Melanie Mcguire has been languishing in a prison cell for the past 13 years. 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. 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. 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. The victim, a coroner found, had been shot multiple times. https://directappealpodcast.com/. 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 . Please review our privacy policy here: https://heavy.com/privacy-policy/, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. 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.. "I have this Forrest Gump-ian way of touching something and it becomes a hit!" During the investigation, incriminating evidence against Melanie was uncovered. 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. 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? https://t.co/f9HrMsbxkY. "People ask me, 'Explain this. "My job is not to convince the world. Meanwhile, investigators found more and more evidence that suggested that Melanie McGuire had killed her husband. But despite her apparent grief, police soon began to suspect that Melanie McGuire had murdered her husband. [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. 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. Author John Glatt wrote a book about the case, entitled To Have and To Kill. I guess it is comforting [that people are interested]. [Watch on your phone with the ABC GO Digital App found here. Like, how could somebody think that I did that?". He did not return a call from the seller later that evening. 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. Make up your mind. I still feel bothered. It was a mistake on a gun manufacturer's website. They opened it and found a mans dismembered legs, cut off at the knee. Like, how could somebody think that I did that? https://t.co/f9HrMsbxkY. Bill called his friends to happily tell them the news. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. That requires two drivers so certainly that means someone helped her, said Prezioso. Prosecutors called 64 witnesses, and the defense called 16 witnesses. 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 went to work at a fertility clinic and Bill began teaching computer science at a technical college. 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. 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. 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 . She put his remains into a 3-piece suitcase set, and those three pieces were later found in Chesapeake Bay. A nurse said her husband walked out on her. Melanie McGuire admitted to having an affair with Miller. I panicked, Melanie told 20/20. The prescription for chloral hydrate came from Millers prescription pad. Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. Melanie McGuire, 34-years old, sentenced to life in prison for murdering her husband Photo Source: NJ.com (website) Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. [24][25] On April 29, 2014, McGuire filed a motion for post-conviction relief, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel and newly discovered evidence. After all these years, I still feel hurt. 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. Dig, dig.". Police quickly found his car in a parking lot there. 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. "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. At the time, the case created a media sensation, with McGuire dubbed the "suitcase killer.". Getty Images. McGuire went through a lengthy trial, which was televised on Court TV, from February to April 2007. by Chilling Crimes July 20, 2020. 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. She drugged him, shot him (in the head and chest) to death, and subsequently dismembered his remains. Melanie then became the prime suspect in the investigation. After all these years, I still feel hurt. People are feeling this way now, but when it's no longer a story, I'll just be forgotten. Prosecutors have always maintained that they believed Melanie McGuire likely had an accomplice. Melanie McGuire was convicted in the grisly murder of her husband, Bill McGuire, whose body was found dismembered in suitcases in the Chesapeake Bay. Do you know how hard it is to cut through bone? She claimed he walked out on her and the kids . And then, two years later, they were blessed with another baby boy. 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. 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 . I still feel bothered. There are times when podcasts and media can shine a light on certain cases where what the government did was not right. Now the former fertility nurse is 47 years old and spending her life sentence in Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Clinton, New Jersey. 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. The evidence that was at trial was from ballistic experts.. 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.. In 1999, she started to work as a nurse at Reproductive Medicine Associates, one of the countrys largest fertility clinics. She's now a 47-year-old inmate at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Clinton, New Jersey, where she claims that she's not only innocent of killing her husband but that his real killer is still out there. For the two toddlers, they usually woke up, saw their parents, went to daycare, came back, saw their parents, ate, played, and then slept. 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. Prosecutors also pointed to Melanie McGuire's supposed internet searches in the days leading up to Bill McGuires disappearance. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Less than a year later, the McGuires had their first son. She then graduated from the Charles E. Gregory School of Nursing (now Raritan Bay Medical Center) in 1997 with a nursing diploma. Download is FREE. It says: The State alleged that defendant wanted to end her marriage to Bill but also had concerns about divorce. I still feel bothered. Like, how could somebody think that I did that? Melanie McGuire told ABC News Amy Robach in a rare interview from prison for "20/20.. 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. Making matters worse, Melanie McGuire had called the company and attempted to have those charges removed. 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. Melanie McGuire/Bill McGuire. Investigators also found trash bags in Melanie McGuire's home that they believed matched those used to wrap parts of Bill McGuire's body. 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. Melanie McGuire says she isnt hoping for prison release, in a new jailhouse interview with @ARobach Friday at 9/8c during a new #ABC2020. After finishing high school, she enrolled at Rutgers University for a double major in math and psychology, which she achieved in 1994. At least the prison conversations won't be, ahem, boring for Amy Locane. There are just too many holes in this story.. One contained a torso and a head, the other a mans thighs and pelvis, according to Oxygen. 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. [6][7] She enrolled at Rutgers University with a double major in math and psychology and graduated in 1994. During her interview with ABC News, McGuire shared a message for her sons, saying: "Make up your mind. She said that they believe the garbage bags were a prop to sway the jury. Dont accept what youre just being told on the surface. Melanie McGuire - Wikipedia. Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story: Directed by Nicole L. Thompson. 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. She was sentenced to life in prison. Five days after Bill McGuire went missing, investigators said Melanie McGuire made another bizarre road trip, this time to Delaware. A Wednesday. When investigators processed Bill McGuire's car, they also found a bottle of the sedative chloral hydrate and two syringes. 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). 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.. But when fishermen discovered a suitcase stuffed with Bill's remains just days after the couple had closed on their new dream home . Melanie McGuire defends her innocence from inside prison in 2019, over a decade after she was convicted. Once police honed in on Melanie McGuire as the prime suspect, they began wiretapping her phones. No one plugged the serial number of my gun into a website to find out what the specifications were, said Melanie McGuire. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. 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? Sara James. "I can't even fathom that. 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. The film stars Candice King as Melanie McGuire, Michael Roark as William McGuire, Jackson Hurst as Bradley Miller, and Wendie Malick as Patricia Prezioso. On May 11, another suitcase was discovered. 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. At the time, the local media also reported this detail about the parking lot's surveillance cameras. 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. 2011 - Google Scholar", "N.J. appeals court upholds life sentence for convicted suitcase killer Melanie McGuire", "State v. McGuire, 27 A. 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. 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. 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 still feel bothered. 3d 411 - NJ: Appellate Div. Melanie and Bill McGuire pictured in Atlantic City, New Jersey at an unknown date. Bill McGuire was murdered by his wife Melanie McGuire, and his body was found near Virginia Beach's Chesapeake Bay in 2004. 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. Meghan Sacks, host of podcast "Direct Appeal" and Fairleigh Dickinson University criminology professor questions Melanie McGuire's guilt. ET on Saturday, June 18 on the Lifetime network. Like, how could somebody think that I did that? she said on 20/20. On June 5, 2005, investigators arrested Melanie McGuire and charged her with first-degree murder. Melanie remembers this as. On June 5, 2005, investigators arrested Melanie McGuire and charged her with first-degree murder. [9] Police released a facial reconstruction sketch of the victim, which an acquaintance of Bill McGuire's recognized. [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. Police discovered Bill's car in Atlantic City and when they obtained surveillance footage, they discovered that McGuire had used a highway toll twice to drive to the location, and that she'd attempted to have the charges removed, per ABC News. 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. I have a book that I can look in that doesn't leave an internet history, Melanie McGuire told "20/20.". September 26, 2020 Examined A jury convicted McGuire in 2007, and she was sentenced to life in prison plus five years. According to PEOPLE, Melanie claimed that Bill had a gambling problem and a volatile temper. Melanie McGuire has been in prison for 13 years, but she still maintains her innocence, she said in an interview with 20/20. 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. 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. READ NEXT: Melanie McGuire Today: Where Is the Suitcase Killer Now in 2020? 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.