Despite commutation, Cress behind bars

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Thomas Cress, whose life sentence for a murder he always claimed he didn't commit was commuted by Jennifer Granholm in her final days as governor, remains behind bars more than six weeks after the decision.

Cress was transferred from Ionia Prison to Gus Harrision Correctional Facility in Adrian on Feb. 8 for an assessment of what he'll need once he is released. Generally, said Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan, these assessments take about 90 days.

The transfer is a step toward his eventual release.

Cress spent 25 years in prison after being convicted in 1985 of killing Patricia Rosansky. The 17-year-old's body was found in a wooded area in Calhoun County.

There was no physical evidence against Cress, and in 1997, an inmate in an Arkansas prison, Michael Ronning, confessed to the killing.

The state parole board recommended the sentence commutation to Granholm.