Wife killer gets life and no parole

A man who was convicted of poisoning and suffocating his wife was sentenced in Kenosha to life in prison without parole. Before she was killed, his wife had written a letter foreshadowing that her death might be suspicious.

Mark Jensen, 48, was found guilty last week of first-degree intentional homicide, a crime that carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison. The decision on whether he was eligible for parole was left to the judge.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that if I were to impose anything less than the maximum sentence in this case, I’d feel I had cheated the other people because your crime is so enormous, so monstrous, so unspeakably cruel, that it overcomes all other considerations,” Judge Bruce E. Schroeder said.

Julie Jensen, 40, was found dead in her home in Pleasant Prairie on Dec. 3, 1998. Prosecutors said she was poisoned with antifreeze and then suffocated.