant.
Speaker 2:So this was planned out for a long time. It was intentional. It was researched with a purpose for evil. He's not getting any pro-eligibility. It's too serious of a crime to depreciate. It was too vengeful. I have to consider the need to protect the public from any further criminal activity based on all the factors I just put into the record. No parole, life imprisonment. That is a judgment to the court.
Speaker 1:You can do the rights of appeal in the back. Mark Jensen is currently incarcerated at Oshkosh Correctional Institute in Oshkosh, wisconsin. At the sentencing the judge said your crime is so enormous, so monstrous, so unspeakably cruel that it overcomes all other considerations.
Speaker 6:Julie, we dearly love and appreciate and thank your friends and neighbors who share pleasant times with you, who can testify to your vibrance in caring nature. Our utmost gratitude goes out to those kind people who helped you in your times of distress, including the pleasant-bearing police and first responders. We, your brothers, our families and your many relatives and friends across the country all grieve that people who did not know you will never experience what a kind the gentle nature person you were, that you loved your two sons more than anything else on this earth. Finally, we know you did not want to burden us brothers with your marital problems and you did not reach out to us. We see your tragic death, julie, as a result of Mark's increased aggression toward you to cause fear, to exploit your vulnerabilities, to manipulate your actions so as to occupy a position of power and control over you. This is the definition of domestic abuse With lovers and friends I still can recall. Some are dead and some are living in my life. I love you.
Speaker 1:All right, guys. So thank you so much for hanging out again today. For more details on the podcast or the cases that we covered, then head on over to the website wwwdarkcrossroadspodcastcom, where we have all of the episodes, information about the podcast, merch and also a blog covering every single case and it going into more description, including links to all the places that you need to make phone calls to or resources regarding the case. You can also find us on most social media platforms. Don't forget to like, share, rate, review, subscribe wherever you're listening to us. You can subscribe to the podcast. There is a link in all episodes in the notes that will send you to our subscription page and with that you will get bonus content, discount on future merch and a lot of other extra goodies and kind of behind the scenes information.
Speaker 1:So every single donation, through the subscription and any other place, goes straight to the podcast. It helps fund research and it really helps us out to keep this podcast going. So before I go, I just want to thank all of my listeners for your continued support and for sending in cases that you wanted covered and stories that you wanted read on the podcast. We truly accept all stories scary, paranormal, funny, anything that you want read or you want me to know, send it in. And any cases that you want covered, please send in. You can email those to wwwdarkcrossroadspodcastcom. And, with all of this said, please don't forget to be weird, stay different and don't trust anyone.
