Blood, evidence of struggle found in car of ex-model killed by reality TV contestant

Police: Blood, evidence of struggle in model’s car

BUENA PARK, Calif. — Police said Thursday they found blood and evidence of a violent struggle inside a car belonging to an ex-model whose brutal slaying prompted a manhunt for a reality TV contestant that ended in his suicide.

Spatters and swirls of blood “like finger-painting” were on the passenger seat, back seat and rear windshield of Jasmine Fiore’s white Mercedes-Benz, Buena Park police Sgt. Roger Powell said at an evening news conference. Fiore’s car was found abandoned in a parking lot in West Hollywood on Wednesday, about a mile from the penthouse she shared with wealthy real estate investor Ryan Jenkins.

Detectives also found blood stains on the patio of their room at a luxury boutique hotel in San Diego, and mud stains, weeds and twigs on the undercarriage of Fiore’s car, Powell said.

In addition, they found a letter in the car’s glovebox that was written from Jenkins to Fiore, Powell said. He said the letter was written some time ago but was “more evidence to believe … there was a whole lot of jealousy on his part,” Powell said.

Fiore’s nude body was found Aug. 15 stuffed in a bloodstained suitcase and tossed into a Buena Park trash bin. Her nose had been broken, and her fingers and teeth had been removed — presumably to prevent police from identifying her.

Investigators eventually learned her name by tracking the serial number on her breast implants. Fragments of her teeth were found inside the suitcase, police Sgt. Frank Nunes said.

“It all boils down to a domestic violence situation that went way out of hand as a result of jealousy,” Nunes said.

Fiore and Jenkins, a contestant on VH1’s “Megan Wants a Millionaire,” were last seen together the morning of Aug. 14 leaving the valet parking area of the San Diego Hilton, where they had attended a poker tournament, police said Thursday. Fiore was never seen alive again.

Hours after Fiore’s body was found, Jenkins walked into a West Hollywood sheriff’s station and reported her missing, said Steve Whitmore, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Jenkins told a deputy his wife had gone missing after running errands and that he hadn’t seen her since Friday night.

Jenkins, 32, then made a 1,000-mile dash for the border by car and boat before crossing into Canada on foot. He eventually wound up in an isolated motel in Hope, British Columbia, where he was found hanging from a coat rack on Sunday.

An autopsy by Canadian officials indicated suicide.

Police said Thursday they have not found any evidence to indicate that anyone in the United States helped Jenkins flee. He made multiple calls from his cell phone, however, and had contact at least once with an attorney who told police he would try to persuade Jenkins to turn himself in, said Nunes. Jenkins also spoke briefly with the LAPD while on the run, Nunes said.

On Thursday, authorities gave the first detailed account of Jenkins’ movements in the hours and days following Fiore’s slaying. They based the timeline on cell phone records, witness accounts, blood and forensic evidence, and surveillance videos at two hotels and at the Los Angeles penthouse the couple shared.

The couple checked into the hotel L’Auberge Del Mar in San Diego around 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 13 and then attended the poker tournament at the Hilton.

Police believe that Fiore was severely beaten — and possibly killed — in a violent struggle in her car early on Aug. 14 after the couple left the poker tournament. Jenkins then returned to L’Auberge and brought Fiore into their first-floor hotel room through a private patio and put her in the suitcase, police believe.

There was no surveillance camera at that location.

He then drove to Corona, about 100 miles from San Diego, before dumping her body in the Buena Park trash bin and returning to the couple’s Los Angeles penthouse at 5 p.m. that evening, police believe.

Police are still looking for the tips of Fiore’s fingers, her teeth and most of her clothing, and they believe it may be in Corona. Twigs found stuck in the car’s undercarriage indicate it was driven off-road, police said.

Fiore’s body was found early on Aug. 15. The next morning, Jenkins was captured on a surveillance camera moving out of the Los Angeles penthouse the couple shared — more than 48 hours after police believe Fiore was killed.

Jenkins then drove to Nevada to pick up his speedboat. When an LAPD detective contacted him on Aug. 17 about his missing person’s report, Jenkins said he was in Utah and headed to Canada to resolve some immigration issues, Nunes said.

Jenkins, the wealthy son of a prominent Calgary architect, moved to Los Angeles earlier this year to pursue an acting career. He found some success on “Megan Wants a Millionaire,” a reality show where wealthy bachelors woo a materialistic blonde. He also completed filming for “I Love Money 3,” but VH1 canceled the show before it aired because of the murder.

Jenkins met Fiore in Las Vegas shortly after he wrapped filming for “Millionaire” the two were married in a quickie Vegas wedding on March 18, according to court documents. Friends said Fiore was a model who worked mainly in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, doing gigs such as being bodypainted at parties.

The two apparently had a stormy relationship: Fiore’s mother, Lisa Lepore, told the AP last week that her daughter had the marriage annulled in May. There were no records of an annulment in Los Angeles, where the couple lived most recently, or in Las Vegas, where they wed.

Buena Park police Sgt. Bill Kohanek said Thursday he believed the two remarried sometime between the annulment and Fiore’s slaying.

Court records from Las Vegas also show Jenkins had been charged recently with hitting Fiore in the arm. In his hometown of Calgary, Jenkins was sentenced to 15 months probation in January 2007 for assaulting a girlfriend.

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Associated Press Writers Raquel Maria Dillon, Bob Jablon and Thomas Watkins in Los Angeles; Ken Ritter in Las Vegas; Jeremy Hainsworth in Vancouver, British Columbia; and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.