Examined: The Backfire Effect

Note: This episode contains descriptions of rape and sexual assault. With his state and federal appeals almost exhausted, Temujin Kensu turns to the work of private investigators like Herb Welser, who’ve managed to uncover new evidence in his case. But the law still has a problem with Temujin, a problem that concerns not whether he's innocent, but whether he’s good. You can hear the entire season of Examined: The Backfire Effect, ad-free, right now by subscribing to Pushkin+. Sign up on the show page on ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠ or at ⁠Pushkin.fm/plus⁠. Pushkin+ subscribers can access ad-free episodes, full audiobooks, and exclusive binges of other true crime podcasts throughout the year.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The trial of Temujin Kensu had happened quickly, just six months from arrest to verdict. What came next was unbearably slow. And with every year that passed, his odds of getting out of prison would go down. But then, one judge decided to rule in his favor. Was this his chance?  You can hear the entire season of Examined: The Backfire Effect, ad-free, right now by subscribing to Pushkin+. Sign up on the show page on ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠ or at ⁠Pushkin.fm/plus⁠. Pushkin+ subscribers can access ad-free episodes, full audiobooks, and exclusive binges of other true crime podcasts throughout the year.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At trial, Temujin Kensu’s defense is simple — he was across the state when the crime occurred. In court, he brings multiple witnesses to testify that they saw him in the Upper Peninsula, more than 400 miles from Port Huron. But then prosecutor Robert Cleland pulls an unusual Hail Mary. You can hear the entire season of Examined: The Backfire Effect, ad-free, right now by subscribing to Pushkin+. Sign up on the show page on ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠ or at ⁠Pushkin.fm/plus⁠. Pushkin+ subscribers can access ad-free episodes, full audiobooks, and exclusive binges of other true crime podcasts throughout the year.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In November 1986, Robert Cleland was the head prosecutor in St. Clair County, Michigan. The morning after Cleland lost a statewide race for Attorney General, Scott Macklem was murdered. Cleland decided to prosecute the case himself, depicting the defendant as a dangerous ninja out for revenge. You can hear the entire season of Examined: The Backfire Effect, ad-free, right now by subscribing to Pushkin+. Sign up on the show page on ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠ or at ⁠Pushkin.fm/plus⁠. Pushkin+ subscribers can access ad-free episodes, full audiobooks, and exclusive binges of other true crime podcasts throughout the year.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Temujin Kensu spent much of his youth wandering, mainly in his home state of Michigan. In 1986 he and his then-fiancée moved to a cabin outside Port Huron, where he briefly dated someone else. A few weeks later, he and his fiancée moved again, more than 400 miles away, to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. He says he was there on November 5, 1986. But that didn’t stop police from accusing him of a murder he said he could never have committed. You can hear the entire season of Examined: The Backfire Effect, ad-free, right now by subscribing to Pushkin+. Sign up on the show page on Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm/plus. Pushkin+ subscribers can access ad-free episodes, full audiobooks, and exclusive binges of other true crime podcasts throughout the year.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.