Murder-hunt reality TV star found dead

Fugitive murder suspect Ryan Jenkins has been found dead in a motel from an apparent suicide, Canadian police said today.

The property developer and reality show TV contestant was wanted in California for his ex-wife’s murder after the mutilated body of model Jasmine Fiore was found in a rubbish bin near Los Angeles.

Jenkins was found at the Thunderbird Motel in Hope and had apparently hanged himself, said Farrah Emami, spokeswoman for the Orange County District Attorney's Office in California, which is contact with Canadian police.

Crime scene investigators identified Jenkins through fingerprints, she said.

California authorities said police in Buena Park, where Ms Fiore was found, would continue their investigation to make sure no one else was involved in the killing, but did not expect to find anything.

“We continue to believe that Mr Jenkins was solely responsible,” said Ms Emami.

Jenkins, 32, disappeared last week but his boat was found on Wednesday at a marina not far from the US-Canada border south of Vancouver.

Sgt Pound said police did not yet know for how long Jenkins was at the motel before his body was discovered.

Ms Fiore’s naked, mutilated body was found in a suitcase inside a rubbish bin in Buena Park, about 20 miles south east of Los Angeles.

Authorities believe Jenkins fled via car, boat and on foot to enter Canada.

Ms Fiore’s teeth had been pulled out and her fingers cut off, apparently to impede her identification.

Investigators used the serial numbers on her breast implants to identify her, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Jenkins and Ms Fiore met in Las Vegas in March and married a few weeks later. The couple separated shortly afterwards, but had reportedly recently reconciled.

Friends said Ms Fiore was a model who worked mainly in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, doing gigs such as being bodypainted at parties. She was also an aspiring actress and had a bit part in a small 2008 horror science-fiction movie, 'The Abandoned', according to the Internet Movie Database.

Jenkins was recently a contestant on VH1 reality show 'Megan Wants A Millionaire', in which wealthy young men tried to win over a materialistic blonde. The network cancelled the show on Friday.

He also took part in an as-yet-unaired competitive reality series, 'I Love Money 3'.