KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — A man charged with killing two hunters in 1990 in a Kalamazoo County state game area could be released from prison.
According to newly-filed court documents, a federal judge was asked to order a new trial, arguing that Jeff Titus, now 72-years-old is innocent.
Titus was convicted in 2002 on two counts of first-degree murder and weapons charges. Documents show he has spent 21 years behind bars in Coldwater prison of his two life sentences.
Titus’ attorneys argued that prosecutors in the case did not show police evidence that implicated a confessed serial killer, Thomas Dillon, as the true murderer.
Dillon was spotted in the area on the day of the killings, and has hunted hunters and outdoorsmen in his killings, according to Titus’ attorneys. Dillon died in prison in 2011.
According to attorneys, the only witness who placed Titus at the scene since recanted.
Doug Estes and Jim Bennett were fatally shot near Titus’ property at the Fulton State Game Area in Kalamazoo County back in 1990.
A motion for a new trial was filed in 2017, but the Michigan Supreme Court turned down the appeal, saying it won’t reopen the case. Michigan Innocence Clinic, based in Ann Arbor, took on the case back in 2011.
