BALSAM LAKE, Wis. — In 1985, Yvonne Menke gave her boyfriend Jack Owen an ultimatum: Cut off ties with Mary Jo Bailey, his on-again/off-again alternate love interest — whom he also helped train horses — or Menke would leave him.
That's the scenario Polk County, Wisconsin's District Attorney Jeff Kemp laid out for the jury prior to Menke being murdered.
"Be with her exclusively or not at all, which meant no more Mary Jo, romantically or training horses together," Kemp said in his opening statement Monday.
The prosecution believes that put the now-81-year-old Bailey over the edge, so she waited in the stairwell of Yvonne's apartment on a cold December morning and shot her three times when Yvonne came down.
Police began to suspect Bailey shortly after the December 1985 murder but did not charge her until November 2023, when investigators dusted off the cold case.
In the opening statement, Bailey's defense attorney emphasized there never really was a "break" in the case.
"Often, cold cases get charged after such as DNA is finally matched to somebody. That isn’t what happened in this case. That’s not why we're here today," said attorney Donna Burger. "There is no DNA evidence. There is no direct evidence in this case."
Prosecutors are expected to lay out evidence of jealousy and other red flags displayed by Bailey.
Menke's daughter Julie, who was 20 at the time and lived with her mother, testified about a phone call she received the day before the murder. A woman's voice asked if her mother was home and what time she left for work.
Julie Connors began to weep as she recounted those details.
"Because I feel the caller was the person who murdered my mom and I told her everything she wanted to know to make it happen," Connors testified.
The most compelling piece of evidence the prosecution previewed in their opening statement involved boot prints in the fresh snow along the path the killer took to get away. Kemp said the prints match the tread and wear pattern of a pair of rare Arctic Cat snowmobile boots in a rare size, seized from Bailey after the crime.
But in their opening statement, Bailey's defense attorneys emphasized what the prosecution lacks for evidence.
"Unfortunately, there is no direct evidence as to who killed Yvonne Menke. This case instead is built on rumor and innuendo," Burger said.
The trial is expected to last two weeks.
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