Murder Sheet: The Murder of Scott Macklem: The Guilt of Temujin Kensu

The Temujin Tapes Part One: "What Do You Think You’re Bullet Proof Now?”

Podcast: Murder Sheet
Hosts: Áine Cain (C) & Kevin Greenlee (B)
Date: February 17, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode inaugurates a multipart series featuring the personal audio archive—dozens of hours of phone calls—between convicted murderer Temujin Kensu and his late wife, Denise Derringer. The recordings, made by Denise, reveal Kensu's private persona, contrasting sharply with his public image as a wrongly-convicted gentle soul. The hosts focus on Kensu's patterns of emotional and psychological abuse, his need for control, and the profound toll on Denise's life. This installment emphasizes the intimate relationship, setting the stage for future episodes with even more damning revelations.

Content Warning: Discussion of emotional abuse, sexual language, profanity, rape, violence, and murder.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Context & Curation of the Recordings

• The tapes were made by Denise, also known as Amiko Kensu, during her marriage to Temujin Kensu, who is in prison for the 1986 murder of Scott Macklem.
• The hosts reviewed dozens of hours of recordings, emphasizing they did not cherry-pick only the “worst moments.” No evidence of affectionate or kind behavior was found in any reviewed material.
• Denise’s motive for recording seems to be self-protection and documentation of abuse, possibly to validate her experiences or have a record in case Kensu accused her of lying.

  [20:00] Denise: “If you'd like, you know, maybe I should just start taping everything you say so I can like play it back to you.”

2. Kensu’s Relationship with Denise

• The tapes are saturated with Kensu’s demeaning, controlling, and abusive language toward Denise.

• Kensu continually belittles, threatens, and seeks to dominate her behavior, speech, diet, and personal affairs.

• Denise, despite extensive advocacy for him, is consistently the target of Kensu’s vitriol.

• The abuse is consistent, not the result of isolated conflicts.

  Examples of Emotional Abuse:

  • [24:34] Kensu (D): “Is that how you do what I say?...What does shut up mean?...Shut up doesn't mean be a smart ass or add more stupid, insidious comments. It just means shut up, doesn't it?”
  • [29:23] Kensu (D): “...What you need to do is grow up and take some freaking value or have your mouth sewn shut and you probably be a wonderful person and a great person to be around.”
  • [31:39] Kensu (D): “I will have a Catholian wife. I will have a respectful wife. I will have what my grandfather had, a woman’s girlsman shut up...If I had my way to me, I'd cut your tongue out, teach you sign language and bury you deaf and dumbs.”
  • [33:39] Kensu (D): “In this relationship there are rules. If you break those rules, you get punished for breaking those rules. And it's nobody's fault but yours.”
  • [40:29] Kensu (D): “If you were dying of cancer, it'd be somebody else's fault...How does time and money make you lie and make you put things in your body you're not supposed to put there...Those are all personal decisions you made...”
  • [43:00] Kensu (D): “You don't have any rights in this relationship. None. Zero. Rights aren't gifts...You earn them with your conduct, not with your weakness and your pettiness and your bitchiness and your whining...”
  • [54:14] Kensu (D): “Go take your big fat, bloated ass meat cheese doodles and blame me for that too, okay?”

  Hosts’ Reactions:

  • Áine (C) repeatedly notes the consistency and cruelty of abuse, the lack of partnership, and the marked absence of compassion or warmth from Kensu throughout the tapes.

3. Connections Between Private Conduct and the Macklem Case

• Kensu’s pattern of abuse and control toward women, as revealed in the recordings, is consistent with reports from several of his previous partners, including the victim, Crystal.
• Áine (C) observes that understanding Kensu’s controlling and violent tendencies, even over trivial matters, helps explain the alleged escalation to lethal violence when confronted with rejection or perceived humiliation.

  [40:02] “...I think his personality is such that when someone defies him and he perceives them as getting one over on him, he wants revenge. And I think, frankly, that comes from a controlling personality.”

4. Kensu’s Control & Manipulation

• The hosts dissect Kensu’s fixation on controlling Denise’s health routines and blame-shifting—accusing her of causing her own ailments, including cancer.
• He complains incessantly about her supposed failures to prioritize him above her own well-being, family, or obligations.

  [41:37] Kensu (D): “Did you copy the case materials?...What have you been doing?...Supposed to get this done for me. Today you were taking Jim to lunch and going to the doctor's, which you didn't mention yesterday.”

• Blames Denise for everything, even her own cancer and death, and reportedly influenced her to delay chemotherapy, as attested by Denise's son after her passing.

5. Sexual Interests & Relevance to Character

• One phone call is devoted to Denise helping Kensu order pornographic magazines, notably with content oriented around teenagers and high school girls, which the hosts connect to evidence patterns of predatory interest.

  [09:06] Áine (C): “I think it's really interesting that some of the pornography that Temajin can do is especially interested in obtaining involved teenagers or at least people purported to be teenagers.”

• This segment is highlighted to establish context for numerous allegations of sexual abuse and control involving Kensu and teenage girls/women.

6. Public Versus Private Persona

• The episode juxtaposes Kensu’s own, and his supporters', public claims (he is gentle, kind, incapable of meanness) with overwhelming evidence in the recordings of rage, cruelty, and manipulation.

  [27:02] Kevin (B): “Obviously that's not true. And if the people who are saying those sorts of things about him, if they are either wrong or lying about that, what else are they wrong or lying about?”

7. Denise’s Deterioration & Dependency

• Throughout the episode, Denise is heard begging for kindness and love, expressing her emotional exhaustion, and ultimately uttering heartbreakingly vulnerable questions.

  [59:11] Denise (E): “Why you hate me?” [59:12] Kensu (D): “Oh, you. Because you make me. Okay, don't ask me a stupid question. There's your answer.”

• The hosts discuss how Denise, isolated and emotionally battered, stayed in the relationship likely due to a complex interplay of hope, fear, and psychological dependency.

8. Consequences and Legacy

• In a bitter coda, after Denise’s death in 2012, Kensu attempted to obtain assets from her estate and even suggested her family sue her doctors for wrongful death, despite his own role in convincing her to delay lifesaving treatments.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

On Control and Abuse:

• [24:39] Kensu (D): “Shut up. Silence. Silence.”
• [29:42] Kensu (D): “If I had my way to me, I'd cut your tongue out, teach you sign language and bury you deaf and dumbs.”
• [30:31] Kensu (D): “Why did you hang up? You don't fucking hang up on me. You lost your fricking mind? What, do you think you're bulletproof now or something?” -- Episode title quote; interpreted as thinly-veiled threat.
• [47:44] Kensu (D): “Now, your argument is, if I beat you for the things you do wrong, then you'll stop doing...So you must then call me a bully. ...That's the feminist philosophy.”
• [43:00] Kensu (D): “You don't have any rights in this relationship. None. Zero. Rights aren't gifts...You earn them with your conduct.”

On Denise’s Situation:

• [59:11] Denise (E): “Why you hate me?”
• [74:50] Denise (E): “You don't love me. You never did.”

On the Impact:

• [60:02] Áine (C): “She ruined her life over this guy.”
• [77:41] Áine (C): “It’s better to be alone and be confident in yourself and be secure in yourself than to be with someone who is trying to destroy you...That is what I heard on these tapes. Trying to destroy this woman, to break her down and mold her to be to his specifications...”

On Denise’s Death and Kensu’s Exploitation:

• [79:04] Kevin (B): “…After she passed away, Mr. Kinzu tried to pursue legal actions against her heirs in an effort to get whatever more he could from them.”

Important Timestamps & Segments

• Introducing the Tapes: [03:18–05:54]
• Pornographic Magazine Order: [06:33–09:00]
• Explanation of Kensu’s History & Case: [09:47–12:10]
• Abusive Language – Multiple Examples: [24:34–32:38], [33:39–36:44]
• Controlling Denise’s Health & Diet: [36:44–41:12]
• Blaming Denise for Illness: [40:29–41:12]
• Expressing Fear and Hopelessness: [66:00–69:40]
• Denise Begging for Love: [59:11–59:37]
• Discussion on Why Denise Stayed: [74:37–78:56]
• Posthumous Exploitation & Denouement: [79:04–82:01]

Episode Tone and Style

• Direct, Empathetic, and Unflinching: Hosts provide thoughtful context and analysis, often expressing sorrow, anger, and disbelief at Kensu’s persistent cruelty.
• Journalistic Rigor: Repeatedly affirming they did not cherry-pick or sensationalize—“This is what the tapes reveal, and nothing gentler exists.”
• Advocacy: The hosts urge listeners in similar situations to recognize abuse and seek safety.

Listener Takeaways

• The episode offers an unvarnished look into the mindset of a convicted murderer and the dynamics of long-term, coercive abuse.
• “Team Kensu”’s campaign of innocence is powerfully countered by private evidence of his pervasive malevolence.
• Patterns of abuse, need for domination, and predatory sexual interests are consistent with the criminal conviction and subsequent allegations.
• Emotional and psychological abuse can be as devastating as physical violence—and may even be lethal by influencing health decisions.
• The episode underscores the difficulty of escaping abuse and the need for public understanding and support.

Coming Next

• The “Temujin Tapes” series continues. The next episode promises audio that suggests direct incriminating statements related to the Macklem murder and explores Kensu’s “Catholian” religion and racist views.

If you or someone you know is affected by domestic abuse, resources are available. The hosts encourage all listeners to prioritize their safety and self-worth.