From the Dowagiac Daily News
Dunnuck trial begins on 16th
anniversary
By NORMA LERNER / Dowagiac Daily News
Wednesday, March 8, 2006 11:03 AM EST
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 with testimony to be heard
today about how the accused, Michael Dunnuck, 34, told several persons that he
allegedly committed the crime.
Dunnuck, of Byron, Mich., 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
presented opening remarks.
Fitz said Michigan State Police reopened the cold
case upon hearing comments by Dunnuck that he killed Whittaker.
“This killing was execution-style without mercy. The bullet was fired at close
range and instantly killed him. He shot William Whittaker in cold blood. The
defendant, Michael Dunnuck, confessed on seven different occasions to five
people, including a minister and his fiancée before his wedding.”
Fitz said 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.”
He talked to a high school friend who lives in
Illinois. The friend tried to get him to go to church.
“His conscience was bothering him,” Fitz said. Fitz told about Whittaker being a
drinker and was found to have a .30 percent blood-alcohol level when he died. He
was planning to move to Washington state to live with his sister. He was known
to have some money and silver bars. Fitz said Whittaker led a homosexual
lifestyle. He said there was a molestation issue with the defendant.
“The defendant had no justification of taking a person's life,” he said.
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.
From the South Bend Tribune.
Both sides agree case hinges on alleged conversations
JEFF ROMIG
Tribune Staff Writer
CASSOPOLIS -- Sixteen years ago Tuesday someone put
a .22 caliber handgun to William Whittaker's head and executed him.
But Tuesday was not only the 16th anniversary of the 42-year-old Pokagon
Township man's murder.
It was also the opening day of the trial of Whittaker's alleged killer,
34-year-old Michael Dunnuck of Byron, Mich.
It was made clear during both the prosecution and the defense opening statements that the case as presented will be not be about physical evidence tying Dunnuck to the scene or eyewitnesses placing him at the trailer home Whittaker was staying at off Michigan 51.
The case instead will be about conversations.
Seven, to be exact.
Seven in which Cass County Prosecutor Victor Fitz says Dunnuck confessed his
crime to friends, his fiancee just weeks before their wedding and a priest.
Fitz alleged that Dunnuck's motive has to do with molestation by Whitakker, who
Fitz said was an open homosexual.
Defense attorney Jonathan Jones said the case is about these conversations and
how they were interpreted, not only be the people who had them originally but by
the people to whom they were conveyed.