KENOSHA, Wis. — Jury deliberations began on Tuesday in the retrial of Mark Jensen, the Pleasant Prairie man convicted of poisoning his wife to death nearly 25 years ago.
Jensen's homicide trial is now in its fourth week. He's charged with 1st-Degree Intentional Homicide and faces a life sentence for the 1998 killing of Julie Jensen. He was convicted of the crime in 2008, but his conviction was thrown out a few years ago by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Tuesday morning began with closing arguments and later the state's rebuttal.
"Somebody committed a ghastly crime here," said Deputy District Attorney Carli McNeill. "This year is the 25th year stolen from Julie Jensen."
From the first trial 15 years ago, the state has maintained the theory that Jensen never got over an affair his wife had with another man in the early 1990s and eventually killed her.
The defense argued that Julie Jensen was depressed and ultimately chose to take her own life.
"Mark Jensen did not kill his wife. We know this from the science, we know this from what Julie Jensen told her physician," said Defense Attorney Jeremy Perri.
Deliberations lasted for about two hours before Judge Anthony Milisauskas sent jurors home for the evening. They've been ordered to return to court Wednesday morning to resume weighing the evidence.
WATCH: Julie Jensen's brother, Larry Griffin, sings "In My Life" in honor of his sister while flipping through pictures of her.
