Mark Jensen is accused of poisoning his wife Julie Jensen in 1998. Today marked the 6th day of his new trial – the second week. It’s hard to avoid saying it: today was about penises. “It should hardly come as a surprise that we are going to be talking about penises in this trial,” said Special Prosecutor Bob Jambois, “…if you go back and read ‘Jensen 2’, the court of appeals decision, the word penis appeared 115 times in that decision. I’m pretty sure that set a record for a court of appeals decisions in Wisconsin. Mr. Jensen’s preoccupation with penises is a major part of the state’s case”

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This statement was prompted by an objection from Jensen’s attorneys about the prosecution bringing up up a several-page stenographer’s notebook reportedly filled with drawings of penises. The defense argued it was irrelevant. However, Jensen’s border-line obsession with the phallus might tell a bigger, longer story. It was mentioned by the prosecution that Jensen asked his lover, Kelly Labonte about the characteristics of each and every penis she has seen. The judge sided with the prosecution, noting the guidance given by higher courts.

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A Mark Jensen coworker, David Nehring testified for a large part of this morning. He told the jury that he discovered many sketches of penises in Jensen’s office. He found that very weird. He also knew about Jensen’s affair with Kelly Labonte. He testified that he and Mark were close and Mark asked David for advice. He asked David if he should bring Labonte to Julie’s wake and have her move into the house. Nehring told Mark that that wasn’t a good idea. Mark claimed his work computer crashed for an unknown reason during the investigation of his wife’s death. Nehring also testified that Jensen previously wiped a computer of his with a giant magnet in the past. Magnets do damage older hard drives.

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David’s wife then took the stand briefly to talk about a time when she was at dinner with Julie and Julie said she was sad.

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Rosemary MacInnes, a coworker of Jensen, also testified about the book of penises.

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The last, and most important witness of the day, took the stand after lunch. Kelly LaBonte started a romantic relationship with Mark when they worked together at a stock-broker office. The exchanged hundreds of emails in the months leading up to Julie’s death. The prosecutors spent hours going through them all today. They spoke about getting divorced from their spouses and running away together. Kelly, prosecutors allege, was Mark’s motive to kill Julie. With Julie dead, Mark wouldn’t have to pay maintenance (alimony). LaBonte’s testimony was cut short and will resume tomorrow.

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