All we know is that they havent been in touch with their mother since before she was convicted. She graduated from Oberlin College, where she earned a double degree in American History and French. As McGuire maintains her innocence, she is running out of appeal options. 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. If youre willing to wear a wire, well believe you, said Sacks. 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.. 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. At the time, the local media also reported this detail about the parking lot's surveillance cameras. 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. It doesn't make any sense.' ABC News correspondent Amy Roach sits down for the first on-camera interview with Melanie McGuire since she was sentenced 13 years ago in 2007 to life in prison for the murder of her husband and father of her two children, William Bill McGuire. He had been married to Melanie Lyn Slate McGuire for about five years had two beautiful sons with her. 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. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. We heard from Barbara, a close friend of Melanie's, who has witnessed Melanie's ups and downs.I cant think of anyone more qualified to give an opinion on Melanie's behavior and emotional status. Born on October 8, 1972, Melanie Lyn Slate has spent all of her life in New Jersey growing up in Ridgewood and Middletown Township. 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. [9] Melanie admitted that the couple owned the same set of luggage that the body was found in, a matching three-piece set of Kenneth Cole suitcases. 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. 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 did not incapacitate, shoot [or] use a saw to dismember her husband, said Sacks. Over a period of 12 days in May 2004, three dark green suitcases were discovered in and near the Chesapeake Bay. 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." Melanie McGuire is currently in a New Jersey jail, awaiting sentencing on July 19. 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.. Watch the full story on "20/20" Friday, Sept. 25, at 9 p.m. Three suitcases were found washed up, inside each were the remains. We looked very closely at Dr. Miller, said Prezioso. "After all these years, I still feel hurt. Melanie Griffith set the Internet on fire. 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. They opened it and found a mans dismembered legs, cut off at the knee. McGuire, who was convicted in 2007 of killing her husband Bill McGuire, said the hardest part has been not being able to watch her two sons grow up. Therefore, at the age of 49, Melanie McGuire is currently incarcerated at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Union Township, Hunterdon County. Melanie McGuire has been dubbed the Suitcase Killer by the media for her role in butchering her own husband, William Bill McGuire, before packing up his remains into three suitcases and then disposing of them in the Chesapeake Bay. [10] Prosecutors contended her motive for murder was to take up a new life with her lover. Meghan Sacks and Amy Schlosberg are the hosts of the podcast "Direct Appeal" and Fairleigh Dickinson University criminology professors. Melanie McGuire/Bill McGuire. Dont accept what youre just being told on the surface. The Departments virus mitigation tactics, along with its universal testing initiative of staff and inmates, has controlled the spread of COVID-19 within NJDOC facilities. The Twisted Case of Melanie McGuire That Chapter 1.81M subscribers Subscribe 64K 1.8M views 9 months ago 2004, Chesapeake Bay. So she drove around until she found his car and then moved it as a prank. Less than a year later, the McGuires had their first son. (Video By Bumper. [24][25] On April 29, 2014, McGuire filed a motion for post-conviction relief, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel and newly discovered evidence. A Wednesday. Welcome to the Quantum Realm. According to 20/20, the police were able to quickly identify the dismembered man. 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. At trial, prosecutors presented an apparent mountain of circumstantial evidence against Melanie McGuire in Bill McGuires disappearance and murder. It's out there," she said. this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. 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. Melanie was a nurse at a fertility clinic and Bill was a computer programmer. Like, how could somebody think that I did that? she said on 20/20. And on May 16, a third. Would love your thoughts, please comment. There were two charges, totaling 90 cents, on her statement that proved she had driven to Atlantic City after her husband went missing. Prosecutors also pointed to Melanie McGuire's supposed internet searches in the days leading up to Bill McGuires disappearance. 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. I looked down and theres my 2-year-old. The prescription for chloral hydrate came from Millers prescription pad. 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. 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 Killer." Lifetime's new film Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story explores the shocking death of Bill McGuire on April 28, 2004. Like, how could somebody think that I did that? https://t.co/f9HrMsbxkY. I still feel bothered. 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. 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. It was hard. The New Jersey fertility nurse was sentenced to life in prison back in 2007 for murdering her husband Bill in April 2004. [9] McGuire persisted in claiming she was innocent, and claimed her husband had become increasingly moody and unpredictable and was a compulsive gambler. William McGuire was 39 when he died. The Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women near Clinton, New Jersey, made headlines for allegations of sexual abuse and for the recent spread of the coronavirus, New Jersey Spotlight News reported. 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. [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. 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. Dont accept what youre just being told on the surface. The victim, a coroner found, had been shot multiple times. But, after that fateful April day, when the sun rose, their father was nowhere to be found. 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. Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story: Directed by Nicole L. Thompson. But she didnt report Bill missing. His body was found in three separate suitcases in the Chesapeake Bay, which led to McGuires nickname, the Suitcase Killer.. "I can't even fathom that. 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. ET on ABC With the story debunked, the request for a new trial was withdrawn. She had apparently grown worried about their well-being upon noticing their behavior and got them tested. New Jersey Attorney Generals OfficeOne of the three suitcases that contained parts of Bill McGuires body. Investigators discovered that the parking lot had surveillance cameras, and they pulled the security footage thinking they had stumbled upon a smoking gun that would show who dumped Bill McGuire's car. says the actress. https://t.co/ZGewROXCaQ pic.twitter.com/hlzcKR96Ss. She then graduated from the Charles E. Gregory School of Nursing (now Raritan Bay Medical Center) in 1997 with a nursing diploma. Bill McGuire was murdered by his wife Melanie McGuire, and his body was found near Virginia Beach's Chesapeake Bay in 2004. That requires two drivers so certainly that means someone helped her, said Prezioso. Their relationship began in 2002, according to the appeal. Don't accept what you're just being told on the surface. On June 2, 2005, more than a year after the murder, Melanie dropped her children off at child care and preschool. Bill McGuire, 39, put a down payment down on a $500,000 house for the couple and their two young sons in April 2004. Sacks seconded her co-host, saying: Melanie did not incapacitate, shoot [or] use a saw to dismember her husband. 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. Melanie McGuire listens to testimony today during her murder trial. Like, how could somebody think that I did that?. 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. She didn't fit the profile, I guess, of a murderer, Shlosberg said. [22] She must serve more than 63 years before she is eligible for parole. There was. McGuire maintains her innocence, and wants her two adult sons to look into the case for themselves. "My job is not to convince the world. 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. Making matters worse, Melanie McGuire had called the company and attempted to have those charges removed. They surmised that Melanie had sedated Bill, shot him, and cut up his body. 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. The killer is out there and it's not me. Her 2007 trial became a nationally televised event. [6][7] She enrolled at Rutgers University with a double major in math and psychology and graduated in 1994. Melanie McGuire defends her innocence from inside prison in 2019, over a decade after she was convicted. After a nearly month and a half long trial, Melanie McGuire was found guilty. There's less of a waiting period.. His wife, Melanie McGuire, a fertility nurse and the mother of his two sons, was eventually convicted of murdering him and dumping his body. Investigators also found Bills car where Melanie suggested it would be Atlantic City. 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. She didnt fit the profile, I guess, of a murderer, Shlosberg told 20/20. 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. However, after five years and two kids, their marriage ended on April 28, 2004, with Melanie killing her husband. Melanie McGuire, 34-years old, sentenced to life in prison for murdering her husband Photo Source: NJ.com (website) Melanie and Bill McGuire cut the cake at their wedding. As improbable as it sounds, Melanie McGuire said she actually stumbled upon her husband's car. 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. Once Melanie spots Bills car from the highway, she decides shes going to move his car, said Shlosberg. 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. However, not much else about the day was typical. She claimed he walked out on her and the kids . Bill McGuire, 39, went missing on April 29, 2004. [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. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Prison inmates are in a closed environment. These documents exist. This stuff exists. 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". They closed the documents on their new house on April 28, but never moved in. The appeal details the murder, the night of Bill McGuires disappearance, and the disposal of his body. Now the former fertility nurse is 47 years old and spending her life sentence in Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Clinton, New Jersey. Melanie claims she's innocent, and hopes that she will be released someday. Candice King as Melanie McGuire in "Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story," which explore the real death of Bill McGuire in 2004. Bill had a gambling problem, Melanie explained, and after their fight she knew he would be at the casino. My job is to convince the jury. Melanies not the only person who believes that the police got it wrong. It is physically exhausting. [9] Police released a facial reconstruction sketch of the victim, which an acquaintance of Bill McGuire's recognized. Melanie went to work at a fertility clinic and Bill began teaching computer science at a technical college. It was the timing of that purchase, though, that really caught the eye of investigators: It happened just two days before Bill McGuire went missing. Did Melanie McGuire dismember her husband? 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; "After all these years, I still feel hurt. 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. I'm a nurse or I was a nurse, and I don't need to look up things like that. When investigators processed Bill McGuire's car, they also found a bottle of the sedative chloral hydrate and two syringes. Because the murder did not occur in Virginia, however, authorities turned over their investigation to the New Jersey State Police.[10]. [9] A witness testified that Melanie used the same towels to protect furniture when she moved. After all these years, I still feel hurt. She will not be eligible for parole until she has. She then called Miller the next morning, and he said "she was upset" and had told him about the fight they'd had. Miller was adamant that he had nothing to do with any crime, and he didnt know anything about this. 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. 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. Her defense lawyers have not said if McGuire will testify . Before she was charged with murder, Melanie contacted E-ZPass and attempted to have the $0.90 charge removed from her account history. It shows no inmates or staff at the facility had confirmed positive test results between August 22, 2020, and September 25, 2020. But Melanie maintains that she did not commit the infamous Suitcase Murder. 2011 - Google Scholar", "N.J. appeals court upholds life sentence for convicted suitcase killer Melanie McGuire", "State v. McGuire, 27 A. Entertainment Weekly is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved. On April 26, 2004, Melanie had purchased a .38 caliber handgun from a store in Easton, Pennsylvania; Bill had been killed with a .38 caliber handgun with wadcutter bullets. 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. A top priority for New Jersey investigators was determining if Melanie McGuire had ever owned a gun. I believe that the evidence presented to the jury told the jury what happened," Prezioso said. Melanie McGuire and defense attorney Stephen Turano, right, react to the verdict during her trial in New Brunswick, N.J., Monday, April 23, 2007. 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. Powered by. After all these years, I still feel hurt. Few, if any, knew that McGuire, a mother of two young sons, was having an affair with her physician boss, Dr. Bradley Miller. READ NEXT: Melanie McGuire Was Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder of Husband Bill. Pam Grier reflects on her most iconic roles, from Coffy to Jackie Brown. She says she is innocent. She pleaded not guilty to all indictments and soon posted an accumulated bail of over $2 million. The 48-year-old actress and mother of two has been sober since the 2010 crash. Speaking to ABC News' Amy Robach for 20/20, she said: "I'm doing this because there's a murderer walking around. McGuire is lodged at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women, serving a life sentence in Clinton, New Jersey. 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. 0:45. The bullets that came out of my husband had six lands and grooves," said Melanie McGuire. In 1999, she started to work as a nurse at Reproductive Medicine Associates, one of the countrys largest fertility clinics. Melanie and Bill McGuire pictured in Atlantic City, New Jersey at an unknown date. 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 McGuire is serving a life sentence in the murder of her husband, Bill McGuire, at a womens correctional facility in New Jersey. [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. Indeed, she spent most of her time bringing new life into the world. 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.