The 2004 case was dubbed the suitcase murder because the victims legs were found in a suitcase that washed up in Virginia Beach. It was reliving it. Prosecutors called 64 witnesses, and the defense called 16 witnesses. Melanie McGuire | Trial photos | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers As improbable as it sounds, Melanie McGuire said she actually stumbled upon her husband's car. We were not gathering evidence from a gun manufacturer's website. How Many Children Did Melanie Mcguire Have With Husband William Mcguire She put his remains into a 3-piece suitcase set, and those three pieces were later found in Chesapeake Bay. 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. Or, learn about Stacey Castor, the Black Widow who killed two of her husbands with antifreeze. McGuire went through a lengthy trial, which was televised on Court TV, from February to April 2007. Of course, since we do not know either of their names, we have no way of digging up any other credible information concerning their current standing. 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. 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. Melanie remembers this as. After seeing this report Melanie McGuire told Miller a story that prosecutors later called preposterous. The film stars Candice King as Melanie McGuire, Michael Roark as William McGuire, Jackson Hurst as Bradley Miller, and Wendie Malick as Patricia Prezioso. "Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story" premieres June 18 at 8 pm on Lifetime. The 47-year-old is currently serving a life sentence at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Clinton, New Jersey . After all these years, I still feel hurt. The case involved 21 witnesses qualified as experts, hundreds of pieces of evidence and 21 days of testimony. [9] The footage was blurry and the police weren't able to identify the person in the video. He said he was leaving and he wasnt coming back and [that] I could tell my children they didnt have a father.. She was given a life sentence on July 19, 2007, and she is currently in jail at the Edna Mahan . "My job is not to convince the world. The prescription for chloral hydrate came from Millers prescription pad. 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. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Investigators also found Bills car where Melanie suggested it would be Atlantic City. 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. And on May 16, a third. They closed the documents on their new house on April 28, but never moved in. Watch new at 9/8c on ABC. Melanie and Bill McGuire cut the cake at their wedding. That same year, she married her husband, a U.S. Navy veteran named William Bill McGuire. Now her children have neither a mother or a father, neither one, because of Melanie McGuire. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Read More: Where Are William and Melanie McGuires Kids Now? 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 . Suitcase Killer The Melanie McGuire Story is available to watch in Canada with a Philo subscription! [1] She graduated, second in her class, from the Charles E. Gregory School of Nursing (now Raritan Bay Medical Center) in 1997 with a nursing diploma. Melanie McGuire admitted to having an affair with a doctor at the fertility clinic where she worked. this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. She told Miller that she was furniture shopping, according to Prezioso, who said she believes that is when Melanie McGuire drove the suitcases with her husbands remains to Chesapeake Bay. I panicked, Melanie told 20/20. Melanie McGuire. Melanie McGuire. Melanie McGuire Dismembers Husband, Stuffs Body Parts In Suitcases He said he was leaving and he wasnt coming back and [that] I could tell my children they didnt have a father.. Thats what happened the night of April 28, 2004, the day Bill McGuire disappeared, according to his wife. https://t.co/ZGewRPfd2o pic.twitter.com/i4dBUBR7PJ. 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." Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. 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. No one plugged the serial number of my gun into a website to find out what the specifications were, said Melanie McGuire. Don't accept what you're just being told on the surface. 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." Melanie McGuire is serving a life sentence in the murder of her husband, Bill McGuire, at a womens correctional facility in New Jersey. She became known as the "Suitcase Killer" during her televised 2007 trial. 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. Although investigators were unable to find physical evidence of murder inside the McGuire's home, they were able to find small pieces of Bill McGuire's flesh -- evidence that would eventually be referred to in the media as human sawdust -- from the car. (Video By Bumper. Melanie did file for a re-trial before her sentencing on the basis that her husband was deeply in debt and may have been killed by Atlantic City mobsters, but to no avail. The 62-year-old actress posted a jaw-dropping selfie on Instagram Tuesday night, featuring the . [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. [9] Police released a facial reconstruction sketch of the victim, which an acquaintance of Bill McGuire's recognized. She pleaded not guilty to all indictments and soon posted an accumulated bail of over $2 million. The evidence that was at trial was from ballistic experts.. I grabbed the baby and went to the bathroom right behind me and shut the door. Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for WomenMelanie McGuire prison record. I still feel bothered. After finishing high school, she enrolled at Rutgers University for a double major in math and psychology, which she achieved in 1994. The prosecution argued McGuires motive was her affair with Dr. Bradley Miller, a partner at the medical practice RMA Associates. There are just too many holes in this story.. The podcast hosts and Melanie McGuire herself, raise questions about whether it's even possible the gun she purchased was the murder weapon. It was hard. 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. The case is being featured on a two-hour ABC special, Suitcase Killer, which airs Friday, September 25, 2020 at 9 p.m. Eastern time. 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. [9] McGuire persisted in claiming she was innocent, and claimed her husband had become increasingly moody and unpredictable and was a compulsive gambler. Woodbridge Township, NJ - The Suitcase Killer - Melanie McGuire I still feel bothered. Thirteen years have passed since Melanie McGuire's conviction. There was. Fairleigh Dickinson University criminology professors Meghan Sacks and Amy Shlosberg have an entire podcast called Direct Appeal dedicated to questioning Melanies conviction. Dont accept what youre just being told on the surface. 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 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. Upon further investigation, police discovered a security video of the car being moved in the early morning hours of April 30, 2004. "And I'm driving down, and I take the first pass on this, on this highway, and I see a dark sedan, and lo and behold, there it is, Melanie McGuire said. In April 2004, Melanie and Bill McGuire seemed to have it all: successful careers, two young sons and a new $500,000 home. 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. But this was the first time somebody was basically saying, We hear you, said Melanie McGuire. 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. This stuff exists, she said on the show. Actress Candice King who is best known for her work in the Vampire Diaries will play McGuire. Melanie McGuire has had no contact with them since before the verdict. 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. 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. 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. Her bail was raised to $2.1million ($2.9 million today), but she was again released. The Secret in the Suitcase: With David Muir, Amy Robach, Melanie McGuire, William McGuire. Melanie Mcguire's Instagram, Twitter & Facebook on IDCrawl However, prosecutors established that the informant was "entirely incredible and routinely and habitually fabricates stories" according to a New Jersey State Police investigation, before recanting and accusing McGuire's attorney of suborning perjury. Melanie McGuire - Chilling Crimes The request was subsequently denied. 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. She wished to avoid purchasing a house at substantial expense and beginning a new phase in a marriage she regretted. But despite her apparent grief, police soon began to suspect that Melanie McGuire had murdered her husband. Guilty or not, Melanie McGuire, the so-called Suitcase Killer, remains an object of fascination. There are times when podcasts and media can shine a light on certain cases where what the government did was not right. 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. Prezioso is certain that Bill McGuires murderer is the woman who was convicted and is now sitting in prison. Melanie McGuire says she isnt hoping for prison release, in a new jailhouse interview with @ARobach Friday at 9/8c during a new #ABC2020. "20/20" The Secret in the Suitcase (TV Episode 2020) - IMDb Background Bill McGuire was born in September of 1964. [15][16][17][18][19] On July 19, 2007, at the age of 34, McGuire was sentenced to life in prison.[20]. 0:45. 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. As of June 22, 2020, two inmates had died of COVID-19. 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. 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". When investigators discovered the affair, they approached Miller. 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. Sara James. After a nearly month and a half long trial, Melanie McGuire was found guilty. 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. But when fishermen discovered a suitcase stuffed with Bill's remains just days after the couple had closed on their new dream home . McGuire had been married for five years by April 2004. [24][25] On April 29, 2014, McGuire filed a motion for post-conviction relief, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel and newly discovered evidence. 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. Dig, dig. 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. In addition, Melanie was 38-weeks pregnant with her second child when the relationship started, based on reporting from New Jersey-based news outlet CentralJersey.com. September 26, 2020 Examined Prosecutors also pointed to Melanie McGuire's supposed internet searches in the days leading up to Bill McGuires disappearance. 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. McGuire had a message for her sons, who are now adults, "Make up your mind. You can read the appeal and court decision in full here. Miller agreed to cooperate with investigators and was never charged in the crime. Life in Prison for Melanie McGuire - YouTube Prezioso said she believed that Melanie McGuire was planting the car in Atlantic City to create an illusion that Bill McGuire was still alive. Family and friends can send flowers and/or light a candle as a loving gesture for their loved one. Her 2007 trial became a nationally televised event. Data from the New Jersey Department of Corrections details cases since they implemented additional measures. Prezioso believed the "human sawdust" was the result of Bill McGuire's dismemberment. With the story debunked, the request for a new trial was withdrawn. According to PEOPLE, Melanie claimed that Bill had a gambling problem and a volatile temper. 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. He lived with his wife Melanie and their two boys in an apartment in Woodbridge, New Jersey, United States. So, as soon as the topic of custody arose, the two boys were sent to them, especially since Bill and Cindy were already great parents to their own adult children: Laura Ligosh and Max Ligosh. He probably would have broken my cheek if [the hit] had been a closed fist, Melanie McGuire said. By that point, the two had only flirted and corresponded via e-mail, only for a romance to blossom. Bills car contained a bottle of chloral hydrate, a sedative, and two syringes, which had been prescribed by Bradley Miller. "I have this Forrest Gump-ian way of touching something and it becomes a hit!" Lifetime's new film Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story explores the shocking death of Bill McGuire on April 28, 2004. [9] On May 11, a second larger suitcase was found on the beach of Fisherman Island National Wildlife Refuge, by a graduate student cleaning up litter on the beach. It was the 28th of April 2004. 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. I guess it is comforting [that people are interested]. 'Suitcase Killer' Melanie McGuire defends innocence from inside prison 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. 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. [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. Once police honed in on Melanie McGuire as the prime suspect, they began wiretapping her phones. 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. Sometimes, she said, hed get violent with her. Melanie McGuire denies this, pointing to the fact that there are hundreds of miles between Delaware and Virginia Beach. 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. One contained legs, another a pelvis, and the third a torso and head. 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. [B]ut gone doesnt mean dead.. These documents exist. Prosecutor: Wife meticulously planned hacking - NBC News