The Movable Buffet

Dispatches from Las Vegas
by Richard Abowitz

Category: Craig Titus

Titus and Ryan May Be Back in Vegas

January 17, 2006 |  9:53 am
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Bodybuilder Craig Titus and his wife Kelly Ryan, a former Ms. Fitness America, have been returned to Las Vegas to face charges in the murder of Melissa James, 28. According to the Review-Journal:
The duo still contends that they were on vacation and not fleeing when they were arrested near Boston. If the two get a crack at bail and the amount set will be a good indication if the judge is buying that.

Titus to Abandon Extradition Fight

January 6, 2006 |  7:31 am
Craigtitus1127a_is66cdnc_2 Looks like a change of tactics in the Craig Titus case. Titus, wanted here in Nevada, to face charges in the death of his assistant, Melissa James, 28, had been fighting extradition the past two weeks from Boston where he and his wife (and accused accomplice) Kelly Ryan were arrested. According to an attorney for Titus he really never intended to fight extradition in the first place: "We only wanted to hold it (a flight back to Nevada)up a little bit to let the dust settle. The case has been so sensationalized." The expectation is that within the next couple weeks the couple could be returned to Las Vegas to face the charges.
(photo by BIZUAYEHU TESFAYE/AP)

Accused Killers May Have Liked to Party

January 4, 2006 |  7:45 am
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Norm, from the Review-Journal, has taken on the private lives of accused killers Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan. Norm notes (what a number of you have put in comments to the Buffet) stories abound around town that Titus and Ryan were swingers or as Norm puts it: "a steroid-fueled lifestyle of wife-swapping and group-sex parties".  I've also gotten these reports in a slew of, I'm afraid, unprintable, comments here to the Buffet. This might be a good time to remember these stories are more or less, mere gossip. Yet, according to Norm, the two were regulars in Vegas topless bars Spearmint Rhino and Sapphire. Most disturbing however is a quote Norm found in the February  issue of Playboy in which Titus describes anabolic steroid use:
I am talking about a libido like no other, a sense of wellness like no other. 
This is all very interesting and certainly provides ample evidence of why body builders are a poor source of pharmaceutical  advice. However, it isn't clear that this brings us any closer to the real issue: the murder of Melissa James.
(photo by BIZUAYEHU TESFAYE/AP)

FreeCraigTitus.com

December 30, 2005 |  7:46 am
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Yes, a website has sprung up dedicated to the bodybuilder accused of murdering 28 year-old Melissa James. Despite the name, there is this disclaimer on the homepage: "this site makes NO CLAIM of guilt or truth. We take no side in this case. This is simply a collection of information and images sent to us about the ongoing case."
(photo by BIZUAYEHU TESFAYE/AP)

Titus and Ryan Fighting Extradition

December 28, 2005 |  8:57 am
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When it seems that you are obviously lying about the little things it is hard to believe you on the larger issues. Take body builders and murder suspects Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan. The duo vanished after they were questioned by Las Vegas police about the murder of their assistant, Melissa James, 28, whose strangled corpse was found in Titus' burned out Jaguar. After a massive manhunt, the police find the dynamic duo in Massachusetts with a thick stack of cash: Titus had shaved his head and Kelly dyed her hair. But the two claim they were absolutely NOT running or hiding. According to their attorney this morning in the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
These two were here (near Boston) to spend some time for the holidays...They found out they were wanted for arrest and were ready to come back.
Can even their best friends believe that? Also, if they were ready to come back then and clear their names why are they fighting extradition back to Vegas now, which may keep them in Massachusetts for months?
Speaking of friends, how's this for a quote from a friend of Titus in the same story:
If Craig was going to kill her, he would have done it with his hands---not a noose or duct tape or anything. Craig would've grabbed her by the neck or choked her easily. I know how Craig thinks.
So, let me get this straight, his own friend believes Craig is capable of murder and, not only that, his friend believes strangulation would be Craig's preferred method ergo it wasn't him?  Fantastic reasoning! I bet that guy believes they were just vacationing, too.
(photos by BIZUAYEHU TESFAYE/AP)

Do you know Titus and Ryan?

December 27, 2005 |  9:57 am
Craigtitus1127a_is66cdnc I am looking into the lives of Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan: well known professional bodybuilders who are suspects in a Las Vegas murder case I've been following in this space. For better or worse, fairly or (probably) not, the case has really focused attention locally on the closed world of professional bodybuilding. Many of you who have left comments here on the Buffet knew the couple personally and, I very much want to hear from you about your experiences with Titus and Ryan. Many of these, especially ones that make accusation's about the suspects' personal lives, I'm afraid we are unable to post here.  But please, if you have information you'd like to share, e-mail me at MovableBuffet@aol.com  And expect more on the Buffet on this case and the high profile suspects. 
After the jump, we have pictures of Titus and Ryan from their arraignment in Stoughton, Mass.
Continue reading »

Bodybuilder Couple Arrested

December 24, 2005 | 11:10 pm

Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan have been arrested after being tracked to a supermarket parking outside Boston.  Where, according to the Review Journal:

officers swarmed the couple, Titus was inside his truck, a MUG root beer at his side. Ryan was inside a nail salon at the shopping center, Canton, Mass., Police Chief Kenneth Berkowitz said at a Friday night news conference, according to the Boston Herald.

"He was inside his vehicle," Berkowitz said. "She had gone in, I believe, to get a manicure."



More on Wanted Body Builders

December 23, 2005 |  7:31 am

The Review-Journal offers substantial coverage this morning of the two body builders wanted in the murder of 28 year-old Melissa James, their live-in assistant, whose corpse was found in the trunk of a burned out Jaguar. Craig Titus apparently admitted to police he had an affair with James. Also, Titus and his wife accused their alleged victim of embezzlement and theft, too, before running away from authorities:
They said they had recently evicted her for embezzling from them but they had not filed a police complaint. Both told investigators that James had stolen Ryan's car, though they did not report the theft to police.
The two gallants are still at large though their alleged accomplice, 23 year-old Anthony Gross, has been captured. The Review-Journal also has a heartbreaking interview with the victims mother who says of the suspects:
I find it hard to believe they had anything to do with it because she trusted them as friends.
According to the R-J, expecting her child home for the holiday, the mother of Melissa James, Maura, had gone to the Newark airport to meet her daughter's flight only to go home alone and start making the hospital and other calls one makes when a loved one vanishes, all ending with the coroner's call to her. How very, very, sad.


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