[camera shutters clicking]
To stand out, you have to be
nothing less than perfect.
They're both really proving
themselves to be a force
to be reckoned with.
[Tatianna] This girl came in,
and she's flipping.
It's almost like
she could walk on air.
But nobody likes
a sore loser, you know?
[Jessie] She's turning into
a different version of herself,
a harder, more bitter,
angrier version of herself.
[man shouting]
You could see the damage
that had been done to her.
Every competitor
has a target list
who they need to get rid of
in order to succeed.
[theme music playing]
Las Vegas is, of course,
this place of great excess.
It's Sin City.
[Gayle]
You can let your hair down.
You can go out and have a good
time and enjoy Vegas for what
it is,
I mean, it's exciting.
You don't get a name like
Sin City unless
there's some sin going on.
[narrator] But for female
fitness and female bodybuilding
athletes, Sin City is
the arena for Ms. Olympia,
the gold standard
for both categories
in the highly competitive sport.
[Gayle] To actually compete in
the Ms. Olympia, you have to
have qualified at one of the
other professional shows,
like the Miss
International Bodybuilding
or the Miss
International Fitness.
The difference between fitness
competitions and bodybuilding
other than looks,
the fitness girls,
they pose very similar as
we do, but they have a fitness
routine that they have to
perform to music,
which is very gymnastic.
It will have flips,
whereas the bodybuilders,
we didn't have to do the flips
and the jumps and the splits.
The competition
was pretty fierce.
[Lee] It was pretty hard to get
anywhere close to the Olympia.
It was a long journey involved.
The higher up
the ladder you climb,
the harder
it becomes.
[narrator] And some women are
willing to do anything to win.
Everybody clawing for very few
positions in the spotlight
creates a culture
[inhales deeply]
of mean girls,
essentially.
It's people who are willing to
do whatever it takes
to get ahead.
And if that means running over
some friends or frenemies,
then they'll do it.
You have to be really
competitive
but not show that
you're competitive.
You only have to give
that porcelain face
and not let
anyone know.
[Lee] They'll be saying things
behind people's backs.
They'll rarely say something in
front of somebody.
They have a cattiness, and they
have a competitiveness,
but they're more coy
about showing it.
Without naming names,
I've heard, you know,
people will come up to other
competitors, and they'll be,
"Oh, yeah, oh, you look great,
oh, oh, my God, you know,
yeah, good luck,"
and everything.
And then you'll hear from
a friend of theirs that they'd
said, "Oh, my God,
so-and-so looks [bleep]."
[laughing]
You know what I mean?
[Tatianna] That competitive
nature can be a bit dark,
I'll say that.
It can create a monster.
It just does.
[distant siren wailing]
It's the wee small hours of
a December morning just west of
Las Vegas in the desert.
A volunteer fire chief is
called out to a scene where
there is a burning car.
The original call that came
into 911 was a truck driver
that was passing by
and saw a vehicle that was
engulfed in flames.
That call then went into
the Mountain Springs
Fire Department to the chief
of the fire department,
a volunteer firefighter.
He responded
out to the car fire.
He was able
to extinguish the fire.
He shined his flashlight into
the backseat area, which had
been completely
consumed by the fire.
Just had the frame
for the backseat.
And through the wall,
the back wall of the vehicle
into the trunk, he was able to
see what he thought to be
human remains.
[distant siren wailing]
Once we had personnel on scene,
we were able to pry the trunk
of the vehicle open.
It was pretty much
our impression at that point
that we were more than likely
dealing with a female body.
We could tell that
an accelerant was used,
because you could smell it.
It was clear to us
that it was something
similar to
charcoal lighter fluid.
The chief of the fire
department was able to copy
down the license plate of
the vehicle when
he initially responded.
And we were informed that
the vehicle was registered to
a Kelly Ryan, one of the top
women's fitness competitors
for years.
[Jessie] Kelly Ryan was
born in 1972 in Minnesota,
and she was a really
adorable child from
a great family, loving parents.
Her family traveled around
quite a bit, and she ended up
in Texas at the age of six,
where they found out she was
incredibly talented
at gymnastics.
She was so good at gymnastics
that she ended up training with
the world-famous coach,
Bela Karolyi.
Bela Karolyi is known for
creating Olympic champions.
[announcer]
Only a handful will have
a chance to make the Olympics,
but Karolyi demands
Olympic-style dedication
from them all.
Kelly, from a very early age,
seemed to exhibit a highly
competitive nature --
she always wanted to win.
[narrator]
Despite her hard work,
Kelly decides not to chase
an Olympic dream.
But she is so athletic that
she gets a scholarship to
University of South Carolina
for athletics.
Kelly liked the aspect of
competition, because it gave
her great satisfaction to beat
someone, you know, to know that
you've beaten someone and you
are better than someone.
You derive satisfaction from
overcoming other people.
So you're not jumping hurdles,
you're jumping people.
[Jessie] In 1994,
Kelly's about to leave college,
and she manages to catch
a female fitness
competition on ESPN,
and she falls in love with it.
She now has
a new career path.
She knows that this is a world
that she can succeed in.
When Kelly Ryan
first appeared on the scene,
it was like a b*llet.
It's hard for anybody,
even with no interest in
fitness competitions to not be
glued to her performance,
because the degree of
athleticism was so intense.
You just couldn't keep
your eyes off her.
[narrator] 23-year-old Kelly
begins winning first place
right out of the gate.
I first met Kelly
at a fitness show.
[announcer]
Kelly Ryan!
[Gayle] Kelly was in fitness.
I was in bodybuilding.
She was just
always smiling, laughing.
I mean, very competitive.
I really liked her.
I met Kelly at the Mr.
and Ms. Olympia, the expo.
She was angelic.
She was very sweet to meet her.
And then you see her on stage,
and she was...she was a beast.
She showed exactly who she was.
She was Flyin' Ryan.
Kelly got that name
because, at that time, yes,
the girls were doing
cute routines,
but this girl came in, and she's
flipping and she's flipping.
And she's -- it's almost like
she had springs on the bottoms
of her heels.
You know, it's almost like
she could walk on air.
She gave performances
that could have been
in a daggone circus.
[announcer]
Fantastic job, Kelly!
Because of
her agility, her skill,
her gymnastic background,
her charisma on stage,
she immediately started winning
competitions, and she became
a force to be reckoned with
in the fitness world.
[announcer] And our 1996 winner
of the Fitness America Pageant,
Kelly Ryan!
Congratulations, Kelly!
[Jessie] Kelly really
starts to make
a name for herself
in this industry.
She's just blowing people out
of the water with her athletic
ability and these routines
that she comes up with.
She would do anything to stay
in that number one slot.
[narrator] But staying
number one isn't easy,
given the tough competition.
We've got competitors like
Jenny Hendershott.
[Tatianna] Jenny was fierce.
She was an amazing competitor.
She was poised.
She was beauty.
Jenny Hendershott was a Barbie.
We've got Adela Garcia...
♪♪♪ Boom boom boom
boom boom boom ♪
...who was born in
the Dominican Republic.
She brought this spiciness that
really wasn't seen
and had not been seen before.
[singing indistinctly]
♪♪♪ Ya ya ♪
Another competitor that comes
to mind is Susie Curry.
[Tatianna]
Susie was more polished.
At that time, Susie,
do you know they say someone
can turn a phrase?
Susie could turn a pose.
Susie could turn a flip.
Yes, Kelly was Flyin' Ryan,
but there was a finesse that
Susie had.
It was a ribbon ceremony
with her body.
[Jessie]
They're all coming up together.
They're friendly
with one another,
and they are
kind of friends.
[narrator] But even with
friends, in this world,
you always need
to watch your back.
There's always gonna
be a rivalry.
I mean, it's just a part
of the package.
It could cause even the closest
of friends who are competing
against each other
to just turn sour.
This powder keg of pitting
yourself against other women
will result in Kelly ending up
in a very volatile situation,
a very competitive situation,
one in which she has never
been in before.
-[man] 17, please.
-[scattered applause]
[Lee]
Kelly was a force.
Nothing can stop you,
because you won't let
anything stop you.
You have an endgame, and
nothing's gonna get in your way.
[announcer]
Kelly Ryan.
Always being in that top spot,
it was do or die for her.
It really was,
it was a lot of pressure,
because there were so many
wonderful competitors.
[narrator] Kelly's competitors
aren't the only ones watching
the young star rise.
While on stage during
a competition in Florida a few
years earlier, Flyin' Ryan
catches the eye of the top
male bodybuilder,
Craig was 100% the it guy.
He was a merchandiser's dream
back then, because not only was
he the big, muscular guy,
but he was a good-looking guy.
I mean, he looked great
on the cover of magazines.
This guy is a big deal
metaphorically, but also a big
deal physically and literally.
This guy is huge.
[narrator] He is known as
the bad boy of bodybuilding.
I met him backstage again
at all the competitions.
He was always super polite to
me, but I know he had some
conflicts with several
of the bodybuilders.
A lot of the guys
didn't care for him.
He's just kind of out of
control temper-wise,
just very arrogant.
[Tatianna]
So I was doing a photo sh**t,
and, like, I knew who he was.
And I remember him coming,
asking me how I was doing.
He was super,
super, super nice.
He is just the sweetest
person in the world.
He really is.
But is he crazy?
Yup.
That was almost a prerequisite
for being in that top.
[narrator] And now he's making
his move on the fitness queen.
[Tatianna]
I knew that he liked her,
but I don't know that she fell
head over heels for him
as fast as he did for her.
For her, he might have
been a bit of a liability.
Despite their very different
reputations,
Kelly as a good girl,
Craig as a bad boy,
they did have one
very important thing in common,
which was they were
both ambitious.
[narrator] And Kelly's no fool,
bad boy or not,
having Craig on her arm could
make her even more famous.
When they became a couple,
they became what
the bodybuilding world loves to
refer to as a power couple.
They would get more gigs,
they would get more
guest posing, they would
get more opportunities.
[narrator]
It's enough to infuriate
anyone competing against her.
[Jessie] But this is
a great feeling for Kelly.
They have a lot of appearances
and meetings to manage,
so they need to get
an assistant, and luckily,
they have the perfect person
in mind, Melissa James.
[narrator] Not long after Kelly
and Craig begin dating in 1999,
meets the couple in
Panama City, Florida.
[Jessie] Melissa James was born
in New Jersey in 1977.
She's a highly motivated,
very energetic, very adorable
child in New Jersey,
but eventually, her family moves
to Florida, and that's
where she really blossoms.
In her teenage years,
she's a cheerleader,
she's on the dance team.
She's just an absolutely
gorgeous young woman, too.
[Alisa] I met Melissa James
when she was just fresh out
of school,
she was 19 years old.
She was a teacher at one of
my friends' dance studios,
and she started teaching
my daughter dance at three.
She was great with
the children, they loved her.
She worked there probably
about maybe a year,
and then she opened up
her own studio.
Melissa was big into
not just dance, but fitness.
She was huge into
fitness and to
her body and choreographing
and videos.
She had met Craig and Kelly
at a bodybuilding
competition here.
[Jessie] Melissa was working in
a promotional capacity,
and they were there, as well,
being paid to be there as part
of the event.
And they all just
really clicked.
Melissa really looked up
to Kelly quite a bit,
and they really were close --
Kelly trusted her.
[narrator] It's not long
before Melissa is
working as an assistant for
the dynamic and powerful duo,
moving between Florida
and their home
in Venice Beach, California.
Melissa's biggest dream was to
be a dance choreographer.
Her impression was that
they were going to introduce
her to people in the industry
that could help her
grow in that area.
I thought that that was great
for her, because I knew she was
bigger than what
this small town was.
I thought it was great that
they were offering her these
things and to help her blossom
and grow in the industry.
[narrator]
After a year of dating,
the superstar
of the fitness world
and her number one fan
trade the stage for an altar.
Wonder of wonders,
this unlikely couple
get married,
and they get married
in a little chapel in Vegas.
And they buy a beautiful,
gorgeous five-bedroom mansion.
They would receive,
like, Hollywood royalty.
[Lee] They're given
the best tables at restaurants.
They're invited to
the best parties.
Everyone wants to have them
in their circle.
It is definitely
the place for them.
The lights,
the action, the flashiness.
And Melissa's gonna
come along for the ride.
For six years,
the fitness competitions has
been Kelly's life.
She is now
a veteran of this industry.
She has earned
every number one,
every number two
she's ever gotten.
She has put her whole energy,
her whole body,
her whole being
into these competitions.
But she wants to win
Ms. Fitness Olympia.
She never has.
[Gayle] The Olympia, whether it
be for bodybuilders or fitness
competitors,
is the final show of the year.
So it's just the show that
every competitor wants to win
and have that title.
[narrator] Claiming Ms. Fitness
Olympia makes it official.
Whoever holds this coveted
title has the bragging rights
as the country's top fitness
queen of the sport.
And Kelly is determined to
claim her "it" season and to
snag the title from the reigning
winner, Susie Curry.
Susie Curry is in it to win it.
She's got a strong hold on
that, you know, on that trophy.
She holds onto that trophy like
the Statue of Liberty with that,
with that flame --
she's not letting go.
I'm sure Kelly had to be
wondering, what do I need
to do, do I need to up
my fitness routine?
Do I need to change
my physique?
You know, what is it I need to
do to change to, you know,
to win this title?
[Tatianna] She made it
very known that when
she didn't win that trophy,
this was mine.
And I don't understand
what's going on.
She started to get angry.
I do remember Kelly talking
about that and complaining
about it --
she was ready to blow up.
She's looking at Susie Curry,
because every competitor has
a target list, a hit list,
if you like.
You know,
like an executioner
as to who they need to get
rid of in order to succeed.
[narrator]
For the second year in a row,
Susie Curry has achieved
what Kelly cannot.
[announcer]
Susie Curry.
This is a very
tumultuous time for Kelly.
[announcer]
Second place, Kelly Ryan!
[Jessie] Even though Kelly has
the most raw athletic talent
that's usually on stage, she's
still not winning Ms. Olympia.
Nothing is working for her.
Kelly is starting to go,
well, why?
Is it about my body?
Is it about something
cosmetically I could change?
So Kelly gets an incredible
amount of plastic surgery done.
She gets a boob job,
she gets a nose job,
she gets lip injections.
She looks like a totally
different person.
[Tatianna]
You change your eye color,
you change your hair color,
you get boobs, you do all these
things because we're gonna do
whatever we have to do to win.
[Jessie] And many people believe
that this was all at Craig's
behest, his instruction.
At the same time, Craig is
going through his own battle.
He also has not
become Mr. Olympia.
He would do anything to win,
and that was including
steroid use, and in Craig's
case, overuse of steroids.
[narrator] It isn't enough
for both competitors
who are desperate
to win big.
They were supposed to be
Mr. and Ms. Olympia.
[narrator] But their lifestyle
in Las Vegas
may be standing in
the way of their success.
Kelly and Craig's parties were,
I wouldn't say famous,
probably notorious.
Because they just turned into
full-out orgies of drugs
and, you know, sex,
and anything went.
Everything was
fueled with drugs.
And it's just like, you know,
they would go on for days.
They were a party couple.
There might have been
a narcotic here,
a narcotic there, a naked girl
here, a naked guy there.
All these women were flocking
around him because of
his bad boy image.
You know, it wasn't like --
that wasn't a deterrent,
that was the attraction.
[narrator]
And Craig doesn't mind all
the attention his adoring fans
are willing to give,
whether Kelly likes it or not.
I think when she saw all
the women he was attracting,
she must have known that he was
sleeping with these other women,
as well.
Kelly is focused on her career.
She may have let him know,
listen.
You can put one big toe outside
the line, but don't go too far.
[narrator] Still,
Craig can't stop himself.
He's had his eye on
a younger woman
who's under the same roof.
There was one story where
he had Melissa get her nails
done, and so when she came
home, Kelly saw that her nails
were done, and he was pointing
out how beautiful her nails
were, just to get
Kelly's ire up.
I mean,
who does that?
It's pure entertainment
for the narcissist.
Melissa shared with me
that he wanted to have
a relationship, and she was
not comfortable with that,
because he was married.
I think Kelly got
very jealous of Melissa.
I mean, Kelly was
a beautiful woman,
but Melissa was
just...dynamic.
[Lee] At this point,
Kelly was silently spiraling.
That energy, that light that
had propelled Flyin' Ryan to
the top, it was starting to dim,
and now she's also fighting to
keep her husband's attention.
Kelly was developing a real
hatred towards Melissa.
She was competing with another
woman for her own husband.
And let's face it,
Kelly had enough competition
on the stage --
she didn't need it in her home.
This is all a lot
for Melissa to deal with.
So she realizes,
this might not be
professionally what
I signed up for.
I'm not really getting
the mentorship that I was
looking for.
Her career hasn't launched in
the same way that
she had hoped.
[narrator] So Melissa makes the
tough call to go home to Florida
permanently and restart
her life there.
She was very disappointed,
because she really thought that
they would help her with
her dream, and it didn't turn
out that way at all.
She said, "I'm done.
I'm not going to talk to
them anymore."
She was not gonna go back,
and she then decides to open up
another studio,
and I remember that
very clearly, because she was
very excited about it.
[narrator] With her competition
for Craig's attention gone,
Kelly can turn her focus back
to winning Ms. Olympia.
But once again,
she suffers yet another defeat
to the reigning queen,
Susie Curry.
Her self-esteem has to be,
I mean, in the gutter.
[narrator] And with Kelly coming
in second, not only in
Ms. Olympia,
but smaller competitions,
as well,
Craig is taking her losses
personally, too.
Despite everything that
he's doing to accelerate
Kelly's career, none of it
seems to be working.
And so he starts to spiral even
when he's in the audience.
He can't handle seeing his work
of art not be judged as such.
[bleep]
It was her turn, it was
going to be her "it" season.
But she's 31 at this point.
She has been doing this
for 8 long years.
And she's pouring
thousands of dollars into
plastic surgery and training
and she's not having
her it time.
She is somebody that doesn't
want to give up and is willing
to fight, but it's getting
harder every day,
and she's turning into
a different version of
herself, a harder,
more bitter,
angrier version of herself.
[Lee] It has been alluded to
that they had violent fights.
Now there was never any
explanation further than
the word violent,
but I wasn't there.
[Jessie] Kelly doesn't realize
the danger she may be in with
her husband because he has
always put her on a pedestal.
So maybe she doesn't care if
he's a roided out monster, as
long as he's her monster.
[Lee] Craig spent
all this money on having
reconstructive surgeries
done to her body,
be it cosmetic or just,
you know, physical, and nothing
seems to be working.
There has to be a degree of
frustration for them both,
and maybe she saw how much
attention that Melissa
got from Craig.
Maybe she thought, oh,
I'm gonna be a brunette,
and I'll get that attention.
I don't know if this is
true or not.
Nobody really knows what goes
on behind closed doors.
Something must have happened in
those last years that has just
really damaged her,
whether it be at herself,
mentally, or whether it be
someone within her circle,
you know, whether it be Craig,
who's hurt her so badly that
she's damaged
emotionally, mentally.
I don't know.
[narrator] Kelly Ryan's burnt
car has just been found
in the Nevada desert
with a female body
in the trunk.
Detectives race to her home
to notify her husband.
Detective Wilson
and Detective Mogg
arrived at the registered
address for Kelly Ryan,
and they knocked on the door to
inform whoever was living there
that more than likely we had
the body of Kelly Ryan found
inside her burned out Jaguar.
But instead,
to their surprise,
Kelly Ryan is the one
that answered the door.
[Jessie] Back in Florida,
Melissa's dance studio had
actually closed.
It seems like perfect timing,
then, when Craig and Kelly get
in touch with her and tell
her that they are launching
their own apparel brand,
and they will have
a retail store,
that she would be
perfect in the position
of manager.
She believed with that two
years of space, everyone had
matured a little bit,
the air had certainly cleared.
She thought this might be
the perfect opportunity that
she needed at the right time.
[Tatianna]
She moved right back in
like nothing had ever changed.
Like, she just popped right
back into the household
to help them with
the clothing business and to be
their assistant and
to help them in every facet.
[narrator]
But after a few weeks,
it becomes clear nothing
has changed after all.
[Dean] Craig is paying more
attention to Melissa again.
You have Kelly that's been
surgically altered and gone
through all these issues,
and she's older versus Melissa.
She's not surgically changed
in any way,
and so that increased
the tension between
the two women.
Melissa finds herself back in
the middle of Craig and Kelly
and their dysfunction.
So she told her mother that it
just wasn't happening and that
it was probably best that
she come home permanently.
[narrator] On December 12th,
the tension is so bad,
Melissa moves out of the house,
and Craig buys her
a one-way ticket home.
[door creaks open]
When the detectives knocked on
the door, and they were met by
Kelly Ryan, they were taken
aback by it, no question.
After the shock wears off that
Kelly Ryan is not the victim
that was found in the desert,
they definitely need to speak
with her to figure out who
this mystery victim is now.
[Dean] Part of what Kelly
told us is that
at about 5 o'clock
in the morning,
she had gone into the garage,
and she saw that
the Jaguar was missing.
And she suspected
that their live-in assistant,
Melissa James, had snuck
back into the house
and had stolen the car.
Kelly didn't report it to
the police because they were
hoping that she would bring it
back, and they didn't want to
get her in trouble by reporting
the car stolen.
Kelly told detectives that
they, over the past couple of
weeks, prior to the Jaguar
being missing, that they had
discovered that Melissa was
using their credit card outside
of what she had been given
authorization to do.
She explained that
they went into Melissa's room
and searched through it,
and that's when they found
the credit card.
They also found receipts
and other information, too,
regarding their account
information and Kelly's
personal information.
According to Kelly,
she told detectives that
she had an argument with
Melissa over the accusations of
taking money from them
and that they were done
and that Melissa was being
essentially kicked out
of the house.
[narrator] While Kelly
gives her version of events
over the past few days,
Craig is
interviewed separately.
[Dean] He also said that
they suspected that Melissa was
stealing from them.
He told Detective Mogg that
he knew about Melissa using
the credit cards,
and that he had been -- he had
given her permission
to do that.
But when the fight occurred
between Kelly and Melissa,
he took Melissa
to the local hotel
just for everything
to cool down.
He purchased a one-way ticket
for Melissa to go back home,
and he brought her back to
the house on the afternoon of
the 13th so that Melissa could
pack up her things in order to
make the trip back
for Christmas.
[Jessie] At this point,
detectives believe the body
that was found in the trunk
was Melissa James.
Or, if she is not the body
that's in that burning car,
then where is she?
[narrator] While
they await forensic testing of
the remains in Kelly's burned
car, detectives drilled deeper
into Craig and Kelly's story.
We had the location of
the local hotel where Craig
said that he took Melissa.
We were able to go there
and confirm that.
We have the debit card,
and we were able to see
purchases that occurred
at a local Walmart.
We were able to pull
surveillance video
for the time period
of the last purchase,
which was approximately
on the 14th.
[narrator] Detectives are
stunned at what they see.
We saw
who we recognized to be
Kelly Ryan wearing
a red jumpsuit
with white stripes
on it.
We were able to track her
all the way through the store.
We found that she purchased
seven large bottles
of charcoal
the lighter fluid,
and then
she left the store.
We saw the red Jaguar
pull up in front of the door.
You could tell that the driver
was a very large individual,
we believed
to be Craig Titus,
get out of the driver's seat as
Kelly brought the lighter fluid,
and they put it behind
the driver's seat
of the vehicle.
Craig got back in
the driver's seat.
Kelly got into
the passenger seat.
Nobody opened the trunk of
the vehicle to put
the recently purchased items.
We still needed to confirm
things by getting a DNA sample
from the body.
But I was confident
at that point that we were
investigating the m*rder
of Melissa James.
Based on the evidence we had,
that was enough for us to then
put together a declaration of
arrest for Craig and Kelly.
On the 20th,
we call the criminal
apprehension team to go to
their address and take Craig
and Kelly into custody.
But when they go to get
Kelly and Craig,
they're gone --
they've taken off.
We have no activity.
We don't have their vehicles.
We don't see
anything happening.
Kelly and Craig left that house
never to go across
the threshold again --
they never went back.
It hurt to know that my friend
Craig and Kelly
were even involved in this.
It didn't
match their personality.
It didn't match
who I knew them to be.
[Dean] I got a phone call from
a criminal defense attorney
saying that he had a client by
the name of Megan Foley.
She was a friend of
Craig and Kelly.
So we had already
talked to Megan.
We got kind of
a superficial interview.
And now Megan is reporting that
she had been given some items
by Craig and that she wanted to
meet with the police again.
[narrator] Megan is ready to
tell the truth about her
and her husband's visit
with Kelly and Craig
on the evening of
December 13th,
the night before Kelly's car is
found burning in the desert.
One of the things that Megan
told us is she was talking to
Kelly, who told her this
allegation that Melissa was
stealing from them.
Kelly told Megan that she and
Melissa had gotten into a fight
about the theft
earlier that day.
And during the fight,
Kelly said something about
Melissa pulling this taser
on her.
And then Kelly tells Megan that
she was able to get the taser
away from her and that
she used the taser on Melissa,
but that didn't have the effect
that she wanted to have on it.
[Jessie] Megan told police
that Kelly screamed for help
from Craig,
who came running,
and at that point,
he grabbed Melissa,
and he body slammed her
into the floor.
And from that point on,
he began beating her.
He began beating her senseless.
Kelly did not
seem horrified by this.
In fact, she joined in.
[Dean] Craig ended up
confessing to Megan
that he had k*lled Melissa,
and even to the point where
he told her that Melissa was in
the trunk of the Jaguar.
Finally, they find
an appropriate break to say,
"Wow, it's getting really late.
We've got to go."
And as they're heading out
the door, Craig says,
"Hey, while you go, just take
this with you, will you?"
And he hands them
a black duffel bag.
[Dean] And she's like,
"That's not ours."
I mean,
"Why are you giving me that?"
And then Craig
suggested that he had already
talked to her husband about it.
So after they got
back to the house,
Megan and her husband
opened the bag.
And they find inside the bag,
the case and the taser
contained inside it.
[narrator] Megan was shocked
that her friends not only
confessed about torturing
and k*lling Melissa
for supposedly stealing
from them,
they also
bragged about it.
[Dean] Megan said that one of
the reasons she didn't go to
the police was because she was
fearful of what Craig Titus
might do.
[narrator]
Megan also reveals
Kelly and Craig
are headed to Boston
and then out of the country.
[Dean]
And that blew things wide open.
They intended to meet up
with this bodybuilder friend
in Boston.
We were in touch with
that person.
We now had that person,
for fear of being involved,
on the side of law enforcement
and cooperating in the capture
of Craig and Kelly.
When Craig and Kelly got to
the Boston area, we know that
they were in contact
with this bodybuilder.
But Craig, uh,
went to get the oil changed on
the truck, and Kelly was
getting her nails done
at the time that
they were apprehended.
She didn't look anything like
the magazine covers
and the promo photos --
you could see the scars.
You could see the damage
that had been done
to her over the years,
again, at Craig's prompting
to make her look better.
[Gayle]
How arrogant.
You know, you're just there
just living your life,
and you've k*lled someone else.
Where's your humanity?
I mean, just -- you've lost
your way somewhere.
Something's, you know,
you're lost.
[Alisa] When they got arrested,
I was happy, but I was shocked,
and I was mad,
because she was getting
her nails done,
and he's sitting in the car
like any --
like just a normal day.
[narrator] Craig is charged with
the m*rder of Melissa James,
kidnapping,
and third-degree arson.
Kelly is charged with battery,
substantial bodily harm,
and third-degree arson.
Weeks later, dental records
confirm that the victim in
the trunk is Melissa James.
We think collectively that
there never was this misuse of
the credit card,
there never was stealing.
There was jealousy
on the part of Kelly
for Melissa getting
more attention than
really she should.
This is really a tragedy of
Kelly's character, because of
all of her experiences in life,
-[woman] Congratulations, Kelly!
because of the way she had
treated women, and women had
treated her and the pitting of
women against each other
for her entire career,
when she felt that rage
because Craig wanted Melissa,
she didn't turn it
towards her husband.
She turned it
toward the woman.
And they k*lled
an innocent person.
[narrator]
As the trial is about to begin,
everything suddenly changes.
Craig and Kelly
both plead guilty.
Craig is sentenced
to 21 to 55 years in prison.
Kelly is sentenced to
two consecutive terms
of three to 13 years.
She serves nine years
and is released in 2017.
The power couple
divorce in 2009
while they are both
in prison.
Those close to Melissa
hold tight to memories of
her gentle, beautiful spirit.
Craig and Kelly didn't
just take away Melissa.
They took a lot of
girls' dreams.
Oh.
That's a hard one for me.
My daughter didn't dance
after Melissa was k*lled.
She quit dancing,
so it's really hard.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Oh, if I had one last thing to
say to Melissa, I would just
tell her how missed she was
and how much I miss
our birthday luncheons
and that
I hope she's dancing.
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