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De zaak Titus/Ryan
Couple Sought in Las Vegas Slaying (AP December 23, 2005) Husband-and-wife bodybuilders Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan were being sought Thursday in the slaying of a woman whose body was found last week in the trunk of a burned Jaguar sedan, authorities said. Melissa James: RIP (getbig.com/boards, 22/12/05) “It has now been confirmed what we already knew since Monday, that the name of the victim was 28 year old Melissa to the family and her friends.” BODY IN BURNED JAGUAR (Las Vegas Review-Journal, Dec. 23, 2005) Bodybuilder admits to affair - Warrant reveals details of suspects' links to slain woman.
Bodybuilders arrested in woman's slaying (Las Vegas Review-Journal, Dec. 24, 2005) Two champion Las Vegas bodybuilders charged in the slaying of their personal assistant were apprehended Friday near Boston, bringing a quick end to a nationally publicized manhunt. Accused bodybuilders were in elite class (Boston Globe December 25, 2005) They were considered royalty in the bodybuilding community, their physiques so perfectly developed that just a few weeks ago they were commanding $3,000 fees for just a few minutes of flexing on stage.
Bodybuilders fight return to Nevada on slaying charges (The Boston Globe December 28, 2005) Mother calls for justice in Vegas bodybuilder in slaying (AP December 27, 2005) "Free Craig Titus" website pops up (KVBC.com Dec 29, 2005) Infamous bodybuilders in popular magazines (KVBC.com Jan 6, 2006) A local bodybuilding couple accused of murder is getting international attention this week in People and Playboy magazines. In the next issue of Playboy magazine, Craig Titus talks about the sport of bodybuilding and the use of steroids.
Accused bodybuilder expected back in Vegas (KVBC Jan 7, 2006) Bodybuilders Accused Of Murder Waive Extradition (CBS4 Jan 11, 2006) Bodybuilder couple coming back (CBS4 Jan 18, 2006) Bodybuilder Charged with Murder Appears in Las Vegas Court (KLASTV.com Jan 31, 2006) 2 Charged in Desert Killing (Los Angeles Times February 2, 2006) BODY IN BURNED CAR: Conflicting statements (Las Vegas Review-Journal Feb. 15, 2006) Pair accused of killing personal assistant told different stories about sex, drugs. Bodybuilders denied bail (The Beacon 02/15/2006) Bodybuilder murder suspect says live-in friend overdosed on drugs (AP February 26, 2006) A female bodybuilder charged with her husband for murdering their live-in aide told police the aide died of a drug overdose and the couple burned the body in a "panic" to avoid negative publicity. Bodybuilders Face Grand Jury in Murder Case (KLASTV.com March 17, 2006)
Bodybuilders Indicted For Las Vegas Murder (KLASTV.com March 25, 2006)
GRAND JURY TRANSCRIPTS: Friend: Pair told of violence (Las Vegas Review-Journal Mar. 29, 2006) Kelly Ryan participated in the brutality that culminated in the death of her personal assistant by using a Taser gun on the victim, beating her and helping to inject the woman with a massive dose of morphine, Ryan's self-described best friend told a grand jury. Judge Denies Bail to Las Vegas Bodybuilder Couple (KLAS-TV April 19, 2006) Craig Titus wil dat de rechter hem vrijlaat (AP May 26, 2006) Maar daar heeft de rechter geen zin in (AP 19 Jul 2006) Craig Titus ontslaat zijn advocaten en geeft een interview (Las Vegas Review-Journal Sep. 14, 2006)
2 3 - 1 2 - 2 0 0 5 Couple Sought in Las Vegas Slaying
AP
LAS VEGAS — Husband-and-wife bodybuilders Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan were being sought Thursday in the slaying of a woman whose body was found last week in the trunk of a burned Jaguar sedan, authorities said. Las Vegas police have not identified a motive. Investigators think the victim was a 28-year-old woman who had lived with Titus and Kelly in southwest Las Vegas but were awaiting DNA results before releasing her name. The charred remains were found Dec. 14 in a 2003 Jaguar off state Route 160 southwest of the city. Titus, 40, and Ryan, 33, face warrant charges of murder and third-degree arson, police said. A third suspect, Anthony Gross, 23, remained Thursday at Clark County Jail after his arrest Wednesday in Las Vegas on charges of accessory to murder and third-degree arson. He is to appear Tuesday in a Las Vegas court. Titus won titles at the June 1996 National Physique Committee USA Championships and competed in Mr. Olympia events. He pleaded guilty in Louisiana in April 1995 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute the party drug ecstasy, and served two years in jail for steroid-related offenses from 1997 to 1999. Ryan is a past Fitness America and Fitness International winner and Fitness Olympia runner-up who worked as a loan officer for Silver State Mortgage in Las Vegas. They married in June 2000, according to Clark County records. Melissa James: RIP
December 22, 2005 It has now been confirmed what we already knew since Monday, that the name of the victim was 28 year old Melissa James. Sympathies to the family and her friends. This is a tough situation for all. Story is as follows: There is new information as police continue to search for two champion bodybuilders accused of killing a woman and then burning her body. A police report identifies the victim as 28-year-old Melissa James. Her body was found in a burned out car last Wednesday. James was apparently strangled and then the car was set on fire. Police also say James was a personal assistant living with Craig Titus and his wife, Kelly Ryan. Also in the report, Titus admits to having an affair with Melissa James. Police haven't said if that's a motive. 2 3 - 1 2 - 2 0 0 5 BODY IN BURNED JAGUAR
Bodybuilder admits to affair
Warrant reveals details of suspects' links to slain woman
Dec. 23, 2005 A week before Craig Titus and his wife, Kelly Ryan, became fugitives, the professional bodybuilders met with Las Vegas homicide detectives about the dead woman who was found in Ryan's burned 2003 Jaguar.
Titus, 40, admitted to secretly having an affair with 28-year-old Melissa James, whose body was found in the trunk of the car. Titus and Ryan, 33, said James was their live-in personal assistant. They said that they had recently evicted her for embezzling from them, but that they had not filed a police complaint. Both told investigators that James had stolen Ryan's car, though they did not report the theft to police.
Titus and Ryan made those comments Dec. 14, hours after James' body was discovered in the torched Jaguar off state Route 160, according to an arrest warrant filed in Las Vegas Justice Court. The warrant was issued for 23-year-old Anthony Gross, an alleged accomplice in the slaying. Gross is in custody. But Titus and Ryan were set free after their interrogation because of a lack of evidence, and authorities presume the two have since fled, possibly to Greece. Titus and Ryan have since been charged with murder and third-degree arson. Maura James, who on Thursday marked her 51st birthday by remembering her daughter with relatives in Florida, said she hopes the fugitives will soon be caught. "I find it hard to believe they had anything to do with it because she trusted them as friends," she said. "I was shocked. I never imagined they'd be capable of doing anything like this." Witnesses told police that Titus had said he would flee to a country that would not extradite him. Las Vegas police Lt. Tom Monahan said Titus "mentioned that he has been to prison and has no intention of going back." Titus was convicted of conspiring to possess and sell Ecstasy and served a couple of years in prison in the late 1990s after he tested positive for steroids. Las Vegas police say that Titus killed Melissa James and that Ryan and Gross helped dispose of her body. Ryan told police that after discovering funds missing from her accounts, she kicked James out of her $470,000 southwest Las Vegas home. The eviction came Dec. 13, a day before James' body turned up in the remote desert. James packed a suitcase and Ryan, a former Ms. Fitness America, dropped her off at a convenience store, Ryan told police. But Ryan and Titus contradicted each other when police asked them separately which vehicle Ryan had used to take James to the store. "Ryan told detectives she used her Jaguar to take James to the convenience store," a police officer wrote in the report. "Titus said she used his silver Dodge truck." Maura James, who lives in New Jersey, said she last spoke with her daughter about 11:30 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on Dec. 13. During the brief cell phone conversation, Melissa James said she was eating at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. Maura James heard her daughter ask someone what they wanted to eat. She asked her daughter whom she was with, but the question went unanswered. A short time later, Melissa James wrapped up the call and said she would call back after lunch. She never called back and never answered her mother's follow-up calls. The next day, a Wednesday, Maura James went to the Newark airport before 9 a.m. She was scheduled to pick up her daughter, who was coming home for Christmas. She said her daughter was also considering moving home to New Jersey. Melissa James' flight arrived, but she wasn't on it. Maura James called her cell phone and left messages. Airport officials issued a page over a public address system. Maura James eventually returned home alone. She later called Titus' cell phone several times and left messages. "I thought she had been in an accident or something," she said. "I started calling hospitals in Las Vegas. Nobody had her. "Thursday night is when I got the call from the coroner. ... She had been strangled." Maura James said her daughter never mentioned being romantically involved with Titus, who married Ryan in Clark County in June 2000. Melissa James, who was a model and former dance instructor, had lived with the bodybuilders in Southern California several years ago. Titus asked Melissa James to move to Las Vegas about two months ago, and she accepted, her mother said. In the days before her death, James told her mother that she and Ryan were not getting along. She said she was staying at a hotel. "I said, 'Why?' She said, 'Well, Kelly is flipping out and acting crazy,'" Maura James said. Titus booked the hotel room for two nights, from Dec. 12 to Dec. 14, and paid for it with a credit card belonging to Emperor Enterprises, a company he and Ryan own, according to police. "He said he had spent most of one night with James at her room," investigators said in the report, quoting Titus. Titus also paid for James' plane ticket home, her mother said. On Dec. 16, two days after James' body was recovered, Amanda Polk, a young bodybuilder who had moved to Las Vegas to train with Ryan, contacted police with a tip. Polk met with investigators the next day and told them that she had received a phone call from Titus on Dec. 15 "saying he was in a bad situation (and) needed to get out of town for a while," police said. Titus and Ryan went to the home of Polk and her boyfriend later that evening. Ryan hugged Polk and said someone had found her Jaguar burned with a body inside. During a car ride to dinner, Ryan confided in Polk, she told police. "Ryan proceeded to tell Polk she had found their roommate, Melissa, dead in her room from an overdose," police said. "Polk said Ryan told her Melissa had been dead for a few hours and couldn't describe what she looked like because it would traumatize Polk for life. Polk said Ryan proceeded to tell her" that her life was ruined "because she bought seven bottles of lighter fluid at Wal-Mart with her credit card" at 3:30 a.m. Investigators say Polk confronted Ryan and asked her why she hadn't called police when she found the body. "Ryan responded by saying Craig told her, 'No body, no crime,'•" police wrote in the report. "Ryan told Polk she just did what Titus told her to do, that she thought Titus got someone to get rid of Melissa and she didn't kill anyone." Police say Titus met with business partner Gregory Ruiz at a Subway restaurant in the Las Vegas Valley on the morning of Dec. 17. "Titus told Ruiz he had to leave the country," an investigator wrote, adding that Titus had traded in his Dodge Viper truck for a new vehicle and intended to meet a friend in Boston to liquidate his assets. Police obtained cell phone records that showed Titus called Anthony Gross in the early morning of Dec. 14. Gross told investigators that he left his apartment in pajamas, filled up a can with gas and drove west on Blue Diamond Road until he saw flashing headlights from a Jaguar. He told police that he pulled up beside the Jaguar, rolled down his window and handed Titus a metal gas can. He said he did not know what Titus did with the gas can and, though he gave Titus a lift back into town, the two never discussed what had happened. On Dec. 14, before 5 a.m., a trucker saw the Jaguar ablaze. In the trunk, authorities found a body with white fabric around its neck and duct tape across the face. An autopsy revealed that James had likely died from asphyxiation. Police used the license plate on the car to trace the vehicle back to Ryan. "I think they had hoped the fire would completely consume the car so that it would be unidentifiable," Monahan said. On Wednesday, however, Titus and Ryan -- who have been on the covers of bodybuilding magazines -- were being identified on television news broadcasts as murder suspects. Neighbors recalled Thursday that Titus and Ryan often had visitors, some driving flashy cars -- Ferraris or Mercedes. One neighbor described Titus as friendly, adding that his physique was noticeably smaller these days. Titus, who graduated high school at 140 pounds, has often competed in the 250-pound range or more. Police say he is now down to about 225 pounds. A neighbor who did not want to be identified because Titus remained on the loose, said he had noticed another change in the man: "He's smoking. Before, he was not smoking." Monahan said police have evidence suggesting that Titus' loss of size was causing him to lose sponsorship contracts. Maura James, meanwhile, recalled something her daughter had once mentioned about Titus, Ryan and steroids. "She told me that since he was getting older, he was not going to be competing as much," James said. "She used to tell me, 'Yeah, they took them when they were getting ready for competitions. And they would go to the doctor quite a bit for checking organs and things like that.'•" Monahan said he believes authorities will find Titus and Ryan sooner or later, in part because of their high profiles and flamboyance. Their capture might bring a measure of consolation to a grieving mother. "You know what's so hard?" James said. "They burned my daughter so that we can't even see her again before we bury her. She is so sweet. She is so sweet and beautiful. I can't imagine anybody doing that to her." 2 4 - 1 2 - 2 0 0 5 Bodybuilders arrested in woman's slaying
Las Vegas couple apprehended outside Boston
By GLENN PUIT Two champion Las Vegas bodybuilders charged in the slaying of their personal assistant were apprehended Friday near Boston, bringing a quick end to a nationally publicized manhunt. Craig Titus, 40, and Kelly Ryan, 33, were taken into custody by a team of federal agents and local officers in the parking lot of a shopping center anchored by a Shaw's supermarket, roughly 15 miles outside of Boston on state Route 138, said FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz.
When officers swarmed the couple, Titus was inside his truck, a MUG root beer at his side. Ryan was inside a nail salon at the shopping center, Canton, Mass., Police Chief Kenneth Berkowitz said at a Friday night news conference, according to the Boston Herald. "He was inside his vehicle," Berkowitz said. "She had gone in, I believe, to get a manicure."
Since Tuesday, detectives from the Canton police force had been searching the area around Route 138 for signs of Titus' beige Dodge Ram truck, the police chief said. The Las Vegas arrest warrant stated that Titus had traded in his Dodge Viper truck for a beige one, and Friday, law enforcement officers spotted the new vehicle at the shopping center.
The husband and wife were arrested on a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution at about 3:45 p.m. EST. The couple did not resist arrest. "There was no violence," Las Vegas police Lt. Tom Monahan said. "I'm pleased they are in custody." According to Las Vegas police reports, Gregory Ruiz, one of Titus' friends, previously had told police that Titus was headed to Boston. "Titus said he intended to go to Boston where he would meet another bodybuilder friend who could help him liquidate his assets and get to a non-extraditable country," a police report states. Both Titus and Ryan are bodybuilding champions who have appeared on the covers of numerous national magazines. Titus is a past place-winner of the international Mr. Olympia competitions, and Ryan is a past Ms. Fitness America and Ms. Olympia runner-up.
Titus is charged with murder in the death of his personal assistant, Melissa James, 28. The woman was found strangled and burned in the back of Ryan's torched red Jaguar on Dec. 14, off state Route 160. Ryan and a bodybuilding friend named Anthony R. Gross, 23, are charged with accessory to murder and third-degree arson amid allegations they helped Titus dispose of the body. James, police said, was living with Titus and Ryan. During interviews with police, Titus admitted he was having an affair with the younger woman. Titus told authorities his wife didn't know about the affair. Titus and Ryan subsequently told police that they'd discovered James was stealing from them and kicked her out of their house in southwest Las Vegas. They'd also claimed James had stolen Ryan's car, but neither allegation was reported to police until after James' body was found. Police interviewed multiple witnesses, and Amanda Polk, a young bodybuilder who had moved to Las Vegas to train with Ryan, said Titus told her on Dec. 15 that he was "in a bad situation (and) needed to get out of town for a while." Ryan told Polk that "her life was ruined" because she bought seven bottles of lighter fluid at Wal-Mart with her credit card. Ryan also had claimed James died of an overdose, but when Polk questioned why the couple didn't simply call the police if the death was an overdose, Ryan said Titus told her: "No body, no crime." The arrest of Titus and Ryan is the second time in recent years that a much sought-after fugitive hunt has ended in a Boston suburb. In November 1999, slaying suspect Margaret Rudin was apprehended in Revere, Mass., after spending two years on the lam in the slaying of her husband, Ron. She was later convicted of the slaying and sentenced to life in prison. Titus and Ryan were in the custody of the Canton Police Department on Friday evening, and they were being interviewed. An extradition hearing next week is likely, though no formal date had been set. Monahan said he was fielding calls about the case from all over the nation, including ones from "Good Morning America" and MSNBC. 2 5 - 1 2 - 2 0 0 5 Accused bodybuilders were in elite class
Couple to face charges in death of assistant
By Douglas Belkin and Benjamin Freed They were considered royalty in the bodybuilding community, their physiques so perfectly developed that just a few weeks ago they were commanding $3,000 fees for just a few minutes of flexing on stage.
Yet this weekend, Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan sat in a South Shore jail, awaiting extradition to Las Vegas where Titus will formally be charged with murdering the couple's personal assistant and burning her corpse, Las Vegas and local police said. ''They were best of the best," said Darrell Terrell, a nationally ranked bodybuilder who hired the couple in July to pose at a show he promoted in Oklahoma. ''They were the elite in the industry. This whole thing has just shocked everybody." Titus, 40, and Ryan, 33, were arrested Friday afternoon at a Stoughton nail salon after FBI agents were tipped that the two were heading to Boston to meet a friend, liquidate their assets, and flee the country. But on the way, Ryan decided to get her toes painted a cherry red, and while she was in the Touch Nails salon, a dozen SWAT team members burst into the store and arrested her. Titus was apprehended without incident while he waited outside in his truck.
Titus will be charged with murder, Ryan with being an accessory to the crime, officials said. Their jail cells are a far cry from the accommodations to which the pair had become accustomed. For the past five years they jetted around the globe, appearing in bodybuilding shows, posing for magazines, and endorsing nutritional supplements. This year alone, the pair was scheduled to make appearances in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, Ireland, and Portugal, according to an itinerary posted on Titus's website. ''Titus had a huge presence," Terrell said. ''He was real showman, just a lot of personality." Their travel plans took a sudden turn after Melissa James, the couple's 28-year-old live-in personal assistant, was found dead in the trunk of Ryan's red 2003 Jaguar, according to court documents. James had been bound and gagged, the car had been torched, and James's body was partially burnt. The couple left Nevada. After their arrest, they told police that they threw James out of their Las Vegas home after they realized she had been embezzling from their business, Emperor Enterprises Inc., police said. Later, Titus told police he had also been having an affair with James. According to police reports, Ryan told a friend that her ''life was ruined" because she had bought seven bottles of lighter fluid with her credit card at a Wal-Mart. ''She was just such a sweet girl," Frank Bohm, a bodybuilding promoter from Washington, said of Ryan. ''This whole thing is hard to believe, but that she would have anything to do with it is really tough to swallow." Titus grew up outside of Detroit and became interested in bodybuilding when he realized that at 130 pounds, he was too small to play on his high school football team, according to his website. After high school he moved to Texas and then California, where he began to compete. In 1995 he served a year in jail on drug charges, according to his website, but returned to competition and, with his frame carrying 260 pounds, began placing in national events around 2001. Around that time he met Ryan. Ryan, who is from Minneapolis, was a competitive gymnast as a child and later attended University of South Carolina, where she started winning regional fitness titles. By the late '90s she was winning national titles and appearing on magazines, according to her website. Titus had a reputation as the ''bad boy" of bodybuilding, Bohm said. ''He was outspoken and not everybody liked that." Titus was also coming close to the end of his professional career and was trying to launch a bodybuilding governing body to compete with the International Federation of Body Builders, Bohm said. Terrell said Titus had just found a location to open a store specializing in workout gear. 2 8 - 1 2 - 2 0 0 5 Bodybuilders fight return to Nevada on slaying charges
By Megan Tench STOUGHTON -- Lawyers for two nationally recognized bodybuilders said yesterday that they will fight efforts to send the couple back to Las Vegas to face charges of killing their personal assistant, who was found in the trunk of a burned-out car on a deserted Nevada highway. Craig Titus, 40, and Kelly Ryan, 33, pleaded not guilty. They were arrested by FBI agents last week at a Stoughton nail salon with $8,300 in cash inside a bottomless aerosol can, Norfolk assistant district attorney Jason Mohan said in Stoughton District Court. Titus is wanted in Nevada on a murder charge, and Ryan is wanted as an accessory to murder, Mohan said. Both also face state charges of third-degree arson and federal charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
The prosecutor said the couple were in Massachusetts to liquidate assets and flee the country, possibly to Greece. But the couple's lawyers disputed the allegations. ''They were here to see friends during the holiday," said attorney Robert A. George, who represented Titus. George said that the couple has no assets in Massachusetts to cash in, and that the two were questioned by Las Vegas police after the body of Melissa James, their live-in assistant, was found. Arguing that his client is not a fugitive from justice, George said the two were released by Las Vegas police and started driving to Massachusetts at least three days before an arrest warrant was issued on Dec. 20.
Attorney John Gibbons, who is representing Ryan, said his client has never been in trouble with the law. ''She had no idea" that there was a warrant, Gibbons said, also noting that Ryan cooperated with Las Vegas police. Friends of the couple sobbed as the charges were read against them. Titus and Ryan were once considered royalty in the bodybuilding community, commanding at least $3,000 in fees during stage showcases. For the past five years, they have traveled the world, appearing in bodybuilding shows, posing for magazines, and endorsing nutritional supplements. This year the couple was scheduled to make appearances in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, Ireland, and Portugal, Titus's website said.
Two weeks ago, the partly burned body of James, 28, was found bound and gagged in the trunk of Ryan's red 2003 Jaguar, according to court documents. Las Vegas police have said that Titus and Ryan told them they had thrown James out of their home after they realized that she had been embezzling from their business, Emperor Enterprises Inc., and that they had nothing to do with her death. Titus also told police that he had been having an affair with James, according to police reports, which also said Ryan told a friend she had bought seven bottles of lighter fluid with her credit card at a Wal-Mart. Both Titus and Ryan were ordered held without bail yesterday. A status hearing on authorities' attempt to transfer the pair to Nevada is scheduled for Jan. 12. Also yesterday, another alleged accomplice, Anthony Gross, was ordered held on $13,000 bail in Las Vegas. James's mother said that in her last conversation with her daughter, James sounded happy and untroubled. She called for justice in her daughter's death. ''Whoever did this, I want them to pay," Maura James, 51, said by phone from her home in Lambertville, N.J. ''She was a good person, sweet, kind, considerate. This should have never happened to her." 2 8 - 1 2 - 2 0 0 5 Mother calls for justice in Vegas bodybuilder in slaying
By Ken Ritter LAS VEGAS --The mother of a woman whose body was found in a professional bodybuilder's burned-out luxury car called Tuesday for justice in the slaying.
"Whoever did this, I want them to pay," Maura James, 51, said of the slaying of her daughter, Melissa James, a former fitness instructor and live-in personal aide to Craig Titus and his wife, Kelly Ryan. "She was a good person, sweet, kind, considerate," James' mother said in a telephone interview from her home in Lambertville, N.J. "This should have never happened to her." Maura James said her daughter never told her or family members in Panama City, Fla., of any romance with Titus or problems in Las Vegas. Melissa James lived with her father, brother and sister in Panama City Beach, Fla., until she moved to Las Vegas in October to live with Titus and Ryan and help them launch a clothing line. "She sounded happy. She didn't sound like there was anything wrong," Maura James said of the last conversation she had with her daughter by cellphone on Dec. 13. Maura James went to Newark Liberty International Airport on Dec. 14 to pick her daughter up on a flight from Las Vegas, but she never arrived. "She was planning to come home to spend Christmas with her family," the mother said. "She had a return ticket Dec. 30 to Las Vegas. She never got on the plane." 2 9 - 1 2 - 2 0 0 5 "Free Craig Titus" website pops up
Dec 29, 2005 A website is drawing more attention to the case of two local bodybuilders accused of murder. The website is www.freecraigtitus.com and Rob Ziruolo, the web site's creator, lives in California.
He's been glued to the coverage of the Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan case. While he admits he is a body building fan he says his real goal is exposing the truth. Even though the website is called "Free Craig Titus", its creator says the site does not take the position that the bodybuilder is necessarily innocent of the crime. Rob Ziruolo says he's simply an avid follower of Titus' career. Ziruolo says his goal is to compile all the information he can about the case and clear up the dis-information and rumors that have been swirling around. Ziruolo says while he's not looking to make a profit, he wouldn't mind selling the website to another bodybuilding fan who wants to keep the Craig Titus story alive. 0 6 - 0 1 - 2 0 0 5 Infamous bodybuilders in popular magazines
KVBC.com A local bodybuilding couple accused of murder is getting international attention this week in People and Playboy magazines. In the next issue of Playboy magazine, Craig Titus talks about the sport of bodybuilding and the use of steroids. The reporter attributed with this story began his research long before Titus was arrested for murder. His project began as a behind the scenes look at the "Mr. Olympia" competitions held annually in Las Vegas; one of the key interviews for his piece just happened to be Craig Titus. The Playboy article entitled "The Big Show" goes backstage for a look at what the author calls the freaky world of professional bodybuilding. Titus is quoted extensively throughout the article, talking openly about the rampant use of steroids in the sport. Author Charles Young says he wouldn't be surprised if steroid rage played a role in the murder of Melissa James. Young says he's stunned at how stupidly Titus and Kelly Ryan seem to have behaved both before and after the killing. He says Titus seemed quite intelligent during their conversations for the Playboy article. Meanwhile, this article in People magazine has hit newsstands. It provides a recap of the case under the headline "Killer Bodies?" Titus and Ryan are scheduled to appear again in a Massachusetts courtroom next Thursday. Both Titus and Ryan have appeared on dozens of magazine covers in recent years, but their last big victories in bodybuilding competitions happened nearly a decade ago. Last week a judge denied bail for Titus and Ryan. After next week's hearing we should have a better idea of when the couple will be returned to Nevada. 0 7 - 0 1 - 2 0 0 6 Accused bodybuilder expected back in Vegas
KVBC The bodybuilder accused of killing his personal assistant is expected to agree to be extradited back to Las Vegas. Craig Titus and his wife Kelly Ryan are accused of murdering 28 year old Melissa James and leaving her body in a burning car. By not fighting extradition, Titus could be sent back here to Las Vegas within two weeks to face a murder charge. Ryan, also a bodybuilder, is also charged in connection with the murder. Authorities say the 28 year old victim lived with Titus and Ryan and served as the couple's personal assistant. 1 2 - 0 1 - 2 0 0 5 Bodybuilders Accused Of Murder Waive Extradition
CBS4 STOUGHTON - A married bodybuilder couple wanted for murder in Las Vegas have decided not to fight extradition from Massachusetts. Titus and Ryan pleaded not guilty in December to fugitive charges. They are being held without bail and were scheduled for an extradition hearing Thursday. Both have now signed papers agreeing to return to Nevada without a fight, canceling that hearing. Details of Titus’s and Ryan’s trip from Massachusetts to Nevada have not been worked out, according to the Norfolk County District Attorney’s office. 1 8 - 0 1 - 2 0 0 6 Bodybuilder couple coming back
KVBC.com The bodybuilding couple facing murder charges is headed back to Las Vegas from Boston. Craig Titus and his wife Kelly Ryan were arrested in Massachusetts. Police say a private company was hired to bring them back, so it's unclear when they'll arrive in Las Vegas. Ryan is charged with being an accessory to murder; Titus is charged with murder and arson. 3 1 - 0 1 - 2 0 0 6 Bodybuilder Charged with Murder Appears in Las Vegas Court
Adrian Arambulo A local champion bodybuilder was in court today. She's accused of helping her husband, also a bodybuilder, murder a woman. The victim's body was found in a burned Jaguar. Kelly Ryan heard that she was charged with accessory to murder and arson and acknowledged to Judge Joe Bonaventure that she has received a copy of the complaint. She appeared in court through closed-circuit television. Her appearance lasted only a few minutes. Ryan, who was wearing a standard blue jumpsuit, answered politely to the judge while in court. Ryan, an accomplished body builder, is accused of helping her husband, Craig Titus, another accomplished body builder, with the murder of Melissa James. Neither prosecutors nor Ryan's lawyer wanted to talk after the hearing but Titus's lawyer did. "He's looking to come into court and face the charges. Once all the facts play out I think people will see Craig in a different light," said Steven Boozang, Craig Titus's lawyer. Lawyers say it is too early to tell whether Titus, Ryan, and another man charged with the murder, Anthony Gross, will stand trial together. Ryan is set to be back in court on Wednesday to have her bail amount set. 0 2 - 0 2 - 2 0 0 6 2 Charged in Desert Killing
Sam Howe Verhovek LAS VEGAS — As a middling player in the world of professional bodybuilding, Craig Titus stood out more for his snarling bad-boy image than for the few awards he garnered for his chiseled physique. "I'm like a Rottweiler in a land of golden retrievers," he told a Florida newspaper five years ago. But whatever act Titus may have cultivated in his competitions, he now stands accused, along with his bodybuilder wife, of a real-life gruesome killing. In a lurid case here that allegedly involves sex and money, both are accused of stun-gunning, drugging and suffocating their live-in personal assistant, then stuffing her body in their Jaguar and setting the car aflame with charcoal lighter fluid on a desert highway outside the city, an apparent effort to make the crime look like an accident.
Titus, 41, and his wife, Kelly Ryan, 33, appeared in court here Wednesday morning, shackled to other jail inmates and seated two rows apart. Both were formally charged with murdering Melissa James, 28, a former fitness instructor from New Jersey who had moved here to serve as Titus and Ryan's personal assistant. Titus, who had made the cover of several bodybuilding magazines over the years, replied "absolutely" when Clark County Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure asked whether he understood the charges; Ryan answered "yes, sir" to the same question. They did not formally enter pleas, but lawyers for each said they intended to plead not guilty to all charges. The sensational case has generated much attention here, with details emerging of Titus' apparent confession to his wife that he had had an affair with James. Though that may have factored into a possible motive in the slaying, thought to have taken place Dec. 13 or 14, another motive could be an alleged financial dispute between the couple and the assistant.
Prosecutors said Wednesday that they would let the indictment speak for itself. It outlined the alleged crime but did not address motive. A third person has been charged as an accomplice in the slaying. He is Anthony Gross, 23, a fan and workout partner of Titus' who, police said, drove a second car to the spot where the Jaguar was ignited and then took Titus home. Security videotapes show Ryan buying seven half-gallon containers of charcoal starter fluid and a barbecue tool set at a Las Vegas Wal-Mart around 3:30 a.m. Dec. 14, police said. Shortly after that, the Jaguar with James' corpse inside was torched; police found the charred body inside when they responded to a report about the fire, and they quickly concluded arson was involved. Outside the courthouse Wednesday, one of Titus' lawyers, Steven Boozang, described how his client had told him he was "100% not guilty." On Bodybuilders.com, a website for participants and fans, Titus is listed as 5 feet 9 with an off-season weight of 267 pounds and a competition weight of 242 pounds. Though his muscles could be seen bulging through his blue jail suit in court, he appeared far more muscled in the photograph posted on the website. The website describes a few competitions Titus won in the 1990s, as well as lower-placing finishes since then, including 11th place at the 2002 Mr. Olympia competition and ninth place at the British Grand Prix. The site indicates he is 39, but court records list him as 41. It also gives an old address of his in Marina del Rey, and lists Tom Cruise as a person he admires. Titus was imprisoned for drug-related offenses from 1997 to 1999. Ryan is listed online as 5 feet 3, with an off-season weight of 125 pounds and a competition weight of 120. She is described as a onetime gymnast who had "spent most of her life preparing to win an Olympic gold medal," but who decided that "the lonely, spartan life of elite Olympic-level gymnasts was not for her." She thus "left the mats and parallel bars behind," and switched to bodybuilding. She had first-place finishes in the Jan Tana Pro Fitness, Show of Strength Pro Fitness and Southwest Pro Fitness competitions in 2002, and the Pittsburgh Pro Fitness show in 2001. Under "marital status," Ryan is listed as "happily married to Craig Titus." A neighbor of the couple's, Alzina Miller, said the two were away a lot, and that she thought that James was a housesitter who also looked after the couple's dog. "They have always been very nice to us," Miller said of Titus and Ryan, "and very considerate. When they put their pool in a few years ago, they welcomed us to use it anytime. Kelly was very nice. She baked me Christmas cookies, in fact." 1 6 - 0 2 - 2 0 0 6 BODY IN BURNED CAR: Conflicting statements
Pair accused of killing personal assistant told different stories about sex, drugs
By GLENN PUIT In their first statements to police, slaying suspects Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan said they didn't know how the charred body of their personal assistant, Melissa James, ended up in the trunk of Ryan's car. But in two subsequent statements to authorities, the fitness champions changed their story, saying James died of a drug overdose at their house, and that they burned James' body to avoid negative publicity from the accidental death.
"Found her (James) in the (expletive) car dead, stinking up my (expletive) car," Titus told detectives in a Dec. 24 taped interview in Boston. "I panicked. That gets in the newspaper, we're ruined. Dead girl, car, OD'd, Craig Titus, Kelly Ryan. We're (expletive) ruined," Titus said. "Plus, not to mention that my car's ruined ... so I think OK, let's put her in the trunk and burn it and play stupid. That's what we did. Period. Finito. End of story." In a third statement, to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, however, Titus agreed with an FBI agent's suggestion that perhaps he was having rough sex with James and she died. "Yeah, we were having sex and she OD'd," the FBI agent quoted Titus as saying. "Let's go with that. That's a good story." The conflicting statements about James' death are contained in nearly 500 pages of voluntary statements given by Titus and Ryan to Las Vegas homicide detectives. Titus and Ryan are charged with murder in the December death of James, and copies of the couple's statements were obtained by the Review-Journal this week. Titus' attorney, Richard Schonfeld, wouldn't discuss specifics of his client's statements. But he said the statements Titus and Ryan gave to police in Massachusetts will be suppressed because police never notified Titus or Ryan they were recording them, as required by law in that state. "No doubt in my mind it will be suppressed," Schonfeld said. "It was illegal what they did." Ryan's attorney, Thomas Pitaro, could not be reached for comment. Louis Palazzo, a defense attorney for a third defendant charged in the case, Anthony Gross, wouldn't comment. Clark County prosecutor Robert Daskas also wouldn't comment on this story. Titus is a past place-winner of the international Mr. Olympia competitions, and Ryan is a past Ms. Fitness America and Ms. Olympia runner-up. Hours after James' body was found burning in the desert in Ryan's car on Dec. 14, Titus and Ryan each gave police lengthy taped statements. In their first statements, the couple said they suspected James might be stealing from them and perhaps was planning to steal their identities. "OK, one example, she went online and changed my pass codes," Ryan said. "OK. She requested new security information be sent to her and new banking cards sent to her." Ryan said she confronted James about her suspicions that James was stealing, and James decided she was going to leave and head home to New Jersey for Christmas. The day before James was found murdered, Ryan said, she gave James a ride to a convenience store and dropped her off. Ryan and Titus then speculated to police that James somehow returned to their house, snuck into their garage and stole Ryan's car. Titus and Ryan said they didn't know what happened to James after that. But Titus suggested James was using methamphetamine and that a drug dealer named Eddie could be responsible for her death. "He's real cool, drug dealer, you know, 'Pay me, I'll kill ya' type, (expletive) idiot," Titus told police. Titus told police that if he found out who killed James before the detectives did, he would hunt the person down and harm them. "I'll tell ya something right now," Titus said. "If I find this (expletive) guy before you guys do, I'm gonna (expletive) him up. I'll call you when I do." After their statements were given, authorities said, Titus and Ryan fled across country. They were arrested outside Boston and, on Dec. 24, gave more statements to the FBI and Las Vegas police. This time, Titus and Ryan said they had found James dead of an overdose in Ryan's car, a needle sticking out of her arm, and, instead of simply calling police, they panicked. "Craig and I started thinking, ah, she's got drugs in the house, ah, he (Titus is) a felon," Ryan said. "Well, there's steroids." Ryan and Titus said they dragged James' body into their house, wrapped James' face with duct tape and put her body in blankets, and then put her in the trunk of Ryan's Jaguar. "She wasn't stiff," Ryan said. "She was very heavy. Very heavy. Very, very. And I remember that she, she was (a) mess, and so heavy I think I probably ended up dropping her." "So, ah, it's real simple, guys," Titus told detectives. "We took her out of the car and put her in the fetal positionand put her in the trunk of my car and we burned it. "Drug her in the house," Titus said. "This is (expletive) gross, man. Put her in a fetal position, wrapped her up, put her in the trunk." Titus said they decided to dispose of James' body to avoid negative publicity that could ruin their fitness careers. "She (Ryan) is the number one fitness athlete in the world," Titus said. "Highly respected in the sport, and if you think of fitness, Kelly Ryan. Period. ... And here we walk in our garage and our friend's OD'd in our (expletive) car. So if that gets out to the public, we're ruined." Ryan said she bought lighter fluid at a Wal-Mart, and her husband called Gross. The trio then went to the desert off state Route 160, where Ryan said Titus set Ryan's car on fire with James' body in the trunk. "We just basically got rid of a body, and how we gonna explain it," Ryan said. "Um, you know, obviously if we thought that, you know, by burning the car it would get rid of ah, of the person completely. Um, I don't know, I don't know why." At one point during the interview, Titus said he and Ryan couldn't have murdered James because if they had, they wouldn't be dumb enough to burn the body in a car registered to Ryan. "If I really wanted to ... burn her and it was a murder, I would of dug a hole out in the desert and dumped her in the hole, and burned my car myself," Titus said. "You know what I mean? "It's that simple," Titus said. "Nobody ever found her. My car would be burned and stolen. End of story. "So I mean ... it doesn't take a (expletive) genius to know, well, you know, if you're gonna murder somebody, you don't put her in your car and burn her," Titus said. "Unless somebody panics," a detective tells Titus. "Yeah, well, unless they're really stupid," Titus said. At another point in the interview, Titus asks police if they found steroids in his house. "Did you guys find my steroids?" Titus asks the detectives. "Yeah," a detective responds. "You did find it?" Titus said. "(Expletive,) man. That's pretty good investigation." Ryan acknowledges to police that she once used methamphetamine with James. And Titus tells police he, his wife and James also used a painkiller called Nubain, which is commonly used by fitness athletes. Titus denied he was having an affair with James, although he acknowledged having sex with her years ago. But in yet another statement to authorities, an FBI agent said Titus told him that, he, James and Ryan had all had sex together in the past. The FBI agent then poses a possible scenario of Titus having rough sex with James and her dying. "You admitted to placing a ligature around (James') neck and placing duct tape around her face," the FBI agent said he told Titus. "You'd previously admitted that the three of you had sex together. Also, you did drugs together. Could this have been a sex act gone bad? "You were having kinky sex together and something went wrong," the agent said he told Titus. "You were having sex. You had her tied up. You were using drugs and maybe she OD'd." The FBI agent then summarized in a report Titus's response to the scenario. "Titus responded words to the effect, 'Yeah, we were having sex and she OD'd. Let's go with that. That's a good story.'" "After making this statement, Titus paused for a moment and then stated 'No more questions.'" 1 6 - 0 2 - 2 0 0 6 Bodybuilders denied bail
Linda Seida Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan must remain in custody until a preliminary hearing March 29 on charges of murdering a former Lambertville woman. Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan, the bodybuilding husband and wife accused of kidnapping and murdering a Lambertville woman in Las Vegas, were denied bail Friday and must remain in custody as they await a preliminary hearing March 29.
Judge Joe M. Bonaventure of the 8th District Court said he would consider the question of bail after weighing the evidence presented by the prosecution at the hearing. The couple will attend another hearing March 20 when the judge will consider their motion to suppress statements they made to police in Massachusetts on Dec. 24, the day after they were arrested on fugitive warrants in connection with the death of Melissa James, 28, their live-in personal aide. Their lawyers requested bail in the amount of $250,000, arguing they are not a flight risk or a danger to the community. The state argued the defendants should be held without bail, calling them "severe flight risks." Miss James' body was found Dec. 14 in the trunk of Ms. Ryan's burning 2003 Jaguar on the side of a remote highway. Authorities say her killers used an Air Taser to immobilize her and also drugged and strangled or asphyxiated her. Authorities also say the couple intended to flee to avoid prosecution. Shortly after their initial police interview Dec. 14 in Las Vegas, they never returned home. Court documents say they stayed at the home of a friend the night of Dec. 14. The following night they stayed with other friends. The next night they stayed at a motel, and the day after they traded in their truck for another vehicle. Authorities say they also attempted to sell their three homes and stopped using their cell phones. Instead they purchased "pay as you go" phones, which cannot be traced. Police also found $8,300 in cash hidden in their vehicle. "Obviously these actions belie the notion that defendants simply 'went on vacation to the East Coast,' as defense counsel suggests," the prosecutor said in a motion to deny bail. Police retrieved the Taser gun and then had the manufacturer retrieve recorded data inside that tells exactly when it was fired. It was discharged six times within two minutes on the afternoon of Dec. 13, a time when the defendants confirmed Miss James had been in their home, according to police. Police also recovered in the defendants' home remnants from the gun that are left behind after it is fired, according to the motion to deny bail. Surveillance video exists showing Ms. Ryan in a Wal-Mart buying an accelerant, which was used in setting the car on fire. Also, "Titus was captured on video in the Wal-Mart parking lot assisting defendant Ryan in loading the lighter fluid into the car that contained Melissa's dead body. Defendants admitted they drove the car — with Melissa's body in the trunk — to a remote desert area and ignited it," according to court documents. Authorities say the defendants repeatedly lied and contradicted themselves during early police interviews. In a later interview Dec. 23, after they were found in Massachusetts, Ms. Ryan told police she and her husband were planning to first head to California to pick up her dog before eventually traveling to Mexico, according to the state's motion. The same document says Mr. Titus told detectives he left town "because he knew he was going to be charged with murder," and "I wasn't going back to jail for no f-ing body." In 1995, Mr. Titus spent a year incarcerated because of a drug-related crime, according to his Web site. An entirely different description of the accused couple was presented in the defense counsel's request for bail. In an affidavit, the manager of a Massachusetts Jiffy Lube, Scott Rabb, described them as friendly and up front about their identities despite the presence of a state trooper in the same garage bay. The trooper was having the oil changed on his marked patrol car at the same time the couple was having the oil changed in their truck. The manager said the bodybuilders were "very relaxed, outgoing and not in a hurry as they talked to myself and my employees." Ms. Ryan demonstrated dance moves in the parking lot. Mr. Titus gave the manager his phone number and told the manager to call him if he was ever in Las Vegas. Ms. Ryan "discussed dancing choreography with me as I used to teach a local group, and she demonstrated some of her dance moves in the parking lot facing the main road," the manager said. Later, Mr. Titus returned to the shop and "gave me money for a lint roller he took and forgot to pay for," the manager said. "I thanked him for his honesty and was extremely surprised they were the same individuals that were arrested as a result of a warrant from Las Vegas." Police have charged an alleged accomplice, Anthony Gross, 23, with accessory to murder and third-degree arson. Police allege Mr. Gross purchased gasoline for Mr. Titus and also say he drove a second car to the site where the Jaguar was left blazing. 2 7 - 0 2 - 2 0 0 6 Bodybuilder murder suspect says live-in friend overdosed on drugs
AP LAS VEGAS - A female bodybuilder charged with her husband for murdering their live-in aide told police the aide died of a drug overdose and the couple burned the body in a "panic" to avoid negative publicity.
Kelly Ryan, 33, faces murder, arson and kidnapping charges along with her husband Craig Titus, 41, for killing Melissa James, a 28-year-old former fitness instructor. James' body was found in the trunk of Ryan's burned-out Jaguar sedan off a desert highway Dec. 14. According to police, Ryan said the couple and two friends discovered James dead with a needle sticking out of her arm in Ryan's car in her garage one night. Ryan said she and Titus decided to dispose of the body. She said they feared notoriety given their celebrity status as fitness champions and were nervous about calling police because Titus is a convicted felon. "I would say probably like a slight panic probably set in because, just, never, ever, ever had to deal with anything like that before," Ryan told investigators. "Craig and I started thinking, ah, she's got drugs in the house, uh, he's a felon." The couple carried James' body into the house, wrapped her in a blanket and taped her head and feet with duct tape, she said. The couple traveled with James in the trunk to a Wal-Mart, where Ryan bought seven bottles of lighter fluid and a barbecue set with her own credit card, she said. They met up with Anthony Gross, 23, who is accused of helping the couple dispose of the body, at a gas station and then Titus burned the car in the desert, Ryan said. "Just like, 'Oh my God, I can't believe what we just did, and ah, we gotta think about this," she said. Defense attorneys for Titus and Ryan said statements were taken from their clients illegally and said they expected they would be suppressed in court. Ryan also told police the couple suspected James of stealing their identities and making unauthorized transactions on their credit card. She said the couple confronted James about the theft the night she died and told her she was not welcome to stay with them any more. Ryan said they dropped James off at a convenience store, where she was to find her way to the airport and back to her home in New Jersey. The couple, arrested Dec. 23 near Boston, remain in a Nevada jail before their preliminary hearing March 29. Gross remains under house arrest after posting $13,000 bail. 1 8 - 0 3 - 2 0 0 6 Bodybuilders Face Grand Jury in Murder Case
March 17, 2006 A bodybuilding couple accused of murder are facing grand jury proceedings. The defense lawyer for Craig Titus says Titus and his wife Kelly Ryan have received notice that prosecutors will seek a grand jury indictment. An indictment would eliminate the need for a preliminary hearing scheduled for later this month. But the grand jury proceedings would be held in secret. 2 6 - 0 3 - 2 0 0 6 Bodybuilders Indicted For Las Vegas Murder
Ashanti Blaize A grand jury indictment's been handed down charging two Las Vegas bodybuilders with the murder of their personal assistant. The indictment has new details about the crime and the suspects. Local bodybuilders Kelly Ryan and Craig Titus are accused of killing their live-in assistant Melissa James in Dec. of 2005. And then with the help of Anthony Gross, prosecutors say they burned James' body in the trunk of Ryan's 2003 Jaguar sedan. Chief Deputy District Attorney Eric Jorgenson said, "Titus and Ryan are charged with murder with use of a deadly weapon, first-degree kidnapping. Mr. Gross is charged with accessory to murder and all three are charged with third-degree arson." The last time Ryan and Titus were in court a judge decided they would be held without bail pending a preliminary hearing. Gross would be placed under house arrest with a $13,000 fine. But instead their case went to a grand jury.
Judge David Wall said, "The indictment will be filed. We'll use case number 220719. It's assigned to Department Five." The grand jury decided there was enough evidence in this case to send it to trial. The indictment reads Ryan and Titus suffocated Melissa James by: "...duct tape and/or an 'air taser' gun and/or fabric ligature and/or wire ligature and/or unknown object."
It also reads Gross helped Titus and Ryan: "...avoid or escape arrest, trial, conviction or punishment..." after the alleged murder and that all three set fire to Ryan's Jaguar: "...by use of open flames and/or combustible materials and/or by manner and means unknown." Judge David Wall said, "I will sign the indictment warrants." Titus and Ryan will remain in custody without bail by request of the district attorney's office while Gross will continue his house arrest until the three are arraigned next week. Ryan, Titus and Gross will be in court on March 29 for arraignment. 3 1 - 0 3 - 2 0 0 6 GRAND JURY TRANSCRIPTS: Friend: Pair told of violence
Bodybuilders described confrontation, woman testified
By Glenn Puit Kelly Ryan participated in the brutality that culminated in the death of her personal assistant by using a Taser gun on the victim, beating her and helping to inject the woman with a massive dose of morphine, Ryan's self-described best friend told a grand jury.
In her testimony to the grand jury that indicted Ryan and Ryan's husband, Craig Titus, on murder charges, Megan Pierson, 25, also said Titus demonstrated how he strangled 28-year-old Melissa James, according to the grand jury transcripts. Pierson told the grand jury that she and her husband, Jeremy Foley, were at Ryan and Titus' southwest valley home on Dec. 13, the same day authorities suspect Titus and Ryan's live-in assistant was slain. Pierson testified that Ryan told her that a confrontation had occurred between her and James at the home because she and Titus suspected James was stealing from them and was planning to steal their identities.
Ryan is a 33-year-old past Ms. Fitness America and Ms. Olympia runner-up, and Titus is a 40-year-old past place-winner of international Mr. Olympia competitions. "They had gone into Melissa's room and found, opened up, a lock box that had credit cards, copies of credit cards, a (home equity line of credit) statement ... and copies of IDs," Pierson said. She said Titus was especially angry at the discovery. "Very, very pissed," Pierson said, adding that Titus said, "There is three things that you don't mess with. That's friends, family and his money." Pierson said Ryan told her that during a confrontation with James, she had taken a Taser gun away from James, then used it on James. "It, I guess, stunned her in the back of her neck, but she (Ryan) didn't have it up high enough, so it just kind of got her attention," Pierson told the grand jury. "And Kelly tried to do it again, and she, I guess she didn't have the voltage up high enough, so she yelled for Craig, and Craig came upstairs, picked Melissa up, brought her downstairs into the living room and supposedly body slammed her (James) and started beating her up," Pierson testified. Ryan told Pierson that after the beating, James "took a Xanax" and went to bed, Pierson said. "While she was sleeping, Kelly went into her room and punched her in the face," Pierson said. "She (Ryan) said that she punched her a couple of times, she showed me the marks on her knuckles from it, and she said that ... Craig was holding her down and told Kelly to get the morphine and she shot a whole needle of morphine into her leg," Pierson said. "She said she was very resilient because it didn't do anything to her." Later that evening, Titus demonstrated to Pierson "how you can strangle somebody," and then he demonstrated a chokehold for Pierson. "He did it on me, and you instantly stop breathing," Pierson said. "It scared me the way that he motioned, the way that he showed it on me. "Craig just walked in and started talking about it and, that's how, he started talking more about how he said that he killed Melissa," Pierson said. "He said that he was joking around, but that is how he had killed Melissa, by strangling her," Pierson said. "I mean, he was laughing, so I really did not believe he was serious," she said. Pierson said that Titus then mentioned James' body was in his wife's car and that Titus said he was going to drive the vehicle to Red Rock, "scatter clothes around the car and set it on fire and make it look like a rape." Pierson's testified before the grand jury earlier this month, and the grand jury wound up indicting Ryan and Titus on charges of murder and arson in the death of James. Twenty-three-year-old Anthony Gross is charged with being an accessory to the killing and with arson.
Authorities allege Titus and Ryan killed James, then burned her body in Ryan's Jaguar off state Route 160 in the desert outside of Las Vegas. The burning car was discovered Dec. 14. Pierson said when she and her husband left the home of Titus and Ryan the night of Dec. 13, Titus gave the couple a gym bag. "We said our goodbyes, and there was a gym bag next to my purse," Pierson said. "I grabbed my purse, walked out and Craig said, 'Hey, wait, you forgot this,' and I said 'What is this?'" "He said, 'Oh, don't worry about it, I talked to Jeremy about it; he said it was OK to have it at your house for a couple of weeks,' " Pierson said. "He said that he knew the police were going to be coming to his house the next day, and he acted like he just didn't want whatever was in the bag in the house while the police were there," Pierson said. The following day, she said, she looked in the gym bag and saw "a Taser gun, a stun gun, a gym rope, and something else for one of the Taser guns or stun gun," Pierson said. Pierson said she turned the items over to police, and according to grand jury transcripts, authorities found other physical evidence that corroborated Pierson's account. An analysis of the Taser gun indicated it had been fired multiple times on the day James was slain, and Las Vegas police crime scene analysts found remnants from the discharge of a Taser gun inside Titus and Ryan's home. Also, a medical examiner told the grand jury that James had a high level of morphine in her body at the time of her death. When questioned by a prosecutor in front of the grand jury, Pierson admitted she did not tell police what she knew when first questioned by police because "at first I was protecting Kelly." It was all "very upsetting," Pierson said. "It's very depressing. ... I thought I knew her better than this." Pierson said she was frightened by Titus. Nevertheless, she agreed to meet with Titus and Ryan a few days after Dec. 13 at an acquaintance's house. "Kelly was playing dumb, saying that 'they (police) think we did it,' and Craig said that they were going to go to Greece," Pierson said. "He said, 'It's no big deal. Kelly is going to continue to compete there, everything will be fine,' and he said he only needed two witnesses to say that she (James) was overdosed in the front seat of the car and that they'd get off." Ryan's attorney, Tom Pitaro, declined to comment on the grand jury transcripts Tuesday because he had not read them yet. Titus' defense attorney, Richard Schonfeld, declined to comment on the specifics of the transcripts, but he said the veracity of the evidence is expected to be challenged in District Court. He previously said that Titus' accusers have significant credibility problems. Authorities allege that Titus and Ryan first told police they did not know what happened to James. They later said they found her dead of a drug overdose, then panicked and burned her body. 1 9 - 0 4 - 2 0 0 6 Judge Denies Bail to Las Vegas Bodybuilder Couple
KLAS-TV A Las Vegas man and woman accused of killing their live-in assistant will remain in jail. A judge denied bail for Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan. The professional bodybuilders are awaiting trial on charges they murdered Melissa James in December 2005 and set a car on fire with James' body inside. The couple pleaded not guilty to the charges in March. Their trial is set for January 2007. 2 6 - 0 5 - 2 0 0 6 Bodybuilder Craig Titus challenging charge in Las Vegas slaying
AP LAS VEGAS - A lawyer for jailed pro bodybuilder Craig Titus wants a judge to throw out a grand jury indictment charging Titus and his wife with kidnapping and murdering their personal assistant in December. A Clark County District Court judge is due July 13th to hear defense lawyer Richard Schonfeld's claim that prosecutors shouldn't have been allowed to give the grand jury police statements from both Titus and his wife -- Kelly Ryan. The lawyer also maintains that evidence is insufficient to charge Titus and Ryan with kidnapping and conspiring to kill 28-year-old Melissa James. The grand jury indicted the 41-year-old Titus and 33-year-old Ryan in March -- after prosecutors presented evidence that James was drugged, bound, shocked with a stun gun and strangled before her body was set ablaze in Ryan's abandoned red Jaguar sedan. Titus and Ryan have pleaded not guilty and are being held at Clark County jail pending trial in January. 2 5 - 0 7 - 2 0 0 6 Judge lets murder charge stand against bodybuilders in Las Vegas
AP The bodybuilding couple accused of killing their personal assistant will stay in jail on murder charges. On Tuesday morning, attorneys for Craig Titus, Kelly Ryan and Anthony Gross tried to get the charges against their clients dropped. The court hearing yesterday brought a sharp exchange of words between a prosecutor and defendant Craig Titus -- and a warning from a Clark County District Court judge that she'd have Titus removed from the courtroom if there were any more disruptions. Defense lawyers argued there's no proof James was kidnapped, that grand jury proceedings were flawed, that there's no evidence of a deadly weapon in the case -- and that the coroner never made a formal ruling on how James died. In the end, the judge denied their requests and set a trial date for January of 2007. Titus and Ryan are charged with kidnapping and murdering their personal assistant, Melissa James. 1 4 - 0 9 - 2 0 0 6 Suspect calls slain woman 'friend'
By GLENN PUIT Frustrated by lawyers who had been advising him to keep quiet, 41-year-old bodybuilder and slaying suspect Craig Titus fired his legal team this week. Then, in his first public interview since his arrest Dec. 23, Titus wept as he told the Review-Journal at the Clark County Detention Center on Wednesday afternoon that he and his wife loved Melissa James, their 28-year-old live-in personal assistant whom they are accused of killing. Titus said he and 33-year-old fitness champion Kelly Ryan "are not guilty of murdering anybody." "My wife and I are caring people. We are loving people," Titus said. "We are not the horrific monsters we've been portrayed as. Kelly and I loved Melissa. She was our friend. She was family. ... She was one of my best friends." Titus said the only thing he is guilty of is bad judgment on the night James' body was set ablaze in the trunk of Ryan's red Jaguar in the desert off Blue Diamond Road. Although Titus wouldn't discuss exactly what he had done that evening, he told police last year that James overdosed on drugs at the couple's southwest Las Vegas house and that he panicked and burned the body to try to avoid negative publicity that would have ruined the couple's careers. "I'm guilty of some very, very bad judgment," Titus said Wednesday. "I'm guilty of some very poor decisions. I wish I would have just listened to my wife and called the police," Titus said, choking back emotion. Ryan is a fitness champion and Ms. Olympia runner-up. Titus is a past place-winner of international Mr. Olympia competitions. Titus said he had known James since approximately 1999. He said he met her in Panama City, Fla., when she worked as a driver for him when he was competing in a bodybuilding show there. "A great girl," he said. "We were best friends. And she really became good friends with my wife, too." Fighting back tears, he said James was a good person. She spent much of her time running a dance studio and teaching young children how to dance in Florida. After she moved in with the couple in California, James became addicted to methamphetamine, Titus said. "The drug use became prevalent," Titus said. "We had to ask her to move out." He said that James later rejoined the couple when they moved to Las Vegas in 2003, and that she continued to struggle with methamphetamine use. "I watched a human being disintegrate in front of my eyes," Titus said, adding, "This crystal meth is destroying the United States." Witnesses, however, have told police that Titus and Ryan were themselves prolific drug users, according to police reports. When asked about his and Ryan's reported drug use, Titus said: "I feel like we were an average couple, going out on weekends, and that's as far as I'm going to go with it." Titus said he has had a tough time being incarcerated but has been able to endure the past 8 1/2 months behind bars because he has been allowed to have video conference meetings with his jailed wife twice a week on account of their married status. Police allege that Titus and Ryan attacked James with a Taser, drugged her with morphine, duct-taped her face, restrained her and beat her. They then put her in the trunk of Ryan's car, drove it into the desert off state Route 160, and set it on fire, authorities said. The burning car -- and the body in it -- were discovered Dec. 14. An autopsy was unable to determine a cause or manner of James' death, meaning the Clark County coroner's office never ruled the death a homicide. Clark County prosecutor Robert Daskas, however, said the evidence supporting the murder charges against the couple is "overwhelming." At first, Titus and Ryan told police they didn't know how James ended up dead in the trunk of Ryan's car. Shortly after their initial statements to police, the couple went to the East Coast. They were arrested by federal authorities in Massachusetts. After they were arrested, however, Titus told police in Boston that James died of a drug overdose in his car, and that he panicked and disposed of the body instead of calling the police. "Found her (James) in the (expletive) car dead, stinking up my (expletive) car," Titus told detectives in an interview taped on Dec. 24. "I panicked. That gets in the newspaper, we're ruined. Dead girl, car, OD'd, Craig Titus, Kelly Ryan. We're (expletive) ruined," Titus said. "Plus, not to mention that my car's ruined." Several of Titus and Ryan's friends have told police that Titus and Ryan made incriminating statements to them about James' death. Police recovered Titus' Taser gun, and a search of Titus and Ryan's home turned up Taser "dots," which are remnants from the discharge of a Taser gun. Titus' decision to go public is a complete about face from his prior legal strategy. But he said he has wanted to talk publicly about the charges against him since the moment authorities started to voice suspicions that he and his wife were suspects in James' death. But, he said, his prior defense attorneys, Richard Schonfeld and Steven Boozang, prevented him from speaking out. "I've never been scared to talk to the press," he said. "It was the attorneys. ... Unfortunately, though, in this cynical world we live in, things can spin out of control in a hurry." Titus said he has fired Schonfeld and Boozang, and hired Las Vegas defense attorney Mark Saggese. "He's innocent, and he's going home in January," Saggese said. "I'm going to walk him. So far, the public has only had a completely one-sided story as to what the facts are in this case." Ryan also has changed lawyers. She was represented by Thomas Pitaro. Her new lawyer is Greg Denue. "This is going to be a war," Denue said. "We are going to fight this because she's innocent, and she shouldn't even be at the Clark County Detention Center." Pitaro declined to comment. Schonfeld returned a phone call seeking comment and left a message but later could not be reached for an interview. Boozang, of Boston, also could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon. |
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[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
