On May 11, another suitcase was discovered. [9] A witness testified that Melanie used the same towels to protect furniture when she moved. These documents exist. Check out what's clicking today in entertainment. [9] Melanie later claimed she had moved the car as a "prank",[8] even though she had applied for a protection from abuse order days earlier after allegedly being slapped by her husband. The request was subsequently denied. 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. https://t.co/ZGewRPfd2o pic.twitter.com/i4dBUBR7PJ. After all these years, I still feel hurt. Make up your mind. Police also learned that Melanie had been having a long-term affair with a co-worker named Bradley Miller. She maintains her innocence, having recently told 20/20 that "after all these years, I still feel hurt. 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. 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. Melanie was a nurse at a fertility clinic and Bill was a computer programmer. After they released a sketch to the public, one of Bill McGuires friends soon came forward. She then graduated from the Charles E. Gregory School of Nursing (now Raritan Bay Medical Center) in 1997 with a nursing diploma. "There was no evidence connecting him to this crime.. She may be eligible for parole after serving 66 years in prison, court documents filed in her case said. The media soon dubbed the case the Suitcase Murder.. by Chilling Crimes July 20, 2020. I still feel bothered. The plastic bags that contained Bill's body parts and the bags that contained Bill's clothes, which Melanie had given away to a friend, were demonstrated by forensics to have been manufactured on the same assembly line within hours of one another. Melanie claims she's innocent, and hopes that she will be released someday. It is physically exhausting. Therefore, at the age of 49, Melanie McGuire is currently incarcerated at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Union Township, Hunterdon County. Murders A-Z is a collection of true crime stories that take an in-depth look at both little-known and famous murders throughout history. She actually obtained the means to incapacitate Bill from her workplace, which eventually became her downfall. 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. A nurse said her husband walked out on her. 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. 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. [9] The couple had two sons and lived in a Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, apartment, but planned to move that month to a larger home in Warren County. Don't accept what you're just being told on the surface. "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. Who Is Melanie McGuire? 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. On June 2, 2005, more than a year after the murder, Melanie dropped her children off at child care and preschool. I still feel bothered. 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. McGuire had been married for five years by April 2004. Melanie McGuire is serving a life sentence in the murder of her husband, Bill McGuire, at a women's correctional facility in New Jersey. One of the three suitcases that contained parts of Bill McGuires body. In the meantime, the two young McGuire children, ages 5 and 7, are being raised by Bill's sister, Cindy Ligosh. She was indicted on four additional, relatively smaller charges in October. But though Bill and Melanie had two sons together, their marriage swiftly soured. William "Bill" McGuire was a husband and father of two. 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 then drove to Virginia on May 3, where the suitcases were thrown at night from an isolated stretch of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge into the bay. 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. 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. Make up your mind. She drugged him, shot him (in the head and chest) to death, and subsequently dismembered his remains. YouTubeMelanie McGuire married her husband in 1999 and later alleged that he had a gambling problem and a violent temper. The day before his disappearance, the couple closed on the purchase of their first home. 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." Entertainment Weekly is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved. Melanie McGuire admitted to having an affair with a doctor at the fertility clinic where she worked. I dont know how you would dismember a body and effectively clean that up, said McGuire. "My job is not to convince the world. As a year passed and the investigations continued, on October 26, 2006, Melanie was charged with two more counts of hindering apprehension for allegedly writing letters to the police department to get them off her trail. [9] Bill and Melanie owned a green couch, and investigators theorized that the murderer used a pillow or couch cushion as a makeshift silencer) to shoot Bill. Prezioso said she believed that Melanie McGuire was planting the car in Atlantic City to create an illusion that Bill McGuire was still alive. McGuire's conviction was affirmed by an appeals court on March 16, 2011. He probably would have broken my cheek if it had been a closed fist, Melanie McGuire told 20/20. So if you wish to learn more about her and her current whereabouts, heres what we know. ABC News also reported that other evidence included McGuire's purported internet search history, which amongst others included "undetectable poisons.". "I won't be home until my oldest is 18 and my youngest is 16," she told EW. The victim, a coroner found, had been shot multiple times. by Sarah Jae Leiber Sep. 21, 2020. The Twisted Case of Melanie McGuire That Chapter 1.81M subscribers Subscribe 64K 1.8M views 9 months ago 2004, Chesapeake Bay. These documents exist. It shows no inmates or staff at the facility had confirmed positive test results between August 22, 2020, and September 25, 2020. Melanie McGuire told the podcast "Direct Appeal" that she is not the suitcase killer, and that the true murderer is still on the loose. One contained legs, another a pelvis, and the third a torso and head. Through record tracing, they found out that the chloral hydrate was picked up at a Walgreens pharmacy just down the road from the McGuire children's daycare on the morning that Bill McGuire disappeared. I believe that the evidence presented to the jury told the jury what happened," Prezioso said. Once police honed in on Melanie McGuire as the prime suspect, they began wiretapping her phones. For her part, Melanie insisted that her husband had stormed out after a fight. Data from the New Jersey Department of Corrections details cases since they implemented additional measures. Melanie claims that Bill pushed her against the wall during a fight, hit her, and tried to choke her with a dryer sheet. 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. 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. 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. The court awarded custody of her two sons to Bill McGuires sister, Cindy Ligosh, and Melanie McGuire has had no contact with them since her trial. As of June 22, 2020, two inmates had died of COVID-19. "Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story" premieres June 18 at 8 pm on Lifetime. 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. Less than a year later, the McGuires had their first son. Sacks seconded her co-host, saying: Melanie did not incapacitate, shoot [or] use a saw to dismember her husband. 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. Miller was also married with children. YouTube 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. Melanie had to withdraw her appeal after the prosecutors debunked the story, and so, on July 19, 2007, she was sentenced to life in prison. 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. She was given a life sentence on July 19, 2007, and she is currently in jail at the Edna Mahan . Youre talking about hours [of driving] and there isnt enough time, said McGuire. Like, how could somebody think that I did that?. He said he was leaving and he wasnt coming back and [that] I could tell my children they didnt have a father.. I still feel bothered. 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. Melanie McGuire says she isnt hoping for prison release, in a new jailhouse interview with @ARobach Friday at 9/8c during a new #ABC2020. "People ask me, 'Explain this. Miller looked at the prescription and he said, Thats not my signature and it appears to be Melanie McGuires handwriting, recalled Prezioso. 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. 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? Melanie McGuire, The Suitcase Killer Who Murdered And Dismembered Her Husband. [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. There were two charges, totaling 90 cents, on her statement that proved she had driven to Atlantic City after her husband went missing. [23] On September 20, 2011, the New Jersey Supreme Court declined to hear her further appeal. Dont accept what youre just being told on the surface. Melanie McGuire. 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. Melanie Griffith set the Internet on fire. READ NEXT: Melanie McGuire Was Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder of Husband Bill. Melanie McGuire went on trial on March 5, 2007. She claimed he walked out on her and the kids . 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 evidence that was at trial was from ballistic experts.. After re-examining her murder conviction over a decade later, Sacks and Shlosberg, believe Melanie McGuire was wrongfully convicted. As improbable as it sounds, Melanie McGuire said she actually stumbled upon her husband's car. 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. YouTubeMelanie McGuire says shes innocent and that someone else killed her husband, Bill, in 2004. Melanie McGuire, 34-years old, sentenced to life in prison for murdering her husband Photo Source: NJ.com (website) 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. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. 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. Melanie McGuire Today: Where Is the Suitcase Killer Now in 2020. Prosecutors also pointed to Melanie McGuire's supposed internet searches in the days leading up to Bill McGuires disappearance. They pulled out the piping, pulling floorboards up, said Sacks. They knew that Pennsylvania was close and a lot of people will go to Pennsylvania for firearms because gun laws are more lax, Sacks said. 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. But, after that fateful April day, when the sun rose, their father was nowhere to be found. The killer is out there and it's not me. Thats what happened the night of April 28, 2004, the day Bill McGuire disappeared, according to his wife. McGuire will not be eligible for parole until she is 100 years old. After all, a medical-grade towel found with Bills body matched those stocked at the clinic as well as those she kept at her home. She put his remains into a 3-piece suitcase set, and those three pieces were later found in Chesapeake Bay. Or, learn about Stacey Castor, the Black Widow who killed two of her husbands with antifreeze. 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. [5], Melanie Lyn Slate grew up in Ridgewood and Middletown Township, New Jersey, attending Middletown High School South. Police quickly found his car in a parking lot there. 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. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Bill called his friends to happily tell them the news. 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. 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. [B]ut gone doesnt mean dead.. She wished to avoid purchasing a house at substantial expense and beginning a new phase in a marriage she regretted. 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. 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. The very next day, Melanie spoke with divorce attorneys and attempted to file for a restraining order. Also if the crime scene didnt happen [at the family home] and shes home with her children all night, where is this happening? Melanie McGuire is currently in a New Jersey jail, awaiting sentencing on July 19. I just burst into tears, Melanie said of learning about her husbands death in a 2007 interview. "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. Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story: Directed by Nicole L. Thompson. She then called Miller the next morning, and he said "she was upset" and had told him about the fight they'd had. Investigators also found trash bags in Melanie McGuire's home that they believed matched those used to wrap parts of Bill McGuire's body. Locane is back behind bars for killing Helene Seeman, 60, in a 2010 drunk driving collision in New Jersey's Montgomery Township. When investigators discovered the affair, they approached Miller. 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. They brought in the luminol, and they also pulled down parts of the walls. Over a period of 12 days in May 2004, three dark green suitcases were discovered in and near the Chesapeake Bay. Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for WomenMelanie McGuire prison record. At her televised trial, prosecutors explained that she had drugged Bill, shot him, and dismembered him. Melanie worked as a fertility clinic nurse, while Bill worked as a computer programmer. Melanie McGuire was convicted in the grisly murder of her husband, Bill McGuire, whose body was found dismembered in suitcases in the Chesapeake Bay. And shes not the only one who thinks that police arrested the wrong suspect. 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. She will not be eligible for parole until she has served 66 years in prison. Melanie and Bill McGuire cut the cake at their wedding. He was 39 years old. September 26, 2020 Examined The podcast hosts and Melanie McGuire herself, raise questions about whether it's even possible the gun she purchased was the murder weapon. 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. They shared two children together but their marriage was seemingly not a happy one as McGuire embarked on an affair with Dr. Bradley Miller, who was then a partner at the clinic she worked in, per Fox News. I panicked, Melanie told 20/20. His wife, Melanie McGuire, a fertility nurse and the mother of his two sons, was eventually convicted of murdering him and dumping his body. [9] Police released a facial reconstruction sketch of the victim, which an acquaintance of Bill McGuire's recognized. Making matters worse, Melanie McGuire had called the company and attempted to have those charges removed. 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.