Jeff Titus: True crime shows help free innocent man, 71, who spent over two decades in prison for a murder he did not commit
COLDWATER, MICHIGAN: An elderly man, who spent more than two decades in jail after being falsely accused of the 1990 murder of two men, has finally been released by an overturned conviction. US Federal District Court Judge Paul D Borman issued the cleared charge after a true-crime show and podcast investigated legal violations in the case.
Jeff Titus, 71, walked free from Lakeland Correctional Facility in Coldwater, Michigan this week. His freedom has been majorly credited to Investigation Discovery's 'Killer In Question' and Susan Simpson's podcast 'Undisclosed', two projects that garnered renewed interest in the innocent man's case.
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'I want to see my grandkids'
"It's been 22 years waiting for this day, and it should've never happened in the first place," Titus told local station WOOD-TV, adding, "I'm just over [ecstatic] and overjoyed to finally be out, where I can get out and do something. I want to see my grandkids, I haven't seen them, I want to see them."
It all began on November 17, 1990, when hunters Doug Estes and Jim Bennett were shot in the back and murdered while Titus was hunting with a friend over 27 miles away. The original detectives on the case had cleared Titus initially, but when a Cold Case unit reopened the case about a decade later, they arrested Titus as a prime suspect in 2001. Prosecutors argued at the time that he would have had sufficient time to drive to the location of the crime and back. In August 2022, Titus was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
'I'm just about speechless'
The aforementioned true crime projects that were probing the case independently discovered that a witness had identified Thomas Dillon as a man who drove his car into a ditch after two shots were fired on the day of the shooting. However, the presence of Dillon -- a convicted serial killer who reportedly had a reputation for shooting outdoorsmen -- was not disclosed to those revisiting the cold case in Kalamazoo. What's more? Both the podcast and series found that a key witness had changed her story about Titus several times. "What they did busted everything wide open, and it got me out," Titus said, also thanking the WOOD-TV's own 2017 coverage about his case. "The court system, they've changed. I mean, I'm just about speechless," he added.
Power of true crime coverage
That said, part of the credit also goes to the Michigan Innocence Clinic, which had 35 law students working on the case under the leadership of attorney David Moran. According to Deadline, the clinic, along with the Michigan Conviction Integrity Unit and the Michigan Department of Attorney General, together submitted a joint filing requesting Titus' conviction to be set aside. The innocent man was greeted by a group of supporters as he exited the jail, including his attorneys and others who were part of investigating his conviction.
After 22 years, Jeff Titus just walked out of prison a free man.
— Susan Simpson (@TheViewFromLL2) February 24, 2023
(After his case was covered on Killer in Question and @Undisclosedpod, Jeff vowed not to shave or cut his hair until he won his freedom. So he is long past due for that now!!) pic.twitter.com/k6DQPkyELA
In a statement to Deadline, Jason Sarlanis, president of Turner Networks, ID and HLN, Linear & Streaming, cited the case as the "perfect example" of how true crime coverage "can right injustices in the world and allow for actual impact on our justice system."