Tito Jackson and Delores Martes: a Complete Relationship and Life Timeline
The initial classification of Martes' death as accidental or undetermined frustrated Tito and his sons. Taj, Taryll, and TJ pushed investigators to scrutinize Bohana’s financial debts and violent temper. Backed by private investigators and medical experts, the brothers argued that Bohana had beaten their mother during an argument over money and forced her into the deep end of the swimming pool.
Los Angeles County prosecutors formally charged Donald Bohana with murder in 1996. During the 1998 criminal trial, prosecutors presented evidence showing that Martes had suffered nineteen distinct injuries across her head, neck, and abdomen before asphyxiating. In November 1998, a jury convicted Bohana of second-degree murder. A California judge sentenced him to fifteen years to life in prison. Bohana filed multiple appeals and parole petitions over the subsequent two decades, but the Jackson family consistently testified before the parole board to oppose his early release.
