Yvonne Menke

Do you know who murdered Yvonne Menke?
Yvonne Carol Menke was a 45-year-old mother of four, known for her kindness and quiet strength. A resident of St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, she worked hard to provide for her family, including her children Sue, Becky, James Jr., and Julie, who was 20 and lived with her. Friends and co-workers at the Centuria Commercial Laundry remembered her as someone who didn't advertise her troubles, a woman whose life was centered on her work and her family. Her world was one of ordinary routines and gentle nudges, a life that was stolen in an act of cold-blooded violence that would haunt her community for decades.

The pre-dawn quiet of December 12, 1985, was shattered by the sound of gunfire. At about 6:25 a.m., Yvonne was leaving her apartment on South Washington Street to warm up her car for her morning shift. As she walked down the building’s exterior stairwell, she was ambushed. The attacker shot the Caucasian female three times with a .22 caliber weapon, once in the neck and twice in the back of the head. Inside the apartment, Yvonne's daughter Julie heard the shots and rushed to a window. She saw a figure of average build, wearing a gray, three-quarter-length coat and a dark stocking cap, jogging away from the scene. Yvonne’s body was found at the bottom of the cold, dark stairwell.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office investigation quickly focused on a motive of romantic jealousy. Detectives learned Yvonne was involved in a complicated relationship with a local man named Jack Owen, who was also seeing another woman, Mary Josephine Bailey (then known as Mary Jo Lunsmann). Witnesses told police that Bailey was possessive of Owen and that just before the murder, Yvonne had given him an ultimatum to choose between them. In the days leading up to the killing, Yvonne’s family had received harassing phone calls, including one where a woman asked what time Yvonne left for work. Julie later testified she believed she had unknowingly given the killer the information needed to plan the ambush.

Investigators zeroed in on Bailey as the prime suspect. Evidence at the scene included distinctive boot prints left in the snow, which matched a pair of rare Arctic Cat snowmobile boots seized from Bailey’s home. A note with Bailey’s initials and a phrase associated with her vehicle was also found in Yvonne's purse. When questioned, Bailey denied being at the apartment and claimed she had taken the day off work for Christmas shopping. Despite the strong circumstantial evidence, prosecutors at the time felt they lacked enough to secure a conviction, and the case went cold, leaving Yvonne's family in an agonizing state of limbo.

For nearly four decades, the case remained unsolved, though never forgotten. In 2021, the Polk County Sheriff's Office reopened the investigation, meticulously re-examining old evidence and re-interviewing witnesses. This renewed effort finally led to a breakthrough. On November 13, 2023, authorities arrested the now 80-year-old Mary Josephine Bailey at her home in Apache Junction, Arizona. She was extradited back to Wisconsin to face justice for a crime committed 38 years prior.

In May 2024, Mary Jo Bailey stood trial for first-degree murder. After eight days of testimony from over 30 witnesses, a jury deliberated for less than three hours before finding her guilty in early June. On July 2, 2024, she was sentenced to life in prison. During the sentencing, Yvonne's children gave emotional statements about the lifetime of pain they had endured. "You waited in a dark stairwell to maliciously murder my mom," said her daughter Julie Connors. "You sentenced us to a life filled with pain, sadness, and hurt." The judge called the crime "brutal" and "horrific." Due to state laws in effect in 1985, Bailey will be eligible for parole consideration after serving about 19 years. The conviction, as of July 2024, finally closed a chapter of profound loss for a family that had waited nearly a lifetime for accountability.