The Settlement

*Jeff Titus, a Kalamazoo County man who spent 21 years in prison for the 1990 murders of two hunters, agreed to a $5.25 million* settlement on Monday, his attorney announced. The deal resolves a federal wrongful conviction lawsuit Titus filed against two former Kalamazoo County cold case detectives.

Titus was 74 years old when he accepted the settlement. He was released from prison in 2023 after prosecutors moved to erase his murder convictions.

"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."

The 1990 Murders

Doug Estes and Jim Bennett were fatally shot near Titus’ property in Kalamazoo County in 1990. Titus was initially cleared as a suspect by investigators who confirmed he was hunting approximately 27 miles away from the crime scene at the time.

Murder charges were filed against Titus 12 years later, in 2002. Prosecutors portrayed him as a volatile man who did not tolerate trespassers on his land.

Titus was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole. He maintained his innocence throughout his incarceration.

The Hidden Evidence

The lawsuit that led to the Monday settlement centered on allegations that police withheld evidence from both prosecutors and defense attorneys.

According to Mueller, the case did not focus on an alternate suspect. Instead, it alleged that detectives Mike Werkema and Mike Brown violated Titus’ constitutional rights by failing to share information that could have undermined the credibility of a key witness at trial.

Titus originally filed a $100 million wrongful conviction lawsuit in federal court against the two detectives, according to WKZO. The parties settled for $5.25 million.

An email seeking comment from the attorney who represented the retired homicide detective in the lawsuit was not immediately answered, according to WILX.

How Titus Was Freed

The path to Titus’ exoneration began when students and staff at the University of Michigan Law School’s Innocence Clinic took up his case. Investigators were working toward a new trial when they discovered a 30-page file from the original investigation at the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office.

The file referenced an alternate suspect: Thomas Dillon of Magnolia, Ohio. Dillon was arrested in 1993 and ultimately pleaded guilty to killing five people in Ohio who had been hunting, fishing, or jogging. Dillon died in prison in 2011.

Media coverage also played a role in raising doubts about Titus’ conviction. Jacinda Davis of Investigation Discovery featured the case in her 2020 documentary The Hunted. Susan Simpson explored the case across 16 episodes of her podcast Undisclosed.

Deputies Roy Ballett and Bruce Wiersema from the original investigation later contacted the Innocence Clinic, saying they believed an innocent man had been sent to prison, according to the University of Michigan Law School.

The Michigan Attorney General’s Office Conviction Integrity Unit helped secure Titus’ release in 2023.

What Comes Next

Titus’ murder convictions were formally dismissed by Kalamazoo County’s 8th District Court. He signed an Order of Dismissal of Criminal Proceedings with attorney Mary Chartier on June 1, 2023, according to WKZO.

The $5.25 million settlement marks the financial resolution of a case that consumed more than three decades of Titus’ life. He was 53 when he was first convicted in 2002. He is 74 now.

"The money doesn’t make up for the loss of decades," Mueller said. "But it allows him to put this part of his life behind him."