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BODYBUILDER CASE: No deals, suspect's attorney says
Fitness champ would have to testify against husband.
By GLENN PUIT
Las Vegas REVIEW-JOURNAL
Craig Titus and his wife, Kelly Ryan, talking in District Court in June, are accused of the December death of personal assistant Melissa James and of burning her body to cover up the crime.
Photo by Gary Thompson.
Craig Titus and his wife, Kelly Ryan, sitting in Justice Court in February, will not testify against one another, an attorney said Tuesday.
Photo by Jeff Scheid.
Kelly Ryan will remain loyal to her husband until the end.
That was the word Tuesday from Ryan's defense attorney as a judge prepared to delay a murder trial for the 34-year-old fitness champion and her bodybuilding husband, Craig Titus.
Ryan's defense lawyer, Greg Denue, said he had preliminary discussions with Clark County prosecutor Robert Daskas about the possibility of Ryan pleading guilty to lesser charges, but any plea deal would require Ryan to testify against her husband, and Ryan will not consider that.
"They (prosecutors) want to know what she can give them," Denue said. "That's what any deal is contingent on, and she's not going to do that because they (Titus and Ryan) are adamant they didn't kill this girl."
"She's standing by Craig, and he's going to stand by her," Denue said. "They are both pulling the oars of this together."
Ryan and Titus are scheduled to be tried together, but Denue said he is considering going against his client's wishes and seeking a separate trial for Ryan.
Denue said recent revelations that authorities are contemplating charging Titus with trying to kill three witnesses in the case have imperiled Ryan's right to a fair trial if the couple is tried together.
Although Ryan's name is not mentioned in the police reports regarding the murder-for-hire plot, if Titus is charged in the scheme, a jury would not be able to look past the allegations when mulling Ryan's fate, Denue said.
"I've got the motion (for severance) in my briefcase," Denue said. "If they do charge him with that, they (prosecutors) know I'm going to seek to have my case severed (from Titus.)"
On Tuesday morning, District Judge Jackie Glass held a closed-door meeting with attorneys in the case.
Those who attended declined to comment on exactly what was said during the meeting, but Denue confirmed that he no longer plans to go to trial in January.
"I'm preparing to go to trial in April," Denue said.
Clark County prosecutor Robert Daskas declined to comment on what was said in the judge's chambers. Titus' defense attorney, Marc Saggese, did not return a phone call Tuesday seeking comment for this story.
Ryan is considered by some in the fitness industry to be the nation's greatest female fitness competitor. Titus, 41, is a nationally known bodybuilder who competed twice in the Mr. Olympia competition.
Authorities have said the couple killed their live-in personal assistant Melissa James in December at their southwest Las Vegas home by beating, drugging and duct-taping her.
Authorities said the couple then burned James' body in the trunk of Ryan's Jaguar on Sandy Valley Road, off state Route 160.
One of Ryan's friends, Megan Pierson Foley, told a grand jury earlier this year that Ryan confessed to her that she was directly involved in James' slaying.
In October, Las Vegas police arrested an acquaintance of Titus, Nelson Brady Jr., on charges of trying to hire a hit man to kill Pierson Foley, her husband, Jeremy, and Anthony Gross. Gross is charged with helping Titus and Ryan dispose of the body.
Titus has not been charged in the murder-for-hire plot, but Daskas has said in court that he thinks Titus was involved in the scheme.
Meanwhile, speculation about a possible plea deal involving Ryan have circulated on Internet bodybuilding message boards for months.
Las Vegas homicide detectives tried to get Ryan to turn against her husband during a taped interview in December.
"I don't want to see you continue to involve yourself in this and go down and have it be the end for you," Las Vegas homicide Detective Dean O'Kelley told Ryan.
"I'm saying that to you as a human being. And I see it (your situation) as salvageable," O'Kelley told Ryan. "Craig made choices. Craig has done this thing."
Ryan told him, "I'm not sure where you are going with that."
"Where I'm going with it is that you can't be held responsible for what another person does unless you choose to," O'Kelley said. "And, this is your opportunity to back up, as far as you can, and make it right."
Ryan replied that she did not want to give a statement without having her lawyer present.
