2 facing murder rap are pen pals no more

The career criminal and a raven-haired sidekick accused of murdering an Atlantic City tourist are now in different jails, nearly 40 miles apart, because of jailhouse letters discovered by authorities.

Craig Arno and Jessica Kisby are still in the same troubled legal boat, though, and it's one that keeps sinking as more charges pile on.

Arno, 44, of Atlantic City, and his accomplice, Kisby, 24, of Egg Harbor Township, pleaded not guilty to murder charges yesterday in Atlantic County Superior Court in connection with the stabbing death of Martin Caballero, a grocery-store manager from North Bergen, N.J., in the Trump Taj Mahal parking garage on May 21.

Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housel said Kisby was moved to the Salem County Jail Friday, after authorities discovered she had written letters to Arno in the jail. In the letters, Kisby suggested that she and Arno use "kites," slang for other inmates, to stay in contact while incarcerated.

Housel declined to comment on additional content in the letters.

Housel said that federal authorities had informed him that Arno had concocted escape plans from federal prison on two occasions while in federal custody and that his office wanted Arno and Kisby separated as a precaution.

"He may have tried to tie bed sheets together," Housel said of one of the alleged escape attempts.

The couple's alleged crime rampage, quick and violent, may have started May 20, when, authorities said, Arno robbed a Hamilton Township Dunkin' Donuts at gunpoint. On May 24, Arno wielded a knife at a Pleasantville Kmart while Kisby tried to steal medical supplies, authorities said.

Two days later, the couple tried unsuccessfully to steal a van from the condominium complex where Arno lived in Atlantic City, authorities said, and both have been charged with theft in that case.

The couple was arrested on May 28 at the Golden Key Motel, just outside of Atlantic City, and remain jailed on $2 million bail each.