That's what the genius said
Thursday 16 February, 2006
Bodybuilders denied bail
By: Linda Seida, Staff Writer 02/15/2006
Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan must remain in custody until a preliminary hearing March 29 on charges of murdering a former Lambertville woman.
Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan, the bodybuilding husband and wife accused of kidnapping and murdering a Lambertville woman in Las Vegas, were denied bail Friday and must remain in custody as they await a preliminary hearing March 29.
Judge Joe M. Bonaventure of the 8th District Court said he would consider the question of bail after weighing the evidence presented by the prosecution at the hearing.
The couple will attend another hearing March 20 when the judge will consider their motion to suppress statements they made to police in Massachusetts on Dec. 24, the day after they were arrested on fugitive warrants in connection with the death of Melissa James, 28, their live-in personal aide.
Their lawyers requested bail in the amount of $250,000, arguing they are not a flight risk or a danger to the community.
The state argued the defendants should be held without bail, calling them "severe flight risks."
Miss James' body was found Dec. 14 in the trunk of Ms. Ryan's burning 2003 Jaguar on the side of a remote highway. Authorities say her killers used an Air Taser to immobilize her and also drugged and strangled or asphyxiated her.
Authorities also say the couple intended to flee to avoid prosecution. Shortly after their initial police interview Dec. 14 in Las Vegas, they never returned home.
Court documents say they stayed at the home of a friend the night of Dec. 14. The following night they stayed with other friends. The next night they stayed at a motel, and the day after they traded in their truck for another vehicle.
Authorities say they also attempted to sell their three homes and stopped using their cell phones. Instead they purchased "pay as you go" phones, which cannot be traced. Police also found $8,300 in cash hidden in their vehicle.
"Obviously these actions belie the notion that defendants simply 'went on vacation to the East Coast,' as defense counsel suggests," the prosecutor said in a motion to deny bail.
Police retrieved the Taser gun and then had the manufacturer retrieve recorded data inside that tells exactly when it was fired.
It was discharged six times within two minutes on the afternoon of Dec. 13, a time when the defendants confirmed Miss James had been in their home, according to police. Police also recovered in the defendants' home remnants from the gun that are left behind after it is fired, according to the motion to deny bail.
Surveillance video exists showing Ms. Ryan in a Wal-Mart buying an accelerant, which was used in setting the car on fire.
Also, "Titus was captured on video in the Wal-Mart parking lot assisting defendant Ryan in loading the lighter fluid into the car that contained Melissa's dead body. Defendants admitted they drove the car — with Melissa's body in the trunk — to a remote desert area and ignited it," according to court documents.
Authorities say the defendants repeatedly lied and contradicted themselves during early police interviews. In a later interview Dec. 23, after they were found in Massachusetts, Ms. Ryan told police she and her husband were planning to first head to California to pick up her dog before eventually traveling to Mexico, according to the state's motion.
The same document says Mr. Titus told detectives he left town "because he knew he was going to be charged with murder," and "I wasn't going back to jail for no f-ing body."
In 1995, Mr. Titus spent a year incarcerated because of a drug-related crime, according to his Web site.
An entirely different description of the accused couple was presented in the defense counsel's request for bail.
In an affidavit, the manager of a Massachusetts Jiffy Lube, Scott Rabb, described them as friendly and up front about their identities despite the presence of a state trooper in the same garage bay. The trooper was having the oil changed on his marked patrol car at the same time the couple was having the oil changed in their truck.
The manager said the bodybuilders were "very relaxed, outgoing and not in a hurry as they talked to myself and my employees."
Ms. Ryan demonstrated dance moves in the parking lot. Mr. Titus gave the manager his phone number and told the manager to call him if he was ever in Las Vegas.
Ms. Ryan "discussed dancing choreography with me as I used to teach a local group, and she demonstrated some of her dance moves in the parking lot facing the main road," the manager said.
Later, Mr. Titus returned to the shop and "gave me money for a lint roller he took and forgot to pay for," the manager said. "I thanked him for his honesty and was extremely surprised they were the same individuals that were arrested as a result of a warrant from Las Vegas."
Police have charged an alleged accomplice, Anthony Gross, 23, with accessory to murder and third-degree arson.
Police allege Mr. Gross purchased gasoline for Mr. Titus and also say he drove a second car to the site where the Jaguar was left blazing.
