MONROE, Mich. – Local 4 was first to report that the stepfather of a murdered Eastern Michigan University student was considered a person of interest in the case.
Julia Niswender's grandmother spoke with Local 4's Kimberly Gill, saying this new development has divided the family.
Rose Niswedner believes police are onto something by naming Jim Turnquist a person of interest in her granddaughter's death. She said the two would often argue.
"I looked in and saw her sleeping, and that was my last time with Julia," said Rose Niswedner. "There was a disagreement between her and Jim, and she left and came to live with me the last three years. Even when she was at EMU, on the holiday weekends or whatever she'd come to my home."
The 23-year-old student was found in her bathtub strangled to death in 2012. Police said there was no forced entry into her apartment and believe someone who knew her used her key to lock the door from the outside before they left.
Rose Niswedner believes Julia Niswender's stepfather knows something, but his attorney, Paul Stablein, said Turnquist should not be a person of interest.
"They wanted him to take a polygraph. He took two polygraphs passed them both and Michigan State Police cleared him," Stablein said. "Understand Julia's twin sister, Jennifer, is fully supportive of Jim and has stated that publicly."
The case has divided the family and the grandmother believes Turnquist has brainwashed Julia Niswedner's mother and twin sister.
"He's a master manipulator, he's a control freak," said Rose Niswedner. "I even asked him, 'If you don't have anything to hide, why are you lawyered up?' His response, 'I'm fighting for my freedom.'"