[9] Bill and Melanie owned a green couch, and investigators theorized that the murderer used a pillow or couch cushion as a makeshift silencer) to shoot Bill. A Wednesday. https://t.co/ZGewRPfd2o pic.twitter.com/i4dBUBR7PJ. Actress Candice King who is best known for her work in the Vampire Diaries will play McGuire. Watch the full story on "20/20" Friday, Sept. 25, at 9 p.m. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. 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. [9] A witness testified that Melanie used the same towels to protect furniture when she moved. Watch new at 9/8c on ABC. After a nearly month and a half long trial, Melanie McGuire was found guilty. 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. After all, when Bill was murdered in 2004, he and Melanie were the proud parents of two beautiful young boys. She may be eligible for parole after serving 66 years in prison, court documents filed in her case said. I still feel bothered. Bill McGuire, 39, went missing on April 29, 2004. 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. 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. She was later charged with other offences including perjury and desecration of human remains, for which she also pled not guilt. During her interview with ABC News, McGuire shared a message for her sons, saying: "Make up your mind. Dubbed the Suitcase Killer, she was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison on July 19, 2007, at the age of 34. Melanie and Bill McGuire were married in 1999 and had two sons at the time of his death. 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.. However, after five years and two kids, their marriage ended on April 28, 2004, with Melanie killing her husband. She will not be eligible for parole until she has. 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. I believe that the evidence presented to the jury told the jury what happened," Prezioso said. There was. Miller, however, claimed that the prescription was written in Melanies handwriting. ET on ABC Melanie had to withdraw her appeal after the prosecutors debunked the story, and so, on July 19, 2007, she was sentenced to life in prison. While she admitted to her affair with Miller, she maintains she did not kill Bill McGuire. The killer is out there and it's not me. [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. 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. According to some reports, in 2007, during Melanies murder trial, Cindy put it into evidence that both of her sister-in-laws children, then aged 5 and 7, had been positively diagnosed with autism. She didnt fit the profile, I guess, of a murderer, Shlosberg told 20/20. 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. Dr. 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. 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. When Bill McGuires body was found with bullet wounds, prosecutors pointed to the fact that Melanie McGuire had purchased a gun in Pennsylvania just two days before her husband was reported missing. The Departments virus mitigation tactics, along with its universal testing initiative of staff and inmates, has controlled the spread of COVID-19 within NJDOC facilities. If youre willing to wear a wire, well believe you, said Sacks. Prezioso is certain that Bill McGuires murderer is the woman who was convicted and is now sitting in prison. https://t.co/ZGewROXCaQ pic.twitter.com/hlzcKR96Ss. McGuire's conviction was affirmed by an appeals court on March 16, 2011. There are just too many holes in this story.. 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. 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. 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. I'm a nurse or I was a nurse, and I don't need to look up things like that. 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. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. So I think the police said, Well, prove it. Like, how could somebody think that I did that? she said on 20/20. She became known as the Suitcase Killer during her televised 2007 trial. McGuire went through a lengthy trial, which was televised on Court TV, from February to April 2007. Prison inmates are in a closed environment. Data from the New Jersey Department of Corrections details cases since they implemented additional measures. And about a week later, suitcases containing his body parts began to float to the surface in the Chesapeake Bay. To this day, Melanie maintains that she did not kill her husband, dismember him, and dispose of his body parts in suitcases. Melanie was a nurse at a fertility clinic and Bill was a computer programmer. Sacks seconded her co-host, saying: Melanie did not incapacitate, shoot [or] use a saw to dismember her husband. Also if the crime scene didnt happen [at the family home] and shes home with her children all night, where is this happening? 2023 Oscars predictions: See who will win at the 95th Academy Awards. https://directappealpodcast.com/. 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. 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. Dont accept what youre just being told on the surface. She then graduated from the Charles E. Gregory School of Nursing (now Raritan Bay Medical Center) in 1997 with a nursing diploma. She says she is innocent. Miller also said in his . It is physically exhausting. Melanie McGuire is serving a life sentence in the murder of her husband, Bill McGuire, at a womens correctional facility in New Jersey. She was sentenced to life in prison on July 19, 2007, and is serving her sentence at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, New Jersey. 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 . Investigators also found Bills car where Melanie suggested it would be Atlantic City. 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 . With Candice King, Michael Roark, Tristan Laurence, Jackson Hurst. Speaking to ABC News' Amy Robach for 20/20, she said: "I'm doing this because there's a murderer walking around. 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. It says: The State alleged that defendant wanted to end her marriage to Bill but also had concerns about divorce. Sacks firmly believes that prosecutors failed to answer key questions in the case. On May 11, another suitcase was discovered. 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. I still feel bothered. Melanie McGuire. by Sarah Jae Leiber Sep. 21, 2020. 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. Like, how could somebody think that I did that?. Did Melanie McGuire dismember her husband? [24][25] On April 29, 2014, McGuire filed a motion for post-conviction relief, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel and newly discovered evidence. She was sentenced to life in prison on July 19, 2007 and is serving her sentence at the Edna. And on May 16, a third. We were not gathering evidence from a gun manufacturer's website. 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. Police also discovered small pieces of Bill's flesh, which authorities described as "human sawdust," inside the McGuire home, which they believed meant that McGuire had killed her husband. During her interview with ABC News, McGuire shared a message for her sons, saying: "Make up your mind. [4] She was sentenced to life in prison on July 19, 2007, and is serving her sentence at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, New Jersey. They opened it and found a mans dismembered legs, cut off at the knee. Offers may be subject to change without notice. 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. It never made sense.. On April 23, 2007, McGuire's murder trial jury found her guilty of first-degree murder, finding that the evidence established her culpability for the murder beyond a reasonable doubt. She maintains her innocence, having recently told 20/20 that "after all these years, I still feel hurt. 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. Melanie McGuire, 34-years old, sentenced to life in prison for murdering her husband Photo Source: NJ.com (website) Dig, dig. Bill McGuire's body was found around Chesapeake Bay near Virginia Beach, Virginia, his corpse had been shot and then dismembered, and he was put in three separate suitcases which were found in May 2004. After finishing high school, she enrolled at Rutgers University for a double major in math and psychology, which she achieved in 1994. McGuire will not be eligible for parole until she is 100 years old. It was the 28th of April 2004. It sounds beyond ridiculous sitting here saying it and I acknowledge that Its the truth, she later told 20/20. 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 . Thirteen years have passed since Melanie McGuire's conviction. It shows no inmates or staff at the facility had confirmed positive test results between August 22, 2020, and September 25, 2020. 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 went to Middletown High School South and. [5], Melanie Lyn Slate grew up in Ridgewood and Middletown Township, New Jersey, attending Middletown High School South. Investigators searched the home for evidence multiple times, checking to see if Bill McGuire had been killed and dismembered there. Therefore, more than a year after the incident, on June 7, 2005, Melanie was officially arrested and charged with first-degree murder. [11] Through her attorneys, Joe Tacopina,[12] Steve Turano, and Marc Ward, she pleaded not guilty to the charges. Lifetime is planning to release a movie about her case, Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story in June 2022. 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. On June 5, 2005, investigators arrested Melanie McGuire and charged her with first-degree murder. She was accused and convicted of murdering and dismembering her husband, William Bill McGuire, after which she packed him up in three suitcases and threw him into the Chesapeake Bay. Born on October 8, 1972, Melanie Lyn Slate has spent all of her life in New Jersey growing up in Ridgewood and Middletown Township. [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. But Melanie maintains that she did not commit the infamous Suitcase Murder. 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. [29], Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women, Possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, Fisherman Island National Wildlife Refuge, Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story, "Melanie McGuire Found Guilty of Murder in 2004 Shooting Death and Dismemberment of Her Husband", "Melanie McGuire, SBI Number: 000319833C", "Author to sign copies of Melanie McGuire book", "Case 120: Bill McGuire from Casefile True Crime", "Wife arrested in gory dismemberment murder", "General Discussion - Melanie McGuire guilty as hell", "Defense to withdraw motion for McGuire retrial", "Bit player in infamous N.J. murder case charged in bizarre murder-for-hire plot", "Man gets jail for plotting to kill online crush", https://www.state.nj.us/grc/decisions/pdf/2014-275.pdf, "McGuire sentenced to life in prison for suitcase murder", "State v. McGuire, 16 A. Background Bill McGuire was born in September of 1964. 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. [9] The footage was blurry and the police weren't able to identify the person in the video. During her arraignment on murder charges, McGuire's case was dubbed the "Suitcase Murder" by various media outlets. 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. "There was no evidence connecting him to this crime.. For her part, Melanie insisted that her husband had stormed out after a fight. READ NEXT: Melanie McGuire Was Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder of Husband Bill. They insisted he was a compulsive gambler who had become increasingly moody, unpredictable, and tempestuous in the months before his passing. 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". I panicked, Melanie told 20/20. During her trial, Miller protested McGuire's innocence, testifying that she had called him on April 28 to say that she was going to tell her husband she wanted a divorce after they had closed the deal on a new home, ABC News reported. Making matters worse, Melanie McGuire had called the company and attempted to have those charges removed. Criminologists Dr. Meghan Sacks, and Dr. Amy Shlosberg dig into the evidence on the podcast. All we know is that they havent been in touch with their mother since before she was convicted. "I won't be home until my oldest is 18 and my youngest is 16," she told EW. Bills car contained a bottle of chloral hydrate, a sedative, and two syringes, which had been prescribed by Bradley Miller. 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. The true crime drama sees Candice King take on the role of Melanie McGuire, and here is everything you need to know about her and her role in the case. It premiered on 17th June 2022 and is airing exclusively on Lifetime.The show follows the shocking murder of Bill McGuire, so don't miss it - learn how to watch Suitcase Killer The Melanie McGuire Story in Canada on Lifetime.. No matter where you live, the alluring Suitcase Killer The . She wished to avoid purchasing a house at substantial expense and beginning a new phase in a marriage she regretted. There were five lands and grooves that my weapon was said to have made based on the company's website. 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 it had been a closed fist, Melanie McGuire told 20/20. Its out there.. The prescription for chloral hydrate came from Millers prescription pad. The MCUs tiniest heroes are kicking off its biggest phase yet, setting up the next several years of storytelling. 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. Entertainment Weekly is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved. He lived with his wife Melanie and their two boys in an apartment in Woodbridge, New Jersey, United States. "I can't even fathom that. The 2004 case was dubbed the suitcase murder because the victims legs were found in a suitcase that washed up in Virginia Beach. As of June 22, 2020, two inmates had died of COVID-19. 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. 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. After all these years, I still feel hurt," McGuire told "20/20", For some, it mightve seemed like a real-life episode of The Sopranos.. It is with deep sorrow that we announce the death of Lena Christine Kindschi of Perry, Oklahoma, who passed away on February 27, 2023, at the age of 92, leaving to mourn family and friends. WOODBRIDGE - Former township resident Melanie McGuire has spent 13 years in prison after receiving a life sentence for the death of her husband, William McGuire, but in a new television. Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story: Directed by Nicole L. Thompson. She was sentenced to life in prison on July 19, 2007. "I have this Forrest Gump-ian way of touching something and it becomes a hit!" Police also found a number of suspicious internet searches on the McGuires home computer, including questions like: how to purchase guns illegally, how to commit murder, and undetectable poisons. And they believed that the garbage bags in the McGuire home matched the bags wrapped around Bill McGuires dismembered body. 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. She actually obtained the means to incapacitate Bill from her workplace, which eventually became her downfall. So she drove around until she found his car and then moved it as a prank. A top priority for New Jersey investigators was determining if Melanie McGuire had ever owned a gun. Bill called his friends to happily tell them the news. But when fishermen discovered a suitcase stuffed with Bill's remains just days after the couple had closed on their new dream home . "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. by 2Paragraphs in Culture, True Crime Murder TV | September 25, 2020. 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. William "Bill" McGuire was having a great day. Melanie McGuire has had no contact with them since before the verdict. She will not be eligible for parole until she is 100 years old. The film stars Candice King as Melanie McGuire, Michael Roark as William McGuire, Jackson Hurst as Bradley Miller, and Wendie Malick as Patricia Prezioso. I grabbed the baby and went to the bathroom right behind me and shut the door. 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. "Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story" premieres June 18 at 8 pm on Lifetime. Indeed, she spent most of her time bringing new life into the world. Dig, dig." Suitcase Killer: The. They closed the documents on their new house on April 28, but never moved in. 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. She will not be eligible for parole until she is 100 years old. 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. 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. She maintains her innocence and . Melanie McGuire says she isnt hoping for prison release, in a new jailhouse interview with @ARobach Friday at 9/8c during a new #ABC2020. And then, two years later, they were blessed with another baby boy. They pulled out the piping, pulling floorboards up, said Sacks. We heard from Barbara, a close friend of Melanie's, who has witnessed Melanie's ups and downs.I cant think of anyone more qualified to give an opinion on Melanie's behavior and emotional status. [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. There were times I wanted him gone, she told 20/20. I guess it is comforting [that people are interested]. Melanie McGuire is an American former nurse who was found guilty of killing her husband, Bill McGuire, on April 28, 2004, in a case called the "suitcase murder" by the media. There are just too many holes in this story.. On June 5, 2005, investigators arrested Melanie McGuire and charged her with first-degree murder. 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. Would love your thoughts, please comment. I still feel bothered. 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. My job is to convince the jury. Who Is Melanie McGuire? They brought in the luminol, and they also pulled down parts of the walls. According to state records, she must serve at least 85% of her sentence before she can even be considered for parole, which means shell become eligible for it on May 20, 2073. She said that they believe the garbage bags were a prop to sway the jury. McGuire was charged with first-degree murder on June 2, 2005, for which she pleaded not guilty, and she made bail. Like, how could somebody think that I did that? At the time, the local media also reported this detail about the parking lot's surveillance cameras. Melanie McGuire admitted to having an affair with a doctor at the fertility clinic where she worked. Melanie did try to appeal her case and later get relief from her long sentence, but her petitions were denied. 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. Dr. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. Make up your mind. (Video By Bumper. They lived in an apartment Woodbridge, New Jersey. William McGuire was 39 when he died. Getty Images. On July 19, 2007 she was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole until she is 100 years old. She pleaded not guilty to all indictments and soon posted an accumulated bail of over $2 million. There's less of a waiting period.. She was sentenced to life in prison on July 19, 2007, and is serving her sentence at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, New Jersey.She will not be eligible for parole until she is 100 .