This is not one of those cases, said Prezioso. Subscribe to Justia's Free Newsletters featuring summaries of federal and state court opinions. Did star lawyer botch suitcase murder case? - Daily Record 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Investigators also found trash bags in Melanie McGuire's home that they believed matched those used to wrap parts of Bill McGuire's body. Melanie McGuire denies this, pointing to the fact that there are hundreds of miles between Delaware and Virginia Beach. She says she is innocent. Have a tip? 31 Guards Suspended at a Women's Prison Plagued by Sexual Violence Lodzinski's attorney also argued jurors did not have sufficient evidence to convict her. Days later, an unidentified man, believed by many to be her stepfather, also contacted E-ZPass and attempted to have the charge removed. Melanie McGuire, who is not eligible for parole until she is 101 years old, said the hardest part is not being there for her children. Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have 10 gift . Melanie McGuire was 31 and a mother of two when she was charged with killing and dismembering her husband of five years, William McGuire. Dig, dig. Melanie McGuire is now serving a lifetime sentence at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey, as Entertainment Weekly reports. Podcasters believe Melanie McGuire is wrongfully convicted: Part 10. 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. Melanie McGuire defends her innocence from inside prison in 2019, over a decade after she was convicted. As of June 22, 2020, two inmates had died of COVID-19. But this was the first time somebody was basically saying, We hear you, said Melanie McGuire. NJ mom Melanie McGuire insists from prison she's not the - Knewz Meghan Sacks and Amy Schlosberg are the hosts of the podcast "Direct Appeal" and Fairleigh Dickinson University criminology professors. Women inmates move between the areas of the maximum and medium security compounds at the Edna Mahan Women's Correctional Facility. Per ABC News, she received a life sentence and is now incarcerated at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in New Jersey. McGuire is lodged at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women, serving a life sentence in Clinton, New Jersey. In May 2004, a fisherman and his child were sailing the Chesapeake Bay when they spotted something odd floating in the water. Melanie McGuire is now serving a lifetime sentence at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey, as Entertainment Weekly reports. People explains that she did this all in an effort to maintain her relationship with Mills. "There was no evidence connecting him to this crime.. Watch the full story on "20/20" Friday, Sept. 25, at 9 p.m. Neulander, 76, is at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton. The one where EW follows up with the cast. She is currently incarcerated at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, New Jersey . (Star-Ledger and state Department of Corrections photos), Woman who killed, dismembered husband doing life in women's prison. The prescription for chloral hydrate came from Millers prescription pad. He had been married to Melanie McGuire and it was soon discovered that she was his killer. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Woodbridge's Melanie McGuire Story Will Be Lifetime Movie June 18 A Morris County judge in Decembergranted Koedatich's request for a new test of DNA evidence recovered from Hoffman's body, as part of Koedatich's bid for a new trial in that killing. Melanie and Bill McGuire pictured in Atlantic City, New Jersey at an unknown date. Melanie McGuire said her husband Bill assaulted her during an argument then left. 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. 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. A jury convicted McGuire in 2007, and she was sentenced to life in prison plus five years. The investigation into who killed Bill McGuire began in Virginia but eventually moved to New Jersey. Like, how could somebody think that I did that? she said on 20/20. Crime:Miraglia, then 31,killed andcut off the heads, hands and feet of hisgrandmotherJulia Miraglia, 88, and his ex-girlfriend, Leigh Martinez, 31, in their Ocean Township home on June 8, 2004. (AP Photo/Department of Corrections). Prezioso said she believed that Melanie McGuire was planting the car in Atlantic City to create an illusion that Bill McGuire was still alive. Harris, who has served 24 years, is held in New Jersey State Prison in Trenton. He ran tests, but he didn't do all the tests that you actually need to definitively say whether these bags match, added Sacks. Data from the New Jersey Department of Corrections details cases since they implemented additional measures. What's happened with their appeals? Jonathan Zarate's argument for a new trial claiming that his lawyer was ineffective and evidence shouldn't have been allowed wasnot successful. Sentence: 30 years. [27][28], In 2022, Lifetime produced a movie called Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story as part of its "Ripped from the Headlines" series of movies for television. 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. What's happened with their appeals? [15][16][17][18][19] On July 19, 2007, at the age of 34, McGuire was sentenced to life in prison.[20]. Protesters call for transgender women to be removed from all-female NJ This stuff exists, she said on the show. Rebecca Everett and Thomas Moriarty | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, who worked at a number of hospitals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, killed six women in New Jersey and New York, helping run a New York City escort service, "might have been the subject of a sophocles tragedy in olden times or a Scorsese film these days. William McGuire died from gunshot wounds to the head and chest. A state appellate court in 2011 rejected his first direct appeal, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case. [13] She was also convicted of the lesser charges of perjury, desecration of human remains, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. Heavy writes that at the time of his murder, Bill was married to Melanie McGuire. His Department of Corrections profile says he is only allowed "window visits" with visitors. Sentence: After being convicted in 2008, Miraglia was sentenced to two life sentences without possibility of parole, plus one day each on weapons charges. [8] She married United States Navy veteran William T. "Bill" McGuire (born September 21, 1964) in 1999. 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." The podcast hosts and Melanie McGuire herself, raise questions about whether it's even possible the gun she purchased was the murder weapon. Kanka's death inspired Megan's Law statutes at the federal level and in states throughout the country, requiring sex offenders to register with local authorities. I guess it is comforting [that people are interested]. Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women, NJ Inmate Roster - Prisonroster APP.com reported that he is locked up alone in a maximum-security cell. So I think the police said, Well, prove it. A man then says, "who does this to another human being?". Her body was found in a recycling bin nearby days later, and both Robinson, 15, and his brother, Dante Robinson, 17, were arrested. Cullen has not appealed his convictions in New Jersey, court records indicate. This suitcase was found to contain the head and torso with three bullet wounds, two in the chest and one in the head. A 46-second preview of the movie shows a woman finding a suitcase on the beach and then moving away as she opens it. 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. There's less of a waiting period.. Melanie McGuire: With Melanie McGuire, William McGuire. of Corrections) WOODBRIDGE, NJ For anyone. [9] Her E-ZPass tag was recorded at a toll booth in Delaware two days after the murder; she claimed that this was the result of her going furniture shopping in Delaware, since it has no sales tax. 'Suitcase killer' Melanie McGuire's case the focus of new TV movie It was a mistake on a gun manufacturer's website. Melanie has claimed that she didn't have effective representation in the courtroom, reports My Central Jersey. She said her marriage to Bill McGuire was not going well and claimed that he was violent. James Zarateappealed for years to have his sentence reduced, with his attorney claiming he was influenced by his older brother. As My Central Jersey reports, Melanie McGuire allegedly dismembered Bill's body and brought the trio of suitcases to a bridge. Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. They brought in the luminol, and they also pulled down parts of the walls. Where are they now? That night, according to the prosecution, McGuire drugged her husband, shot him dead, and subsequently dismembered his body. He was successful in 2017 and had his life sentence changed to 50 years. Melanie McGuire - Wikipedia Crime: Cullen, a nurse who worked at a number of hospitals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in 2005 to killing a total of 29 patients between the two states, beginning in 1988. Her earliest possible parole date is May 20, 2073, according to the Department of Corrections. Video Podcasters believe Melanie McGuire is wrongfully - ABC News Before she was charged with murder, Melanie contacted E-ZPass and attempted to have the $0.90 charge removed from her account history. Crime: In 1994, Neulander was a rabbi from Cherry Hill who was having an affair with with a Philadelphia radio DJ. Per Asbury Park Press, Melanie and William "Bill" McGuire married in 1999. nj.com/tips. . Sentence: Cottingham is serving more than 200 years for two killings in New Jersey, and a life sentence for the third homicide to which he pleaded guilty in 2010. He said he was leaving and he wasnt coming back and [that] I could tell my children they didnt have a father.. What's happened with their appeals? In June 2005, Melanie McGuire was arrested and charged with Bill's murder . During her arraignment on murder charges, McGuire's case was dubbed the "Suitcase Murder" by various media outlets. His earliest possible parole date from state custody in New Jersey would be June 10, 2388, according to the Department of Corrections. Melanie McGuire says she isnt hoping for prison release, in a new jailhouse interview with @ARobach Friday at 9/8c during a new #ABC2020. [9] Similarly, a medical grade towel found with Bill's body matched those stocked at the clinic where Melanie worked. Creato is held in Garden State Youth Correctional Facility in Chesterfield Township. Melanie McGuire v. Attorney General New Jersey, et al They pulled out the piping, pulling floorboards up, said Sacks. McGuire, now 47, was convicted of killing and dismembering her husband after a lengthy trial in 2007. The grainy images appeared to show Bill McGuire's car being pulled into a spot, but did not capture who the driver was. What's happened with their appeals? The New Jersey couple occasionally had fights and broke up from time to time but always got back together (via YouTube). New Jersey Is Closing Its Only Women's Prison After Rampant Abuse By Sentence: Both young men received life sentences plus additional time, butJames Zarate was resentenced last year to 50 years on the murder charge. Name: Steven Fortin Crime: Fortin has twice been convicted for the Aug. 3, 1994, sexual assault and murder of Melissa Padilla, a 25-year-old mother of four who was grabbed off the street as she carried a bag of groceries home. His first conviction was overturned by the state Supreme Court, which ruled the judge's questioning of prospective jurors had been inadequate. Department of Corrections | Georgia.gov During her work as a nurse, Melanie formed a longstanding romantic relationship with her boss, Dr. Bradley Miller. 370 years from now. McGuire, now 45, is serving her sentence at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Hunterdon County. Where are they now? Bill McGuire, 39, disappeared April 28, 2004, shortly after announcing to his friends that he and his wife had just closed the sale of their first home, according to an appeal filed in her case. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 4/4/2023), Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/26/2023). 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. He is serving a life sentence without possibility of parole. Name: Richard Cottingham Crime: Cottingham, a Lodi resident,killed six women in New Jersey and New York between 1967 and 1980. When a bullet passes through, its smooth surface becomes imprinted with the same number of lands and grooves as the barrel. McGuire, 48, a former Woodbridge resident who had worked as a fertility nurse, has already served 13 years of her life sentence.
