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Bodybuilders charged with aide's slaying
Couple allegedly drugged, used stun gun on personal assistant
Wednesday, February 1, 2006; Posted: 4:17 p.m. EST (21:17 GMT)
Bodybuilder Kelly Ryan is charged with murdering and kidnapping her personal assistant.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AP) -- Prosecutors added more charges Wednesday against professional bodybuilders Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan who are accused of drugging, suffocating and using a stun gun on their live-in personal assistant.
A Clark County prosecutor, Robert Daskas, called it premature to say whether authorities would seek the death penalty based on the upgraded charges.
The new charges include murder and kidnapping against Ryan, and kidnapping against Titus in the slaying of 28-year-old Melissa James.
Titus, 41, who made his first appearance in a Las Vegas court, previously faced murder, accessory to murder and third-degree arson charges. Ryan, 33, had appeared in court Tuesday on accessory and arson charges.
James, a former fitness instructor moved last year from New Jersey to live with the Titus and Ryan. Her charred body was found December 14 in the trunk of Ryan's burned Jaguar off a desert highway.
Neither Titus, nor his wife, Ryan, was asked Wednesday to enter a plea to the amended complaint. They remained shackled to other Clark County jail inmates as they sat two rows apart.
Titus' arm muscles stretched the fabric of his blue jail uniform. He offered a one-word reply when Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure asked each if they understood the charges.
"Absolutely," Titus said.
"Yes, sir," Ryan said.
Daskas declined Wednesday to describe a motive for the slaying. The complaint accuses Titus and Ryan of using a Taser stun gun, administering morphine or a related drug, and asphyxiating or suffocating James with a fabric or wire around her neck.
Their lawyers have maintained Titus and Ryan are innocent of the charges.
"On behalf of our client, he is 100 percent not guilty," Boston-based lawyer Steven Boozang said.
Ryan's lawyer, Tom Pitaro, was not immediately available for comment.
Bonaventure, who had planned to consider bail for Ryan, scheduled a formal bail hearing February 10, and a preliminary hearing March 29.
An alleged accomplice in the case, Anthony Gross, also appeared in court Wednesday, although charges against him remained the same.
Gross, 23, was arrested December 21 and has pleaded not guilty to accessory to murder and third-degree arson. He remains under house arrest.
Gross told authorities he bought a can of gasoline and followed in his pickup while Titus allegedly drove the Jaguar to a remote spot outside Las Vegas, took the gas and set the car afire. Gross told police he drove Titus back to Las Vegas, but they did not discuss what happened.
Titus and Ryan were arrested December 23 in Stoughton, Massachusetts, near Boston, and returned last week to Clark County jail.
Boozang has denied the couple fled Las Vegas to avoid charges after being interviewed by police in the case.
He said they had intended to spend the Christmas holidays with friends in the Boston area, and left town before charges were filed and arrest warrants were issued December 20.
Titus won a 1996 bodybuilding championship and competed in Mr. Olympia events. Ryan is a past Fitness America and Fitness International winner and Fitness Olympia runner-up.
Bodybuilders charged with aide's slaying
Couple allegedly drugged, used stun gun on personal assistant
Wednesday, February 1, 2006; Posted: 4:17 p.m. EST (21:17 GMT)
Bodybuilder Kelly Ryan is charged with murdering and kidnapping her personal assistant.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AP) -- Prosecutors added more charges Wednesday against professional bodybuilders Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan who are accused of drugging, suffocating and using a stun gun on their live-in personal assistant.
A Clark County prosecutor, Robert Daskas, called it premature to say whether authorities would seek the death penalty based on the upgraded charges.
The new charges include murder and kidnapping against Ryan, and kidnapping against Titus in the slaying of 28-year-old Melissa James.
Titus, 41, who made his first appearance in a Las Vegas court, previously faced murder, accessory to murder and third-degree arson charges. Ryan, 33, had appeared in court Tuesday on accessory and arson charges.
James, a former fitness instructor moved last year from New Jersey to live with the Titus and Ryan. Her charred body was found December 14 in the trunk of Ryan's burned Jaguar off a desert highway.
Neither Titus, nor his wife, Ryan, was asked Wednesday to enter a plea to the amended complaint. They remained shackled to other Clark County jail inmates as they sat two rows apart.
Titus' arm muscles stretched the fabric of his blue jail uniform. He offered a one-word reply when Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure asked each if they understood the charges.
"Absolutely," Titus said.
"Yes, sir," Ryan said.
Daskas declined Wednesday to describe a motive for the slaying. The complaint accuses Titus and Ryan of using a Taser stun gun, administering morphine or a related drug, and asphyxiating or suffocating James with a fabric or wire around her neck.
Their lawyers have maintained Titus and Ryan are innocent of the charges.
"On behalf of our client, he is 100 percent not guilty," Boston-based lawyer Steven Boozang said.
Ryan's lawyer, Tom Pitaro, was not immediately available for comment.
Bonaventure, who had planned to consider bail for Ryan, scheduled a formal bail hearing February 10, and a preliminary hearing March 29.
An alleged accomplice in the case, Anthony Gross, also appeared in court Wednesday, although charges against him remained the same.
Gross, 23, was arrested December 21 and has pleaded not guilty to accessory to murder and third-degree arson. He remains under house arrest.
Gross told authorities he bought a can of gasoline and followed in his pickup while Titus allegedly drove the Jaguar to a remote spot outside Las Vegas, took the gas and set the car afire. Gross told police he drove Titus back to Las Vegas, but they did not discuss what happened.
Titus and Ryan were arrested December 23 in Stoughton, Massachusetts, near Boston, and returned last week to Clark County jail.
Boozang has denied the couple fled Las Vegas to avoid charges after being interviewed by police in the case.
He said they had intended to spend the Christmas holidays with friends in the Boston area, and left town before charges were filed and arrest warrants were issued December 20.
Titus won a 1996 bodybuilding championship and competed in Mr. Olympia events. Ryan is a past Fitness America and Fitness International winner and Fitness Olympia runner-up.
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