Prosecutor Monika Knowles explained that Jensen, aged 35, and Gilbert had shared a friendship since their childhood days. This long-standing relationship took a dark turn, leading to a tragic event.
In the hours leading up to Mullavey’s death, Jensen exhibited signs of paranoia and agitation at a friend’s house, where he rambled about witchcraft and a Nigerian witch doctor, according to Knowles. During the opening of the judge-alone trial, she informed Justice Phillip Boulten of Jensen’s belief that someone close had cursed him.
Later that day, Jensen’s agitation resurfaced at Gilbert’s home after Mullavey made derogatory comments, calling him homosexual and insinuating that he engaged in sexual activities in exchange for drugs.
The situation further escalated that evening when Jensen was informed that either Gilbert or Mullavey had sent threatening messages to a female friend, accusing her of stealing designer bags and $20,000 in cash. This accusation stemmed from an earlier incident where the couple attempted to find a buyer for some bags they had unexpectedly acquired.
That evening while at home, he was told Gilbert or Mullavey had sent his female friend threatening messages claiming she had stolen designer bags and $20,000 in cash.
The threat related to an incident when the couple sought a buyer for some bags they had stumbled upon.
A buyer was not found, the bags disappeared and either Mullavey or her husband used their shared phone to send threatening texts to the woman, who cannot be legally named.
Jensen was in custody at the time.
“Going to fix this now,” he texted the woman.
There was no dispute Jensen stabbed Mullavey that night, Knowles told the court.
Eight days later, he admitted he had killed Mullavey.
“She was bad, she was putting spells on us, I had to do it,” he told his female friend.
“The universe told me to do it.”
Jensen, whose neck tattoos showed above his prison-issued green top during the trial, pleaded not guilty to murder due to a claimed mental health impairment.
Two psychiatrists agree he was experiencing a psychotic event at the time, with one diagnosing the 35-year-old with schizophrenia and the other with drug-induced psychosis.
Public defender Tom Quilter SC urged Justice Boulten to agree with the psychiatrists and find his client not guilty.
Knowles pressed a different finding, saying Jensen’s beliefs in witchcraft and conspiracy theories could be cultural rather than due to mental health.
The 35-year-old’s conduct after the killing, including by lying and covering up what he did, showed he knew what he had done was wrong, she said.
Another option available to Justice Boulten is finding Jensen guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter due to a mental health condition substantially impairing his thinking.
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