Melanie McGuire, a 34-year-old mother of two, maintains that she didn't kill her husband and says the real killer tried to frame her. Sacks firmly believes that prosecutors failed to answer key questions in the case. I just wanted to get away from him at that point. Few, if any, knew that McGuire, a mother of two young sons, was having an affair with her physician boss, Dr. Bradley Miller. Bill's body parts were discovered in three suitcases floating in the Chesapeake Bay near Virginia. Dubbed the Suitcase Killer, she was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison on July 19, 2007, at the age of 34. 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. Like, how could somebody think that I did that? she said on 20/20. 3d 948 - NJ: Supreme Court 2011 - Google Scholar", "N.J. Supreme Court won't hear appeal of convicted 'suitcase killer', "Convicted killer Melanie McGuire seeking post-conviction relief in June hearing", "Suitcase killer Melanie McGuire seeks new review of evidence", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Melanie_McGuire&oldid=1142209125, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 02:58. [9] Similarly, a medical grade towel found with Bill's body matched those stocked at the clinic where Melanie worked. They really turned this place upside down a number of times They couldn't find any forensic evidence whatsoever to establish this was a crime scene.. Family and friends can send flowers and/or light a candle as a loving gesture for their loved one. Melanie McGuire Today: Where Is the Suitcase Killer Now in 2020. She bought a gun two days before his disappearance in Pennsylvania, but said she did so for her husband, and speculated he was having trouble with someone. Fairleigh Dickinson University criminology professors Meghan Sacks and Amy Shlosberg have an entire podcast called Direct Appeal dedicated to questioning Melanies conviction. Melanie McGuire, now 47, maintains her innocence from the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, New Jersey, the states only womens prison where there are approximately 500 inmates. 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. 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. Melanie McGuires story made national headlines in the mid-2000s, when she was charged with first-degree murder and dubbed the Suitcase Killer by some in the media. Prosecutors have always maintained that they believed Melanie McGuire likely had an accomplice. (Video By Bumper. Don't accept what you're just being told on the surface. This suitcase was found to contain the head and torso with three bullet wounds, two in the chest and one in the head. I still feel bothered. Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook . ET on Saturday, June 18 on the Lifetime network. [Watch on your phone with the ABC GO Digital App found here. They recovered searches including: How to purchase guns illegally, How to commit murder, Undetectable poisons and, generally, how to sedate or kill someone, according to investigators. Melanie McGuire, shown at left during her trial, was convicted of fatally shooting her husband, cutting up his body with a power saw and then stuffing his remains into suitcases she later. [13] She was also convicted of the lesser charges of perjury, desecration of human remains, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. One contained a torso and a head, the other a mans thighs and pelvis, according to Oxygen. And on May 16, a third. 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.. After being released on bail, Melanie faced additional charges on October 11, 2005. She wished to avoid purchasing a house at substantial expense and beginning a new phase in a marriage she regretted. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Following the 2018 investigation into allegations of sexual abuse at the prison, the DOC released a statement in April, 2020, saying reforms were introduced at the prison to make it easier for inmates to report sexual abuse. Investigators searched the home for evidence multiple times, checking to see if Bill McGuire had been killed and dismembered there. 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. The circumstantial evidence against Melanie McGuire was mounting by this point, but investigators were still having trouble finding any physical evidence that would link Melanie McGuire to her husband's murder, according to Sacks. There was. Born on October 8, 1972, Melanie Lyn Slate has spent all of her life in New Jersey growing up in Ridgewood and Middletown Township. After all these years, I still feel hurt. Immediately after murdering Bill, according to the State, defendant embarked on a plan to conceal the crimes and to create the appearance that Bill had abandoned his family, his job, and his new house after a violent argument with her. I still feel bothered. The 48-year-old actress and mother of two has been sober since the 2010 crash. Dont accept what youre just being told on the surface. But though both the podcast and the making of the movie have brought attention to the Suitcase Murder, it doesnt change the fact that Melanie McGuire is behind bars. She does have an interesting new cellmate: In 2020, Melanie began sharing a cell with former actress Amy Locane, who starred in the TV show "Melrose Place." The publication reported that two days after Bill left, McGuire filed for a restraining order so he couldn't unexpectedly take their children, and three weeks after he had disappeared she filed for a divorce. A few days later, a suitcase surfaced in a bay miles away with a horrifying discovery inside. In 2004, Bill McGuire was found dismembered in three separate dark green Kenneth Cole suitcases that were found in and around the Chesapeake Bay, near Virginia Beach, Virginia. Then, they looked in Pennsylvania. 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. 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. She said she was unhappy in her marriage. 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. On June 5, 2005, authorities arrested Melanie McGuire on first-degree murder charges. The Melrose Place actresswho is now serving a second sentence at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in New Jerseyshares a prison cell with Melanie McGuire, the infamous "Suitcase Killer." Also if the crime scene didn't happen [at the family home] and she's home with her children all night, where is this happening? After all, a medical-grade towel found with Bills body matched those stocked at the clinic as well as those she kept at her home. [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. They shared two children together but their marriage was seemingly not a happy one as McGuire embarked on an affair with Dr. Bradley Miller, who was then a partner at the clinic she worked in, per Fox News. At the time, the local media also reported this detail about the parking lot's surveillance cameras. The grainy images appeared to show Bill McGuire's car being pulled into a spot, but did not capture who the driver was. New Jersey Department of Corrections/Find a Grave New Jersey fertility clinic nurse Melanie McGuire stands accused of murdering her husband, William, in 2004. They knew that Pennsylvania was close and a lot of people will go to Pennsylvania for firearms because gun laws are more lax, Sacks said. However, not much else about the day was typical. She maintains her innocence and . [8] She married United States Navy veteran William T. "Bill" McGuire (born September 21, 1964) in 1999. 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. People are feeling this way now, but when it's no longer a story, I'll just be forgotten. 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. 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. Criminologists Dr. Meghan Sacks, and Dr. Amy Shlosberg dig into the evidence on the podcast. 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. this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. I just burst into tears, Melanie said of learning about her husbands death in a 2007 interview. Would love your thoughts, please comment. [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. Like, how could somebody think that I did that? If youre willing to wear a wire, well believe you, said Sacks. On June 5, 2005, investigators arrested Melanie McGuire and charged her with first-degree murder. 2011 - Google Scholar", "N.J. appeals court upholds life sentence for convicted suitcase killer Melanie McGuire", "State v. McGuire, 27 A. Image Credit: ABC News / 20/20 [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. Prison inmates are in a closed environment. She pleaded not guilty. No one plugged the serial number of my gun into a website to find out what the specifications were, said Melanie McGuire. She then drove to Virginia on May 3, where the suitcases were thrown at night from an isolated stretch of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge into the bay. I absolutely tried to have those charges taken off because I feared that people would look and think what they ultimately ended up thinking," McGuire said. This stuff exists. Prosecutors called 64 witnesses, and the defense called 16 witnesses. She was sentenced to life in prison. "I panicked. She was sentenced to life in prison on July 19, 2007. Prosecutors allege that McGuire, 34, shot him to death, sliced his body into four pieces with a power saw and then dumped his remains in the Chesapeake Bay. With Candice King, Michael Roark, Tristan Laurence, Jackson Hurst. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? She didn't fit the profile, I guess, of a murderer, Shlosberg said. Melanie McGuire was convicted in the grisly murder of her husband, Bill McGuire, whose body was found dismembered in suitcases in the Chesapeake Bay. Meghan Sacks, host of podcast "Direct Appeal" and Fairleigh Dickinson University criminology professor questions Melanie McGuire's guilt. I guess it is comforting [that people are interested]. And shes not the only one who thinks that police arrested the wrong suspect. Trial photos of Melanie McGuire, a New Jersey nurse best known for being the perpetrator in the media-dubbed "suitcase murder." . Melanie McGuire is serving a life sentence in the murder of her husband, Bill McGuire, at a women's correctional facility in New Jersey. His wife, Melanie McGuire, a fertility nurse and the mother of his two sons, was eventually convicted of murdering him and dumping his body. I dont know how you would dismember a body and effectively clean that up, said McGuire. Of course, since we do not know either of their names, we have no way of digging up any other credible information concerning their current standing. Melanie McGuire is now serving a lifetime sentence at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey, as Entertainment Weekly reports. She said her husband left and that she never saw him again. McGuire had a message for her sons, who are now adults, "Make up your mind. 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. 2023 Oscars predictions: See who will win at the 95th Academy Awards. She also made inquiries of a friend about how to buy a gun. 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. There's less of a waiting period.. ET on ABC They pulled out the piping, pulling floorboards up, said Sacks. Melanie went to Middletown High School South and. Prosecutors believed that Melanie McGuires motive to kill her husband came from her desire to start a new life with her lover, Dr. Bradley Miller, a partner at the medical practice RMA Associates, where she worked as a nurse. She actually obtained the means to incapacitate Bill from her workplace, which eventually became her downfall. During her interview with ABC News, McGuire shared a message for her sons, saying: "Make up your mind. This episode takes you through the case and trial, while showing Melanie being interviewed on an episode of 20/20 in 2007, and showing Melanie speak from prison today. It never made sense.. Suitcase Killer The Melanie McGuire Story is available to watch in Canada with a Philo subscription! [22] She must serve more than 63 years before she is eligible for parole. Don't accept what you're just being told on the surface. Melanie McGuire, a New Jersey woman who was sentenced to life in prison, in 2007, for the murder of her husband Bill McGuire, discusses the case and maintains her innocence; YouTube Melanie McGuire has been in prison for 13 years, but she still maintains her innocence, she said in an interview with 20/20. She says she is innocent. Dr. I still feel bothered. He had been married to Melanie Lyn Slate McGuire for about five years had two beautiful sons with her. It also promised to better educate staff and inmates about the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act, and said it had set up an early-warning system to identify problematic behavior by staff. On June 5, 2005, investigators arrested Melanie McGuire and charged her with first-degree murder. In September 2020 McGuire took part in a rare interview with ABC News, in which she continued to profess her innocence for the crime. It was while Melanie was pregnant for the second time, during the 38th week, that her affair with Dr. Bradley Miller, her co-worker in the fertility clinic where she worked as a nurse, began. The bullets that came out of my husband had six lands and grooves," said Melanie McGuire. [9] Melanie later claimed she had moved the car as a "prank",[8] even though she had applied for a protection from abuse order days earlier after allegedly being slapped by her husband. Upon further investigation, police discovered a security video of the car being moved in the early morning hours of April 30, 2004. Melanie McGuire, 34-years old, sentenced to life in prison for murdering her husband Photo Source: NJ.com (website) But police soon found that the couple had a deeply unhappy marriage, that Melanie had begun an affair with a co-worker, and that someone in the McGuires home had searched for things like how to commit murder online. READ NEXT: Melanie McGuire Today: Where Is the Suitcase Killer Now in 2020? Thats what happened the night of April 28, 2004, the day Bill McGuire disappeared, according to his wife. After re-examining her murder conviction over a decade later, Sacks and Shlosberg, believe Melanie McGuire was wrongfully convicted. She reportedly spent most of her life in New Jersey. Melanie Lyn McGuire (ne Slate; 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". 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. [9] Green fibers had been found on one of the bullets lodged in Bill's chest; the fibers were identified as polyester fill, a common material found in household furniture. During her arraignment on murder charges, McGuire's case was dubbed the "Suitcase Murder" by various media outlets. Therefore, more than a year after the incident, on June 7, 2005, Melanie was officially arrested and charged with first-degree murder. She said in a moment of admitted irrationality she decided to drive down there and look for his car. The evidence that was at trial was from ballistic experts.. McGuire's conviction was affirmed by an appeals court on March 16, 2011. "After all these years, I still feel hurt. Born on October 8, 1972, Melanie Lyn Slate has spent all of her life in New Jersey growing up in Ridgewood and Middletown Township. On June 2, 2005, more than a year after the murder, Melanie dropped her children off at child care and preschool. I still feel bothered. So she drove around until she found his car and then moved it as a prank. For her part, Melanie insisted that her husband had stormed out after a fight. 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. Melanie McGuire admitted to having an affair with a doctor at the fertility clinic where she worked. Read More: Where Are William and Melanie McGuires Kids Now? Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. The killer is out there and its not me, Melanie told Robach. In this special, she speaks up about her innocence, her troubled marriage, her affair with Dr. Bradley Miller, and how she wishes she could still be a part of her childrens lives. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Less than a year later, the McGuires had their first son. Yesterday, more than a year after the three grisly discoveries, Melanie McGuire, 32, of Brick, N.J., was charged with first-degree murder in the April 29, 2004, slaying of her husband of four. Prosecutors argued that she killed her husband so. Getty Images. Today, Melanie McGuire is almost 50 and is serving a life sentence at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton. Yet, in the end, it turned out that shed lied about it all. I still feel bothered. He lived with his wife Melanie and their two boys in an apartment in Woodbridge, New Jersey, United States. Investigators also found trash bags in Melanie McGuire's home that they believed matched those used to wrap parts of Bill McGuire's body. Days later, an unidentified man, believed by many to be her stepfather, also contacted E-ZPass and attempted to have the charge removed. Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. Bill and Melanie McGuire in happier days. "I can't even fathom that. She will not be eligible for parole until she is 100 years old. ", Through her attorney Jim Wronko, Locane describes McGuire as "very nice and pleasant and smart and helpful.". Now the former fertility nurse is 47 years old and spending her life sentence in Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Clinton, New Jersey. As of June 22, 2020, two inmates had died of COVID-19. Dig, dig. In April 2004, Melanie and Bill McGuire seemed to have it all: successful careers, two young sons and a new $500,000 home. 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. 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. 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. Most recently, though, it has been the subject of ABCs 20/20, in an episode entitled Interview with Melanie McGuire, where we get Melanies complete perspective for the first time. Melanie McGuire was found guilty of murdering Bill McGuire, 39, in April 2004. Would love your thoughts, please comment. McGuire maintains her innocence, and wants her two adult sons to look into the case for themselves. However, after five years and two kids, their marriage ended on April 28, 2004, with Melanie killing her husband. On July 19, 2007 she was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole until she is 100 years old. Once Melanie spots Bills car from the highway, she decides shes going to move his car, said Shlosberg. During the 20/20 interview, Melanie sends a message to her now adult sons, whom she hasnt had contact with since her 2007 trial. Though a jury agreed and sentenced Melanie McGuire to life in prison, the so-called Suitcase Killer has long insisted upon her innocence. Like, how could somebody think that I did that? she said on 20/20. 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".
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