KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — Jeff Titus, who served 21 years in prison for a wrongful double murder conviction, sat in a conference room at a Kalamazoo County courthouse Friday, waiting to hear whether he would face trial again for the killings.

“They just went to talk to the judge right now, and I’m sitting here waiting,” Titus told Target 8 as he fiddled with his new cellphone.

Titus was there for a hearing on a motion that his attorney hoped would force Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting to decide whether to either dismiss the murder charges or go to trial.

“I’m 71, I graduated in 1971, and here I am, sitting here, waiting for what my fate’s going to be, and I’m in utter suspense,” Titus said.

After meeting privately with a judge, Getting and Titus’s defense attorney, Mary Chartier, said that the hearing was postponed until next Friday. Titus would have to wait.

The case dates back more than 30 years. The original detectives in the 1990 murders of deer hunters Doug Estes and Jim Bennett in the Fulton State Game Area quickly cleared Titus through alibi witnesses. But in 2002, those alibi witnesses were ignored by cold case detectives, leading to his conviction. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The Michigan Innocence Clinic took up his case, then a 2017 Target 8 investigation raised serious questions about the prosecution.

In February, a federal judge vacated the convictions and ordered his immediate release after finding that evidence uncovered decades ago but never presented to the jury pointed to an alternate suspect — a serial killer named Thomas Dillon. The producers of a podcast and a true-crime TV show recently discovered the possible connection.

“They have the proof that says Thomas Dillon was there, he was IDd, he admitted to killing two guys who were close together,” Titus said.

The federal judge ordered the case remanded to state court with the charges still pending.

“I think this case should never have been tried nor charged in the first place,” Titus’s attorney said. “But we’re here, we’re fighting vigorously for Mr. Titus and we’ll continue to do so.”

Relatives of at least one of the victims’ families applauded Titus’s release.

A retired detective who helped convict Titus is still convinced he’s the killer, but said he should not face another trial.

“They can, but I don’t think so,” Mike Brown said. “After 21 years, do you think any witnesses have died? Of course they have.”

“There’s difficult factual legal matters that need to be reviewed in terms of admissibility of evidence, witness availability and whether or how the case would move forward,” Getting said outside the courthouse.

When asked what he’d say to Titus, Getting said: “Thank you for your patience.”

Titus could get more than $1 million — $50,000 for each year served — through the Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act, which went into effect in March 2017. That would require proving in the Michigan Court of Claims that new evidence led to his release. His civil attorney has said he can’t file a claim until the charges are dismissed.