Mary Josephine Bailey was arrested in Arizona Monday for the murder of Yvonne Menke.

[Quoththeraven]

POLK COUNTY (WQOW) - An arrest has been made nearly 38 years after the murder of a woman in Polk County.

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Polk County authorities say this case is still under investigation. If you have any additional information, you can contact them at 715-485-8300.

Arrest made in 1985 Polk County homicide cold case

An arrest has been made nearly 38 years after the murder of a woman in Polk County.

www.waow.com

 

[Quoththeraven]

Mary Bailey mugshot

Mary Bailey, 80, charged in 1985 Wisconsin cold case murder of Yvonne Menke

Yvonne Menke, 45, was shot three times in the head and neck as she sat in her car on the morning of Dec. 12, 1985, in St. Croix Falls.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[meanmaryjean]

This is CRAZY

 

[Quoththeraven]

A more indepth article showing evidence as to why it happened.

An 80-year-old Arizona woman has been charged in a 1985 western Wisconsin murder that authorities say was fueled by a love triangle...

Murder suspect charged in western Wisconsin cold case

Yvonne Menke, 45, was shot three times after leaving her St. Croix Falls’ home.

www.twincities.com

 

[LadyL]

Mary Bailey mugshot

Mary Bailey, 80, charged in 1985 Wisconsin cold case murder of Yvonne Menke

Yvonne Menke, 45, was shot three times in the head and neck as she sat in her car on the morning of Dec. 12, 1985, in St. Croix Falls.

www.cbsnews.com

she sure looks scary

 

[Quoththeraven]

she sure looks scary

Mary Josephine Bailey, formerly Mary Jo Lunsmann, formerly Mary Jo Nockels, is shown in a Baraboo bank newspaper ad about nine years before the murder.
Ancestry.com shows she was born in Bone Lake, Polk County, WI. She married Laven L. Lunsmann 10 Mar 1962 in Minneapolis, MN. They lived there at 1416 Portland Ave. They divorced 12 Jan 1982. He remarried in 1983.

Interestingly, the murder of a 93 year old woman occurred at that same address June 12, 1980. The person arrested was Eugene Riley. He had lived upstairs there for about a week before the murder. Assumably, the Lunsmanns no longer lived at the duplex at the time of the murder.






Jack A Owen obit:

Obituary for JACK A OWEN | Schnackenberg Funeral Home

Share memories & support the family

www.schnackenbergfh.com

 

[imstilla.grandma]

But another person breathing a sigh of relief is the now retired former Polk County Sheriff, Paul Lindholm. The arrest of Mary Josephine Bailey has given him the vindication he deserves after years of knowing he had the right suspect all along.

According to the criminal complaint, on Dec. 12, 1985, the Polk County Dispatch Center received a call to Washington Street in St. Croix Falls at roughly 6:30 a.m. They found Menke deceased in a stairway on the south side of the apartment building, still warm to the touch with three gunshot wounds to her head and neck.

Recalling that morning, Lindholm remembers the chill in the air and how it factored into the murder, noting that the suspect would have waited in below-freezing temperatures for Menke to warm up her car as she regularly did during the winter months.

“It was so bitter cold,” said Lindholm. “You’re talking -10, -20 degrees that week when this happened. [Menke] would leave her apartment and would start her car to warm it up and probably go back to her apartment for a couple of minutes.

“[Her daughter] thought she heard something, looked out the window and saw someone leaving the vicinity where her mother’s car was parked. Her mom never came back into the apartment, and she didn’t see her car move. I think she knew something was wrong and called the Sheriff’s Department.

‘This time felt different’

Former Polk County Sheriff reflects on arrest in cold case

www.burnettcountysentinel.com

 

[dotr]

'

May 20, 2024
Prosecutors said Mary Jo Bailey shot and killed Yvonne Menke in an apartment complex stairwell back in 1985 out of jealousy stemming from a love triangle.'

 

[dotr]

Verdict decided for woman in Polk Co. cold case murder

The verdict came down today in the case of the 81-year-old woman accused of murdering her boyfriend’s other lover in 1985.

www.weau.com

''On May 30, the jury reached a verdict of guilty for Mary Jo Bailey on one count of first-degree murder in the death of Yvonne Menke in 1985.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 2.''