The 48-year-old actress and mother of two has been sober since the 2010 crash. She was charged with her husband's murder more than a year after his remains were recovered and was convicted of his murder following a televised trial in Middlesex County in which she was represented by attorney Joseph Tacopina. She says she is innocent. [24][25] On April 29, 2014, McGuire filed a motion for post-conviction relief, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel and newly discovered evidence. She says he then pinned her to the wall, hit her, and tried to choke her with the dryer sheet. They searched gun records in the state but found nothing. Name:Jesse Timmendequas Crime: Timmendequas, twice previously convicted of sexually assaulting children, was 33 when he raped and strangled his 7-year-old neighbor Megan Kanka in Hamilton in 1994. My job is to convince the jury. High-profile attorney ran prostitution ring, arranged murder. There are times when podcasts and media can shine a light on certain cases where what the government did was not right. "I can't even fathom that. She didn't fit the profile, I guess, of a murderer, Shlosberg said. Where are they now? Lodzinski, now 50, is incarcerated at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Clinton. And my answer is I can't explain because I don't think it makes any sense either," Wronko told EW earlier this month. His first trial ended in a hung jury, but he was convicted of murder in 2002. 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." Prezioso believed the "human sawdust" was the result of Bill McGuire's dismemberment. Her bail was raised to $2.1million ($2.9 million today), but she was again released. McGuire, 49, a former fertility nurse who was nicknamed the "suitcase killer," was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted in April 2007 of murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, desecration of human remains and perjury in the death of her husband, William McGuire. It was a mistake on a gun manufacturer's website. Her parole eligibility date is listed as May 20, 2073, according to the New Jersey Department of Corrections. Melanie and Bill McGuire pictured hugging at an unknown date. Once police honed in on Melanie McGuire as the prime suspect, they began wiretapping her phones. Charles Cullen, shown left in court and at right in a Department of Corrections photo, pleaded guilty to killing 29 hospital patients while working as a nurse in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Prosecutors have always maintained that they believed Melanie McGuire likely had an accomplice. There's less of a waiting period.. His earliest parole date is June 20, 2030. She must serve 63 years of the sentence before she is eligible for parole. Lodzinski's attorney also argued jurors did not have sufficient evidence to convict her. Where are they now? I grabbed the baby and went to the bathroom right behind me and shut the door. He was arrested the next day and convicted in 1995. Robinson admitted he was the one who strangled Pasquale to death claiming in a 2017 interview with NJ.com that she started hitting him first and his brother pleaded guilty to obstruction. The investigation into who killed Bill McGuire began in Virginia but eventually moved to New Jersey. She will not be eligible for parole until May 20, 2073 In a recent. While on death row, Harris punched, kicked and stomped to death a fellow death row inmate, Robert "Mudman" Simon, who had been convicted of killing Franklin Township police Sgt. After re-examining her murder conviction over a decade later, Sacks and Shlosberg, believe Melanie McGuire was wrongfully convicted. After seeing this report Melanie McGuire told Miller a story that prosecutors later called preposterous. "My job is not to convince the world. 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 dumped into the Chesapeake Bay. After killing her, he held a gun to his head during a 45-minute standoff with police. 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. During the investigation, incriminating evidence against Melanie was uncovered. All rights reserved (About Us). Author John Glatt wrote a book about the case, entitled To Have and To Kill. 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. Then, they looked in Pennsylvania. Prosecutors argued that McGuire killed her husband, 39, in their Woodbridge townhouse so she could be with the. Meghan Sacks, host of podcast "Direct Appeal" and Fairleigh Dickinson University criminology professor questions Melanie McGuire's guilt. Just a few days later, a second dark green suitcase washed ashore on Fisherman Island, New York (via People). "He said he was leaving, and he wasn't coming back, and I could tell my children they didn't have a father." She was sentenced to life in prison. Prezioso said she believed that Melanie McGuire was planting the car in Atlantic City to create an illusion that Bill McGuire was still alive. Where are they now? [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. 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. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Melanie says she yanked her child away and tried to hide in the bathroom, but this was a breaking point for Bill, who fumed out of the house. Tell us. The Georgia Department of Corrections protects and serves the public by managing offenders and helping to provide a safe and secure environment for the state's residents. Melanie McGuire never reported her husband was missing. Miller agreed to cooperate with investigators and was never charged in the crime. Court records do not indicate Cottingham has appealed his convictions in New Jersey. Sacks and Shlosberg claim that the tests run by the state's plastic expert were not sufficient to conclusively link the bags found in Melanie McGuires house and the ones used to wrap Bill McGuires body. Crime: Pennsylvania artist Kristen Huggins, 22, was in Trenton to paint a mural in 1992 when Harris carjacked, kidnapped, raped and murdered her. 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." She will not be eligible for parole until she is 100 years old. After being released on bail, Melanie faced additional charges on October 11, 2005. McGuire told 20/20 she did not commit the crimes for which she was convicted. Melanie McGuire/Bill McGuire. Upon further investigation, police discovered a security video of the car being moved in the early morning hours of April 30, 2004. Thirteen years have passed since Melanie McGuire's conviction. Cottingham, now 71, is incarcerated at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, according to correctional records. His earliest release date is April 4, 2027. a judge in 2010 imposed the maximum sentence, Robinson, 15, and his brother, Dante Robinson, 17, were arrested, claiming in a 2017 interview with NJ.com that she started hitting him first, A jury found the killing was self defense, He claimed he was on a mission from God to "close the gates of hell", The most infamous event ever in each of N.J.'s 21 counties, Women who have killed: 12 of New Jersey's most notorious, Corruption Jersey style: Councilman may join long list of crooked officials, The 55 unsolved missing children cases in New Jersey. Dig, dig. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. (Photos from file and state Department of Corrections), Convicted killer of 2 young women seeking DNA test to clear him of slaying. She pleaded not guilty. McGuire's husband, Bill McGuire, was shot and dismembered in 2004, and his body parts were found in three different suitcases in the Chesapeake Bay area (via ABC News).The gruesome way McGuire's body was disposed of led the press to nickname the accused the "suitcase killer." Days later, an unidentified man, believed by many to be her stepfather, also contacted E-ZPass and attempted to have the charge removed. It wasn't until 2014 that prosecutors charged Lodzinski, who moved to Florida and had two more kids, with murder. Possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women, Fisherman Island National Wildlife Refuge, Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story, "Melanie McGuire Found Guilty of Murder in 2004 Shooting Death and Dismemberment of Her Husband", "Melanie McGuire, SBI Number: 000319833C", "Author to sign copies of Melanie McGuire book", "Case 120: Bill McGuire from Casefile True Crime", "Wife arrested in gory dismemberment murder", "General Discussion - Melanie McGuire guilty as hell", "Defense to withdraw motion for McGuire retrial", "Bit player in infamous N.J. murder case charged in bizarre murder-for-hire plot", "Man gets jail for plotting to kill online crush", https://www.state.nj.us/grc/decisions/pdf/2014-275.pdf, "McGuire sentenced to life in prison for suitcase murder", "State v. McGuire, 16 A. Prezioso said she has no doubt Melanie McGuire's gun was the murder weapon. The New Jersey fertility nurse was sentenced to life in prison back in 2007 for murdering her husband Bill in April 2004. What's happened with their appeals? The Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, NJ, is the only state prison for women in New Jersey. A state appellate court in 2011 rejected his first direct appeal, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case. McGuire must serve 85 percent of her sentence before becoming eligible for parole. Sentence: Both young men received life sentences plus additional time, butJames Zarate was resentenced last year to 50 years on the murder charge. The grainy images appeared to show Bill McGuire's car being pulled into a spot, but did not capture who the driver was. They brought in the luminol, and they also pulled down parts of the walls. I still feel bothered. Her earliest possible parole date is May 20, 2073, according to the Department of Corrections. When a bullet passes through, its smooth surface becomes imprinted with the same number of lands and grooves as the barrel. It took four years and two trials the first jury hung for federal prosecutors to convict him in 2013 of the 23 charges facing him. After a nearly month and a half long trial, Melanie McGuire was found guilty. His first conviction was overturned by the state Supreme Court, which ruled the judge's questioning of prospective jurors had been inadequate. from inside the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for . After all these years, I still feel hurt. On April 30, the next day, Melanie filed for divorce and a restraining order. Fortin, now 53, is serving his sentence at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton. 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. They closed the documents on their new house on April 28, but never moved in. Melanie McGuire was found guilty of murdering Bill McGuire, 39, in April 2004 The 47-year-old is currently serving a life sentence at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Clinton,. Despite it's name, the facility houses young adult inmates. Police quickly found his car in a parking lot there. 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. Powered by. Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. This docket was last retrieved on May 24, 2021. McGuire, now 45, is serving her sentence at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Hunterdon County. [4] Its official abbreviation is EMCFW. 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. Phil Murphy announced Monday. A judge in October 2016 rejected both claims. [10] Prosecutors contended her motive for murder was to take up a new life with her lover. [15][16][17][18][19] On July 19, 2007, at the age of 34, McGuire was sentenced to life in prison.[20]. She told her sons, now adults, to look into the case for themselves. [9] A witness testified that Melanie used the same towels to protect furniture when she moved. Melanie Lyn McGuire (ne Slate; born October 8, 1972)[3] is an American former nurse who was convicted of murdering her husband on April 28, 2004, in what media dubbed the "suitcase murder". This includes extensive interviews with Melanie McGuire herself from Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, New Jersey. The one where EW follows up with the cast. Michelle Lodzinski sentenced to 30 years for the murder of her son Michelle. ABCNewsreports that Melanie had actually purchased an out-of-state firearm in Pennsylvania, although she lived in New Jersey. 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. New Jersey will close its only prison for women after years of documented physical and sexual abuses of inmates by guards. Crime: Bergrin was formerly an Army major, a federal prosecutor and a high-profile Newark-based defense attorney whose clients were rappers and drug kingpins. Some got reduced sentences in plea dealsor just did their time, and they left prison and restarted their lives on the outside. Wronko, who is also Locane's boyfriend, is appealing the new sentence, which he believes violates her double jeopardy protections. His conviction and sentence was upheld in 1999. Cooper appealed for post-conviction relief, taking his case to the state's Supreme Court, but the court ruled against him in 2006. In an interview, Melanie said that Bill had gambling troubles and took his frustrations out on her, while Bill's stepfather noted that he had a split personality that vacillated between kind and manipulative (via YouTube). [5], Melanie Lyn Slate grew up in Ridgewood and Middletown Township, New Jersey, attending Middletown High School South. 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. The evidence that was at trial was from ballistic experts.. Once Melanie spots Bills car from the highway, she decides shes going to move his car, said Shlosberg. After all these years, I still feel hurt. I still feel bothered. [22] She must serve more than 63 years before she is eligible for parole. People explains that she did this all in an effort to maintain her relationship with Mills. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? It was hard. So where are New Jersey's infamous felons now? Jonathan Zarate's earliest parole date is Nov. 10, 2071, when he will be 84. We looked very closely at Dr. Miller, said Prezioso. "I won't be home until my oldest is 18 and my youngest is 16," she told EW. [9] Police released a facial reconstruction sketch of the victim, which an acquaintance of Bill McGuire's recognized. The fisherman pulled a dark green suitcase from the estuaryand pried it open to find that the contents of the suitcase were two human legs, cut at the knees. Creato is held in Garden State Youth Correctional Facility in Chesterfield Township. He said he was leaving and he wasnt coming back and [that] I could tell my children they didnt have a father.. (Times of Trenton file photo/Department of Corrections), He raped and killed a young artist, then killed a guy on death row. James Zarateappealed for years to have his sentence reduced, with his attorney claiming he was influenced by his older brother. Seidle, who pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter, losthis appeal of his 30-year sentence in 2017. A jury found the killing was self defense. 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? 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. Melanie gives authorities theories about her husband's death but what's the truth? Rosario "Russell" Miraglia is pictured at a court appearance in 2008 and in a recent prison photo. What's happened with their appeals? Philip Seidle, a former Neptune police sergeant, is pictured in court in 2016, and in his most recent prison mugshot. Youre talking about hours [of driving] and there isnt enough time, said McGuire. Bill became a computer technician, while Melanie sought out a career path as a fertility clinic nurse. [6][7] She enrolled at Rutgers University with a double major in math and psychology and graduated in 1994. Melanie McGuire Today: Where Is the Suitcase Killer Now in 2020? 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.