However, McGuire was acquitted of the two counts of hindering apprehension, as well as tampering with evidence and possession of Xanax without prescription. After all these years, I still feel hurt. Their theory was that this nurse, who was kind of so meticulous, had somehow just forgotten to wipe the bottom of her shoes, that she accidentally tracked these human sawdust particles of Bill's body from the house to the car, said John Glatt, a true crime author who wrote To Have and To Kill, a book about Melanie McGuires case. Do you know how hard it is to cut through bone? 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. "I won't be home until my oldest is 18 and my youngest is 16," she told EW. 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. 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 . I absolutely tried to have those charges taken off because I feared that people would look and think what they ultimately ended up thinking.. The publication reported that two days after Bill left, McGuire filed for a restraining order so he couldn't unexpectedly take their children, and three weeks after he had disappeared she filed for a divorce. 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. 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. [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. Then, they looked in Pennsylvania. 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. But, after that fateful April day, when the sun rose, their father was nowhere to be found. [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. And shes not the only one who thinks that police arrested the wrong suspect. Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. Melanie remembers this as. The Superior Court of New Jersey affirmed her verdict and sentence in 2011. 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. 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. Investigators also found trash bags in Melanie McGuire's home that they believed matched those used to wrap parts of Bill McGuire's body. Because the murder did not occur in Virginia, however, authorities turned over their investigation to the New Jersey State Police.[10]. I absolutely tried to have those charges taken off because I feared that people would look and think what they ultimately ended up thinking," McGuire said. 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. Prosecutors argued that she killed her husband so. After pulling the surveillance footage from the parking lot, however, investigators were disappointed. Like, how could somebody think that I did that? she said on 20/20. ET on Saturday, June 18 on the Lifetime network. Melanie worked as a fertility clinic nurse, while Bill worked as a computer programmer. Don't accept what you're just being told on the surface. Pam Grier reflects on her most iconic roles, from Coffy to Jackie Brown. She later told police that she believed he'd gone to Atlantic City to gamble as he had a penchant for doing so. Friday on #ABC2020: The co-hosts of the @directappeal podcast tell @ARobach why they believe Melanie McGuire was wrongfully convicted: I dont think that there was enough evidence to convict her. https://t.co/ZGewROXCaQ pic.twitter.com/qJfD3ATBkD. She says she is innocent. Though a jury agreed and sentenced Melanie McGuire to life in prison, the so-called Suitcase Killer has long insisted upon her innocence. They also discovered a bottle of the sedative chloral hydrate and two syringes in Bill's car, which they traced to a pharmacy near their children's daycare, and they learned that McGuire had bought a gun 48 hours before her husband's disappearance. Miller was also married with children. 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." 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. In April 2004, Melanie and Bill McGuire seemed to have it all: successful careers, two young sons and a new $500,000 home. During the 20/20 interview, Melanie sends a message to her now adult sons, whom she hasnt had contact with since her 2007 trial. The request was subsequently denied. Melanie Griffith set the Internet on fire. It is physically exhausting. Powered by. Watch the full story on "20/20" Friday, Sept. 25, at 9 p.m. "I have this Forrest Gump-ian way of touching something and it becomes a hit!" [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. She pleaded not guilty to all indictments and soon posted an accumulated bail of over $2 million. Make up your mind. At the time, the local media also reported this detail about the parking lot's surveillance cameras. Read More: Where Are William and Melanie McGuires Kids Now? I still feel bothered. Bill had a gambling problem, Melanie explained, and after their fight she knew he would be at the casino. She will not be eligible for parole until she is 100 years old. 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. The day before his disappearance, the couple closed on the purchase of their first home. She told her sons, now adults, to look into the case for themselves. READ NEXT: Melanie McGuire Was Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder of Husband Bill. Melanie McGuire Today: Where Is the Suitcase Killer Now in 2020. Prezioso said the evidence presented by the states computer forensic expert at trial was robust and Melanie McGuires legal team presented their own expert as well. https://t.co/ZGewROXCaQ pic.twitter.com/hlzcKR96Ss. At trial, prosecutors presented an apparent mountain of circumstantial evidence against Melanie McGuire in Bill McGuires disappearance and murder. 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. To this day, Melanie maintains that she did not kill her husband, dismember him, and dispose of his body parts in suitcases. 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. Melanie McGuire told the podcast "Direct Appeal" that she is not the suitcase killer, and that the true murderer is still on the loose. The killer is out there and it's not me. 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. Dig, dig. In September 2020, Melanie McGuire sat down with 20/20 and gave her first interview in 13 years. Melanie McGuire explained that the night after Bill McGuire went missing, she was becoming angrier at her husband and suspected she knew where he was: Atlantic City. Like, how could somebody think that I did that? Investigators searched the home for evidence multiple times, checking to see if Bill McGuire had been killed and dismembered there. this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. Her defense lawyers have not said if McGuire will testify . I cannot even think about that. 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.. After all these years, I still feel hurt, Melanie said. A few days later, a suitcase surfaced in a bay miles away with a horrifying discovery inside. 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. Days later, an unidentified man, believed by many to be her stepfather, also contacted E-ZPass and attempted to have the charge removed. 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. Prosecutors also pointed to Melanie McGuire's supposed internet searches in the days leading up to Bill McGuires disappearance. So she drove around until she found his car and then moved it as a prank. Melanie McGuire admitted to having an affair with Miller. Don't accept what you're just being told on the surface. But when fishermen discovered a suitcase stuffed with Bill's remains just days after the couple had closed on their new dream home . She does have an interesting new cellmate: In 2020, Melanie began sharing a cell with former actress Amy Locane, who starred in the TV show "Melrose Place." There were five lands and grooves that my weapon was said to have made based on the company's website. She claimed he walked out on her and the kids . 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 . "Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story" premieres June 18 at 8 pm on Lifetime. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Less than a year later, the McGuires had their first son. On May 5, 2004, a couple of fishermen and their children noticed a dark green Kenneth Cole suitcase floating in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. And then, two years later, they were blessed with another baby boy. Their relationship began in 2002, according to the appeal. ", Credit: Jean-Paul Aussenard/WireImage; ABC, Amy Locane's prison cell roommate is the notorious Suitcase Killer. Melanie McGuire admitted to having an affair with a doctor at the fertility clinic where she worked. ], Pretty Little Liars Reboot Is Coming-of-RAGE Horror with More Murder, Cast of Pretty Little Liars, 2017, l-r: Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Lucy Hale, Shay Mitchell, (cropped) photo: Dominick D / CC BY-SA, 2012-2023, 2paragraphs Productions, LLC. There were times I wanted him gone, she told 20/20. New Jersey Department of Corrections/Find a Grave [6][7] She enrolled at Rutgers University with a double major in math and psychology and graduated in 1994. 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. 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. READ NEXT: Melanie McGuire Today: Where Is the Suitcase Killer Now in 2020? 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. Prosecutors called 64 witnesses, and the defense called 16 witnesses. A Wednesday. They lived in an apartment Woodbridge, New Jersey. 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. A dramatization of the romance and marriage of the McGuires, the 2004 murder of Bill, the investigation, and the subsequent trial of Melanie, who who dismembered and disposed of her husband's body in suitcases. Background Bill McGuire was born in September of 1964. She was sentenced to life in prison on July 19, 2007 and is serving her sentence at the Edna. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Actress Candice King who is best known for her work in the Vampire Diaries will play McGuire. Miller was adamant that he had nothing to do with any crime, and he didnt know anything about this. If I wanted to look for something like that, I have a [physicians' desk reference]. Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for WomenMelanie McGuire prison record. She actually obtained the means to incapacitate Bill from her workplace, which eventually became her downfall. Melanies not the only person who believes that the police got it wrong. There are times when podcasts and media can shine a light on certain cases where what the government did was not right. McGuire was charged with first-degree murder on June 2, 2005, for which she pleaded not guilty, and she made bail. Bradley Miller told a Middlesex County court this afternoon that he lied to a grand jury when he said he stopped having sex with . Like, how could somebody think that I did that? https://t.co/f9HrMsbxkY. September 26, 2020 Examined [Watch on your phone with the ABC GO Digital App found here. 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. It doesn't make any sense.' 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. She was sentenced to life in prison on July 19, 2007. Don't accept what you're just being told on the surface. Prezioso is certain that Bill McGuires murderer is the woman who was convicted and is now sitting in prison. These documents exist. 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. In 1999, she started to work as a nurse at Reproductive Medicine Associates, one of the countrys largest fertility clinics. For the two toddlers, they usually woke up, saw their parents, went to daycare, came back, saw their parents, ate, played, and then slept. The MCUs tiniest heroes are kicking off its biggest phase yet, setting up the next several years of storytelling. Thirteen years have passed since Melanie McGuire's conviction. Melanie McGuire has been in prison for 13 years, but she still maintains her innocence, she said in an interview with 20/20. 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 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". After seeing this report Melanie McGuire told Miller a story that prosecutors later called preposterous. After all these years, I still feel hurt. 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. Locane is back behind bars for killing Helene Seeman, 60, in a 2010 drunk driving collision in New Jersey's Montgomery Township. 0:45. The bullets that came out of my husband had six lands and grooves," said Melanie McGuire. During her conversation with ABCs Amy Robach, Melanie continued to insist on her innocence. 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. She didn't fit the profile, I guess, of a murderer, Shlosberg said. (The court awarded custody to Bill McGuires sister, Cindy Ligosh.) She said that they believe the garbage bags were a prop to sway the jury. Meghan Sacks, host of podcast "Direct Appeal" and Fairleigh Dickinson University criminology professor questions Melanie McGuire's guilt. 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. Melanie McGuire was a former nurse in the United States who was found guilty of murdering her husband on April 28, 2004. All we know is that they havent been in touch with their mother since before she was convicted. [11] Through her attorneys, Joe Tacopina,[12] Steve Turano, and Marc Ward, she pleaded not guilty to the charges. Youre talking about hours [of driving] and there isnt enough time, said McGuire. 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. 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. Over a period of 12 days in May 2004, three dark green suitcases were discovered in and near the Chesapeake Bay. Dr. 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. Melanie and Bill McGuire pictured in Atlantic City, New Jersey at an unknown date. 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, 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. Dig, dig. After a nearly month and a half long trial, Melanie McGuire was found guilty. "I can't even fathom that. While the prosecutors claimed, supported by evidence, that Melanie killed her husband in cold blood in the hopes of freely taking up a new life with Bradley Miller, her defense team argued that she was innocent and it was Bill who had issues. She pleaded not guilty. 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. 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. Miller looked at the prescription and he said, Thats not my signature and it appears to be Melanie McGuires handwriting, recalled Prezioso. 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. 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 will not be eligible for parole until she has. As McGuire maintains her innocence, she is running out of appeal options. After all these years, I still feel hurt. In 2007, McGuire was convicted of killing and dismembering her husband, Bill. [8] She married United States Navy veteran William T. "Bill" McGuire (born September 21, 1964) in 1999. Dig, dig. Therefore, more than a year after the incident, on June 7, 2005, Melanie was officially arrested and charged with first-degree murder. We were not gathering evidence from a gun manufacturer's website. Like, how could somebody think that I did that? she said on 20/20. The evidence in this case points to a well-organized, meticulously planned execution of a murder, Prezioso said during the trial. McGuire will not be eligible for parole until she is 100 years old. Melanie claims she's innocent, and hopes that she will be released someday. One of the three suitcases that contained parts of Bill McGuires body. 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. Sacks seconded her co-host, saying: Melanie did not incapacitate, shoot [or] use a saw to dismember her husband. It's out there," she said. Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story: Directed by Nicole L. Thompson. How Marvel went big with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. "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. Prosecutors have always maintained that they believed Melanie McGuire likely had an accomplice. 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. She drugged him, shot him (in the head and chest) to death, and subsequently dismembered his remains. It was hard. 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. [10] Prosecutors contended her motive for murder was to take up a new life with her lover. The media soon dubbed the case the Suitcase Murder.. 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. When investigators processed Bill McGuire's car, they also found a bottle of the sedative chloral hydrate and two syringes. Melanie McGuire, 34-years old, sentenced to life in prison for murdering her husband Photo Source: NJ.com (website) She offered explanations for the stories she told police,. After finishing high school, she enrolled at Rutgers University for a double major in math and psychology, which she achieved in 1994. [B]ut gone doesnt mean dead.. She again pleaded not guilty and was released after posting $10,000 bail. Police also learned that Melanie had been having a long-term affair with a co-worker named Bradley Miller. 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 . However, not much else about the day was typical. Miller eventually testified against Melanie McGuire at her trial. McGuire had been married for five years by April 2004. Trial photos of Melanie McGuire, a New Jersey nurse best known for being the perpetrator in the media-dubbed "suitcase murder." . With Candice King, Michael Roark, Tristan Laurence, Jackson Hurst. The victim, a coroner found, had been shot multiple times. Melanie McGuire, a New Jersey woman who was sentenced to life in prison, in 2007, for the murder of her husband Bill McGuire, discusses the case and maintains her innocence; She was given a life sentence on July 19, 2007, and she is currently in jail at the Edna Mahan . The 62-year-old actress posted a jaw-dropping selfie on Instagram Tuesday night, featuring the . On May 11, another suitcase was discovered. After a nearly month and a half long trial, Melanie McGuire was found guilty. 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. A top priority for New Jersey investigators was determining if Melanie McGuire had ever owned a gun. 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. 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. She also made inquiries of a friend about how to buy a gun. The appeal details the murder, the night of Bill McGuires disappearance, and the disposal of his body. 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. 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.