Published: 08 February 2017
SERIES: WHO KILLED SCOTT MACKLEM?
Author’s Note: Every wrongful conviction causes dual torment: the torment of the innocent yet imprisoned individual, and the social torment that the actual perpetrator remains free. This blog focuses primarily on the latter, in the hope that we will gain more knowledge about the murderer of Scott Macklem.
Post #1: Misdirection 02/08/07 Scott Macklem was 20 years old when he was found shot to death in a parking lot at St. Clair County Community College on November 5, 1986. The man convicted in his murder did not have an opportunity or the means to carry out this crime. He was convicted based on what I am loathe to describe as circumstantial evidence, since it was actually hypothetical evidence, manufactured evidence, wild speculation, and copious references to the accused’s “bad character.” In fact, there is more than copious, actual evidence that this was a wrongful conviction. The wrongful conviction is another crime, which will be addressed in later posts. Suffice it to say, I’m convinced as is every legal scholar, independent law enforcement consultant and investigator who has looked at this case, that the person who killed Scott Macklem is still at large.
Scott was a 1984 graduate of Croswell-Lexington High School. He was popular, and a star athlete on the baseball and golf teams. At the time of his murder, he was taking general business courses at St. Clair County Community College. He missed his 8:00 a.m. gym class that morning. That wasn’t particularly unusual, since his attendance at college had been irregular. What was unusual was when Scott was found, his gym bag lay next to his body. Why did Scott have a gym bag outside his car when he didn’t go to his gym class?
There is broad speculation about what may have been in that gym bag. Had Scott fallen in with a bad crowd, one that used drugs? How deeply was Scott involved with that crowd? Was he involved in dealing? Was this the reason he was shot? Did Scott know the person responsible for his death? Scott had been working at a men’s clothing store in Port Huron. He told his boss many months prior, in January or February of 1986, that he was being threatened by someone.
Scott’s fiancée, Crystal, was expecting a child. When she was interviewed about Scott’s murder, the police focused her attention on ex-boyfriends, or people who might be jealous of Scott because of his relationship with Crystal. She identified a man she dated briefly during a short period of time she was broken up with Scott during the Spring or Summer of 1986. Crystal’s family did not like this man and never approved of her dating him. Crystal’s sister, Tracy, hated this man and consistently encouraged her sister to point the finger in his direction. The investigation never focused on anyone else.
This man had never met Scott Macklem and had no reason to kill him. The jealousy motive was contradicted by evidence that the accused broke off his relationship with Crystal and thereafter, she pursued him, not vice-versa. He could not have been the one who threatened Scott in January or February of 1986, since he didn’t meet Crystal until months after that. She would have been his only connection to Scott, and that connection was never made. Obviously, someone else was threatening Scott. That lead was never pursued by the police.