Jeff Titus, a Michigan man who spent nearly 21 years behind bars for the 1990 killings of two hunters, has agreed to a $5.25 million settlement, his attorney said yesterday. Titus was released in 2023 after prosecutors and the state Conviction Integrity Unit moved to undo his convictions, following years of pressure from outside investigators, podcasters, and University of Michigan law students who refused to let the old case stay closed.
How the Conviction Unraveled
Students and staff at the University of Michigan’s Innocence Clinic helped crack open a roughly 30-page investigative file that pointed to another suspect, dealing a major blow to the original prosecution theory. As detailed by the University of Michigan Law School, that material spurred the Attorney General’s Conviction Integrity Unit to seek unconditional habeas relief and led prosecutors to have Titus’s murder convictions erased in 2023.
Settlement Announced
The $5.25 million agreement was disclosed yesterday. Titus’s legal team says it resolves claims that investigators failed to turn over evidence that could have undermined key trial testimony. According to AP News, attorney Wolf Mueller said, “It’s been a long road for Jeff,” while acknowledging that no payout can restore the decades Titus lost in prison.
Alternate Suspect and Outside Reporting
The file spotlighted Thomas Dillon, an Ohio man arrested in 1993 who later pleaded guilty to multiple killings of hunters and outdoorsmen and died in prison in 2011. The University of Michigan notes that investigative reporting, including a documentary and episodes of the “Undisclosed” podcast, helped connect those dots and keep attention on the case.
Legal Fallout
Titus’s civil claims centered on allegations that police withheld material evidence that could have impeached a crucial witness at trial, raising hard questions about Brady obligations and investigative transparency. As reported by AP News, the settlement turned on whether officials met their disclosure duties to the defense, not on proving that Dillon was responsible for the hunters’ killings.
For Titus, now 74, the settlement closes a long and painful chapter but cannot return the years lost. His lawyers say it does at least give him a chance to rebuild his life. The case highlights how new evidence, outside researchers, and law school clinics can upend old convictions and push institutions toward accountability.
