WAUKESHA, Wis. — Day three in the trial of Jessy Kurczewski, 39, began Wednesday.
The Franklin woman is accused of killing a family friend by poisoning her with eye drops. Prosecutors accused her of killing 61-year-old Lynn Hernan five years ago. Kurczewski was Hernan's caregiver and one of only two people named in Hernan's will. Prosecutors say the alleged crime was motivated by greed.
On Wednesday, Dr. Linda Biedrzycki with the Waukesha County Medical Examiner's Office, testified to Hernan's toxicology report. She discussed Tetrahydrozoline symptoms and effects. She concluded that Hernan died by homicide of Tetrahydrozoline poisoning with contributing factors of other medications, which could have increased the effects of Tetrahydrozoline, according to Court TV. She was on the stand for more than three hours and will continue into Thursday.
To give more insight into the case, TMJ4 invited Attorney Jonathan Lavoy to speak with us. He shares the cause of death is going to be key in the trial and how that will play out with jurors when experts from both sides talk about it.
Watch what he had to share below:
Trial Day 2 reporting:
A jury heard opening remarks Tuesday in the trial of a Franklin woman accused of killing a family friend by poisoning her with eyedrops.
37-year-old Jessy Kurczewski has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of felony theft.
Prosecutors have accused her of killing 61-year-old Lynn Hernan in October 2018. Her motivation, prosecutors said, was greed.
"There's certainly a factual, bare-bones timeline of theft, murder, and more theft. But there's this almost overlaid timeline of all of the defendant's lies and deceit," said Assistant District Attorney Randy Sitzberger in the state's opening.
According to the criminal complaint, she defrauded Hernan of nearly $300,000, including money from her estate.
"She finally gave that water bottle, knowing it had, in the defendant's estimation, six bottles of Visine to Lynn Hernan, knowing it could kill her, and walks out of that condo unit, closes the door, and goes shopping on Lynn's dime," said Sitzberger.
Kurczewski's defense team said Lynn Hernan was like a mother to Kurczewski.
"If Lynn Hernan was there today, she would say, 'Are you crazy, prosecution? That's my daughter you have sitting at that desk over there. That's my daughter,'" said Defense Attorney Pablo Galaviz in his opening.
According to Galaviz, Hernan knew Kurczewski was spending her money and that Hernan was depressed, coping with alcohol and prescription medication. He said Hernan wanted to die and "didn't like life."
"She had a boatload of [prescription medication] in her system. And they're saying the Visine killed her? Not the other pills she had in her system along with the alcohol?" said Galaviz.
The state called witnesses on Tuesday, including current and former law enforcement officers who responded to Hernan's house on the evening she was found dead.
Tabitha Kukes, former Waukesha County Assistant Medical Examiner, also took the stand. She pronounced Hernan dead at her home on October 3, 2018, and testified Tuesday that she found prescription medication on and near the body.
“All that really matters is what the toxicology shows. All that really matters is what’s in the decedent's bloodstream at the time of death, not necessarily what’s [at the scene],” said Kukes.
Background on the case
According to a criminal complaint, the case began in 2018 when Kurczewski called police and said her friend was not breathing. A deputy arrived at the Pewaukee home and found a woman with "a large amount of crushed medication on her chest and on a nearby plate" along with prescription medication around her.
Initially, investigators believed it could be a drug overdose.
The complaint stated that Kurczewski told investigators she had been taking care of her friend, who was "acting odd" leading up to her death and believed she was suicidal.
However, witnesses and people who knew the victim told law enforcement things were not adding up and they had concerns about the validity of the victim leaving her estate to Kurczewski.
In January of 2019, the medical examiner said a toxicology report showed a lethal amount of tetrahydrozoline, the main ingredient in eye drops, in the victim's blood. The medical examiner reported the cause of death was homicide, not suicide or an accident.
Months later, Kurczewski said she brought her friend a water bottle holding six bottles worth of Visine and her friend drank it. Kurczewski claimed she was helping her friend do what she wanted.
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