Woman found guilty of first-degree murder in 1985 Polk County cold case
Mary Jo Bailey and Yvonne Menke
An 81-year-old woman has been found guilty of murdering a Polk County woman in 1985.
On Thursday, court records show jurors found Mary Josephine Bailey guilty of first-degree murder following eight days of testimony and arguments.
As reported by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS late last year, Bailey was charged for the death of 45-year-old Yvonne Menke. Bailey was arrested in Arizona and later extradited to Wisconsin.
According to Polk County court records, jurors received the case at 12:43 p.m. Thursday, and had reached a verdict by 3 p.m.
Bailey’s sentencing has been set for the morning of July 2.
Menke died on December 12, 1985, in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin. According to Polk County’s cold case web page, Menke was shot in her head and neck three times shortly before 6:30 a.m. that day as she was leaving her home to go to work.
Authorities had said a person of interest was seen leaving the alley where Menke’s car was parked shortly after the gunshots were heard. The person of interest was described as being under six feet tall, wore a grey 3/4 length coat and was wearing a dark colored stocking cap.
Court documents add multiple witnesses who were interviewed soon after Menke’s death told police that Menke, Bailey and a man named Jack Owen were involved in a love triangle, and his relationships with them were on-and-off.
In the days after Menke’s death, police went to Bailey’s home and interviewed her. She told police she was on vacation on Dec. 12, and had planned to go to Rice Lake, Wisconsin to do some shopping. Police say they found a black dress coat, shoes that didn’t match, and asked her if she had any firearms. That’s when the complaint states she told them he had a .22 piston with a .38 frame.
Bailey also denied having ever met Menke, or spoken with her face-to-face, although admitted to having called Menke once to discuss Owen’s relationship with the two of them. However, phone records showed multiple calls were made between Bailey and Menke’s phones. Records showed from Aug. 2, 1985, and Dec. 7, 1985, a total of four calls were made between the residences, and all were roughly one minute long. Of those, two were made between 12:50 a.m. and 1:20 a.m. on Nov. 13. The other two were made at 12:32 p.m. on Sept. 1 and at 5:58 p.m. on Aug. 17.