Craig Michael Titus (born January 14, 1965, in Wyandotte, Michigan) is an American former professional bodybuilder and convicted murderer. His case is featured in the Season 4, Episode 1 titled, “Dancing on her Grave”, from the show, ‘’

Deadly Sins Deadly Sins may refer to: *Seven deadly sins The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, is a grouping and classification of vices within Christian teachings. Although they are not directly mentioned in the Bibl ...

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Early life

Titus lived most of his early life in Riverview, near Detroit. He has a younger brother, Kevin, and a younger sister, Nicole. Titus played high school football but quit because at 5'6" he felt he was too small. He also wrestled in high school.

Career

When Titus graduated from high school, he was 5'6" and 140 lbs. By the age of 21, he was 5'8" and 185 lbs. Once he started seeing good results from weight training, he decided to become a bodybuilder. His first bodybuilding show was the 1988 Houston Bodybuilding Championships in which he won the Men's Open middleweight class and the overall title.

Criminal convictions

In April 1995 in Louisiana, Titus pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute

ecstasy Ecstasy may refer to: * Ecstasy (emotion), a trance or trance-like state in which a person transcends normal consciousness * Religious ecstasy, a state of consciousness, visions or absolute euphoria * Ecstasy (philosophy), to be or stand outside o ...

, and was sentenced to 16 months' house arrest via monitoring with an electronic anklet. In July 1997, Titus was sentenced to 21 months in prison for violating his probation by using

anabolic steroid Anabolic steroids, also known more properly as anabolic–androgenic steroids (AAS), are steroidal androgens that include natural androgens like testosterone (medication), testosterone as well as synthetic androgens that are structurally related ...

s. In December 2005, Titus and his wife Kelly Ryan were implicated in the death of Melissa James, their personal assistant, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Titus admitted to an affair with James. After fleeing cross-country, the couple was arrested in Stoughton, Massachusetts. In February 2006, after being extradited to Nevada from Boston, Titus and Ryan were denied bail. On March 29, both pleaded not guilty to a felony charge for killing their live-in assistant. The charge carried the possibility of the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

. Despite previous statements asserting their innocence, both Titus and Ryan pleaded guilty to various charges on May 30, 2008, just days before their murder trial was set to begin in Las Vegas. On August 22, 2008, Titus was convicted of second-degree murder, kidnapping and arson. He was sentenced to 21 to 55 years in prison, while Ryan was sentenced to two consecutive terms of 3–13 years in prison. Anthony Gross, also charged as an accomplice in the crime, pleaded guilty in February 2009 and received probation.

Competitions and titles

* 2005 IFBB Iron Man Pro—6th * 2004 IFBB GNC Show Of Strength—6th * 2004 IFBB Florida Xtreme Pro Challenge—7th * 2004 IFBB Grand Prix Australia—6th * 2004 IFBB Arnold Classic And Internationals—6th * 2004 IFBB Iron Man Pro—5th * 2003 IFBB Night Of Champions—3rd * 2002 IFBB GNC Show Of Strength—7th * 2002

Mr. Olympia Mr. Olympia is the title awarded to the winner of the professional men's bodybuilding contest at Joe Weider's Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend—an international bodybuilding competition that is held annually by the International Federation ...

—11th * 2002 Night of Champions XIV—5th * 2002 Southwest Pro—7th * 2001 British Grand Prix—9th * 2001 Mr. Olympia—12th * 2001 Arnold Classic—6th * 2001 San Francisco Grand Prix—2nd * 2001 Ironman Pro Invitational—5th * 2000 Toronto Pro—5th * 2000 Arnold Classic—10th * 2000 Night of Champions—11th * 2000 Ironman Pro Invitational—8th * 1996 NPC USA Championships—1st Heavyweight and Overall (earning pro card in the IFBB) * 1995 NPC USA Championships—2nd Heavyweight * 1994 NPC National Championships—2nd Heavyweight * 1994 NPC USA Championships—2nd Heavyweight * 1993 NPC USA Championships—4th Heavyweight * 1991 NPC Ironman/Ironmaiden—Overall * 1990 NPC Tournament of Champions—3rd Heavyweight * 1990 NPC Western Cup—Overall * 1989 NPC Houston Bodybuilding Championships—Overall * 1988 NPC Houston Bodybuilding Championships—1st Middleweight and Overall

References

Bibliography

* ''Fire in the Desert: The True Story of the Craig Titus-Kelly Ryan Murder Mystery'' by Glenn Puit (Stephens Press, published February 2007) * ''Swift Injustice: The Craig Titus Story'' by Tracy Mitchell-Milam (TMM Publishing, published July 17, 2015)

External links

Bodybuilder Craig Titus Tribute

Contest history
Muscle Memory competition history
Indictment
Grand jury indictment of Craig Titus, Kelly Ryan, and Anthony Gross {{DEFAULTSORT:Titus, Craig 1965 births Living people American people convicted of arson American male bodybuilders American sportspeople convicted of crimes American people convicted of kidnapping American people convicted of murder American people of French descent American people of Greek descent American people convicted of drug offenses People convicted of murder by Nevada People from Detroit People from Wyandotte, Michigan Professional bodybuilders Sportspeople convicted of murder