How Tito Jackson Helped Fight for Justice After His Ex-Wife Dee Dee's Murder

Mar. 15, 2025

Delores Martes “Dee Dee” Jackson and Tito Jackson in July 1982.Photo:Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

Even after their divorce,Tito Jacksonwas committed to fighting for justice for his ex-wife, Delores Martes “Dee Dee” Jackson, after her death in August 1994.

Tito Jackson in September 2017.Gareth Cattermole/Getty

Gareth Cattermole/Getty

Tito and his sons never believed that Dee Dee drowned in the pool because of her fear of water. “My first question was, ‘Drown?’ What was she doing in the water?” Tito said on20/20. “You know, ‘cause Dee Dee and I, neither of us swam.”

In the same interview, he also said he believed that “the bruises and the damage” on his ex-wife’s body suggested there may have been foul play involved.

Bohana, who was convicted of the second-degree murder of Dee Dee in November 1998, has always maintained that Dee Dee was comfortable around the pool. “I’ll go to my grave saying that she could swim because Delores could swim,” he told20/20.

Both Bohana and Dee Dee were intoxicated on the night of Dee Dee’s death, and he alleged that the bruises on her body were due to his attempts to pull her out of the pool when he realized she was in distress.

However, the Jackson family believed the couple had a dispute over money, though no evidence was ever found. In hisABC Newsinterview, Tito said, “She was a Jackson, and that’s what he knew.”

Tito Jackson in August 2024.Scott Dudelson/Getty

Scott Dudelson/Getty

Tito’s sons and his mother, Katherine, filed a wrongful death suit against Bohana in 1995. The Jacksons’ family attorney, Brian Oxman, took on the case and began a media campaign to have the investigation into Dee Dee’s death reopened.

Bohana ultimately spent 24 years in prison before he was released on parole in December 2022. Throughout his time behind bars, he has maintained that he did not kill Dee Dee, but he does feel he could have helped her.

“It just pains me very much,” he told20/20. “Had I not been drinking, there’s not a doubt that I would have been able to save her.”

As for Tito,he said in 2017that losing Dee Dee was the “coldest day of our lives.”

source: people.com