KENOSHA — What happens inside a jury room is something most people never get to see. For one Kenosha man, that once-in-a-lifetime experience turned into a book.
Kenneth Humphrey served as the jury foreman in the 2023 Mark Jensen murder retrial — a high-profile case centered on whether Jensen poisoned his wife with antifreeze in 1998. The trial drew national attention and forced jurors to weigh decades-old evidence, witness testimony, and hours of deliberation.
Humphrey says the experience left a lasting impact.
“I’m much more appreciative of the process of justice,” Humphrey said. “While justice doesn’t always get it right, it’s about the best process we have to get it right, as often as we can.”
After the verdict, Humphrey began writing “The Breakfast Jury,” a novel inspired by the trial. While the book is fiction, he says many of the courtroom moments and jury discussions are drawn directly from real life.
“A lot of the scenes in the book came straight from the trial — the discussions we had, the way we worked through evidence,” Humphrey said. “We were very focused on relying only on what we could defend.”
Humphrey says the story isn’t just about the case, it’s about the people behind the verdict and the responsibility jurors carry.
Now, he’s sharing that experience with the community, alongside fellow jurors, at Blue House Books in downtown Kenosha on Sunday. Giving readers a rare look at what it’s like to sit in judgment in one of Kenosha’s most talked-about trials.
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