By GLENN PUIT, REVIEW-JOURNAL, Dec. 17, 2006
In jailhouse phone calls, he references their alleged involvement with drugs
In jailhouse phone calls recorded by police, bodybuilder Craig Titus repeatedly talked about trying to get at least three witnesses in his murder case arrested on drug charges to destroy their credibility.
In one recorded conversation, Titus tells his friend Nelson Brady Jr. that he had met with Las Vegas narcotics officers at the Clark County Detention Center to tell them about the witnesses against him and their alleged involvement in drugs.
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"Well, here is the thing," Titus tells Brady. "The narcotics officers, when they came in here (to the jail), they said just give me some information that we can check out to know you're not (expletive) us. So I gave them an address and a name where all they had to do was post up and watch. And if they watch for 12 hours, then they would have been really, really happy ... (there's) a constant flow of people picking up (drugs)."
In another conversation, Titus provides Brady with specific details about witnesses -- where they live, what cars they drive, what types of narcotics they are involved in, and how it should be easy to prove they are involved in drugs. Titus also floats the idea of getting a private investigator to track at least one of the witnesses and film the witness involved in drug trafficking.
Of one witness, Titus says the man lives in an exclusive area of northwest Las Vegas. The bodybuilder mentions the idea of getting a "film (of him) buying his coke."
Titus says of a female witness who is prepared to testify against him:
"(She) should have already been pulled over by a police officer with stuff in her car. If it were me, I would have a private investigator following her, calling police saying, 'Hey she's got coke in their car.'"
There are indications from the conversations that police followed up on the information. However, no arrests have been made.
The comments of Titus and Brady are contained in police recordings of more than 100 phone calls from the Clark County Detention Center.
Audiotaped copies of the phone calls have been obtained by the Review-Journal.
The calls were recorded by homicide detectives as part of an extensive police investigation into allegations that Titus tried to orchestrate the slayings of witnesses in his case from the jail.
In October, police arrested Brady on charges he paid $1,500 to an undercover detective to have the witnesses killed.
Titus, 42, has not been charged in the plot. He is, however, charged with murder and arson. The former Mr. Olympia competitor and his wife, fitness champion Kelly Ryan, are accused of beating, drugging and duct- taping their personal assistant, Melissa James, and then burning her body in Ryan's Jaguar in the desert a year ago.
Titus and Ryan are expected to go to trial in April.
"What we have here is an innocent man (Titus) doing everything he can to undermine the credibility of the witnesses against him," said Titus defense attorney Marc Saggese.
"Anyone in that position whose entire life is on the line would take those steps. Craig knows these people. He knows them well. They are very heavy drug users. Some are drug dealers. And, as a result, Craig Titus feels their credibility is weak at best. It was an effort to make it public knowledge of who these witnesses really are."
Saggese said the jailhouse phone calls show Titus was not involved in the murder-for-hire scheme.
"I don't know of any existing evidence that shows a direct link between Craig Titus and a murder-for-hire plot," Saggese said.
Clark County prosecutor Robert Daskas declined to comment for this report.
In one of the recorded conversations between Titus and Brady, Titus criticizes his father-in-law because he supposedly didn't use money from the sale of the couple's house to help fund his daughter's legal defense.
"He's an ass," he tells Brady, adding later: "You know he took all his money out of the sale of that (home on) Adobe Arch Court. He's done nothing for his daughter. Nothing. If she only knew, man."
In other conversations, Titus and Brady seem confident that Titus will beat the charges.
Titus tells Brady about wanting to get out of jail.
"Man, I wish I was partying with you guys so bad," he said.
"Party when you get out," Brady replies.
Titus asks Brady if his girlfriend has "a hot girlfriend for me?"
In another conversation, Titus speaks of how Ryan reacted to her mother's recent unexpected death.
"When I talked to her, she is really bad," Titus tells Brady.
"(It) just seems like God had her pass away to cure her stress and free up more money for our case," Titus says. "I just think that's what happened. I know her mom probably left money for her. That house. That will be more money for Kelly and my case."
In one call, Brady tells Titus how everyone he talks to thinks Titus is never going to get out of jail.
"They think I'm going up the river, don't they?" Titus asks his friend.
"They all do, but guess what? You are not. You just mark my word, dude. Mark my word. You're not."
Titus interjects: "I hear you brother."
Brady: "I've found so much information."
Titus: "Don't say nothing."
"You know what I'm talking about," Brady says, then makes a reference to narcotics detectives investigating the witnesses against Titus.
Brady discusses during the conversations his frustration with the fact that his girlfriend is hooked on methamphetamine, and Titus mentions that methamphetamine is the reason he is in jail.
Titus has claimed James was not murdered, but overdosed on drugs.
Titus also asks Brady what he told his girlfriend regarding his legal predicament.
"You just told her that (meth) was the cause of it. You didn't tell her what happened, though," Titus says.
"No. Hell no," Brady says. "No way ... but I said that is what caused the whole incident, meth."
Police have voiced suspicions that Titus and Brady also talked about the murder-for-hire plot in code, specifically when they reference a book and a screenplay.
In one conversation, Brady says: "I'm talking about the book. We're going to make money on that book. The book has been paid for."
Another conversation of interest to authorities is one in which Brady tells Titus: "If there is no evidence, there is no crime."
After recording the calls, police set up a ruse to try to prove Titus was involved in the alleged murder-for-hire plot.
They had one of the targets, Anthony Gross, pose in photos to make it look as if he had been killed.
The plan was to send the photos to Titus to convince him that the murder-for-hire plot had been carried out.
Titus then was supposed to wire money to an account to pay the hit man and call the hit man on the phone
Titus did neither.
