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. 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. [6][7] She enrolled at Rutgers University with a double major in math and psychology and graduated in 1994. That night, according to the prosecution, McGuire drugged her husband, shot him dead, and subsequently dismembered his body. At least the prison conversations won't be, ahem, boring for Amy Locane. Over a period of 12 days in May 2004, three dark green suitcases were discovered in and near the Chesapeake Bay. Melanie McGuire listens to testimony today during her murder trial. [5], Melanie Lyn Slate grew up in Ridgewood and Middletown Township, New Jersey, attending Middletown High School South. Soon after William and Melanie McGuire tied the knot in 1999, they welcomed their first child, a son, in 2000. The evidence that was at trial was from ballistic experts.. So I think the police said, Well, prove it. But Melanie maintains that she did not commit the infamous Suitcase Murder. The New Jersey fertility nurse was sentenced to life in prison back in 2007 for murdering her husband Bill in April 2004. In 2007, McGuire was convicted of killing and dismembering her husband, Bill. by Sarah Jae Leiber Sep. 21, 2020. Actress Candice King who is best known for her work in the Vampire Diaries will play McGuire. During the investigation, incriminating evidence against Melanie was uncovered. She was immediately booked into the Middlesex County Adult Correctional Center on first-degree murder charges, but made her $750,000 bail ($1.04 million today). A staff writer for All That's Interesting, Kaleena Fraga has also had her work featured in The Washington Post and Gastro Obscura, and she published a book on the Seattle food scene for the Eat Like A Local series. She became known as the Suitcase Killer during her televised 2007 trial. The killer is out there and its not me, Melanie told Robach. Miller was adamant that he had nothing to do with any crime, and he didnt know anything about this. The 48-year-old actress and mother of two has been sober since the 2010 crash. 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. Miller was also married with children. Melanie McGuire is now serving a lifetime sentence at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey, as Entertainment Weekly reports. According to PEOPLE, Melanie claimed that Bill had a gambling problem and a volatile temper. 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. Watch the full story on "20/20" Friday, Sept. 25, at 9 p.m. 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. Speaking to ABC News' Amy Robach for 20/20, she said: "I'm doing this because there's a murderer walking around. "After all these years, I still feel hurt. And my answer is I can't explain because I don't think it makes any sense either," Wronko told EW earlier this month. Watch new at 9/8c on ABC. Melanie McGuire - Wikipedia. Read More: Where Is Melanie McGuires Family Now? At the time, the local media also reported this detail about the parking lot's surveillance cameras. She suggested that her husband had been killed over his gambling debts, claiming that he was the one whod insisted that she buy a gun in the first place. 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. 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. They searched gun records in the state but found nothing. The appeal details the murder, the night of Bill McGuires disappearance, and the disposal of his body. 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. Her 2007 trial became a nationally televised event. Like, how could somebody think that I did that?". [9] Her E-ZPass tag was recorded at a toll booth in Delaware two days after the murder; she claimed that this was the result of her going furniture shopping in Delaware, since it has no sales tax. Investigators searched the home for evidence multiple times, checking to see if Bill McGuire had been killed and dismembered there. And shes not the only one who thinks that police arrested the wrong suspect. For the two toddlers, they usually woke up, saw their parents, went to daycare, came back, saw their parents, ate, played, and then slept. 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. 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. Born on October 8, 1972, Melanie Lyn Slate has spent all of her life in New Jersey growing up in Ridgewood and Middletown Township. 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. Prezioso said she has no doubt Melanie McGuire's gun was the murder weapon. That same year, she married her husband, a U.S. Navy veteran named William Bill McGuire. 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. 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. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this 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. McGuire, now 47, was convicted of killing and dismembering her husband after a lengthy trial in 2007. At her televised trial, prosecutors explained that she had drugged Bill, shot him, and dismembered him. Dig, dig. Melanie McGuire admitted to having an affair with Miller. Candice King as Melanie McGuire in "Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story," which explore the real death of Bill McGuire in 2004. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. ET on Saturday, June 18 on the Lifetime network. The victim, a coroner found, had been shot multiple times. Suitcase Killer The Melanie McGuire Story is available to watch in Canada with a Philo subscription! To this day, Melanie maintains that she did not kill her husband, dismember him, and dispose of his body parts in suitcases. 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." Dubbed the Suitcase Killer, she was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison on July 19, 2007, at the age of 34. 2011 - Google Scholar", "N.J. appeals court upholds life sentence for convicted suitcase killer Melanie McGuire", "State v. McGuire, 27 A. Few, if any, knew that McGuire, a mother of two young sons, was having an affair with her physician boss, Dr. Bradley Miller. [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. After all these years, I still feel hurt. Melanie McGuire was victim Bill's wife, who was accused of his murder and dubbed the "Suitcase Killer" when the case went to trial. 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 still feel bothered. Melanie McGuire, now 47, maintains her innocence from the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, New Jersey, the state's only women's prison where there are approximately 500. She is currently incarcerated at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, New Jersey, according to her prison records. Thirteen years have passed since Melanie McGuire's conviction. After finishing high school, she enrolled at Rutgers University for a double major in math and psychology, which she achieved in 1994. 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. September 26, 2020 Examined Upon further investigation, police discovered a security video of the car being moved in the early morning hours of April 30, 2004. He probably would have broken my cheek if [the hit] had been a closed fist, Melanie McGuire said. [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. Melanie McGuire Was Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder of Husband Bill, Please review our privacy policy here: https://heavy.com/privacy-policy/, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. She put his remains into a 3-piece suitcase set, and those three pieces were later found in Chesapeake Bay. YouTubeMelanie McGuire says shes innocent and that someone else killed her husband, Bill, in 2004. Her trial began in March 5, 2007. In September 2020, Melanie McGuire sat down with 20/20 and gave her first interview in 13 years. With the story debunked, the request for a new trial was withdrawn. Melanie McGuire is a former nurse who worked at a fertility clinic in New Jersey. Miller looked at the prescription and he said, Thats not my signature and it appears to be Melanie McGuires handwriting, recalled Prezioso. Also if the crime scene didnt happen [at the family home] and shes home with her children all night, where is this happening? [1], By April 2004, the McGuires had been married for five years. 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. I still feel bothered. Image Credit: ABC News / 20/20 Lifetime's new film Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story explores the shocking death of Bill McGuire on April 28, 2004. I have a book that I can look in that doesn't leave an internet history, Melanie McGuire told "20/20.". 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. Melanie and Bill McGuire cut the cake at their wedding. On April 23, 2007 McGuire was found guilty by a jury of first-degree murder, perjury, desecration of human remains and possession of a weapon for unlawful means. Now her children have neither a mother or a father, neither one, because of Melanie McGuire. 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. He probably would have broken my cheek if it had been a closed fist, Melanie McGuire told 20/20. As of June 22, 2020, two inmates had died of COVID-19. 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. 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. McGuire went through a lengthy trial, which was televised on Court TV, from February to April 2007. They closed the documents on their new house on April 28, but never moved in. McGuire told 20/20 she did not commit the crimes for which she was convicted. 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. On camera, Melanie tells them: Make up your mind. 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. Watch the full story on "20/20" Friday, Sept. 25, at 9 p.m. The medical examiner determined that the body had been shot multiple times. Melanie McGuire says she isnt hoping for prison release, in a new jailhouse interview with @ARobach Friday at 9/8c during a new #ABC2020. These documents exist. 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. 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. No one plugged the serial number of my gun into a website to find out what the specifications were, said Melanie McGuire. These documents exist. He lived with his wife Melanie and their two boys in an apartment in Woodbridge, New Jersey, United States. 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. Don't accept what you're just being told on the surface. Her bail was raised to $2.1million ($2.9 million today), but she was again released. In September 2020 McGuire took part in a rare interview with ABC News, in which she continued to profess her innocence for the crime. But she didnt report Bill missing. The 62-year-old actress posted a jaw-dropping selfie on Instagram Tuesday night, featuring the . Dig, dig., 20/20 airs Fridays at 9 pm on ABC, right after Americas Funniest Home Videos at 8 pm. During her conversation with ABCs Amy Robach, Melanie continued to insist on her innocence. She pleaded not guilty to all indictments and soon posted an accumulated bail of over $2 million. 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. 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. Did Melanie McGuire dismember her husband? Miller also said in his . 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. He ran tests, but he didn't do all the tests that you actually need to definitively say whether these bags match, added Sacks. "My job is not to convince the world. 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. 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. 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. Melanie was a nurse at a fertility clinic and Bill was a computer programmer. The investigation into who killed Bill McGuire began in Virginia but eventually moved to New Jersey. She actually obtained the means to incapacitate Bill from her workplace, which eventually became her downfall. She said she was unhappy in her marriage. Miller agreed to cooperate with investigators and was never charged in the crime. Melanie then became the prime suspect in the investigation. Melanie Griffith set the Internet on fire. Background Bill McGuire was born in September of 1964. At the time, the case created a media sensation, with McGuire dubbed the "suitcase killer.". 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. 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. Born on October 8, 1972, Melanie grew up in Ridgewood, New Jersey, majored in statistics at Rutgers University, and enrolled in nursing school, according to The New York Times. 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. And on May 16, a third. This stuff exists, she said on the show. (Video By Bumper. She pleaded not guilty. On July 19, 2007 she was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole until she is 100 years old. And then, two years later, they were blessed with another baby boy. Melanie McGuire denies this, pointing to the fact that there are hundreds of miles between Delaware and Virginia Beach. Melanie and Bill McGuire pictured in Atlantic City, New Jersey at an unknown date. After all these years, I still feel hurt. Like, how could somebody think that I did that? https://t.co/f9HrMsbxkY. There were two charges, totaling 90 cents, on her statement that proved she had driven to Atlantic City after her husband went missing. His head and torso with bullet wounds were found in a medium size suitcase and his arms in a smaller suitcase in the Chesapeake Bay. Lands and grooves are rifling characteristics that are machine pressed into the barrel of a gun. Prezioso said she believed that Melanie McGuire was planting the car in Atlantic City to create an illusion that Bill McGuire was still alive. I cannot even think about that. 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. Lifetime is planning to release a movie about her case, Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story in June 2022. Powered by. Prosecutors called 64 witnesses, and the defense called 16 witnesses. She said her marriage to Bill McGuire was not going well and claimed that he was violent. by Chilling Crimes July 20, 2020. Now the former fertility nurse is 47 years old and spending her life sentence in Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Clinton, New Jersey. [8] She married United States Navy veteran William T. "Bill" McGuire (born September 21, 1964) in 1999. 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. 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. Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story airs at 8 p.m. https://t.co/ZGewROXCaQ pic.twitter.com/hlzcKR96Ss. 3d 411 - NJ: Appellate Div. 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. After all these years, I still feel hurt. The podcasters and Melanie McGuire also point to unexplained animal hair found on Bill McGuires dismembered body and noted in investigative reports. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. [9] The footage was blurry and the police weren't able to identify the person in the video. 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. ET on ABC. [B]ut gone doesnt mean dead.. Indeed, she spent most of her time bringing new life into the world. But though Bill and Melanie had two sons together, their marriage swiftly soured. A nurse said her husband walked out on her. She claimed he walked out on her and the kids . The podcast hosts and Melanie McGuire herself, raise questions about whether it's even possible the gun she purchased was the murder weapon. This stuff exists. Bill McGuire, 39, went missing on April 29, 2004. In the evening hours of April 28, 2004, after the closing on the new house, she allegedly drugged and incapacitated Bill and then shot him sometime during April 28-29. The bullets that came out of my husband had six lands and grooves," said Melanie McGuire. I guess it is comforting [that people are interested]. "Beware of pretty faces that you find, a pretty face can hide an evil mind." -Johnny Ramistella. by 2Paragraphs in Culture, True Crime Murder TV | September 25, 2020. Dubbed the "Suitcase Killer," she was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison on July 19, 2007, at the age of 34. 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. She offered explanations for the stories she told police, such as her claim she stumbled across her husbands car in Atlantic City and moved it. After pulling the surveillance footage from the parking lot, however, investigators were disappointed. "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. His body was found in three separate suitcases in the Chesapeake Bay, which led to McGuires nickname, the Suitcase Killer.. 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. The podcast, hosted by Fairleigh Dickinson University criminology professors Meghan Sacks and Amy Schlosberg questions Melanie McGuire's guilt and suggests that there is evidence in the case that never received the legal scrutiny it deserved. Dig, dig. 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. Youre talking about hours [of driving] and there isnt enough time, said McGuire. Melanie McGuire married her husband in 1999 and later alleged that he had a gambling problem and a violent temper. [9] Police believed that she used a syringe and prescription from her work to obtain the drug used as a means to incapacitate her husband.[11]. Trial photos of Melanie McGuire, a New Jersey nurse best known for being the perpetrator in the media-dubbed "suitcase murder." . She later told police that she believed he'd gone to Atlantic City to gamble as he had a penchant for doing so. Melanie McGuire, 34-years old, sentenced to life in prison for murdering her husband Photo Source: NJ.com (website) However, the state's expert disagreed, testifying that he ran the tests he believed were necessary to link the bags. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. 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. Dont accept what youre just being told on the surface. Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. After they released a sketch to the public, one of Bill McGuires friends soon came forward. [13] She was also convicted of the lesser charges of perjury, desecration of human remains, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. Locane is back behind bars for killing Helene Seeman, 60, in a 2010 drunk driving collision in New Jersey's Montgomery Township. The day before his disappearance, the couple closed on the purchase of their first home. McGuire offered a message to her sons on 20/20, who are now adults, encouraging them to look deeper into the case and find the truth for themselves. But just 48 hours later, 31-year-old Melanie requested a restraining order against him, alleging that he'd gotten violent during a fight the night before inside their New Jersey home. Like, how could somebody think that I did that? she said on 20/20. 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. Dig, dig. After seeing this report Melanie McGuire told Miller a story that prosecutors later called preposterous. 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 . (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Less than a year later, the McGuires had their first son. 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. One contained a torso and a head, the other a mans thighs and pelvis, according to Oxygen.