One could loose track of the murders that have occurred in Lansing, there have been 16 in 2007, as of the printing of this edition. Before the rash of murders occurred, a murder occurred on January 23, 2005, of a Lansing Community College professor, that is destined to changed the lives of two men.
This will be an on-going series of stories.
By Ralph Kowalski
The New Citizens Press
Both the lives of Prosecuting Attorney Stuart Dunnings III and Claude McCollum will forever be changed. One man serving the law and the other accused by the law are both still without answers.
McCollum was released from Ingham County jail on October 16, after serving time as a convicted murderer. McCollum, 30, served 1 1/2 years in prison for the rape and murder of Carolyn Kronenberg, 60, who was a Lansing Community College Instructor. The murder occurred in the SPS building on the Main Campus in downtown Lansing and it is the only murder that has occurred there during it’s 50 year history.
Dunnings now acknowledges McCollum didn’t commit the crime. There is evidence available that Michigan State Police are now saying that another person is responsible for the murder of Kronenberg.
On October 19, 2007, Dunnings requested an independent review of the case from Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox’s office. They will be investigating McCollum’s wrongful conviction.
Dunnings said, "I requested the investigation because the people are entitled to have an independent review of what happened. We don’t know who is a fault in this case. We will have to wait and see what the Attorney General’s Office has to say."
Dunnings had a bench conference with Ingham County Circuit Court Judge James Giddings and McCollum’s defense attorney on October15, 2007. The next day McCollum was released from jail.
The Kronenberg case has been reopened.
On October 24, 2007, Judge Giddings granted a request by prosecutors to dismiss all charges against McCollum.
