Jan. 17, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Bodybuilder headed to Las Vegas to face charges
Bodybuilder Craig Titus, who is charged with murdering his personal assistant, left a Massachusetts jail on Sunday and was shipped back to Nevada to face charges, according to his attorney.
Attorney Steven Boozang confirmed Titus had been en route to the Silver State, but said he was uncertain what mode of transportation Titus had taken or if he had officially arrived in Las Vegas by late Monday afternoon.
Titus, who turned 41 on Saturday, is charged with murder and third-degree arson in connection with the death of 28-year-old Melissa James, whose charred body was found Dec. 14 in the trunk of a torched 2003 Jaguar registered to Titus' wife, Kelly Ryan, a former Ms. Fitness America, who faces charges of arson and being an accessory to murder.
Like Titus, Ryan also did not fight extradition from Massachusetts and was expected to be returned to Las Vegas at the same time as Titus. One of her local attorneys, Tom Pitaro, refused to confirm that she was back in the valley Monday.
Officials with the Clark County Detention Center and North Las Vegas Jail said late Monday afternoon that their records did not show Titus or Ryan as inmates there.
Ryan and Titus could be arraigned in a Clark County courtroom before the week's end if Boozang, a Boston-based attorney, doesn't seek to delay the proceedings so he can make travel arrangements and appear at his client's side.
Authorities interviewed Titus and Ryan hours after discovering the burned car and body on Dec. 14 in a remote desert area between Pahrump and Las Vegas.
Police quoted Titus as having admitted to a "secret affair" with James, but Boozang contends that is false and a misinterpretation of Titus' comments to investigators.
"He didn't do this," Boozang said. "It wasn't him."
Las Vegas police have said that Titus told them James had been embezzling from him and his wife and that the stealing caused a rift between James and Ryan resulting in James moving out of the bodybuilding duo's home. Ryan also told investigators of tensions between she and James.
Titus and Ryan had invited Melissa James, a former dance instructor who has known Titus for years, to live with them for free a few months ago and were trying to help her through a tough time, Boozang said.
"She had some personal problems," Boozang said, declining to elaborate. "They were trying to help her."
Authorities allege Titus and Ryan fled Las Vegas shortly after the crime and planned to flee the country, but Boozang has said couple were simply on vacation and had only learned of a warrant for their arrest a few hours before their capture.
