By By NORMA LERNER / Niles Daily Star
CASSOPOLIS - It was exactly 16 years ago on March 7, 1990, when 42-year-old William Whittaker was found dead at the kitchen table of his camper trailer in Pokagon Township, shot through the head with a .22-caliber bullet.
His murder was reopened from a cold case and is being tried in Cass County Circuit Court this week.
Testimony is to be heard today about how the accused, Michael Dunnuck, 34, told several persons that he allegedly committed the crime.
Dunnuck, of Byron and formerly of the Niles area, is charged with open murder and felony firearm.
Following jury selection on Tuesday of seven men and six women, Cass County Prosecutor Victor Fitz and defense Attorney Jonathan Jones from Southfield each presented their opening remarks.
Fitz said Michigan State Police reopened the cold case upon hearing comments by Dunnuck that he killed Whittaker.
Fitz added the murder was about revenge and money. After a substantial amount of time, things began to surface. The defendant began to talk to people about what “a terrible thing he did to William Whittaker in Cass County.”
Dunnuck talked to a high school friend who lives in Illinois, Fitz added. The friend tried to get him to go to church.
Fitz said Whittaker led a homosexual lifestyle and there was a molestation issue with the defendant.
Fitz said Dunnuck went to the scene of the crime. He went to visit Whittaker and found him dead. “It was just an act to cover his tracks,” he said.
Jones told the jury it is a case about conversations, about “when they were said and to whom they were said. You will hear all about that and how they are interpreted.”
Jones, too, talked about Whittaker being a homosexual who drank a lot. He said there is no physical evidence or an eye witness.
Detectives found a .22 casing the day after the body was found in the trailer at 3136 M-51. There were no signs of a struggle, Jones said.
The trial is expected to go into next week.