Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Suitcase Murder: Melanie McGuire

Melanie Lyn McGuire (née Slate;born October 8, 1972) is an American former nurse who was convictedof murdering her husband on April 28, 2004, in what media dubbed the"suitcase murder". She was sentenced to life inprison on July 19, 2007 and is serving her sentence at the Edna MahanCorrectional Facility for Women in Clinton, New Jersey. She will notbe eligible for parole until she is 100 years old.

Early life and education

Melanie Lyn Slate grew up in Ridgewoodand Middletown Township, New Jersey, attending Middletown High SchoolSouth. She enrolled at Rutgers University with a double major in mathand psychology and graduated in 1994. She graduated, second in herclass, from the Charles E. Gregory School of Nursing (now Raritan BayMedical Center) in 1997 with a nursing diploma. She married UnitedStates Navy veteran William T. "Bill" McGuire (bornSeptember 21, 1964) in 1999.

Murder

By April 2004, the McGuires had beenmarried for five years. Melanie was a nurse at a fertility clinic andBill was a computer programmer. The couple had two sons and lived ina Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, apartment, but planned to movethat month to a larger home in Warren County. They closed thedocuments on their new house on April 28, but never moved in. Thatnight, according to the prosecution, McGuire drugged her husband,shot him dead, and subsequently dismembered his body. She put hisremains into a 3-piece suitcase set, and those three pieces werelater found dumped in Chesapeake Bay.

Investigation

On May 5, the first suitcase,containing human legs, was found washed up in Virginia Beach,Virginia; a murder investigation was launched. On May 11, a secondlarger suitcase was found floating in the bay, containing a head andtorso with two bullet wounds. The third and smallest suitcase,containing arms, was recovered on a beach on May 16. Police releaseda facial reconstruction sketch of the victim, which an acquaintanceof Bill McGuire's recognized. Melanie then became the prime suspectin the investigation. Because the murder did not occur in Virginia,however, authorities turned over their investigation to the NewJersey State Police.

During the investigation, incriminatingevidence was uncovered against Melanie. On April 26, 2004, Melaniehad purchased a .38 caliber handgun with unusual wadcutter bulletsfrom a store in Easton, Pennsylvania; Bill had been killed with a .38caliber handgun with wadcutter bullets. On April 30, Bill's 2002Nissan Maxima was found outside the Flamingo Motel in Atlantic City,New Jersey, and police discovered a security video of the car beingmoved. Melanie later claimed she had moved the car as a "prank",even though she had applied for a protection from abuse order daysearlier after being allegedly slapped by her husband. Police alsolearned that Melanie had been having a long-term affair with aco-worker named Bradley Miller. Her E-ZPass tag was recorded at atoll booth in Delaware two days after the murder; she claimed thatthis was the result of her going furniture shopping in Delaware sinceit has no sales tax. Before she was charged with murder, Melaniecalled E-ZPass and attempted to have the $0.90 charge removed fromher account history. Days later, an unidentified man, believed bymany to be her stepfather, also called and attempted to have thecharge removed.

The plastic bags that contained Bill'sbody parts were demonstrated by forensics to be from the same roll ofbags that Melanie had in her home. The luggage that the body wasfound in matched a set that she had in her basement, which wasmissing the same size bags as those the body was found in. Further,fibers found in the body matched those from the type of sofa (nowmissing) that the couple had owned (indicating that a cushion hadprobably been used as a makeshift silencer). Similarly, a medicalgrade towel found with Bill's body matched those in the house andothers stocked at the clinic Melanie worked in. Police believed thatshe used a syringe and prescription from her work to obtain the drugused as her means to incapacitate her husband.

Trial

On June 2, 2005, more than a year afterthe murder, Melanie dropped her children off at child care andpreschool. After exiting the oldest child's school, Melanie startedwalking towards her vehicle when law enforcement emerged from thebushes, taking her into custody without incident. She was immediatelybooked into the Middlesex County Adult Correctional Center onfirst-degree murder charges, but made her $750,000 bail ($0.99million today). Through her attorneys, Joe Tacopina, Steve Turano,and Marc Ward, she pleaded not guilty to the charges.

After being released on bail, Melaniefaced additional charges on October 11, 2005. A four-count indictmentcame down from a state grand jury. Her bail was raised to $2.1million ($2.8 million today), but she was again released. More than ayear later, on October 26, 2006, McGuire was charged with two countsof hindering apprehension for allegedly writing letters to policeaimed at getting them off her trail. She again pleaded not guilty andwas released after posting $10,000 bail.

Almost three years after the crime,McGuire's murder trial commenced at the Middlesex County Courthousein New Brunswick on March 5, 2007. Prosecutors contended her motivefor murder was to take up a new life with her lover. McGuirepersisted in claiming she was innocent, and claimed her husband hadbecome increasingly moody and unpredictable and was a compulsivegambler.

On April 23, 2007, McGuire's murdertrial jury found her guilty of first-degree murder, finding that theevidence established her culpability for the murder beyond areasonable doubt. She was also convicted of the lesser charges ofperjury, desecration of human remains, and possession of a weapon foran unlawful purpose. However, McGuire was acquitted of the two countsof hindering apprehension, as well as tampering with evidence andpossession of Xanax without prescription.

Shortly after her conviction, butbefore sentencing, McGuire appealed for a new trial on the basis ofthe story of a jailhouse informant (Christopher Thieme) that herhusband was deeply in debt and may have been killed by Atlantic Citymobsters. However, prosecutors established that the informant was"entirely incredible and routinely and habitually fabricatesstories", according to a New Jersey State Policeinvestigation, before recanting and accusing McGuire's attorney ofsuborning perjury. With the story debunked, the request for a newtrial was withdrawn. On July 19, 2007, at the age of 34, McGuire wassentenced to life in prison.

Aftermath

During her arraignment on murdercharges, McGuire's case was dubbed the "SuitcaseMurder" by various media outlets. Author John Glattwrote a book about the case, entitled "To Have and To Kill". The case has been profiled on television outlets: Snapped OxygenNetwork; Dateline NBC; 48 Hours Mystery CBS; and The InvestigatorsTruTV; Deadly Affairs Investigation Discovery, and Forensic Files II,among other true crime television shows.

McGuire's conviction was affirmed by anappeals court on March 16, 2011. She must serve more than 63 yearsbefore she is eligible for parole. On September 20, 2011, the NewJersey Supreme Court declined to hear her further appeal. On April29, 2014, McGuire filed a motion for post-conviction relief, allegingineffective assistance of counsel and newly discovered evidence.

On September 25, 2014, McGuire appearedin court with her new attorney Lois DeJulio, a public defender, totry to get a hearing that could overturn her 2007 murder conviction,on the grounds that her previous legal representation (by JoeTacopina) was inadequate or ineffective. The request was subsequentlydenied.