Informant said he did what was right

The informant who helped police arrest the man accused of trying to hire a hitman in the Craig Titus murder-for-hire case said he worked with authorities because it was the right thing to do, not because he was seeking a reduced sentence in an attempted robbery case.

Deem Cassim, who was sentenced to 31/2 to 12 years behind bars for robbing a 2004 World Series of Poker champion in 2004, testified this week in the trial of 41-year-old Nelson Ronald Brady, who faces three charges of soliciting murder.

Cassim said he helped police because he didn't agree with the targeting of witnesses in the Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan murder case. He said he especially didn't agree with them going after Anthony Gross, who was in his early 20s at the time, because Gross was so young.

After assisting police, Cassim was re-sentenced to probation.

During Brady's trial in District Court, Cassim was grilled by defense attorney Michael Schwarz, who played a recorded conversation between Cassim and Brady.

In the jailhouse recording, Cassim is heard swearing and yelling at Brady, angry because Brady missed several appointments to discuss the murder-for-hire plot.

Cassim, however, said he merely was acting. But he did admit that at one point he was actually angry at Brady for missing one appointment.

But county prosecutor Josh Tomsheck pointed out that Cassim and Brady exchanged hundreds of phone calls. In only one of the calls did Cassim sound angry, he said.

Titus and Ryan are accused of killing their personal assistant, Melissa James, 28, in 2005. They are set to go to trial in June.

Brady met Ryan while serving time at the county jail for domestic battery. Brady also met Cassim at the jail around the same time.