Kriti Mehrotra
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. This sensational case has thus often been referred to as the “Suitcase Murder” and has been profiled on several true-crime shows, including Oxygen’s ‘Snapped,’ NBC’s ‘Dateline,’ CBS’ ’48 Hours Mystery,’ ID’s ‘Deadly Affairs,’ and ‘Forensic Files,’ amongst many others. Most recently, though, it has been the subject of ABC’s ’20/20,’ in an episode entitled ‘Interview with Melanie McGuire,’ where we get Melanie’s complete perspective for the first time. So if you wish to learn more about her and her current whereabouts, here’s what we know.
Who Is Melanie McGuire?
Born on October 8, 1972, Melanie Lyn Slate has spent all of her life in New Jersey — growing up in Ridgewood and Middletown Township. After finishing high school, she enrolled at Rutgers University for a double major in math and psychology, which she achieved in 1994. She then graduated from the Charles E. Gregory School of Nursing (now Raritan Bay Medical Center) in 1997 with a nursing diploma. 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. However, after five years and two kids, their marriage ended on April 28, 2004, with Melanie killing her husband. She drugged him, shot him (in the head and chest) to death, and subsequently dismembered his remains.
At that time, Melanie was a nurse at a fertility clinic and had managed to have a long-standing affair with one of the doctors there, Bradley Miller. She allegedly wanted to spend the rest of her life with her lover, and so, she did what she could to get rid of her husband. She actually obtained the means to incapacitate Bill from her workplace, which eventually became her downfall. After all, a medical-grade towel found with Bill’s body matched those stocked at the clinic as well as those she kept at her home. Therefore, more than a year after the incident, on June 7, 2005, Melanie was officially arrested and charged with first-degree murder. She was indicted on four additional, relatively smaller charges in October.
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. She pleaded not guilty to all indictments and soon posted an accumulated bail of over $2 million.
Where Is Melanie McGuire Today?
Melanie McGuire went on trial on March 5, 2007. 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. They insisted he was a compulsive gambler who had become increasingly moody, unpredictable, and tempestuous in the months before his passing. 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 did file for a re-trial before her sentencing on the basis that her husband was deeply in debt and may have been killed by Atlantic City mobsters, but to no avail.
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. Her penalty is actually categorized as the following: life in prison for first-degree murder; life in prison for the possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose; 10 years for desecrating human remains; and five years for perjury. Melanie did try to appeal her case and later get relief from her long sentence, but her petitions were denied. Therefore, at the age of 49, Melanie McGuire is currently incarcerated at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Union Township, Hunterdon County. According to state records, she must serve at least 85% of her sentence before she can even be considered for parole, which means she’ll become eligible for it on May 20, 2073.
Read More: Where Are William and Melanie McGuire’s Kids Now?
