Police: Killer Removed Bikini Model's Teeth and Fingers
BUENA PARK, Calif. (CBS/AP) New gruesome details have emerged in the murder of a former swimsuit model, who police believe may have been killed by her reality TV contestant ex-husband.
Photos: Jasmine Fiore, Bikini Model Murder Photos
The teeth and fingers of 28-year-old Jasmine Fiore were removed before her naked body was stuffed into a suitcase and thrown in a California trash can over the weekend, according to police. A preliminary coroner's report indicated Fiore had been strangled. Police believe Jenkins went to such horrific lengths to impede identification of Fiore's body.
The former swimsuit model's ex-husband, reality TV contestant Ryan Alexander Jenkins, 32, is the prime suspect and authorities have already charged him with her murder.
There is now a manhunt going on for Jenkins, who is Canadian.
Fiore, a former swimsuit model, and Jenkins were briefly married after a quickie Las Vegas wedding this year, and had been fighting in recent months. Prosecutors said the two checked into a San Diego hotel last Thursday, and Jenkins checked out the next morning. Fiore was not seen alive again.
The two met in Las Vegas after Jenkins finished taping for "Megan Wants a Millionaire" in early March, the couple got married on March 18, said Fiore's mother, Lisa Lepore.
But in May, "they had a big blowout," and fought because he was jealous of her ex-boyfriends, Lepore said. "She had the marriage annulled."
Jenkins then went to Mexico to do another reality TV show, but struggled to get Fiore back when he returned. It was not immediately clear which show he appeared on.
"He convinced her … that he was really the guy for her," Lepore said. "He wrote poems and stories, and prayed, and (claimed he) had this huge spiritual awakening."
Jenkins had been violent toward Fiore before. Court records show that Jenkins was charged in June in Clark County, Nev., with a misdemeanor count of "battery constituting domestic violence" for allegedly hitting Fiore in the arm and is scheduled for trial in December.
Jenkins also has a criminal history in his hometown of Calgary. He was sentenced to 15 months of probation in January 2007 on an unspecified assault charge, according to the Alberta, Canada Ministry of Justice. No further details were available.
Photos: Jasmine Fiore, Bikini Model Murder Photos
FULL COVERAGE ON CRIMESIDER
August 23, 2009 - Wanted for Bikini Model Murder, Reality Star Ryan Jenkins Commits Suicide
August 21, 2009 - Murdered Model's Ex Boyfriend Calls Reality Star on Run an "Animal"
August 21, 2009 - Ryan Jenkins, Reality TV Star on the Run
August 20, 2009 - Reality TV Contestant Wanted in Bikini Model's Death
August 19, 2009 - Murdered LA Swimsuit Model Found Stuffed in Suitcase