04/28/08
Craig Titus-Kelly Ryan Trial
Melissa Ann James Murder
Here's a juicy trial for you! There's much more to this than I can summarize here. Be sure to check out the links below!
Craig Titus and his wife, Kelly Ryan were arrested on December 23, 2005, in Stroughton, Massachusetts, as fugitives for the murder of Melissa James, in Las Vegas.
According to the FBI, there was intelligence that they might have been trying to get to
Greece, as Titus is of Greek decent and wanted to go to a country where he couldn't be extradited. They were extradited back to Las Vegas in short order. They were charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Titus was charged with state murder charges and 3rd degree arson, and Ryan was charged as an accessory to murder and 3rd degree arson, at that time.
During questioning Titus told Las Vegas police that he'd had a secret romance with the dead woman, Melissa James, 28. Titus told a detective that his wife was not aware of his affair with James. He told police he booked a hotel room Dec. 12, for two nights and spent most of one night there with James. Melissa was last heard from when she spoke with her mother in New Jersey by cell phone shortly before noon Dec. 13.
They also arrested Anthony Gross, 23, in Las Vegas for accessory to murder and 3rd degree arson.
James had worked as a live-in personal assistant to the couple at their Las Vegas home. Her charred body was discovered on December 14, 2005, in the trunk of Ryan's, burned, red, 2003 Jaguar in a remote spot southwest of Las Vegas.
The couple had remained free after telling detectives that James had been fired and evicted on December 13, for embezzling money from their bodybuilding business in Vegas.
Four days later, Amanda Polk, a bodybuilder who trained with Ryan, told police that Ryan told her she'd found James dead from a drug overdose and that she thought Titus had someone get rid of the body.
Credit card receipts and security videotapes show that Ryan bought seven half-gallon bottles of charcoal starter fluid and a barbecue tool set at a Wal-Mart store in Las Vegas about 3:30 a.m. Dec. 14. The videotape shows her and a man putting the items in the back seat of a red mid-sized car similar to a Jaguar.
Phone records showed Titus called Gross early Dec. 14, police said. Gross told investigators he met Titus, who drove the red Jaguar while Gross bought a can of gasoline and followed in his pickup to a remote area off state Highway 160. Gross told police Titus took the gas can, disappeared, and then jumped in the pickup. He said they drove back to Vegas but they never discussed what happened.
Authorities later found James' body in the trunk of the burned Jaguar with white fabric around her neck and duct tape across the face. A suitcase was found in the back seat, along with the charred remains of a barbecue tool set. Police said James was found dashed with lighter fluid and duct tape on her face. The Clark County coroner determined James was probably asphyxiated, police said.
In October of 2006, a former cellmate of Craig Titus, Nelson Ronald Brady Jr. was charged with trying to hire a hit man to kill three key witnesses in the case. Detectives allege in reports that Brady met with an undercover detective posing as a hit man in May, then paid $1,500 as a down payment to have the three potential witnesses in Titus' murder case killed.
Police reports identified two of the targets as Megan Pierson Foley and her husband, Jeremy Foley. The pair, who are considered crucial witnesses in the case, told a grand jury that Titus and Ryan had made incriminating statements about James' demise. A third target of the plot, according to police reports, was Anthony Gross, who was charged with helping Titus and Ryan dispose of James' body, at the time.
Titus and Brady were housed together at the Clark County Detention Center, and there was confirmation that when Brady was released from jail, they stayed in telephone contact. Titus' defense attorney, Marc Saggese, said Titus had nothing to do with any plan to kill witnesses in his case. Saggese described Brady as a drug-addicted loner who was acting on his own.
Titus and Ryan's involvement in the attempt is unclear and so far they have not been charged.
On February 6, 2008, Brady was found guilty of three counts of solicitation to commit murder.
On February 1, 2006 there was an Amended Criminal Complaint handed out as follows:
Justice court, Las Vegas Township
Clark County, Nevada
The State of Nevada - Plaintiff
Vs.
Craig Michael Titus #1895641,
Kelly Ann Ryan,
Anthony R. Gross #1692881, - Defendants
Case No: 05F23407A-C
Dept No: 4
Amended Criminal Complaint
The Defendants above named having committed the crimes of Murder With Use Of Deadly Weapon (Felony - NRS 200.010, 200.030, 193.165); Kidnapping (Felony - NRS 200.310); Accessory to Murder (Felony - NRS 195.030, 195.040, 200.010, 200.030) and Third Degree Arson (Felony - NRS 205.020), in the manner following, to-wit: That the Defendants, on or between the 13th day of December and the 14th day of December, 2005, at and within the County of Clark, State of Nevada.
After many postponements, Titus and Ryan's pretrial is slated for May 27, 2008 and the trial is set to begin June 2, 2008.
Details of the alleged murder from a Grand Jury report!
http://femstrong.blogspot.com/2006/04/craig-titus-strangled-melissa-james.html
Resources and reading...
http://www.lvrj.com/news/15347736.html
http://www.getbig.com/news/2006-04/061021titus.htm
http://www.freecraigtitus.com/ No longer available
http://melissa-ann-james.memory-of.com/photos.aspx
http://mariostrong.blog.com/495523/
http://femstrong.blogspot.com/2006/04/craig-titus-strangled-melissa-james.html
http://www.getbig.com:80/news/2006-01/060201titusdocs.htm
UPDATES
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05/30/08
Bodybuilders plead guilty
No Trial For Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan
Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan plead guilty to murder, just a few days before the trial was to begin.
Titus pleaded guilty to 2nd degree murder, 1st degree kidnapping, and 1st degree arson in the case of his murdered personal assistant, Melissa James.
His wife Kelly Ryan also entered a plea.
Titus and Ryan had been accused of killing James, and leaving her body in a burning car.
The couple was arrested weeks later in Massachusetts.
Titus now faces a possible sentence of 10 to 25 years on the murder charge, 5 to 15 on kidnapping charge, and 2 to 15 years on the arson charge.
Read the report from KVBC news channel 3...
http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=8404158&nav=menu107_2
http://www.lasvegasnow.com/global/story.asp?s=8404128
05/29/08
A last ditch appeal from defense
Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan murder trial
The defense lawyers for Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan are trying to get the Nevada Supreme Court to intervene and postpone the murder trial.
Judge Jackie Glass, the same judge that will preside over the OJ Simpson case, presided over the pending motions for the Kelly/Ryan murder trial.
In documents filed Friday with the Supreme Court, defense lawyers call the state case a “kitchen sink theory.”
They say the charges aren’t specific enough about who’s accused of doing what to let them mount a defense.
Titus and Ryan are accused of murder in the death of 28-year-old Melissa James, who according to an indictment was drugged, bound, shocked with a stun gun and strangled before her corpse was found in the trunk of Ryan's burned-out red Jaguar in December 2005.
Judge Glass, Clark County District Court. said the trial will go on as scheduled next Monday in Las Vegas, unless the state high court intervenes.
Resource story details...
http://www.ktvn.com/Global/story.asp?S=8384507&nav=menu549_2
http://insidebodybuilding.blogspot.com/2008/05/craig-titus-and-kelly-ryan-trial-set-to.html
http://www.lasvegasnow.com/global/story.asp?s=8384600