Michigan Man Seeks Exoneration After 36 Years in Prison

Temujin Kensu. Photo courtesy of Paula Kensu.

Today is Wrongful Conviction Day, an observance designed to raise awareness of the innocent people who are behind bars for crimes they did not commit. It is also a day to take action and demand reform of our justice system for the safety of our families and communities.

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

The National Registry of Exonerations 2022 Annual Report recorded 233 exonerations in the United States in 2022. In 195 or 84% of those cases, official misconduct was the reason for the wrongful conviction.

Other factors that contributed to innocent people winding up in prison include mistaken witness identification, false confessions, perjury, false accusation, false or misleading forensic evidence, and ineffective assistance of counsel.

Many people turn a blind eye to flaws in our legal system, believing a wrongful conviction could never happen to them or their loved ones. The truth is it could happen to anyone. Benjiman Franklin said, “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.”

Richard Phillips spent more time incarcerated than any exoneree in Michigan. His 46 years, 1 month, and 6 days behind bars is the third longest prison term of any exoneree in the United States. Phillips served time from 1971–2017. He was 71 years old when he was released with the help of University of Michigan’s Michigan Innocence Clinic.

Next month, Fred Freeman aka Temujin Kensu will have served 37 years for the 1986 murder of Scott Macklem — a crime Kensu insists he did not commit. The Michigan Innocence Clinic’s website states, “His [Kensu’s] is among the most overwhelming cases of actual innocence anywhere in the country.”

Kensu has a brain tumor and multiple serious health issues. He is 60 years old.

On the morning Scott Macklem was gunned down in the parking lot of St. Clair Community College in Port Huron, Michigan with a 12- gauge shot gun there were no eyewitnesses. The only evidence at the crime scene was an empty box of shotgun shells that had fingerprints, but no murder weapon.

The fingerprints did not belong to Fred Freeman, yet he was arrested nine days after the murder. Freeman, who later converted to Buddhism and changed his name to Temujin Kensu, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life without parole. No physical evidence connected Kensu to the scene or the crime.

Kensu’s only connection to Macklem was Crystal Merrill, a woman Kensu dated briefly 6 months before who then became Macklem’s fiancé. She and Macklem were expecting their first child.

By the time Macklem was murdered, Kensu had moved on — physically and emotionally. He was living near Escanaba in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The crime was committed around 9 AM in Port Huron when Kensu was in bed with his girlfriend — over 400 miles away. Witnesses testified Kensu’s car had broken down the night before at the Elias Brothers in Escanaba. Multiple witnesses testified Kensu was at Chao’s Tae Kwon Do studio in Escanaba around noon on the day of the murder.

Although Kensu had no contact with Crystal Merrill after their romance fizzled, she and her sister told police they believed Kensu had killed Macklem.

At Kensu’s trial, Philip Joplin, a jailhouse snitch, testified Kensu confessed to the shooting. Seven years later, he told Detroit television reporter, Bill Proctor, he lied in exchange for a shortened prison term.

The State called Robert Evans to the stand, the prosecutor’s personal charter pilot. Evans hypothesized Kensu may have chartered a flight from Escanaba to Port Huron, commit the crime, and then charter a plane back to Escanaba and still be able to be at the tae kwon do studio by noon. No flight records or evidence of any kind was presented to prove that theory.

David Dean, Kensu’s court-appointed attorney, by admission and according to public records, was addicted to cocaine throughout the trial. He was disbarred in 2001 and is now deceased.

In a statement to given to me by his wife, Kensu said, “It’s hard to believe another Wrongful Conviction Day is upon us, and no word yet from our governor on the state’s worst case, and her intentions to correct this horrific injustice that myself, my family, and my amazing supporters have suffered for nearly four decades. Rumors of Governor Whitmer being considered for a higher office raises concerns about the governor’s commitment to justice, fairness and the rule of law.”

Kensu continued, “This brings into question her moral character, tendency to look the other way, and potential misuse of power for political gain. It’s essential for citizens to scrutinize the actions and values of candidates when considering them for higher office when they refuse to take action on a situation as horrible as this. Politics should have nothing to do with this issue, but sadly it very much does.”

Paula Kensu told me, “As the wife of a wrongfully convicted man, it is always a stressor when winter comes on because of the long trips downstate and icy roads to visit my husband in prison. The economic climate of the state is also adding additional stress. The CEO announced approximately 700 layoffs where I work. I’ve never had much of a problem finding new employment, if needed. However, I feel now that companies may view me as a reputational risk due to my wrongful conviction battle with the state, who for all intents and purposes, is holding my husband hostage. Why would they choose me over another candidate who doesn’t have these challenges and stressors? I’m praying that my job isn’t at risk, but in the end, we are all dispensable.”

If you would like to join the fight to free Temujin Kensu, contact Governor Whitmer’s office and ask her to grant Kensu’s petition for executive clemency.

Do you know of any wrongful convictions that the public needs to know about? Tell me about it in the comments.