Guest Entry: donchais covers the Mark Jensen Trial

donchais is T&T's "reporter in the field" covering the daily drama of the Mark Jensen murder trial.



January 12, 2008
With what was already a long week, Friday's testimony took it to a new limit!

The only witness, Rhonda Mitchell works for the Wisconsin Dept. of Justice. She is a Computer Forensic Analyst who reviewed Jensen's computers. Mitchell explained the science of how to search a hard drive and the software utilized to do so. She describes performing keyword searches on homicide by poisoning and as exhibit 32 is being entered…bam! Albee objects and the jury is sent out. This is becoming so predictable.

The room temperature probably just went up 20 degrees. There is no love lost between Robert Jambois and Craig Albee. Even Judge Schroeder raises his voice. Both lawyers get put in their places; Jambois for his aggression when objecting and Albee for objecting to everything!

The testimony is so tedious, but is quite damning to Mark Jensen. The gist of it is that from October through December searches were done on botulism, poisoning, pipe bombs and mercury fulminate, ethylene glycol, etc.

Also several queries on Windstar, the cruise line. Mark and Kelly LaBonte (the woman he was having an affair with) were planning a cruise together in October 1998.

The emails on the computer were mostly between Jensen and LaBonte. None where between Mark and Julie Jensen!

To sum up, from October through December 1998, all computer activity was done at times of the day that Julie was (pretty obviously) not the one utilizing the computer. In fact, many of the queries were performed while Julie was literally on her deathbed!

This corroborates the testimony of Ms. DeFazio that Julie was not computer savvy!

Monday ought to be pretty interesting. We will hear from the jail house snitches. I'm thinking a lot of fireworks!

Thank you donchais, for all your hard work in covering the trial!