After all these years, I still feel hurt. Meghan Sacks, host of podcast "Direct Appeal" and Fairleigh Dickinson University criminology professor questions Melanie McGuire's guilt. After all these years, I still feel hurt. by 2Paragraphs in Culture, True Crime Murder TV | September 25, 2020. They opened it and found a mans dismembered legs, cut off at the knee. Melanie McGuire - Wikipedia. They pulled out the piping, pulling floorboards up, said Sacks. 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. She said that they believe the garbage bags were a prop to sway the jury. 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, 34-years old, sentenced to life in prison for murdering her husband Photo Source: NJ.com (website) How to Watch Suitcase Killer The Melanie McGuire Story In Canada On Melanie McGuire was found guilty of murdering Bill McGuire, 39, in April 2004. [9] A witness testified that Melanie used the same towels to protect furniture when she moved. It is physically exhausting. The evidence that was at trial was from ballistic experts.. Miller was adamant that he had nothing to do with any crime, and he didnt know anything about this. ET on ABC It's out there," she said. 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. After finishing high school, she enrolled at Rutgers University for a double major in math and psychology, which she achieved in 1994. 'Suitcase Killer' Melanie McGuire defends innocence from inside prison Also if the crime scene didnt happen [at the family home] and shes home with her children all night, where is this happening? Miller agreed to cooperate with investigators and was never charged in the crime. Melanie McGuire is serving a life sentence in the murder of her husband, Bill McGuire, at a women's correctional facility in New Jersey. 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. [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. As a year passed and the investigations continued, on October 26, 2006, Melanie was charged with two more counts of hindering apprehension for allegedly writing letters to the police department to get them off her trail. This stuff exists, she said on the show. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Or, learn about Stacey Castor, the Black Widow who killed two of her husbands with antifreeze. Miller was also married with children. [B]ut gone doesnt mean dead.. The podcast, hosted by Fairleigh Dickinson University criminology professors Meghan Sacks and Amy Schlosberg questions Melanie McGuire's guilt and suggests that there is evidence in the case that never received the legal scrutiny it deserved. But, after that fateful April day, when the sun rose, their father was nowhere to be found. Melanie Lyn McGuire (ne Slate; born October 8, 1972)[3] is an American former nurse who was convicted of murdering her husband on April 28, 2004, in what media dubbed the "suitcase murder". 'Suitcase killer' Melanie McGuire maintains innocence in prison TV His body was found in three separate suitcases in the Chesapeake Bay, which led to McGuires nickname, the Suitcase Killer.. Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. After all these years, I still feel hurt. [21] The case has been profiled on television outlets: Snapped Oxygen Network; Dateline NBC; 48 Hours Mystery CBS; and The Investigators TruTV; Deadly Affairs Investigation Discovery, and Forensic Files II, among other true crime television shows. I just wanted to get away from him at that point. And then, two years later, they were blessed with another baby boy. Who Is Melanie McGuire, From Lifetime's 'Suitcase Killer'? | True Crime 0:45. Melanie McGuire said she's speaking in a new #ABC2020 interview tonight with @ARobach, 16 years after she was convicted of murdering her husband, because she believes "the killer is out there and it's not me." Police quickly found his car in a parking lot there. He was 39 years old. 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. Sara James. [11] Through her attorneys, Joe Tacopina,[12] Steve Turano, and Marc Ward, she pleaded not guilty to the charges. [9] On May 11, a second larger suitcase was found on the beach of Fisherman Island National Wildlife Refuge, by a graduate student cleaning up litter on the beach. Prezioso said she has no doubt Melanie McGuire's gun was the murder weapon. Her trial began in March 5, 2007. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Melanie McGuire has been dubbed the Suitcase Killer by the media for her role in butchering her own husband, William Bill McGuire, before packing up his remains into three suitcases and then disposing of them in the Chesapeake Bay. Melanie McGuire insists she did not murder her husband in interview But despite her apparent grief, police soon began to suspect that Melanie McGuire had murdered her husband. [10] Prosecutors contended her motive for murder was to take up a new life with her lover. Melanie went to work at a fertility clinic and Bill began teaching computer science at a technical college. N.J.'s most infamous killers behind bars: Then and now 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. Before she was charged with murder, Melanie contacted E-ZPass and attempted to have the $0.90 charge removed from her account history. Making matters worse, Melanie McGuire had called the company and attempted to have those charges removed. There were times I wanted him gone, she told 20/20. Melanie McGuire. Melanie McGuire was convicted in the grisly murder of her husband, Bill McGuire, whose body was found dismembered in suitcases in the Chesapeake Bay. We should mention that after Melanie was convicted of the charges against her, her family started a custody battle with Cindy, but to no avail. William "Bill" McGuire's Murder: How Did He Die? Who Killed Him? Melanie McGuire was a former nurse in the United States who was found guilty of murdering her husband on April 28, 2004. Melanie McGuire is a former nurse who worked at a fertility clinic in New Jersey. [1], By April 2004, the McGuires had been married for five years. 'Suitcase Killer' Melanie McGuire real story behind the movie This suitcase was found to contain the head and torso with three bullet wounds, two in the chest and one in the head. In September 2020 McGuire took part in a rare interview with ABC News, in which she continued to profess her innocence for the crime. [15][16][17][18][19] On July 19, 2007, at the age of 34, McGuire was sentenced to life in prison.[20]. Because the murder did not occur in Virginia, however, authorities turned over their investigation to the New Jersey State Police.[10]. The Best Friends - Direct Appeal Melanie McGuire says she isnt hoping for prison release, in a new jailhouse interview with @ARobach Friday at 9/8c during a new #ABC2020. But she didnt report Bill missing. In the early morning hours of April 29, 2004, the day her husband disappeared, Melanie McGuire said that they had a violent fight and claimed that he choked her with a dryer sheet and hit her before leaving the house. She told Miller that she was furniture shopping, according to Prezioso, who said she believes that is when Melanie McGuire drove the suitcases with her husbands remains to Chesapeake Bay. She claims that someone went after Bill because of his gambling debts and that the real perpetrator of the Suitcase Murder is still out there. Therefore, at the age of 49, Melanie McGuire is currently incarcerated at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Union Township, Hunterdon County. She will not be eligible for parole until she has. Their relationship began in 2002, according to the appeal. 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. Melanie McGuire is serving a life sentence in the murder of her husband, Bill McGuire, at a women's correctional facility in New Jersey. After all, when Bill was murdered in 2004, he and Melanie were the proud parents of two beautiful young boys. How Marvel went big with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. In the evening hours of April 28, 2004, after the closing on the new house, she allegedly drugged and incapacitated Bill and then shot him sometime during April 28-29. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Lands and grooves are rifling characteristics that are machine pressed into the barrel of a gun. 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. 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. 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. A grand jury returned a second indictment in 2006, charging her with eight additional counts regarding anonymous communications, according to the appeal filed in her case. 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. "I can't even fathom that. McGuire testified that during their argument her husband had become violent and he threatened to take their children away before leaving the home by himself, per CBS News. 01: Three suitcases, containing human remains, surfaced in Virginia's Chesapeake Bay in May 2004. After a nearly month and a half long trial, Melanie McGuire was found guilty. On June 5, 2005, investigators arrested Melanie McGuire and charged her with first-degree murder. So I think the police said, Well, prove it. Woodbridge Township, NJ - The Suitcase Killer - Melanie McGuire 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. Welcome to the Quantum Realm. At the time, the case created a media sensation, with McGuire dubbed the "suitcase killer.". 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. Prosecutors argued that she killed her husband so. Melanie did not incapacitate, shoot [or] use a saw to dismember her husband, said Sacks. 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 was convicted Monday of killing her. She was sentenced to life in prison on July 19, 2007. She will not be eligible for parole until she is 100 years old. Video Melanie McGuire says 'it's a coincidence' she bought gun before Upon further investigation, police discovered a security video of the car being moved in the early morning hours of April 30, 2004. She said her marriage to Bill McGuire was not going well and claimed that he was violent. 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. As Dr. Bradley Miller testified in the Melanie McGuire court case, there was an ongoing affair between himself and Melanie when Bill McGuire was killed. Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story: Directed by Nicole L. Thompson. On June 5, 2005, authorities arrested Melanie McGuire on first-degree murder charges. She claimed he walked out on her and the kids . [27][28], In 2022, Lifetime produced a movie called Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story as part of its "Ripped from the Headlines" series of movies for television. Don't accept what you're just being told on the surface. If I wanted to look for something like that, I have a [physicians' desk reference]. That requires two drivers so certainly that means someone helped her, said Prezioso. He probably would have broken my cheek if it had been a closed fist, Melanie McGuire told 20/20. 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. [Watch on your phone with the ABC GO Digital App found here. YouTubeMelanie McGuire says shes innocent and that someone else killed her husband, Bill, in 2004. McGuire began drinking heavily and gambling regularly in Atlantic City soon after the couple returned to New Jersey around 1990, said Ms. Paulk, who now lives in Milford, N.Y. ''It went downhill . The court awarded custody of her two sons to Bill McGuires sister, Cindy Ligosh, and Melanie McGuire has had no contact with them since her trial. ABCs 20/20: Interview with Melanie McGuire is a two-hour broadcast wherein the suitcase killer opens up about the circumstances that landed her in prison for the rest of her life. 'Suitcase Killer' Melanie McGuire defends innocence from inside prison Melanie McGuire said that Bill McGuire had asked her to buy the gun for him since he had a felony conviction from a bad driving record, which barred him from purchasing one on his own. She said she was unhappy in her marriage. https://t.co/ZGewROXCaQ pic.twitter.com/hlzcKR96Ss. Melanie McGuire says 'it's a coincidence' she bought gun before husband disappeared McGuire said she spoke in a new "20/20" interview, 16 years after she was convicted of murdering her husband . Where Is The Suitcase Killer's Ex-Lover Bradley Miller Now? - Grunge.com This stuff exists. These documents exist. During her interview with ABC News, McGuire shared a message for her sons, saying: "Make up your mind. During the 20/20 interview, Melanie sends a message to her now adult sons, whom she hasnt had contact with since her 2007 trial. Melanie McGuire Today: Where Is the Suitcase Killer Now in 2020. I looked down and theres my 2-year-old. Dont accept what youre just being told on the surface. [6][7] She enrolled at Rutgers University with a double major in math and psychology and graduated in 1994. They surmised that Melanie had sedated Bill, shot him, and cut up his body. She was indicted on four additional, relatively smaller charges in October. They closed the documents on their new house on April 28, but never moved in.