Wrongly convicted Michigan man freed after 21 years in prison when serial killer is tied to murders

A Michigan man who spent almost 21 years behind bars was released from prison after prosecutors admitted the double murder he’d been jailed for could’ve been the work of a serial killer.

Jeff Titus, 71, was convicted in 2002 of killing two hunters near his rural Kalamazoo County property in 1990.

Unbeknownst to Titus’ attorneys, police had investigated another man in the slayings: Thomas Dillard, a serial killer who murdered at least five people in Ohio between 1989 and 1992.

“I can’t wait to get out and walk in the woods,” Titus told the Associated Press after his release on Friday. He added that he was in “a state of shock.”

In 1990, Doug Estes and Jim Bennett were killed near Titus’ western Michigan property. Titus was initially cleared as a suspect after investigators found he was hunting deer nearly 30 miles from home. The case went cold.

About 12 years later, a new team of investigators reviewed the probe and brought charges against Titus. Prosecutors at the time portrayed him as a trigger-happy loner who feared trespassers. No physical evidence connected Titus to the killings, but he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

The University of Michigan’s Innocence Clinic took up Titus’ case and went to federal court in 2018. While waiting for a hearing, the group made a stunning discovery in the bowels of the Kalamazoo County sheriff’s office: a 30-page file discussing Dillon as a possible suspect.

A woman identified Dillon’s car near the murder scene, and Dillon’s cellmate told the FBI in 1993 that he’d admitted to the Michigan killings, according to police.

The Innocence Clinic successfully argued Titus’ case, and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said there was “powerful evidence” to support his release.

Jacinda Davis of Investigation Discovery and Susan Simpson of the “Undisclosed” podcast also looked into Titus’ case and helped secure his freedom. Both women created him upon his release Friday.

Dillard, the serial killer, pleaded guilty to five counts of first-degree murder in exchange for a sentence of life in prison without parole. He died in prison in 2011.

With News Wire Services