Craig Titus Bodybuilder talks of his current disdain for weightlifting, love for smoking

In jailhouse recordings, bodybuilder Craig Titus talks of grabbing his teenage daughter by the throat and throwing her during a domestic dispute at his southwest Las Vegas home.

In a conversation taped by police as part of a murder-for-hire investigation in the Titus case, Titus is heard telling his sister about catching his daughter coming home in the early-morning hours wearing no underwear under her skirt.

"Three a.m.," Titus said. "That's when I grabbed her by the neck and threw her across the room. Man, I was hot. I was hot. Anyways, it wasn't good."

Titus does not indicate whether the incident ever was reported to police or investigated by authorities.

Also in the recordings, the nationally known bodybuilder, who competed in two Mr. Olympia competitions earlier this decade, says he no longer has any desire to lift weights.

"I love smoking ... love sitting on my couch with my cigarette watching TV like a big fat bum," Titus said.

"You know what? I hate lifting weights now. I don't like doing it anymore, even though I'll do it for the ladies."

Titus also tells his sister that he once had sex with his first cousin. Then the bodybuilder tells her that police probably are listening to his comments as he talked on the phone at the Clark County Detention Center.

"They are probably listening to this at the control center right now," Titus says. "Tape recording it. 'Hey we got him now. This is good character flaws for this young man. He had sex with his cousin.' "

The recordings, obtained by the Review-Journal this week, are among more than 120 calls recorded by police as part of an investigation into allegations that Titus tried to orchestrate the murders of three witnesses in his upcoming murder trial.

An acquaintance of Titus, Nelson Brady Jr., is charged with three counts of solicitation to commit murder in the scheme. Titus so far has not been charged in the plot, and he denies any wrongdoing.

Titus, 42, and his fitness champion wife, Kelly Ryan, 34, are charged with murder in the death of their personal assistant, Melissa James. The 28-year-old James was found in the trunk of Ryan's burning car off state Route 160 in December 2005.

Titus' defense attorney, Marc Saggese, said Thursday that the contents of the latest police recordings are irrelevant to Titus' murder case and that Titus always has acknowledged having a stormy relationship with his teenage daughter. Titus has struggled for years to steer the girl onto the right path in life but never has harmed the young woman, Saggese said.

The audiotapes are being cited as having at least one direct connection to one aspect of Titus' court battles.

Last week, Saggese filed a court motion seeking to have District Judge Jackie Glass removed from his murder case. Saggese accused the judge of engaging in a prohibited conversation with a prosecutor, Robert Daskas, and another attorney about the murder-for-hire investigation.

Saggese argued that, in a police report filed by homicide detectives in the case, Glass was told of the particulars of the murder-for-hire investigation against Titus, and that knowledge of the investigation meant Glass could not preside fairly over Titus' murder trial without being biased against the bodybuilder.

But in a motion filed Thursday by Daskas, the prosecutor disputed the contents of Titus' legal motion, saying that Glass never was told of the murder-for-hire investigation and that there was nothing inappropriate about Daskas' meeting with Glass. Furthermore, Daskas said that long before Titus sought to have the judge removed from the case because of the meeting, Titus was planning to do whatever was necessary to get Glass off his trial.

As proof, Daskas detailed other police-recorded conversations of Titus bad-mouthing the judge months ago.

"We need to get out of that courtroom big-time, bro. ... She's wicked, dude," Titus tells Brady in one call. "I mean, I've never seen anybody so (expletive) mean."

In another conversation, Titus tells Brady he wants to hire Glass' husband, defense attorney Steve Wolfson, to defend his wife on the murder charges the couple face.

Titus goes on to say that if he hires Wolfson, then there is no way Glass will be able to preside over the bodybuilder's murder trial, now scheduled for April.

"So if we were to hire Wolfson for ... Kelly, they'd have to recuse us right out of her court," Titus said.

But Saggese said that his client's prior comments about the judge also are irrelevant and that Glass legally is required to recuse herself from the case because the police report notes that Glass was told about the details of the murder-for-hire investigation.

"Did the police officer file a false report, or is Robert Daskas not telling the truth?" Saggese said. "It's one or the other. If Robert Daskas is willing to admit an officer filed a false police report in this case, I will withdraw the motion."

Daskas' motion states that the police officer was not present at the meeting, so the officer did not witness what was said.

Glass also has filed an affidavit saying that there was nothing improper about the meeting and that she will be fair to Titus in his trial.

Ryan's attorney, Greg Denue, said Thursday that he has no plans to join Titus in his effort to have Glass, "a completely fair and unbiased judge," taken off the case.

Chief District Judge Kathy Hardcastle is expected to decide in the coming weeks whether Glass will stay on the case.