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The Case of Jeff Titus
📻 Episode #359
🎙️ Hosted by Guest Host Susan Simpson
📅 May 18, 2023
About This Episode
On November 17, 1990, Doug Estes and Jim Bennett, who were separately out hunting, were found together, shot and killed at the Fulton State Game Area in Kalamazoo, MI. 38-year-old Jeff Titus had a farm near the scene and found one of the hunter’s missing weapons. Because of this, Jeff soon came under suspicion. However,…
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The Case
On November 17, 1990, Doug Estes and Jim Bennett, who were separately out hunting, were found together, shot and killed at the Fulton State Game Area in Kalamazoo, MI. 38-year-old Jeff Titus had a farm near the scene and found one of the hunter’s missing weapons. Because of this, Jeff soon came under suspicion. However, Jeff had a solid alibi and was immediately cleared as a suspect – the case went cold for ten years. In 2000, Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit reopened the case and focused on Jeff. By trial, Jeff’s alibi witnesses were unable to testify on his behalf, and the prosecution’s circumstantial evidence was enough to persuade the jury. Despite significant evidence of another, more viable suspect, Jeff was convicted and sentenced to two concurrent life without parole sentences. Susan Simpson talks to Jeff Titus and Dave Moran, Jeff's attorney.
https://michigan.law.umich.edu/academics/experiential-learning/clinics/michigan-innocence-clinic-0
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In Their Own Words — transcript excerpts
Short excerpts from the episode's official published transcript, with timestamps — listen from these moments, or read the full transcript via the podcast's own platforms.
00:05:05“Speaker 3: was all kinds of lights. So I drove over there Speaker 3: and I introduced myself and said I was a police officer, Speaker 3: which I was for the Veterans Administration, and I said, Speaker 3: you know what happened? And they didn't really say much. Speaker 3: Later I learned that two people had been shot.”
00:19:53“Speaker 4: a couple of occasions, and that's just the way he was, Speaker 4: That's the way he talked. But I think to the Speaker 4: jurors who were there, it comes across like you hiding something. Speaker 4: And so it was just a memorably bad alibi witness.”
00:33:37“Speaker 4: the afternoon. But those calculations were wrong in several respects. Speaker 4: First of all, what they actually calculated was how long Speaker 4: it would have taken to drive to Kalama Zoo. They Speaker 4: also assumed that he didn't leave the Revenna Game area Speaker 4: until well after he'd actually checked out, And they also”
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← #358 False Confessions - Dixmoor 5 #360 False Confessions - Midnight Crew →
Also on the podcast: #501 Delia D'Ambra on Jeff Pelley · #548 Jeff Boppre · #553 Jeff Smith