The victim, a coroner found, had been shot multiple times. [26], On September 25, 2014, McGuire appeared in court with her new attorney Lois DeJulio, a public defender, to try to get a hearing that could overturn her 2007 murder conviction, on the grounds that her previous legal representation by Joe Tacopina was inadequate or ineffective. I just wanted to get away from him at that point. Criminologists Dr. Meghan Sacks, and Dr. Amy Shlosberg dig into the evidence on the podcast. His body was found in three separate suitcases in the Chesapeake Bay, which led to McGuires nickname, the Suitcase Killer.. The day before his disappearance, the couple closed on the purchase of their first home. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. [9] The couple had two sons and lived in a Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, apartment, but planned to move that month to a larger home in Warren County. She then graduated from the Charles E. Gregory School of Nursing (now Raritan Bay Medical Center) in 1997 with a nursing diploma. The evidence that was at trial was from ballistic experts.. And then, two years later, they were blessed with another baby boy. I absolutely tried to have those charges taken off because I feared that people would look and think what they ultimately ended up thinking.. Melanie McGuire admitted to having an affair with Miller. At that time, Melanie was a nurse at a fertility clinic and had managed to have a long-standing affair with one of the doctors there, Bradley Miller. My job is to convince the jury. Prosecutors also pointed to Melanie McGuire's supposed internet searches in the days leading up to Bill McGuires disappearance. On camera, Melanie tells them: Make up your mind. Melanie McGuire was victim Bill's wife, who was accused of his murder and dubbed the "Suitcase Killer" when the case went to trial. She will not be eligible for parole until she is 100 years old. These documents exist. Prezioso said she has no doubt Melanie McGuire's gun was the murder weapon. Prosecutors believed that McGuire forged the prescription as she had access to this prescription pad. That requires two drivers so certainly that means someone helped her, said Prezioso. This sensational case has thus often been referred to as the Suitcase Murder and has been profiled on several true-crime shows, including Oxygens Snapped, NBCs Dateline, CBS 48 Hours Mystery, IDs Deadly Affairs, and Forensic Files, amongst many others. After a nearly month and a half long trial, Melanie McGuire was found guilty. For the first time in years, she says she has hope that an explosive new podcast, "Direct Appeal," could help exonerate her. Melanie McGuire listens to testimony today during her murder trial. Soon after William and Melanie McGuire tied the knot in 1999, they welcomed their first child, a son, in 2000. In 2004, three separate dark green Kenneth Cole suitcases, containing pieces of a dismembered body, were found in and around the Chesapeake Bay, near Virginia Beach, Virginia. The plastic bags that contained Bill's body parts and the bags that contained Bill's clothes, which Melanie had given away to a friend, were demonstrated by forensics to have been manufactured on the same assembly line within hours of one another. Days later, an unidentified man, believed by many to be her stepfather, also contacted E-ZPass and attempted to have the charge removed. Melanie McGuire told the podcast "Direct Appeal" that she is not the suitcase killer, and that the true murderer is still on the loose. Miller also said in his . Melanie McGuire claimed that her gun could not have been the murder weapon since the numbers of lands and grooves on the bullets that came out of Bill McGuire didn't match the number that the manufacturing website said it had made her gun with. Background Bill McGuire was born in September of 1964. Melanie McGuire is serving a life sentence in the murder of her husband, Bill McGuire, at a women's correctional facility in New Jersey. Melanie McGuire says she is innocent, and wants her sons to know she did not kill their father, she said in interviews with 20/20. 2011 - Google Scholar", "N.J. appeals court upholds life sentence for convicted suitcase killer Melanie McGuire", "State v. McGuire, 27 A. William "Bill" McGuire was having a great day. Miller looked at the prescription and he said, Thats not my signature and it appears to be Melanie McGuires handwriting, recalled Prezioso. They discovered that Melanie had bought a gun in Pennsylvania two days before Bill went missing and that she was having an affair with a doctor at her practice, Bradley Miller. On April 26, 2004, Melanie had purchased a .38 caliber handgun from a store in Easton, Pennsylvania; Bill had been killed with a .38 caliber handgun with wadcutter bullets. Meanwhile, investigators found more and more evidence that suggested that Melanie McGuire had killed her husband. When investigators discovered the affair, they approached Miller. Bill McGuire was murdered by his wife Melanie McGuire, and his body was found near Virginia Beach's Chesapeake Bay in 2004. The killer is out there and it's not me. After pulling the surveillance footage from the parking lot, however, investigators were disappointed. [9] The third and smallest suitcase, containing arms, was recovered floating in the water near the Chesapeake Bay BridgeTunnel's second artificial island on May 16. Like, how could somebody think that I did that? she said on 20/20. As McGuire maintains her innocence, she is running out of appeal options. But, after that fateful April day, when the sun rose, their father was nowhere to be found. She told her sons, now adults, to look into the case for themselves. Police discovered Bill's car in Atlantic City and when they obtained surveillance footage, they discovered that McGuire had used a highway toll twice to drive to the location, and that she'd attempted to have the charges removed, per ABC News. "Beware of pretty faces that you find, a pretty face can hide an evil mind." -Johnny Ramistella. Less than a year later, the McGuires had their first son. [22] She must serve more than 63 years before she is eligible for parole. [9] Melanie admitted that the couple owned the same set of luggage that the body was found in, a matching three-piece set of Kenneth Cole suitcases. A staff writer for All That's Interesting, Kaleena Fraga has also had her work featured in The Washington Post and Gastro Obscura, and she published a book on the Seattle food scene for the Eat Like A Local series. Prezioso is certain that Bill McGuires murderer is the woman who was convicted and is now sitting in prison. The Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women near Clinton, New Jersey, made headlines for allegations of sexual abuse and for the recent spread of the coronavirus, New Jersey Spotlight News reported. It is physically exhausting. The podcast hosts and Melanie McGuire herself, raise questions about whether it's even possible the gun she purchased was the murder weapon. Investigators, however, found it highly suspicious that Melanie had then tried to have 90-cent EZ Pass toll charges, which proved shed gone to Atlantic City, removed from her account. This stuff exists, she said on the show. Bill called his friends to happily tell them the news. Melanie McGuire says she isnt hoping for prison release, in a new jailhouse interview with @ARobach Friday at 9/8c during a new #ABC2020. She said her husband left and that she never saw him again. During the 20/20 interview, Melanie sends a message to her now adult sons, whom she hasnt had contact with since her 2007 trial. Dont accept what youre just being told on the surface. During the next three days, according to the State, and likely with the help of an accomplice as yet unidentified, defendant caused Bills body to be cut into sections with a reciprocating saw and a knife, wrapped the body in industrial-type garbage bags sealed with adhesive tape, and packed it into the matching set of luggage. McGuires case is being featured on a podcast, Direct Appeal. She is nearly out of options in the judicial system, the podcast website said, and now she is appealing to the public for help. McGuire offered a message to her sons on 20/20, who are now adults, encouraging them to look deeper into the case and find the truth for themselves. A four-count indictment came down from a state grand jury. I'm a nurse or I was a nurse, and I don't need to look up things like that. Like, how could somebody think that I did that? Melanie McGuire told ABC News Amy Robach in a rare interview from prison for "20/20.. Did Melanie McGuire dismember her husband? During the investigation, incriminating evidence against Melanie was uncovered. [9] A witness testified that Melanie used the same towels to protect furniture when she moved. Dig, dig. Don't accept what you're just being told on the surface. "I panicked. Melanie Mcguire has been languishing in a prison cell for the past 13 years. They looked high and low to connect Melanie to some pet, and once they found that there was no way to connect Melanie to these pet hairs, it became not of evidentiary value, said Sacks. She was sentenced to life in prison on July 19, 2007. I still feel bothered. Then, they looked in Pennsylvania. Bill worked as a computer program analyst for a Newark, New Jersey college and Melanie worked as a fertility nurse, according to a 2011 appeal filed in her case. ET on Saturday, June 18 on the Lifetime network. She offered explanations for the stories she told police,. I have a book that I can look in that doesn't leave an internet history, Melanie McGuire told "20/20.". They also discovered a bottle of the sedative chloral hydrate and two syringes in Bill's car, which they traced to a pharmacy near their children's daycare, and they learned that McGuire had bought a gun 48 hours before her husband's disappearance. It is physically exhausting. On June 5, 2005, investigators arrested Melanie McGuire and charged her with first-degree murder. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. She was given a life sentence on July 19, 2007, and she is currently in jail at the Edna Mahan . One of the three suitcases that contained parts of Bill McGuires body. But life can spring an unexpected surprise, and it was an alleged infidelity in the McGuires' case that shattered to tragic pieces their marriage with the gruesome death of Bill in 2004. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Their relationship began in 2002, according to the appeal. On June 5, 2005, authorities arrested Melanie McGuire on first-degree murder charges. The jury deliberated for three days before convicting her of all four counts lodged against her in the first indictment, and acquitted her of the eight counts filed in the second indictment. The grainy images appeared to show Bill McGuire's car being pulled into a spot, but did not capture who the driver was. Melanie McGuire went on trial on March 5, 2007. But despite her apparent grief, police soon began to suspect that Melanie McGuire had murdered her husband. Bills car contained a bottle of chloral hydrate, a sedative, and two syringes, which had been prescribed by Bradley Miller. She graduated from Oberlin College, where she earned a double degree in American History and French. Melanie did try to appeal her case and later get relief from her long sentence, but her petitions were denied. Melanie McGuire, The Suitcase Killer Who Murdered And Dismembered Her Husband. McGuire, 34, a mother of two, is charged with first-degree murder in the April 2004 killing of her husband, 39-year-old state computer analyst William T. McGuire. She adds, Is she trying to say that the man who was so excited to be buying this house, because he wanted to have this house for the wife that he loved and his children, that at the same time trying to kill her? Melanie McGuire was a former nurse in the United States who was found guilty of murdering her husband on April 28, 2004. Melanie McGuire defends her innocence from inside prison in 2019, over a decade after she was convicted. But when fishermen discovered a suitcase stuffed with Bill's remains just days after the couple had closed on their new dream home . After all these years, I still feel hurt. New Jersey Attorney Generals OfficeOne of the three suitcases that contained parts of Bill McGuires body. She had apparently grown worried about their well-being upon noticing their behavior and got them tested. However, not much else about the day was typical. Melanie and Bill McGuire cut the cake at their wedding. https://directappealpodcast.com/. In the interview, she continued to say that she was innocent and asked her sons to look into the case and not believe what they were seeing. Lifetime is planning to release a movie about her case, Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story in June 2022. McGuire, who was convicted in 2007 of killing her husband Bill McGuire, said the hardest part has been not being able to watch her two sons grow up. After reading about Melanie McGuire and the Suitcase Murder, discover the story of Nancy Brophy, the woman who wrote How To Murder Your Husband and may have indeed murdered her husband. Wronko, who is also Locane's boyfriend, is appealing the new sentence, which he believes violates her double jeopardy protections. Dig, dig.". Prezioso believed the "human sawdust" was the result of Bill McGuire's dismemberment. But Melanie maintains that she did not commit the infamous Suitcase Murder. 1:15. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Speaking to ABC News' Amy Robach for 20/20, she said: "I'm doing this because there's a murderer walking around. Police also learned that Melanie had been having a long-term affair with a co-worker named Bradley Miller. We were not gathering evidence from a gun manufacturer's website. Melanie McGuire Was Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder of Husband Bill, Please review our privacy policy here: https://heavy.com/privacy-policy/, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. Melanie was a nurse at a fertility clinic and Bill was a computer programmer. Nevertheless, because all the evidence was against her, a jury found her guilty of murder, unlawful possession of a weapon, desecrating human remains, and perjury on April 23, 2007. These documents exist. The 62-year-old actress posted a jaw-dropping selfie on Instagram Tuesday night, featuring the . Melanie McGuire, the Suitcase Killer, gave a rare interview to Amy Robach of ABC News in September 2020. Police quickly found his car in a parking lot there. Powered by. The prosecution argued McGuires motive was her affair with Dr. Bradley Miller, a partner at the medical practice RMA Associates. She suggested that her husband had been killed over his gambling debts, claiming that he was the one whod insisted that she buy a gun in the first place. On June 2, 2005, more than a year after the fact, Melanie was charged with first-degree murder, leading to her sons being taken and placed into a much safer home for them to grow up in. She later told police that she believed he'd gone to Atlantic City to gamble as he had a penchant for doing so. Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. On April 28, 2004, the last day anyone ever saw Bill alive, Melanie had dropped off their sons, aged 2 and 4, at their daycare as routine at around 8:20 am. McGuire got the unfortunate luggage nickname after she was convicted of drugging her husband, shooting him to death, and stuffing his dismembered body into three dark green suitcases that were later found in the Chesapeake Bay. Miller agreed to cooperate with investigators and was never charged in the crime. Prison inmates are in a closed environment. Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for WomenMelanie McGuire prison record. Her penalty is actually categorized as the following: life in prison for first-degree murder; life in prison for the possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose; 10 years for desecrating human remains; and five years for perjury. After finishing high school, she enrolled at Rutgers University for a double major in math and psychology, which she achieved in 1994. Although detectives did not find what they were looking for on the surveillance footage, they were able to find something curious on Melanie McGuires statement from her electronic toll payment company, EZ Pass. Melanie McGuire. "People ask me, 'Explain this. Nothing in Melanie McGuires early life suggested shed turn to murder. She said in a moment of admitted irrationality she decided to drive down there and look for his car. Melanie and Bill McGuire pictured in Atlantic City, New Jersey at an unknown date. She maintains her innocence and . "After all these years, I still feel hurt. Download is FREE. Melanie, who grew up in Brick, and William McGuire were married in 1999 and had lived with their two sons in Woodbridge at the time of the murder. Pam Grier reflects on her most iconic roles, from, State Superior Court Judge Angela Borkowski gave Locane more time after the punishment, Wrong Turn: The tragic story of former It Girl Amy Locane, Amy Locane to be re-sentenced for fatal auto crash, Amy Locane recalls drunk-driving crash in post-prison interview. I panicked, Melanie told 20/20. [5], Melanie Lyn Slate grew up in Ridgewood and Middletown Township, New Jersey, attending Middletown High School South. Melanie McGuire has had no contact with them since before the verdict. Where Are William and Melanie McGuires Kids Now. Almost three years after the crime, McGuire's murder trial commenced at the Middlesex County Courthouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey on March 5, 2007. A few weeks later, once Bills body was discovered and Melanie was identified as the prime suspect, Dr. Bradley had asked her to swear upon her childrens life that she had no hand in this homicide, which she did. William "Bill" McGuire was a husband and father of two. Family and friends can send flowers and/or light a candle as a loving gesture for their loved one. Do you know how hard it is to cut through bone? Her defense lawyers have not said if McGuire will testify . Guilty or not, Melanie McGuire, the so-called Suitcase Killer, remains an object of fascination. Once Melanie spots Bills car from the highway, she decides shes going to move his car, said Shlosberg. The pair lived in Woodbridge, New Jersey where Bill worked at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and McGuire was a fertility clinic nurse in Morristown. Melanie McGuire, born October 8, 1972, is an American former nurse who was convicted of murdering her husband on April 28, 2004, in what media dubbed the "suitcase murder". She claimed he walked out on her and the kids . At least the prison conversations won't be, ahem, boring for Amy Locane. Custody of McGuire's two sons was given to her husband's sister, Cindy Ligosh, when she was convicted, and McGuire has not seen them since. NEW BRUNSWICK - Attorney General Stuart Rabner and Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced that Melanie McGuire was found guilty of murder today in the 2004 shooting death of her husband, William McGuire, whose severed remains were found in three suitcases along the Virginia coast in May 2004. "I have this Forrest Gump-ian way of touching something and it becomes a hit!" In September 2020, Melanie McGuire sat down with 20/20 and gave her first interview in 13 years. Because the murder did not occur in Virginia, however, authorities turned over their investigation to the New Jersey State Police.[10]. Now the former fertility nurse is 47 years old and spending her life sentence in Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Clinton, New Jersey. Melanie's receipt for the gun also listed an unspecified purchase of $9.95; there were only two items in the store for that amount, and one of them was a box of wadcutter bullets. A jury convicted McGuire in 2007, and she was sentenced to life in prison plus five years. [13] She was also convicted of the lesser charges of perjury, desecration of human remains, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. How Marvel went big with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Melanie McGuire is a former nurse who worked at a fertility clinic in New Jersey. No one plugged the serial number of my gun into a website to find out what the specifications were, said Melanie McGuire. She actually obtained the means to incapacitate Bill from her workplace, which eventually became her downfall. The case is being featured on a two-hour ABC special, Suitcase Killer, which airs Friday, September 25, 2020 at 9 p.m. Eastern time. On July 19, 2007 she was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole until she is 100 years old. The case involved 21 witnesses qualified as experts, hundreds of pieces of evidence and 21 days of testimony. Bill and Melanie McGuire in happier days. The prescription for chloral hydrate came from Millers prescription pad. Would love your thoughts, please comment. On May 5, 2004, a couple of fishermen and their children noticed a dark green Kenneth Cole suitcase floating in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. William and Melanie McGuires children, whose names are not revealed in any public records for their own privacy and safety, were placed with Bills elder sister, Cindy Ligosh. ], Pretty Little Liars Reboot Is Coming-of-RAGE Horror with More Murder, Cast of Pretty Little Liars, 2017, l-r: Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Lucy Hale, Shay Mitchell, (cropped) photo: Dominick D / CC BY-SA, 2012-2023, 2paragraphs Productions, LLC. After all, when Bill was murdered in 2004, he and Melanie were the proud parents of two beautiful young boys. I looked down and theres my 2-year-old. She offered explanations for the stories she told police, such as her claim she stumbled across her husbands car in Atlantic City and moved it. Born on October 8, 1972, Melanie Lyn Slate has spent all of her life in New Jersey growing up in Ridgewood and Middletown Township. There were two charges, totaling 90 cents, on her statement that proved she had driven to Atlantic City after her husband went missing. Like, how could somebody think that I did that?. During her arraignment on murder charges, McGuire's case was dubbed the "Suitcase Murder" by various media outlets. So if you wish to learn more about her and her current whereabouts, heres what we know. On April 23, 2007 McGuire was found guilty by a jury of first-degree murder, perjury, desecration of human remains and possession of a weapon for unlawful means. McGuire was sentenced to 63 years, eight months and 30 days to life for first-degree murder, five to 10 years for desecration of human remains, two years and six months to five years for third-degree perjury, and a maximum sentence of life for second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, according to her prison record. But though she denied parking it there, Melanie later claimed that she had gone to Atlantic City and moved the car to mess with him. Dig, dig. Melanie McGuire says she is innocent, and wants her sons to know she did not kill their father, she said in interviews with 20/20. As of June 22, 2020, two inmates had died of COVID-19. The evidence in this case points to a well-organized, meticulously planned execution of a murder, Prezioso said during the trial. Data from the New Jersey Department of Corrections details cases since they implemented additional measures. By that point, the two had only flirted and corresponded via e-mail, only for a romance to blossom. Murders A-Z is a collection of true crime stories that take an in-depth look at both little-known and famous murders throughout history. She again pleaded not guilty and was released after posting $10,000 bail. One contained a torso and a head, the other a mans thighs and pelvis, according to Oxygen. She was sentenced to life in prison on July 19, 2007 and is serving her sentence at the Edna. At trial, prosecutors presented an apparent mountain of circumstantial evidence against Melanie McGuire in Bill McGuires disappearance and murder. Melanie did file for a re-trial before her sentencing on the basis that her husband was deeply in debt and may have been killed by Atlantic City mobsters, but to no avail. Candice King as Melanie McGuire in "Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story," which explore the real death of Bill McGuire in 2004. She said that they believe the garbage bags were a prop to sway the jury. He probably would have broken my cheek if [the hit] had been a closed fist, Melanie McGuire said. NEW BRUNSWICK - Melanie McGuire the former Woodbridge resident convicted of killing her husband, dismembering his body, packing it in suitcases and tossing it off a bridge in Virginia . (The court awarded custody to Bill McGuires sister, Cindy Ligosh.) The Superior Court of New Jersey affirmed her verdict and sentence in 2011. Getty Images. It says: The State alleged that defendant wanted to end her marriage to Bill but also had concerns about divorce. Melanie McGuire's defense team focused on the lack of physical evidence, insisting it was more likely that Bill McGuire was murdered as the result of his gambling, than at the hands of his diminutive wife. In addition, Melanie was 38-weeks pregnant with her second child when the relationship started, based on reporting from New Jersey-based news outlet CentralJersey.com. She allegedly wanted to spend the rest of her life with her lover, and so, she did what she could to get rid of her husband. She became known as the "Suitcase Killer" during her televised 2007 trial. After being released on bail, Melanie faced additional charges on October 11, 2005. Thats what happened the night of April 28, 2004, the day Bill McGuire disappeared, according to his wife.