In December 2005, the burned body of a 28-year-old woman named Melissa James was discovered in the trunk of a burned-out Jaguar on Sandy Valley Road off NV 160.
The car belonged to Craig Titus, a then-40-year-old body-builder and competitor, and his wife Kelly Ryan, 32 at the time; Ryan was also a body builder, winning Fitness America and Fitness International competitions.
Titus and Ryan had hired Melissa James as a personal assistant and to run a fitness-clothing business they were starting up; she also lived in their house, having moved from New Jersey to Las Vegas to join them. Titus and Ryan later claimed James had a history of drug abuse and they ultimately had to evict her for embezzlement.
Later, Craig Titus admitted to having an affair with James, unbeknownst to his wife Kelly.
After James’ body was found, Titus and Ryan initially claimed that after James died of a drug overdose, they panicked, stashed her body in the Jaguar, drove the car into the desert, and set it on fire; they said they were afraid that the publicity surrounding James’ death would hurt their careers. They then took off for Boston to visit family and friends.
Even though the coroner ruled James’ death "undetermined," the prosecution claimed that Titus had tasered James with a stun gun, then drugged her with morphine, and strangled her.
According to BodyBuild.com, Titus was known as "the bad boy of bodybuilding as a result of his temper, his strong opinions and a stint in jail. He stormed off the stage at the 1995 USA Championships in Denver, furious that he had not been picked as the winner, for example. And he was in jail from 1997 to 1999 as a result of [steroid-related] drug-conspiracy charges."
On May 30, as few days before the couple’s high-profile trial was starting, Titus pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, for which he can receive 15 to 55 years. Ryan pleaded guilty to arson and battery with a deadly weapon; she could get anything from probation to 15 years in prison.
Sentencing is scheduled for July 18.
