GUILTY NV - Melissa James, 28, found dead in burned car, Las Vegas, 14 Dec 2005

[mysteriew]

Professional bodybuilder Craig Titus and his wife, Kelly Ryan, were arrested Friday in Massachusetts as fugitives in the slaying of a woman whose body was found last week in Ryan's burned-out luxury car abandoned off a remote desert highway.

Titus, 40, and Ryan, 33, were arrested by federal agents and local police at a grocery store parking lot in Stoughton, Mass., and were being held in nearby Canton, FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz said. The two towns are about 15 miles south of Boston.

Titus, who won a 1996 bodybuilding championship and competed in Mr. Olympia events, had told Las Vegas police that he'd had a secret romance with the dead woman, Melissa James, 28, court records show.

In an interview with police before they disappeared, neither Titus nor Ryan admitted any involvement with James' slaying.

She had worked as a live-in personal assistant to the couple at their Las Vegas home. Her charred body was discovered Dec. 14 in the trunk of Ryan's burned red 2003 Jaguar in a remote spot southwest of Las Vegas.

Titus and Ryan told a friend last week that they planned to go to a country that does not extradite people to the United States, according to a police report submitted to Las Vegas Justice Court. Titus told a business partner that he intended to meet a friend in Boston, liquidate his assets and leave the country, police said.

Details of police interviews with the bodybuilding couple were provided in a document seeking an arrest warrant for Titus, Ryan and Anthony Gross, 23.
http://www.islandpacket.com/news/state/regional/story/5418612p-4895251c.html

Pictures of the couple and the burned Jag at this link:
http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4283467

 

[Bobbisangel]

What a stupid thing to do! He has an affair with this girl and then they murder her?? Then they put her body in the trunk of the wife's car and set the car on fire?? Not to bright. Glad they got caught and that he told his buddy about his plans. Gonna be kind of hard to get out of that!

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

What a stupid thing to do! He has an affair with this girl and then they murder her?? Then they put her body in the trunk of the wife's car and set the car on fire?? Not to bright. Glad they got caught and that he told his buddy about his plans. Gonna be kind of hard to get out of that!

Bodybuilders aren't particularly famous for their brains (although Schwartzenegger is far cannier than anyone ever gives him credit for), and I bet illegal steroid use has a lot to do with this story.

 

[Alice253]

Just ran across this...
http://www.courttv.com/news/2006/0213/craigtitus_ap.html

"The defendants will continue to be held without bail," Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure said Friday as he rejected Titus' and Ryan's lawyers' arguments that the married couple, who were arrested Dec. 23 near Boston, posed no flight risk.

Lawyers for Titus, 41, and Ryan, 33, maintain that their husband-and-wife clients aren't guilty and were entitled to bail because the state had not presented enough evidence that a murder had been committed.

More at link....

 

[jime23]

Unreal is all i can say.

JURY TRANSCRIPTS: Friend: Pair told of violence

Bodybuilders described confrontation, woman testified

By GLENN PUIT
REVIEW-JOURNAL

JURY TRANSCRIPTS: Friend: Pair told of violence

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Mar-29-Wed-2006/news/6601577.html




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."

EDITED BY DP DUE TO COPYRIGHT VIOLATION. SEE LINK FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE

 

[nanandjim]

I had read that Titus was having an affair with James. I don't believe their story that James was stealing from them and that's why they killed her. I somehow think that it had something to do with the affair. They are murdering idiots, and I hope that they fry for it.

 

[SLY]

Murder defendant Ryan’s mom dies

By Norm Clarke

A new twist in the murder case involving pro bodybuilders Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan: Ryan’s mother died over the weekend, reportedly from “a broken heart.”

Niki Ryan, 61, died of a heart attack Saturday while showing her home in Laguna Niguel, Calif., to a real estate agent.

A cardiac tech at a sports and wellness center, she had been going back and forth to Las Vegas trying to sell Titus and Ryan’s home to help pay legal fees.

“She was very stressed to say the least,” her friend and former co-worker Marni Cota said in an e-mail. “She died of a broken heart.”

Titus and Kelly Ryan have been charged in the December death of their live-in assistant, Melissa James, whose burned body was found in the couple’s Jaguar.

They were denied bail last week and remain in jail.

Titus was a Mr. Olympia contender and a 1996 bodybuilding champion. Ryan is a past Fitness America and Fitness International winner.

— From the Las Vegas Review Journal http://www.titusandryan.com/2006/04/28/murder-defendant-ryans-mom-dies/

Sorry if this has been already posted. I did a search and did not find it. Is anyone else interested in the Craig Titus/Kelly Ryan story?

Sly

 

[Jeana (DP)]

Very sad . . .

 

[SLY]

Yes, especially this part “She died of a broken heart.”

I feel so sad for all family's who have to go though this kind of pain brought on by their own family members.

Sly

 

[Bobbisangel]

How sad. I believe that people can die of a broken heart. I knew a lady whose son was murdered in what they called a "thrill kill." The three guys in a car behind his were drinking and had been shooting at signs and almost hit a woman in her car earlier. The young man was in the navy and was headed back to the base. He had been on a weekend ski trip. He stopped to buy a cup of coffee and when he got back on the freeway these guys were behind him. They decided to see how it would feel to kill someone.

This was the youngest child of the mother....her pride and joy. She died in her sleep about a year or so after her son was murdered. I said "she died of a broken heart" when I heard the news. I really believe that she did. Her older son said "maybe mom can find some peace now."

 

[joe jones]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-05-31-bodybuilding-murder_N.htm

pled G just before trail began

 

[nanandjim]

I kind of remember this crime. WHY did they murder her? Wasn't the assistant having an affair with the guy?

 

[joe jones]

Looks like he fell on his sword fer her, she did not have to plead G to the murder, so has a realistic prospect of getting out of jail one day,

I wonder if the sentences they will receive have already been agreed to as part of the plea

 

[golfmom]

Looks like he fell on his sword fer her, she did not have to plead G to the murder, so has a realistic prospect of getting out of jail one day,

I wonder if the sentences they will receive have already been agreed to as part of the plea

Wow, quite frankly I'm surprised at the guilty pleas. They both just came off so arrogant.

I always wondered if drugs induced insanity played a role in this crime.

 

[kato]

I kind of remember this crime. WHY did they murder her? Wasn't the assistant having an affair with the guy?

Yes, I believe they were having an affair.

 

[NewMom2003]

This murder sounds familiar to me. Was it profiled on 48 Hours?

 

[joe jones]

they have both agreed a plea deal and will be sentenced August 22nd 2008

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25736867/

 

[Elphaba]

It's 26 minutes in, but 48 Hours is covering this case, tonight.

 

[JaneInOz]

Um ?

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.

Wouldnt you get the HELL out of there after someone Tasered you and then beat you up?
WTF would you go up to bed ?

 

[arielilane]

CT is a piece of crap. KR was not sentenced long enough.