Explanation looks good & there were witnesses. She could be out making appearances again in no time. There's just that pesky 'lil detail about the taser.
Bodybuilder murder suspect says live-in friend overdosed on drugs
February 26, 2006
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAS VEGAS (AP) - 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. Titus is a 1996 bodybuilding champion and Mr. Olympia competitor. Ryan is a past Fitness America and Fitness International winner.
