BY MATT MACKINDER
Clarkston News Editor

Temujin Kensu, formerly known as Fred Freeman, has spent the past 35 years in jail for a murder many say he didn’t commit.
Recently, students at Clarkston High School joined the cause to help free the man they say has been wrongfully jailed since 1986.
“I was approached by a former circuit court judge who had reviewed Fred’s case,” said CHS forensic science teacher Chris Brosky. “The judge was convinced that Fred was innocent and wrongfully imprisoned. He thought it might be an interesting case for my students to take a look at. After looking at it myself, I was truly taken aback by the absurdity of the case and knew my students would embrace it.
“I wasn’t exactly sure at the beginning of all of this what I wanted to accomplish. I wanted to wait and see what my students thought and go from there. I was going to let them be the driving force on this project.”
Kensu has been serving time since 1986 for the death of Scott Macklem, who was killed at St. Clair Community College in Port Huron.
Alibis from the night of the murder place Kensu in Escanaba.
Brosky’s class has been working with a non-profit in Michigan called Proving Innocence that has strongly advocated for Kensu’s innocence.
“My initial reaction to the case was pure curiosity because I have always been interested in these kinds of cases,” said senior Sydnee Hubert-McLennan. “We determined he was wrongfully jailed because he wasn’t even near the scene the crime happened along with the 16 alibis he had from people who didn’t know him or each other.”
“My reaction when the case was initially presented was to be skeptical,” added senior Christian Bell. “I thought it would be really interesting to be able to do an actual real-life case. It was a good experience. I determined Fred was innocent by listening to all the evidence and theories presented at the trial. He had an insurmountable amount of evidence proving his innocence.
“The one piece of evidence that really flipped how I felt was how all of his alibis were basically thrown out for a ninja theory. He was mainly convicted on how he killed a man six hours away. The theory was he flew on a private jet (flown by the prosecutor’s friend) to St. Clair County while he was on welfare.
“Who can charter a private jet on welfare? All of these holes just kept adding up and I came to the conclusion he was innocent.”
Olivia Galio, another senior, called the case “bizarre.”
“With so many witnesses claiming he was hours away from the scene of the crime and how much the prosecutors abused their power such as when the prosecutor’s private pilot testified, it didn’t add up to me he could have committed this crime,” said Galio. “To help free Fred, I’ve been spreading information via social media posts to get the story out to more people.”
Junior Mackenzie Ayriss added the class has sent emails to Governor Gretchen Whitmer, St. Clair County Prosecutor Michael Wendling, Judge Michael West, and Attorney General Dana Nessel about the case.
“Since then, I have had conversations with family and friends in the justice system and discussed with several family and friends about the case itself,” Ayriss said.
“This issue is one that has been underground for over 30 years and needs to be opened up to the public. The more exposure this case can get, the better chance Temujin Kensu will have of being set free from this wrongful conviction.”
Senior Madison McGraw noted how studying the case has helped the class learn more about real-life situations regarding forensics.
“We listened to many podcasts and watched numerous videos to learn information about the case,” McGraw said. “From forensic topics Mr. Brosky had previously taught us this year, we were able to know the basic information to look for.
“I love Mr. Brosky’s class because of the environment he creates and the way he delivers various forensic science topics. This makes the class feel vastly different from a typical science class elective.”
Ayriss agreed to enjoying the class.
“There isn’t a single thing I don’t enjoy in Mr. Brosky’s class,” Ayriss said. “I walked into this class with expectations on what I would get the opportunity to do, and Mr. Brosky has gone far beyond what I anticipated. I’ve never been a very mathematically or scientifically inclined person, but the aspects of forensic science we learn in this class every day are fascinating.”
Brosky said the class “will always be in tune with what is going on in Fred’s case but as a class, we had to move on to more Forensic Science curriculum.”