Jeff Titus, a man who spent around 21 years behind bars for the killings of two Michigan deer hunters, has accepted a $5.25 million deal after alleging that the police withheld evidence that may have supported his defense during the trial. The update was shared by his attorney, Wolf Mueller on Monday, May 18, 2026. It has been reported that the man was released from jail in 2023.

According to ABC News, the Innocence Clinic at the University of Michigan law school and two investigators asserted that authorities should accept that a serial killer identified as Thomas Dillon of Magnolia, Ohio, may have been responsible for the 1990 killings of the two hunters. Meanwhile, Jeff Titus had consistenly insisted that he was innocent.

Attorney Wolf Mueller asserted, “It’s been a long road for Jeff,” adding, “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 represented a former homicide detective in the case went unanswered.

For the unversed, the case dates back to 1990 when Doug Estes and Jim Bennett were killed near Titus’ premises in Kalamazoo County. While Titus was initially ruled out as a suspect, he faced murder charges 12 years later. He was presented as a hothead by the lawyers, claiming he didn’t like trespassers.

On the other hand, students and faculty at the University of Michigan Law School were working to secure a new trial for him when a 30-page file from the original investigation was found at the county sheriff’s office. The document proved significant, as it pointed to Thomas Dillon as another possible suspect.

Jacinda Davis from TV network Investigation Discovery through the 2020 documentaries, The Hunted and Susan Simpson, through the 16 episodes of the Undisclosed podcast, had cast doubts about Titus’ conviction and raised questions about Dillon’s potential role in the killing.

Nevertheless, Dillon was taken into custody in 1993 and confessed to being guilty of killing five people in Ohio who had been hunting, fishing, or jogging. He died in prison in 2011.

The ABC News report notes that the lawsuit settled on Monday was not focused on Dillon as an alternative suspect. Mueller noted that it instead alleged that police violated Titus’ rights by retaining information that could have undermined the credibility of a key witness during his trial.

As per an article on the official website of the University of Michigan Law School, Titus was convicted in 2002 and sentenced to life without parole for the 1990 murders of two hunters, even though two Kalamazoo County sheriff’s deputies had previously cleared him after confirming he was about 27 miles away when the crime occurred.

The Michigan Innocence Clinic got involved after deputies Roy Ballett and Bruce Wiersema contacted Moran, saying they believed an innocent man had been sent to prison for the crime.