ST CROIX FALLS, Wis. — After learning from police on the morning of Dec. 12, 1985, that her 45-year-old mother Yvonne Menke had been killed, her 20-year-old daughter Julie said to St. Croix Falls Police Officer Mike Severson, "I knew this was going to happen."
Yvonne's family members felt uneasy about a recent confrontation and a phone call from an unknown female caller the day before and long had their suspicions about who shot the mother of four.
Finally, nearly 38 years after the murder in a St. Croix Falls apartment stairwell, the long-time suspect has been charged with first-degree murder. Mary Jo Bailey, now 80, known as Mary Jo Lunsmann at the time, is now jailed in Maricopa County, AZ, awaiting extradition to Polk County, WI.
The 39-page criminal complaint indicates Mary Jo was the top suspect from day one, and investigators believe she killed Yvonne out of jealousy stemming from a "love triangle." The two women had both been dating the same man, and he recently had chosen Yvonne over Mary Jo.
Although the case grew cold in the months following the shooting, every Polk County Sheriff to take office since then has re-opened it and made new efforts to solve it, law enforcement officials told the Inter-County Leader in a Dec. 2010 interview.
The latest round of police interviews done between late 2021 and early 2023 ended with investigators telling Mary Jo in January that she'd likely be charged with murder. There are no new key pieces of evidence cited in the court papers, but a matching footprint along with motive and various circumstances gave the Polk County District Attorney enough to file the murder charge.
It was very cold and the ground was snow-packed on Dec. 12, 1985. But police arriving at the shooting scene were able to take impressions of two footprints that appeared to come from Arctic Cat snow boots.
The day after the shooting, officers asked Mary Jo to show them her boots and shoes.
"Mary Jo showed them some footwear that she had within her residence. When asked if she had any other boots, Mary Jo stated she did. Mary Jo opened a door and retrieved a pair of Arctic Cat snowmobile boots, size 5," according to the criminal complaint. "Mary Jo gave officers permission to seize the boots."
Lab tests found the boots' tread pattern, size, and wear pattern were a match to the sulfur casts taken of the prints at the crime scene, according to the complaint.
Investigators believe Mary Jo called Yvonne's number a day or two before the murder to glean information about Yvonne's morning routine. Yvonne's daughter answered the phone at 6:50 a.m., right after her mother left for work.
According to the criminal complaint, the woman on the other end of the line asked her what time Yvonne leaves for work, and the daughter answered, "6:40-6:45 a.m." Before the daughter could ask the caller who she was, the caller hung up. Yvonne's daughter in later interviews said she's always felt guilty about the phone call and the information she provided to the unknown caller.
One of Yvonne's other daughters told police that in a phone call with Yvonne the day before the murder, Yvonne shared that Mary Jo had recently confronted her at her apartment. She couldn't remember the context of the confrontation or disagreement.
A third daughter corroborated that story, telling police she was in the apartment with Yvonne when Mary Jo came to her door.
Jack Owen, the man in the middle of the alleged love triangle, was interviewed several times by police but did not give them information that incriminated Mary Jo in the murder. Owen died in 2021.
Police interviewed Owen's widow in 2022. She married Owen in 1989 and told police stories of Mary Jo's jealousy. The woman told police Mary Jo broke into her house, trashed it, and wrote obscenities on photographs of the woman with Owen.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Polk County Sheriff's Office at 715-485-8300.
This is a developing story. KARE 11 will provide more details as new information becomes available.
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