Diksha Sundriyal
In Lifetime’s ‘Fit for Murder,’ a celebrity couple comes under the scrutiny of the law when their young assistant is found dead. The movie follows the true story of the circumstances surrounding the death of 28-year-old Melissa James at the hands of Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan, a power couple in the fitness and bodybuilding industry. Melissa moved to Las Vegas from Florida to find success that would allow her to run her own place for dance and fitness. However, the circumstances transpired such that a few months after she moved in with and started working for Craig and Kelly, she ended up dead.
During the course of the investigation, it came to light that Craig and Kelly tasered the victim five times, choked her with a fabric or a wire, gave her a lethal dose of morphine, and tied duct tape around her face. Then, they disposed of her body by leaving it in the trunk of their car, which they set on fire in the middle of nowhere, hoping no one would find it. However, their sins caught up with them soon enough.
Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan Couldn’t Keep Their Crime a Secret for Long
On December 14, 2005, the police found a red 2003 Jaguar that had been burned with a body in its trunk outside Las Vegas. The car was found to be of Kelly Ryan, and at first, the cops thought that the body was hers. However, when they found her alive at her house, it turned out that the charred body belonged to Melissa James. In the autopsy, two ligature marks around Melissa’s neck were found, along with the pieces of white fabric and insulated wire, which led to the possibility that she had died from strangulation, though it could not be said so conclusively. Additionally, the toxicology report revealed that she had morphine in her system.
Shortly after the cops knocked on Kelly Ryan and Craig Titus’ door, the couple packed up and skipped town. They were eventually arrested on December 23, 2005, in a shopping plaza in Stoughton, Massachusetts. At the time, Kelly was having her nails done. As more evidence, especially the CCTV footage and testimonies from the couple’s friends, came to light, a clearer picture of the events started to form. It became clear that Melissa had been killed in Kelly and Craig’s house, and her body was then transported in the red Jaguar that was torched. It was also found that the couple had tried to establish alibis for themselves by talking to their friends, whom they also gave the duffle bag that had a taser and stun gun, among other things.
To dispose of the body, Craig called Anthony Gross, who owed him money. The CCTV footage showed him meeting up with the couple at a convenience store where Kelly was found buying seven bottles of lighter fluid, which she and Craig put in the backseat of the car before driving away. Later, when Gross was arrested, he claimed that while he agreed to help Craig burn the car, he didn’t know that there was a dead body inside it.
Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan’s Friends Testified Against Them
One of the major pieces of evidence against Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan was the words of their friends, who reached out to the authorities once they found out about Melissa’s death and the couple’s part in it. Kelly’s friend, Amanda, who was also a bodybuilder, came out with a startling piece of information. She claimed that Kelly told her that Craig found Melissa’s dead body following an overdose of morphine and then tried to get rid of her because he feared that the controversy would have an adverse impact on their careers. Another woman came forward and revealed herself as Kelly’s friend. She claimed that Kelly told her that she and Melissa had a fight that night, and it was Melissa who tried to taser her. But in the tussle, Kelly managed to get the taser and attacked Melissa with it.
Another statement came from Craig’s friend, who claimed that the bodybuilder confessed to body-slamming Melissa and choking her. One more interesting thing confirmed Craig’s guilt in the matter, and it came from Anthony Gross. During the trial, Gross cut a deal with the DA’s office in return for helping foil a murder-for-hire plot. It turns out that Craig, from inside the prison, tried to turn the tide in his favor by getting rid of key witnesses. He briefly shared space with Ron Brady at the county jail, where he hired the latter to do the dirty deed for him by killing Gross and two of his and Kelly’s friends. Eventually, the plan was neutralized as Brady went back to prison on three counts of solicitation to commit murder.
Craig Titus is Serving Out His Prison Sentence Today
Craig Titus was charged with the counts of murder, kidnapping, and third-degree arson, and in 2008, he took a plea deal on all counts. This landed him 21-55 years in prison, and he has since been serving his sentence at Lovelock Correctional Center in Nevada. He had four parole hearings (in 2015, 2019, 2023, and 2024), but none of them led to anything. He became eligible for parole on the murder count in 2019. He will be eligible for parole on the kidnapping count in November 2025 and for the arson count in August 2027.
Now in his early 60s, Craig Titus has since made claims of not being present during the murder. In the letters written to journalists, he claimed that he was outside the house and it was only Melissa and Kelly in the room when the fight and the eventual murder took place. His mother has also claimed his innocence, saying that he took the blame for Kelly’s actions because he loved her and was raised “too proper” to let her go down for it alone. She also claimed that they had evidence from a private investigator to prove their statements, but nothing of such sort has come out in the open so far. Meanwhile, Craig and Kelly’s marriage has crumbled, and their divorce became official in 2017.
Kelly Divorced Craig and Lives Out of the Public Spotlight Today
Kelly Ryan was charged with battery, substantial bodily harm, and third-degree arson, and she took a plea deal for the same. This led her to be sentenced to 6-26 years in prison. She served about nine years in the Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center in Las Vegas and was released on parole on October 24, 2017. She had received parole on assault charges in December 2011 but had to remain in prison to serve time for the arson charge for which her parole was initially denied in 2014 but was eventually granted in 2017. She filed for divorce from Craig in 2009, but the divorce was finalized only in 2017 when she finally stepped out into freedom. Since then, she has kept a low profile, remaining entirely outside of the public limelight and media scrutiny to avoid attracting any unwarranted attention. And she fully intends to keep it so.
Read More: Fit for Murder: True Story of Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan, Explained
