‘We have to make it right’: Delta County private investigators ask for public’s help to free a man who says he was wrongfully convicted

UPPER PENINSULA, Mich. (WLUC) - Private investigators in Delta County are asking for your help.

Thirty-seven years ago, a Michigan man was sentenced to life in prison without parole. But he says he was 450 miles away from the crime when it happened.

"It would mean a lot to have him come home to use all of these things to have all of these gifts here and to just like begin a life, free. To have my husband would just mean the world to me," said Paula Kensu, Temujin Kensu's wife. Paula Kensu's husband has been in prison for her entire marriage. She hopes to change that.

Fred Freeman was born in lower Michigan but moved to Delta County after hearing people say great things about the area. His name was later changed to Temujin Kensu to reflect his eastern religious studies.

In 1987, Kensu was sentenced to life in prison without parole, which means he's been in prison since he was 23 and will continue to be there for the rest of his life for a crime he says he didn't commit.

A jury found him guilty of killing Scott Macklem in Port Huron on Nov. 5, 1986. An examiner's report shows Macklem died from injuries from a gunshot wound. Nine days after Macklem's death, police arrested Kensu.

In court, prosecutor Robert Cleland argued Kensu was a "ninja killer." Macklem's fiancée, Crystal Merrill took the stand saying she and Kensu briefly dated and during that time, he threatened to "take care of Macklem."

Kensu denies saying that but wouldn't get his chance to tell the jury his side of the story. David Dean was Kensu's court-appointed attorney. In 1985, Dean was arrested in Ohio on drug-related charges. In March 1986, he was released from his probation for those drug offenses.

Kensu's trial was in May of 1987, and he says Dean's drug addiction impacted his ability to do his job properly. "That's why he didn't call nine cents of my witnesses and that's why he didn't use nine-tenths of my defense. That's why he wouldn't let me testify," said Temujin Kensu. The protecution called Philip Joplin to testify. He was in a cell next to Kensu and told the jury that Kensu admitted to killing Macklem.

The crime report shows no witnesses were present when Macklem was killed, and nine people testified to being with Kensu in Escanaba and Rock the night before, and the day of Macklem's death.

Moreover, Dean never called Michelle Woodworth, Kensu's girlfriend at the time, to testify. She says Kensu was with her, at home in their bed, when Macklem was shot.

Kensu says he wanted to take a polygraph test when he was arrested, but he was denied. Nine years later, he passed his polygraph with a retired MSP officer, according to a report in 1995 from former investigative reporter, Bill Proctor.

"After going to make the general statements he said, 'I'm certain that this man did not do the crime that sent him to prison, and he should not be here.' And so, those were important words to hear from somebody with that level of credibility. And I guarantee you there was not one incentive for him to do so, especially back then," said Proctor.

Kensu says he wanted to testify in court for himself, his constitutional right, but his attorney, Dean, denied him. Kensu says he was in the Escanaba and Rock area the whole time – about 450 miles from where Macklem was killed.

He woke up around nine in the morning with Michelle Woodworth, who was pregnant at the time, at their home in Rock. After making breakfast, Kensu says they got in the car and drove to Cho's Blackbelt Academy, which used to be on Ludington Street in Escanaba.

There they saw several students who were skipping class, then went to Treasure Chest, Record Rack, and Barron's Real Estate. Kensu says he signed in at Barron's and the lady working Nov. 5, 1986, wrote his name on a blotter.

"I think it was one of those calendar blockers. There's a police report that says she absolutely remembers me coming in. She wrote down my name noon and said that I was asking about a rental property, which was in fact, the Record Rack, which Barron's was handling at that time. We've never found her," said Kensu.

There's no physical or forensic evidence linking Kensu to the murder. The MSP Crime Lab found one latent print on a gun shell box, but the report shows it does not match Kensu's fingerprint. Philip Joplin, the inmate who testified against Kensu, recanted his testimony in 1995, telling a reporter he made it up to get out of prison early.

In 2010, Federal Judge Denise Page Hood overturned the guilty verdict, citing defense attorney misconduct. However the paperwork was not submitted on time, so it reverted to the original guilty verdict.

Now, Kensu and his team are asking for your help. Jim McNeil and Molly Rebholz with Delta Force P.I. in Gladstone are working pro-bono on the case. "He was stereotyped as a wild boyfriend who rides a motorbike and wears a leather jacket and knows karate. And it sure does appear that because of those reasons, he was stereotyped into somebody that might do something like this. And, sadly, was able to be convicted and is sitting in prison right now. He didn't do this. It's physically impossible and we have to make it right," said Rebholz.

They're asking anyone who would've been in the Escanaba or Rock area on Nov. 5, 1986, and might remember seeing Kensu, or if you know who would've worked at Barron's Real Estate in 1986 to come forward.

"If you see this injustice for what it is, please help us call it out. Demand that it be fixed because it's not just about me. This is way beyond me," said Temujin Kensu. "He was a member of our community," said Jim McNeil. "In many of them may remember the incident in a they many of them may think well, 'Nobody asked me about it. I've seen him here. I remember the incident. I remember that day but the police never talked to me.' And if we can identify witnesses and corroborate Mr. Freeman's (Kensu) statement and present this new evidence, which is needed to the Michigan Supreme Court, Mr. Freeman would be a free man." "We know it's a long shot, but we just have to keep trying to find that one piece of evidence that can help bring an innocent man home from a nearly 40-year incarceration, that was wrongful," said Paula Kensu.

If you have any information that could help with this case, you can contact McNeil and Rebholz at 906-420-8305.

TV6 did call the current St. Clair County prosecuting attorney, Mike Wendling. He did not want to comment but did send a press release from 2022 that states:

The Innocence Project also shared Temujin Kensu's story. Click here to read it.