Melanie McGuire told the podcast "Direct Appeal" that she is not the suitcase killer, and that the true murderer is still on the loose. Meanwhile, investigators found more and more evidence that suggested that Melanie McGuire had killed her husband. [9] Police received a tip from a private towing company employee who said he towed a 2002 Nissan Maxima (Bill McGuire's car) from the Flamingo Motel in Atlantic City, on May 8, 2004. 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.. People are feeling this way now, but when it's no longer a story, I'll just be forgotten. [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. 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 appeal details the murder, the night of Bill McGuires disappearance, and the disposal of his body. She then graduated from the Charles E. Gregory School of Nursing (now Raritan Bay Medical Center) in 1997 with a nursing diploma. A few days later, a suitcase surfaced in a bay miles away with a horrifying discovery inside. YouTube She told her sons, now adults, to look into the case for themselves. The 2004 case was dubbed the suitcase murder because the victims legs were found in a suitcase that washed up in Virginia Beach. 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. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Less than a year later, the McGuires had their first son. Melanie McGuire was a former nurse in the United States who was found guilty of murdering her husband on April 28, 2004. I still feel bothered. 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. "I won't be home until my oldest is 18 and my youngest is 16," she told EW. 3d 411 - NJ: Appellate Div. Nothing in Melanie McGuires early life suggested shed turn to murder. NEW BRUNSWICK - Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced that Melanie McGuire was sentenced to life in prison today for the 2004 shooting death of her husband, William McGuire, whose severed remains were found in three suitcases along the Virginia coast. Melanie claims that Bill pushed her against the wall during a fight, hit her, and tried to choke her with a dryer sheet. 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 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. Like, how could somebody think that I did that?. This is not one of those cases, said Prezioso. 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. Also if the crime scene didnt happen [at the family home] and shes home with her children all night, where is this happening? 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." Dig, dig., 20/20 airs Fridays at 9 pm on ABC, right after Americas Funniest Home Videos at 8 pm. Bill and Melanie McGuire in happier days. Dont accept what youre just being told on the surface. [Watch on your phone with the ABC GO Digital App found here. McGuire told 20/20 she did not commit the crimes for which she was convicted. Bill McGuire, 39, disappeared April 28, 2004, shortly after announcing to his friends that he and his wife had just closed the sale of their first home, according to an appeal filed in her case. She was indicted on four additional, relatively smaller charges in October. 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. I have a book that I can look in that doesn't leave an internet history, Melanie McGuire told "20/20.". Indeed, she spent most of her time bringing new life into the world. However, not much else about the day was typical. 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. Melanie McGuire and defense attorney Stephen Turano, right, react to the verdict during her trial in New Brunswick, N.J., Monday, April 23, 2007. 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. Colombia Finds Two New Shipwrecks Near The Site Of An 18th-Century Spanish Galleon That Sank With Billions In Treasure, The Life And Death Of JFK Jr., The Beloved Son Of John F. Kennedy, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. 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 had a message for her sons, who are now adults, "Make up your mind. William "Bill" McGuire was a husband and father of two. 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. 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. 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. Investigators searched the home for evidence multiple times, checking to see if Bill McGuire had been killed and dismembered there. She will not be eligible for parole until she is 100 years old. I still feel bothered. 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 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. They searched gun records in the state but found nothing. Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. 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". The killer is out there and it's not me. 2011 - Google Scholar", "N.J. appeals court upholds life sentence for convicted suitcase killer Melanie McGuire", "State v. McGuire, 27 A. 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". Their relationship began in 2002, according to the appeal. After a nearly month and a half long trial, Melanie McGuire was found guilty. Watch the full story on "20/20" Friday, Sept. 25, at 9 p.m. For the two toddlers, they usually woke up, saw their parents, went to daycare, came back, saw their parents, ate, played, and then slept. They surmised that Melanie had sedated Bill, shot him, and cut up his body. 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. Data from the New Jersey Department of Corrections details cases since they implemented additional measures. Two years later, in 1999, she married William Bill McGuire, a US Navy veteran, and started a life with him in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. During her arraignment on murder charges, McGuire's case was dubbed the "Suitcase Murder" by various media outlets. But this was the first time somebody was basically saying, We hear you, said Melanie McGuire. He probably would have broken my cheek if it had been a closed fist, Melanie McGuire told 20/20. Make up your mind. It says: The State alleged that defendant wanted to end her marriage to Bill but also had concerns about divorce. There's less of a waiting period.. He said he was leaving and he wasnt coming back and [that] I could tell my children they didnt have a father.. On May 11, another suitcase was discovered. 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. Melanie McGuire, sentenced to life in prison for killing her husband in a case known as the "Suitcase Murder," filed a petition in New Jersey Superior Court Thursday asking a judge for more. In September 2020 McGuire took part in a rare interview with ABC News, in which she continued to profess her innocence for the crime. https://t.co/ZGewRPfd2o pic.twitter.com/i4dBUBR7PJ. [11] Through her attorneys, Joe Tacopina,[12] Steve Turano, and Marc Ward, she pleaded not guilty to the charges. This suitcase was found to contain the head and torso with three bullet wounds, two in the chest and one in the head. Actress Candice King who is best known for her work in the Vampire Diaries will play McGuire. 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. Criminologists Dr. Meghan Sacks, and Dr. Amy Shlosberg dig into the evidence on the podcast. So she drove around until she found his car and then moved it as a prank. 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. Melanie and Bill McGuire pictured in Atlantic City, New Jersey at an unknown date. 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. 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. 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. Youre talking about hours [of driving] and there isnt enough time, said McGuire. 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. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. She was sentenced to life in prison on July 19, 2007 and is serving her sentence at the Edna. Miller eventually testified against Melanie McGuire at her trial. She was sentenced to life in prison. Watch new at 9/8c on ABC. Another important development for investigators was the discovery of Bill McGuire's car. Don't accept what you're just being told on the surface. 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. 1:15. 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 were confident Miller was not involved in the crime but were never able to bring charges against anyone else. Yet, in the end, it turned out that shed lied about it all. 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. 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. They pulled out the piping, pulling floorboards up, said Sacks. Dig, dig. 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. 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. "There was no evidence connecting him to this crime.. Once police honed in on Melanie McGuire as the prime suspect, they began wiretapping her phones. The body parts belonged to a New Jersey father of two named Bill McGuire, and police soon suspected that his wife, Melanie McGuire, had killed him. Lifetime is planning to release a movie about her case, Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story in June 2022. Would love your thoughts, please comment. Melanie and Bill McGuire cut the cake at their wedding. On June 2, 2005, more than a year after the murder, Melanie dropped her children off at child care and preschool. Its out there., 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." It was a mistake on a gun manufacturer's website. 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. Melanie McGuire Today: Where Is the Suitcase Killer Now in 2020. Her bail was raised to $2.1million ($2.9 million today), but she was again released. 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 . The Superior Court of New Jersey affirmed her verdict and sentence in 2011. She also made inquiries of a friend about how to buy a gun. Once Melanie spots Bills car from the highway, she decides shes going to move his car, said Shlosberg. 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. 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. Police also learned that Melanie had been having a long-term affair with a co-worker named Bradley Miller. 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. ET on ABC She said she was unhappy in her marriage. There were times I wanted him gone, she told 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". In April 2004, Melanie and Bill McGuire seemed to have it all: successful careers, two young sons and a new $500,000 home. 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.. September 26, 2020 Examined Her trial began in March 5, 2007. In the meantime, the two young McGuire children, ages 5 and 7, are being raised by Bill's sister, Cindy Ligosh. I believe that the evidence presented to the jury told the jury what happened," Prezioso said. 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. 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. 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 top priority for New Jersey investigators was determining if Melanie McGuire had ever owned a gun. Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. https://directappealpodcast.com/. 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. One contained a torso and a head, the other a mans thighs and pelvis, according to Oxygen. You can read the appeal and court decision in full here. 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? (The court awarded custody to Bill McGuires sister, Cindy Ligosh.) Prosecutors believed that McGuire forged the prescription as she had access to this prescription pad. 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. Melanie McGuire is currently in a New Jersey jail, awaiting sentencing on July 19. 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 . She is currently incarcerated at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, New Jersey, according to her prison records. Melanie McGuire says she isnt hoping for prison release, in a new jailhouse interview with @ARobach Friday at 9/8c during a new #ABC2020. In addition to 20/20, her case is being examined in a podcast, Direct Appeal. She filed an appeal to the New Jersey Superior Court, which affirmed her conviction and sentence in 2011. [22] She must serve more than 63 years before she is eligible for parole. That night, according to the prosecution, McGuire drugged her husband, shot him dead, and subsequently dismembered his body. A jury convicted McGuire in 2007, and she was sentenced to life in prison plus five years. [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. 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. I just burst into tears, Melanie said of learning about her husbands death in a 2007 interview. ", Through her attorney Jim Wronko, Locane describes McGuire as "very nice and pleasant and smart and helpful.". [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. We looked very closely at Dr. Miller, said Prezioso. 0:45. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Melanie went to work at a fertility clinic and Bill began teaching computer science at a technical college.
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