Were you ever angry enough a the see him dead . There were times i wanted him gone, but gone doesnt mean dead. Mel just said, well im a single mom now, and now ive just got to get along with my life. I said, well, no, the next thing is weve got figure out who did this to him. After i got off the phone i said, she did it. They couldnt find any forensic evidence whatsoever to establish this was a crime scene. Do you still insist you are innocent . Absolutely. I still think, how could somebody think i did that . I do not think she did actually commit the crime. It turns out it isnt the end of the story. My name is meghan sacks. Im a criminologist at Fairleigh Dickinson university. In simplest terms, criminology is the Scientific Study of what causes crime and how the criminal Justice System responds to crime. Ive written about 25 truecrime books over the years. And i think Melanie Mcguires is perhaps one of the most interesting ones, and baffling. This is Melanie Mcguire, arrested today minutes after dropping off her children at daycare. Melanie mcguire, a new jersey nurse, was accused of killing her husband, cutting up his body, and throwing it into the Chesapeake Bay. In 2007, what was being called the suitcase murder trial was generating an enormous amount of Media Attention. Not just in new jersey, but all across the country. Three bizarre discoveries. Three separate suitcases all containing human remains. A woman who is on trial for her very life. She says the real truth behind the crime has never been revealed. With no history of violence and no apparent motive for murder, could she really have done it . She was this beautiful young nurse, and they were this seemingly normal middleclass couple, and the murder happened in such a grisly way. The idea that this beautiful nurse could have actually killed her husband and then cut him up is just incredible. Of course there were the salacious aspects. Mrs. Mcguire is a registered nurse, and prosecutors say she had an affair with a doctor. She didnt fit the profile, i guess, of a murderer. Over the years, students and colleagues of ours have come to me and said, Melanie Mcguire proclaims her innocence and would love to tell her story. I started thinking, oh, maybe there is a little more to this case than what you see on the surface. Then the idea of a podcast came up and i was all in. On direct appeal we examine the murder conviction of Melanie Mcguire following a highly publicized trial. Looking at the evidence that was presented and the evidence that may have seemed insignificant at the time, we form our own conclusion about melanies guilt. We here at abc have our own history with the Melanie Mcguire case. Back in 2007, abcs Cynthia Mcfadden had the first oncamera interview with the mother of two on trial for murdering her husband. Who is the Melanie Mcguire you hope the jury knows . The one who tried to take care of everybody, who didnt make the smartest decisions, but admitted to those mistakes to the people she trusted most, but did not admit what shes accused of. I have been incarcerated for 12 1 2, going on 13 years now. Do you still insist that youre innocent . Absolutely. Youre sitting here a wrongfully convicted person. Correct. Absolutely. And what have those years been like . I tell people its not as bad as you think in some ways. And its so much worse than i could ever articulate in others. After all these years, i still feel hurt. I still feel bothered. I still feel like, how could somebody think that i did that . This whole saga begins on may 5th, 2004, with an odd discovery in Virginia Beach. Early morning, a couple of fishermen and their kids are out on a boat by the Chesapeake Bay. Me and my friend don connors was going to go out fishing. We both had days off, and d or don, we called him d, said he keep his kids out of school, were going to take them fishing. So everybody was excited. We went right out through this bridge, run right into the Chesapeake Bay tunnel. The Chesapeake Bay bridge tunnel is about 17. 5 miles long. It really is quite astonishing. It connects the Eastern Shore of virginia to Virginia Beach. Has two tunnels for two shipping channels. And once you get on the other side, you go north, youre up into maryland, delaware, new jersey. We went out there and anchored off of fishermans island, and we were just doing some fishing. And suddenly, one notices that a suitcase has floated by. We wheeled the boat around, pulled up alongside it. I immediately thought it probably blew off of a car, you know, off the luggage rack or something. D and his son reached over, were trying to pull it in. It had some weight to it so i stopped the boat, reached over and helped pull the thing in there. And laid it in the floor of the boat. They found a dark green kenneth cole suitcase in pretty Good Condition that was apparently part of a luggage set of three. They put it on board, and the little boy with them is very, very excited. He thinks its buried treasure, so he wants to open it. The contents were covered with a thick trash bag, like a hefty bag or something. And i said, uhoh. I was a little bit nervous then when i saw the black bags in there. So i turned to Say Something to d and while i was talking to d, the young boy reached down and ripped open the plastic trash bags. There was no doubt of what it was. It was a set of human legs. Theres a pair of male legs from the knee down. Looked very fresh. And they recoil in horror. I looked down there and said, oh, my gracious. So i closed the bag back up and i dialed 911. I was out on patrol in the Chesapeake Bay when i received a radio call. I made arrangements with him to meet me, and he transferred a suitcase over to my boat. I handed him the luggage, and he seemed surprised. He goes, what do you want me to do with that . I said, open it up. I was pretty shocked. Id never seen a suitcase with body parts in it before. There really wasnt any smell. They actually looked kind of fresh. The first suitcase being found was big news. Its not, you know, a common find, by any means, especially in this area. This is an alarming story. Everybody wanted to know who the man in the suitcase was. We kind of figured there had to be other suitcases with other parts in it. After the initial shock of them finding the suitcase, everyone was just waiting for what was going to wash up next. S are just the right amount of spicy. A smalltomedium sprite kind of spicy. A. Lets get a mcflurry after this kind of spicy. But if you get the mighty hot sauce. Its a. Napkins are for foreheads now kind of spicy. A. This came from mcdonalds . Kind of spicy. 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The last thing they would expect is to find a suitcase with a human body in it. It was the start of the summer tourist season, which is huge for Virginia Beach. And getting that kind of negative publicity of bodies washing up in suitcases was something they did not need. Six days later, a student was on fishermens island in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay, which is a nature preserve. And she saw a dark green kenneth cole suitcase. She was curious what could be contained inside. And she actually pulled a little bit of the black trash bag out of the suitcase. There was such a strong odor of decomposition that she immediately stopped and notified the refuge workers. The police, theyd been expecting this, because after the first kenneth cole bag with the legs, they suspected there was going to be more. It was transported to the medical Examiners Office in norfolk, and thats where we actually viewed what the contents inside. Inside the suitcase would be the torso and the head of a male. The torso was still attached with the arms and the head. The head was wrapped in what looked like a medical blanket. The face was somewhat identifiable, but it had been submerged for a while so extremely bloated. The medical examiner is able to determine that the victims been shot multiple times. There are a couple of gunshot wounds in the torso area and one through the head. There were two bullets that were recovered from the body, wad cutter bullets. And wad cutter bullets are not typically used by the average person, but they are used for target practice. It became a very big local story. A student discovered a suitcase near fisherman island. Inside, a human head. It was getting a lot of coverage. Its the second suitcase in a week found by the Chesapeake Bay bridge tunnel. And the second one containing body parts. And everybody was waiting for the rest of the body to turn up. The third suitcase was found on may 16, 2004, in the water by a fisherman. He saw the suitcase floating in the water. The third suitcase that had been in the water the longest did have some growth on it from floating in the water for so long. This suitcase contained the pelvis, so from the waist down to above the knees. Authorities realize they have to figure out who it is. Anytime you find an unknown body, the first thing youre going to do is look into missing person cases to see if the profile matches anyone whos currently missing. Because of the naval bases in the area theyre checking military records, theyre checking everything they can possibly think of to figure out who this person is. One of the policeman working on it came up with the idea of getting a sketch artist in. I immediately took photographs to our sketch artist, and she was able to do a sketch for us. And we eventually released it to the media. Were hoping maybe this will give us an edge and maybe identify him sooner. Right now, hes just john doe. May the 21st. Sue sees the picture on tv of a sketch that they had done to find out who this person was. Sue had been getting out of the shower one morning. The television was on. And as she was getting out toweling off, she looks at the tv. This is a sketch of the body that washed ashore near the Chesapeake Bay bridge tunnel this month. He belongs to somebody. I mean, hes got loved ones. She thinks, oh my god, that looks like bill. Sue was pretty sure that it was bill mcguire. This is john and sue rice. Bill mcguires good friends. Bill and john had been friends since their early navy days. Bill was friends with sue as well. Melanie knew sue. The couples had vacationed together. Sue immediately calls her husband to take a look. And hes not so sure its bill. But sues convinced it is in fact. And says, please call crime stoppers. He was very good friends with mr. Mcguire. He told me that mr. Mcguire lived in woodbridge, new jersey. He was married to Melanie Mcguire, and they had two small children. He wanted to know more about the dynamics of bill, why i thought it could be bill. And the only way that i thought it could be bill is that, yeah, hes missing, too. Jon rice had spoke to cindy ligosh, who is William Mcguires sister. I got a call from cindy. She said, john, is billy there . And i said, no, hes not. Whats going on . And she goes, well, bill and melanie got into an argument, and he left and he hasnt been heard from. He said he was leaving and he wasnt coming back. My husband was full of bluster when it came to stuff like that. He would say things like that all the time. I didnt actually believe it was the last time i was ever going to see my husband. William mcguire had, in fact, vanished. Mr. And his wife, mrs. Rice, eventually agreed to come down to the Police Department in Virginia Beach and view some photos. Bill has had a little red mark right here, and thats what i kept zoning in on when i saw the picture. Thats exactly what i zoned in on. I mean, ive known bill for 22 years. I kept seeing that, and i was pretty certain that it was bill. Once we had a name and an approximate age, we ran him through our computer system. He ran a check on bill mcguire, and found that mcguire had been arrested in virginia for a reckless driving charge in the 1980s. His fingerprints were on file already, which made it a lot easier, and theyre very quickly able to confirm that the fingerprints matched. The man in the suitcases was identified as 39yearold William Mcguire of woodbridge, new jersey. So according to melanie, she just thinks her husband is missing. But she is about to get the news that will change her life forever. And he said, im sorry to tell you, maam, that william is deceased. And i just i just burst into tears. Now theyve solved the mystery of who the man in the suitcase is, the big question is how the hell did he get there . Try natures bounty hair, skin and nails gummies. The number one brand to support beautiful hair, glowing skin, and healthy nails. And try advanced, now with two times more biotin. How to ensure your vote counts. Because of covid19 president ial election,. Polling locations. Confusion is high. fisherman vo how do i register to vote . working mom vo i think im already registered. Hmm . Hmm . Hmm woman on porch vo can we vote by mail here . man on porch vo lemme check. woman vo thank you man vo thank you grandma vo youll be safe, right . daughter vo yes four girls vo the polls voted grandma vo go out and vote its so important man at poll vo woo grandma vo its the most important thing you can do the Melanie Mcguire story is centered around new jersey. They lived in the workingclass part of new jersey where the sopranos took place, which was perhaps the hottest show at the time. Woke up this morning got yourself a gun melanie is a jersey girl, born and raised there. Her parents are linda and michael cappararo. Shes a great, great daughter, mother. Friend. Full of life, funloving, a good girl. Never in trouble, never in trouble. Always trying to help people. Shes working in the restaurants in jersey. Shes a waitress, and she met bill mcguire. He was also a server. Bill was known as the rude waiter, because he would speed people up in a jocular way. You know, but they loved it. They would ask for the rude waiter. What was he like . Funny, clever. He had a big heart when he wanted to. He wanted all the right things. He was a tremendous friend. When i first met bill i didnt know what to make of him because he was a practical joker and whatnot. And i thought, well, this guy could probably get on somebodys nerves with all this. He was so funny. He just kind of overcame whatever resistance you might have to him. Melanie was a fertility nurse when i met her. Just so caring, so nurturing. She was working with women who were going through really tough times trying to get pregnant. She was very compassionate and her patients really loved her. What made you a good nurse . Type a personality. The way i looked at it, i was not going to be happy with anything less than the total Comfort Level of my patients. In 1998, bill called jon and i and told us that he wanted to bring melanie down to meet us. Melanie, shes shes a really nice person to be around. Physically, shes beautiful. Shes very smart. She had a lot of the same sense of humor that bill had. When bill was making jokes, melanie would be right in there. He liked to razz people. She would razz him right back. He really was crazy about her. What was your relationship with bill like in the beginning . In the beginning it was it was the challenge. It was the chase. It was we had a bit of a tempestuous relationship, even before we got married. We would break up, get back together. Bill and melanie dated for quite a while. They were crazy in love at first, but it quickly became tumultuous. There were infidelities, theyd go back and forth. Theyd fight. I think they liked the drama of it. I think she thought she could make a difference in his life. I think she thought that she could maybe change him, make him happy. She truly did love him. You guys want some more champagne . Let me go get a bottle. Because theres nothing in there, is there . They got married in 1999. It was probably one of the most extravagant weddings weve ever been to. Mr. And mrs. William mcguire. Melanie on her wedding day looked absolutely gorgeous, angelic, just perfect. Both bill and melanie seemed like