A man who spent nearly 21 years in prison for the deaths of two Michigan hunters has agreed to a $5.25 million settlement after accusing police of failing to turn over evidence that could have helped him at trial, a lawyer said Monday.
Background of the Case
Jeff Titus was released in 2023 and his murder convictions were erased at the request of prosecutors. The Innocence Clinic at the University of Michigan law school, along with two investigators, prompted authorities to acknowledge that an Ohio serial killer might have been responsible for the deaths of the hunters in 1990.
Titus had long maintained his innocence.
“It’s been a long road for Jeff,” attorney Wolf Mueller said. “He’s 74. He lost two decades of his life. The money doesn’t make up for the loss of decades, but it allows him to put this part of his life behind him.”
An email seeking comment from the lawyer who defended a retired homicide detective in the lawsuit was not immediately answered.
The Incident and Investigation
Doug Estes and Jim Bennett were fatally shot near Titus’ property in Kalamazoo County in 1990. Titus was initially cleared as a suspect, but murder charges were filed against him 12 years later. Prosecutors depicted Titus as a hothead who disliked trespassers.
Students and staff at the University of Michigan law school were working to secure a new trial when a 30-page file from the original investigation was discovered at the county sheriff’s office. The file was a breakthrough: it referenced an alternate suspect, Thomas Dillon of Magnolia, Ohio.
Jacinda Davis, at the TV network Investigation Discovery, and Susan Simpson, through the podcast “Undisclosed,” had raised doubts about Titus’ guilt and aired questions about Dillon’s possible involvement.
Dillon died in prison in 2011. He was arrested in 1993 and ultimately pleaded guilty to killing five people in Ohio who had been hunting, fishing, or jogging.
The Lawsuit
The lawsuit that was settled Monday did not center on Dillon as an alternate suspect. Rather, police were accused of violating Titus' rights by not sharing information that could have cast doubt on the trial testimony of a key witness, Mueller said.
