After a nearly month and a half long trial, Melanie McGuire was found guilty. No one plugged the serial number of my gun into a website to find out what the specifications were, said Melanie McGuire. McGuire maintains her innocence, and wants her two adult sons to look into the case for themselves. The body was eventually identified as 39 year-old Bill McGuire, an employee of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, who lived more than 300 miles away in Woodbridge, New Jersey. Melanie McGuire was found guilty of murdering Bill McGuire, 39, in April 2004. Melanie McGuire, the 34-year-old fertility clinic nurse convicted of killing her husband and stuffing his remains into suitcases, was sentenced to life in prison this morning. 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. 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. Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for WomenMelanie McGuire prison record. She drugged him, shot him (in the head and chest) to death, and subsequently dismembered his remains. 2023 Oscars predictions: See who will win at the 95th Academy Awards. I still feel bothered. If I wanted to look for something like that, I have a [physicians' desk reference]. I just burst into tears, Melanie said of learning about her husbands death in a 2007 interview. 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. The Suitcase Killer, Melanie McGuire Story shows the real-life incident that occurred in 2004 in New Jersey, when Melanie, a local nurse killed her husband, William, a computer programmer, and dismembered his body and packed them in a suitcase, and dumped them in the Chesapeake Bay. Shes now a 47-year-old inmate at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Clinton, New Jersey, where she claims that shes not only innocent of killing her husband but that his real killer is still out there. Though a jury agreed and sentenced Melanie McGuire to life in prison, the so-called Suitcase Killer has long insisted upon her innocence. The prescription for chloral hydrate came from Millers prescription pad. How Marvel went big with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Melanie went to Middletown High School South and. Melanie McGuire and defense attorney Stephen Turano, right, react to the verdict during her trial in New Brunswick, N.J., Monday, April 23, 2007. After his body was found and detectives notified Melanie McGuire of her husband's death, she told them to look for Bill McGuires missing car in Atlantic City -- she claimed he had a gambling problem and frequented the city. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. State Superior Court Judge Angela Borkowski gave Locane more time after the punishmentfor her original conviction (second-degree vehicular homicide and assault by an auto), which was deemed too lenient. Dr. Born on October 8, 1972, Melanie Lyn Slate has spent all of her life in New Jersey growing up in Ridgewood and Middletown Township. As improbable as it sounds, Melanie McGuire said she actually stumbled upon her husband's car. Do you know how hard it is to cut through bone? "It turned out that when the record check was done with Pennsylvania, a record came back that Melanie McGuire had purchased a gun," said Patti Prezioso, the lead investigator and prosecutor at Melanie McGuire's trial. 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. Prison inmates are in a closed environment. She became known as the Suitcase Killer during her televised 2007 trial. 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. Prosecutors also pointed to Melanie McGuire's supposed internet searches in the days leading up to Bill McGuires disappearance. She wished to avoid purchasing a house at substantial expense and beginning a new phase in a marriage she regretted. As a realtor at the Weichert office in Franklin Lakes, she, along with her husband, pharmacist Bill Ligosh of Wyckoff, New Jersey, were deemed well qualified and capable of taking good care of the toddlers. YouTubeMelanie McGuire married her husband in 1999 and later alleged that he had a gambling problem and a violent temper. Data from the New Jersey Department of Corrections details cases since they implemented additional measures. Sacks and Shlosberg claim that the tests run by the state's plastic expert were not sufficient to conclusively link the bags found in Melanie McGuires house and the ones used to wrap Bill McGuires body. ", Through her attorney Jim Wronko, Locane describes McGuire as "very nice and pleasant and smart and helpful.". Suitcase Killer The Melanie McGuire Story is available to watch in Canada with a Philo subscription! Police also learned that Melanie had been having a long-term affair with a co-worker named Bradley Miller. Melanie McGuire denies this, pointing to the fact that there are hundreds of miles between Delaware and Virginia Beach. Dig, dig." Suitcase Killer: The. [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. He had been married to Melanie Lyn Slate McGuire for about five years had two beautiful sons with her. Pam Grier reflects on her most iconic roles, from Coffy to Jackie Brown. But Melanie maintains that she did not commit the infamous Suitcase Murder. Melanie McGuire was convicted in the grisly murder of her husband, Bill McGuire, whose body was found dismembered in suitcases in the Chesapeake Bay. "There was no evidence connecting him to this crime.. Melanie and Bill McGuire pictured hugging at an unknown date. At the time, the case created a media sensation, with McGuire dubbed the "suitcase killer.". [11] Through her attorneys, Joe Tacopina,[12] Steve Turano, and Marc Ward, she pleaded not guilty to the charges. Investigators also found Bills car where Melanie suggested it would be Atlantic City. For the two toddlers, they usually woke up, saw their parents, went to daycare, came back, saw their parents, ate, played, and then slept. 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. 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. McGuire appealed her case, saying she did not receive a fair trial. A jury convicted McGuire in 2007, and she was sentenced to life in prison plus five years. This chart demonstrates the significant drop in active cases from approximately 800 active inmate cases in DOC facilities at the peak of the pandemic, the DOC website says. Melanie McGuire Today: Where Is the Suitcase Killer Now in 2020. [22] She must serve more than 63 years before she is eligible for parole. 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. McGuire told 20/20 she did not commit the crimes for which she was convicted. She maintains her innocence and . Prosecutors argued that she killed her husband so. 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. Thirteen years have passed since Melanie McGuire's conviction. The evidence in this case points to a well-organized, meticulously planned execution of a murder, Prezioso said during the trial. One contained a torso and a head, the other a mans thighs and pelvis, according to Oxygen. 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. September 26, 2020 Examined Watch new at 9/8c on ABC. 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. And shes not the only one who thinks that police arrested the wrong suspect. Dig, dig.". ABC dug into the case and interviewed McGuire in prison for their two-hour 20/20 special, Suitcase Killer, which airs at 9 p.m. Eastern time Friday, September 25, 2020. Her bail was raised to $2.1million ($2.9 million today), but she was again released. Melanie says in the past, when theyre angry at each other, its a way of messing with each other, I guess you could say., It sounds beyond ridiculous sitting here saying it and I acknowledge that Its the truth, Melanie McGuire told 20/20.. A New Jersey grand jury indicted McGuire on charges of first-degree murder, second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, second-degree desecration of human remains and third-degree perjury in October 2005. In April 2004, defendant conducted internet research to learn about buying a gun and about poisons, sedative drugs, and murder. The podcast hosts and Melanie McGuire herself, raise questions about whether it's even possible the gun she purchased was the murder weapon. [10] Prosecutors contended her motive for murder was to take up a new life with her lover. New Jersey Department of Corrections/Find a Grave, Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women, Data from the New Jersey Department of Corrections, Melanie McGuire Was Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder of Husband Bill. With Candice King, Michael Roark, Tristan Laurence, Jackson Hurst. Therefore, at the age of 49, Melanie McGuire is currently incarcerated at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Union Township, Hunterdon County. After all these years, I still feel hurt. by 2Paragraphs in Culture, True Crime Murder TV | September 25, 2020. McGuire and Miller began their affair in 2002 when she was pregnant with her second child, and their relationship continued until June 2005 when she was charged with her husband's murder. After finishing high school, she enrolled at Rutgers University for a double major in math and psychology, which she achieved in 1994. 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. With the story debunked, the request for a new trial was withdrawn. 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. I still feel bothered. 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. Melanie did not incapacitate, shoot [or] use a saw to dismember her husband, said Sacks. After all these years, I still feel hurt. I'm a nurse or I was a nurse, and I don't need to look up things like that. 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. After all these years, I still feel hurt. In September 2020 McGuire took part in a rare interview with ABC News, in which she continued to profess her innocence for the crime. William "Bill" McGuire was a husband and father of two. When investigators discovered the affair, they approached Miller. It is physically exhausting. 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. Read More: Where Are William and Melanie McGuires Kids Now? Family and friends can send flowers and/or light a candle as a loving gesture for their loved one. 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." [9] A witness testified that Melanie used the same towels to protect furniture when she moved. 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. The news outlet reported in June, 2020, COVID-19 was spreading because of a low supply of protective masks, poorly enforced social distancing measures, and inadequate quarantining of infected inmates. Prezioso said she believed that Melanie McGuire was planting the car in Atlantic City to create an illusion that Bill McGuire was still alive. Prezioso believed the "human sawdust" was the result of Bill McGuire's dismemberment. Her defense lawyers have not said if McGuire will testify . To drive from New Jersey to the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia requires driving through Delaware, and the first suitcase turned up the very next day, Prezioso said. Meghan Sacks and Amy Schlosberg are the hosts of the podcast "Direct Appeal" and Fairleigh Dickinson University criminology professors. They closed the documents on their new house on April 28, but never moved in. 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. In a new episode of "20/20," co-anchor Amy Robach sits down for the first on-camera interview with Melanie McGuire since she was sentenced to life in prison 13 . The chart below captures the current COVID cases within the inmate and staff population, following Phase 2 testing, which includes retesting those individuals who were previously negative. 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. In 2007, McGuire was convicted of killing and dismembering her husband, Bill. She claimed he walked out on her and the kids . ", Credit: Jean-Paul Aussenard/WireImage; ABC, Amy Locane's prison cell roommate is the notorious Suitcase Killer. After a 7-week trial, Melanie McGuire was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. I still feel bothered. Locane is back behind bars for killing Helene Seeman, 60, in a 2010 drunk driving collision in New Jersey's Montgomery Township. [9], On May 5, 2004, the first suitcase, containing human legs, was found by two fishermen and two children floating near the Chesapeake Bay BridgeTunnel's fourth artificial island, and a murder investigation was launched. Melanie McGuire says she isnt hoping for prison release, in a new jailhouse interview with @ARobach Friday at 9/8c during a new #ABC2020. https://t.co/ZGewROXCaQ pic.twitter.com/hlzcKR96Ss. 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? 0:45. 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. [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. They searched gun records in the state but found nothing. Bill McGuire, 39, put a down payment down on a $500,000 house for the couple and their two young sons in April 2004. 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". However, prosecutors established that the informant was "entirely incredible and routinely and habitually fabricates stories" according to a New Jersey State Police investigation, before recanting and accusing McGuire's attorney of suborning perjury. Prezioso is certain that Bill McGuires murderer is the woman who was convicted and is now sitting in prison. 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. During her conversation with ABCs Amy Robach, Melanie continued to insist on her innocence. 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. He probably would have broken my cheek if [the hit] had been a closed fist, Melanie McGuire said. More than a year later, on October 26, 2006, McGuire was charged with two counts of hindering apprehension for allegedly writing letters to police aimed at getting them off her trail. 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. Lands and grooves are rifling characteristics that are machine pressed into the barrel of a gun. From Austin Butler and Cate Blanchett to a potential Best Supporting Actress toss-up, see who EW thinks will win at the 2023 Oscars. On camera, Melanie tells them: Make up your mind. She pleaded not guilty to all indictments and soon posted an accumulated bail of over $2 million. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. https://directappealpodcast.com/. 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. 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. There were times I wanted him gone, she told 20/20. After all these years, I still feel hurt, Melanie said. The 62-year-old actress posted a jaw-dropping selfie on Instagram Tuesday night, featuring the . A few days later, a suitcase surfaced in a bay miles away with a horrifying discovery inside. I dont know how you would dismember a body and effectively clean that up, said McGuire. 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. 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. He did not return a call from the seller later that evening. [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. I still feel bothered. After all these years, I still feel hurt. https://t.co/ZGewRPfd2o pic.twitter.com/i4dBUBR7PJ. The appeal raised many claims contending she did not receive a fair trial, including prosecutorial misconduct, failure to consider a mitigating factor, a tainted jury, and exposure of the jury to inflammatory media accounts. Born on October 8, 1972, Melanie Lyn Slate has spent all of her life in New Jersey growing up in Ridgewood and Middletown Township. Five days after Bill McGuire went missing, investigators said Melanie McGuire made another bizarre road trip, this time to Delaware. They brought in the luminol, and they also pulled down parts of the walls. Like, how could somebody think that I did that? https://t.co/f9HrMsbxkY. Bill's body parts were discovered in three suitcases floating in the Chesapeake Bay near Virginia. However, not much else about the day was typical. I believe that the evidence presented to the jury told the jury what happened," Prezioso said. Therefore, from what we can tell, even today, as young men, William and Melanies sons reside in New Jersey with their aunt, uncle, and cousins the only family theyve ever known. She said she was unhappy in her marriage. It is physically exhausting. 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. The McGuire family resided in a Woodbridge Township apartment but had plans to move to a much larger home in Warren County by the end of April. ET on ABC Police identified the man in the suitcases as 39-year-old William McGuire, from Woodbridge New Jersey, and they quickly focused their attention on Bill's wife, Melanie McGuire, who did not report him missing. [B]ut gone doesnt mean dead.. "I panicked. 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. Like, how could somebody think that I did that?. Did Melanie McGuire dismember her husband? In the meantime, the two young McGuire children, ages 5 and 7, are being raised by Bill's sister, Cindy Ligosh. At trial, prosecutors presented an apparent mountain of circumstantial evidence against Melanie McGuire in Bill McGuires disappearance and murder. [8] She married United States Navy veteran William T. "Bill" McGuire (born September 21, 1964) in 1999. YouTube Actress Candice King who is best known for her work in the Vampire Diaries will play McGuire. She will not be eligible for parole until she is 100 years old. There's less of a waiting period.. 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. (The court awarded custody to Bill McGuires sister, Cindy Ligosh.) The film stars Candice King as Melanie McGuire, Michael Roark as William McGuire, Jackson Hurst as Bradley Miller, and Wendie Malick as Patricia Prezioso. Bradley Miller told a Middlesex County court this afternoon that he lied to a grand jury when he said he stopped having sex with . 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. After pulling the surveillance footage from the parking lot, however, investigators were disappointed. Miller also said in his . She was given a life sentence on July 19, 2007, and she is currently in jail at the Edna Mahan . "I have this Forrest Gump-ian way of touching something and it becomes a hit!" [6][7] She enrolled at Rutgers University with a double major in math and psychology and graduated in 1994. The day before his disappearance, the couple closed on the purchase of their first home. So if you wish to learn more about her and her current whereabouts, heres what we know. [15][16][17][18][19] On July 19, 2007, at the age of 34, McGuire was sentenced to life in prison.[20]. Also if the crime scene didnt happen [at the family home] and shes home with her children all night, where is this happening? 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. Dig, dig. Melanie McGuire was victim Bill's wife, who was accused of his murder and dubbed the "Suitcase Killer" when the case went to trial. [14], Shortly after her conviction, but before sentencing, McGuire appealed for a new trial on the basis of the story of jailhouse informant Christopher Thieme that her husband was deeply in debt and may have been killed by Atlantic City mobsters. Melanie McGuire is serving a life sentence in the murder of her husband, Bill McGuire, at a womens correctional facility in New Jersey. Melanie McGuire - Wikipedia. The 2004 case was dubbed the suitcase murder because the victims legs were found in a suitcase that washed up in Virginia Beach. Dig, dig. William McGuire was 39 when he died. 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. During her interview with ABC News, McGuire shared a message for her sons, saying: "Make up your mind.