SERIALously - 42: Bloodbath Dismemberment & The Ultimate Betrayal | The WILD Story of Melanie McGuire

Episode Date: August 7, 2023

Melanie and Bill McGuire were going about their everyday lives when the lines of normalcy were suddenly blurred, and the unexpected happened. We talk about a lot of unbelievable cases, and this story is no exception. In fact, one of the most incredible parts to me is that so many people have strong, differing opinions on what exactly happened. Some are thoroughly convinced, some are not, even almost 20 years later. On the other hand, some believe that what went down between Melanie and Bill will forever remain a mystery. So what exactly happened here? And why do some people believe that the person responsible for what occurred could still be on the loose?  Your True Crime BFF, Annie Elise  Today's Sponsors: Nuts.com - Get a free gift with purchase and free shipping on orders of $29 or more when you go to https://www.Nuts.com/ae Better Help - Visit https://www.BetterHelp.com/ae today to get 10% off your first month. PDS Debt- Get your free debt analysis just for completing the quick and easy debt assessment at www.PDSDebt.com/Save.  Zoc Doc- Go to https://www.Zocdoc.com/ANNIEELISE and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Then find and book a top-rated doctor today. All Social Media Links: https://www.flowcode.com/page/annieelise_ About Me: https://annieelise.com/ SERIALously FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/SERIALouslyAnnieElise/ For Business Inquiries: [e-mail] Credits: Court TV Trial Vault ABC 20/20

Hey true crime besties, welcome back to an all new episode of Serialistly. Hey everybody, welcome back to an all new episode of Serialistly with me, Annie, here to break down another true crime case for you today. And boy oh boy is today's case a wild one? Because in today's episode, we're discussing a case that may make you feel like you know exactly what will happen next, and at other times, feel like you are being completely gaslit. It is wild. So before we jump into it, guys, if you would take a quick second, just double check that you're following the podcast. Hit that little check mark up top in whatever podcast app you are listening to this on. That way you will be notified of new episodes as they drop. And let's jump right into today's case. So this story takes place in the spring of 2004

in a quiet suburban town in New Jersey. Melanie and Bill McGuire were going on about their everyday lives when the lines of normalcy were suddenly blurred and the unexpected happened. Now, I actually just recently heard of this case, and as I started looking into it more, I couldn't believe that this was the first time that I had actually heard about it, since it had been dubbed the original suitcase murder. Now, at the time, the story got a lot of media attention, because not only do you have the element of the attractive, well-to-do couple, but also because Bill and Melanie were from the working class part of New Jersey, which is where the hit TV show The Sopranos took place. All of these, like, weird elements that kind of made this even more interesting and a little bit more eerie. Because back in the early 2000s, The Sopranos was at the

height of its initial popularity, which made this case all the more interesting to the New Jersey locals at the time. So we talk a lot about unbelievable cases, and this story is no exception. In fact, one of the most incredible parts to me is that so many people have such strong but differing opinions on what exactly happened. Some are thoroughly convinced, and some are not, even almost 20 years later. On the other hand, some believe that what went down melanie and bill will forever remain a mystery so what exactly happened here and why do some people believe that the person responsible for what occurred could still be on the loose you guys want some more champagne all right let me go get a bottle because there's nothing in there is there all right gene let's bring a couple of uh experts into the conversation maybe if it was one of these pieces of circumstantial evidence

for which you might have a reasonable explanation for one or two, but we're talking a large amount. You can't have reasonable explanations for all of them. After you tape-recorded her, sir, you then had additional intimate relations, correct? Yes, sir. Did you tell her that, by the way, that you had tape-record that you had tape recorder no i did not i want you to tell me the truth now interesting melanie mcguire might as well have taken out a billboard on third avenue that said i murdered my husband and hacked his body up.

She put his body. It's very interesting the way she did this. Has the jury reached a verdict in this case? Melanie McGuire was a Jersey girl, born and raised there. Her parents are Linda and Michael Capararo, and Melanie was described as a great daughter, a great wife, a great mom, a good girl, full of life, never in trouble, and always wanting to help people. After high school, Melanie attended Rutgers University with a double major in math and psychology. Afterward, she attended nursing school, graduating second in her class. A very, very smart cookie. In 1998, Melanie was 26 years old and was working part-time as a waitress to make ends meet while living at home still with her parents and saving money.

One day, she met Bill, who was 34 years old and also a server at the restaurant. Now, there's not a lot known about Bill's background. He was raised in Virginia Beach. He had previously been married, also had served in the Navy, and his family included his parents and at least one sister. He also did appear to have a great group of friends growing up, lifelong friends, in fact. Bill was funny, clever, big-hearted, and wanted all of the right things. He was also loyal, a tremendous friend, and a practical jokester. Melanie and Bill casually started flirting at work, and eventually they went out on a date, which quickly blossomed into a relationship. Bill and Melanie's chemistry

felt natural, and they had an immediate spark with one another. Melanie was a nice person to be around. She was physically beautiful, absolutely intelligent and kind, and she and Bill shared a similar sense of humor. Bill was absolutely crazy about Melanie, and vice versa. But that, of course, as we know, didn't mean that their relationship was always smooth sailing. It was, it was the challenge. It was the chase. It was, we, we had a bit of a tempestuous relationship even before we, we got married. We would break up, get back together. 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. But in the end, they knew that they had found the person that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with. They were head over heels. They were happy. They were in love. What could possibly ever go wrong? That is the famous last question in so many of these cases. So in 1998, Bill called his lifelong friend John and his wife Sue and told them that he wanted to

bring Melanie down to Virginia Beach for them to meet her. And when he did, they absolutely loved Melanie. They were thrilled for Bill that he finally met someone that they felt he could truly settle down with. So one year later, in 1999, Melanie and Bill tied the knot. All right, let me go get a bottle. Because there's nothing in there, is there? They got married in 1999. It was probably one of the most extravagant weddings we've ever been to. Mr. and Mrs. William McGuire!

Melanie, on her wedding day, looked absolutely gorgeous, angelic, you know, just perfect. Both Bill and Melanie seemed like they couldn't have been happier. She was a little bloody. He was marrying a girl that he absolutely loved in a way that maybe he hadn't loved anybody before. Bill, can you put your hands up? This is the last time Bill's gonna have the upper hand. a girl that he absolutely loved in a way that maybe he hadn't loved anybody before. The couple had their first child, a little boy, quickly after getting married. Soon after, Bill got a job that paid $65,000 a year, which is equivalent to around $118,000 today. This amazing job that he got was at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Later, he and Melanie moved into a townhouse that they had rented in

Woodbridge, New Jersey. Eventually, Melanie started working as a fertility nurse, which, of course, kind of can be a double-edged sword in some aspects because it can come with fantastic news for patients, but equally treats many women through one of their most challenging times of their life. However, Melanie's caring, nurturing, and compassionate nature made being a fertility nurse look easy, and it was very gratifying for Melanie, and all of her patients apparently loved her. They appeared to have a great marriage from the outside looking in, but on the inside, not so much. Melanie said that they had dealt with infidelity on Bill's part, financial disputes, and many other arguments. She also said that he would frequently leave and drive to Atlantic City for a night or two of gambling, and that he had a compulsive gambling side.

and that he had a compulsive gambling side. Sometimes the payouts were huge, but so were the losses, which led to more financial disputes between the two of them. He wanted what he wanted, and he couldn't get it fast enough. And with that came frustration, and eventually that frustration became directed at me. And then things changed drastically. He had a dual personality. He could be very likable. And then on the other hand, he'd be very calculating, manipulate you. He had always had issues with gambling. And he would go through periods where he would go down to Atlantic City a lot.

Melanie also said that Bill frequently used the excuse of being at work and working late for his extramarital affairs. But she began to catch on to his alleged cheating escapades. However, it's unclear if she ever directly confronted him on any of these affairs or not. if she ever directly confronted him on any of these affairs or not. Now, Bill's moods started to swing out of the blue, becoming downright explosive at times, apparently. On one occasion, according to Melanie, Bill got a ticket for speeding. He was irate after this and called Melanie and was just screaming. So she didn't know what to do and just hung up on him. Well, Bill called back, now enraged that she had hung up on him and had to do and just hung up on him. Well, Bill called back, now enraged that she had hung up on him and had the audacity to hang up on him, so he apparently cussed her out, threatened her, and told her if she were around when he got back home, he wouldn't hesitate to

hurt her or worse. Melanie said that she didn't really believe him and wasn't really in fear for her life, but it was still scary nonetheless. And this is the type of behavior and arguments that she remembered frequently having with Bill. Around three years into their marriage, while all of this was going on, Melanie became pregnant with their second child, another little boy. At the time, she was still working full-time at the fertility clinic. The fertility clinic had hired a new doctor at this point, Dr. Bradley Miller, who went by Brad, and he was hired on as a partner at the practice. Melanie was very intrigued by him, but it was nothing serious to start with. I mean, she was pregnant and she was married, yet she couldn't help this intrigue that she felt by Brad.

And Brad was married as well with a young family. But as things continued to escalate between Melanie and Bill, the arguments, the suspicion of affairs, the financial disputes, the gambling, and the lack of attention that she says she was receiving at home, one day the attention she wasn't getting at home led to Melanie eventually having an affair. And believe it or not, this affair started when she was 38 weeks pregnant. Now, as a side note, when I first read this, I thought it must have been a mistake. There is no way that she started this affair when she was pregnant, 38 weeks no less. But no,

there is no mistake here. And we will return to this later in the story, don't worry, because it is a very interesting topic of this entire case. What appealed to you about Brad Miller? He was just very, very tender. I really tried to fight it, but I couldn't. I couldn't I couldn't fight it so Melanie of course knew that having an affair was wrong but she also felt like Bill was out doing whatever he wanted she had suspicions and eventually caught his cheating so after all to her Bill was so disinterested in their marriage that he wasn't even trying to hide it now again I want to stress that this is Melanie's account and version of events.

But with that, she didn't really care anymore either. So if he could cheat, she would too. Melanie continued her affair with Dr. Miller, aka Brad. Bill did whatever he wanted, and they stayed married, ignoring what the other one was up to. Or it at least appeared that things were great on the outside still, just not really addressing their problems. And their problems didn't go away either. With their two young boys, who were now four and one year old, she wanted her and Bill to buy a house in a good neighborhood for them. They both made plenty of money, but were still renting because of Bill's alleged gambling problem, which frustrated Melanie. First, Bill said he didn't want to buy a house in New Jersey. He wanted to

move down to Virginia Beach. He told Melanie when they were dating that this was something that he wanted to do, so he didn't understand why they would spend $500,000 on a house in Woodbridge when that really wasn't going to be their forever home or where they wanted to end up anyways. Bill also said that spending that kind of money on the house wasn't realistic for them and would make things very tight financially. So he argued that they could pay half that amount for the same home in Virginia Beach, but Melanie didn't see it that way. She felt like this was an excuse not to want to tie up some of their money in a house so that he could keep gambling and that if he lost a significant amount, it wouldn't affect

them. And that's actually the reason that she wanted to buy the house in the first place, to prevent that from happening. Melanie thought that it would help their marriage to take the possibility of that happening off the table completely and tie up their money in real estate. She felt like overall it was a good investment, no harm, no foul. She assured Bill that she wanted to move to Virginia Beach one day, but she wasn't ready yet, especially with her job that she loved so much. Not to mention Dr. Brad, Dr. Eye Candy. But still, she felt like she was in a career high moment and didn't want to just give it all up. Not yet. So Melanie finally convinced Bill that staying in New Jersey and

buying a house in Woodbridge would be the best decision for their family, and they started looking more seriously into homes on the market. And then, not long after, an offer that they had put in on a house on Melanie's dream home was accepted. She was thrilled, and Bill was pretty excited too. On April 28, 2004, it was the closing day of their new house. Before they even got to the closing table, Dr. Brad begged Melanie not to buy the house, saying he wanted to be with her. He wanted them to have their own happily ever after. But Melanie reassured him that everything was going to be fine

and she goes and closes on the house with Bill anyways. Afterward, when the contract was signed and the deal was done, Bill called his good friends John and Sue and told them how happy he was to have finally reached this milestone of homeownership. Now here is where the story takes a turn, and the events of what occurred really start to get pretty blurry. But before we get into all of that, we are going to have a quick word from today's first sponsor. And I appreciate all of you listeners for understanding that sponsors are essential to keeping this podcast free. All right, guys, I am about to share with you the life hack of all life hacks. So thank me later. This can apply to anybody, whether you are somebody who is constantly on the go like me and you grab a quick snack from the drawer before you're on your way out the door,

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Melanie spoke to Brad again and told him that Bill fell asleep on the couch after drinking red wine, but in the morning, she was going to talk to him, and she was going to sort everything out and tell him that she wants a divorce and that she's ending it. But that's not at all what ended up happening. Before Melanie could have that conversation the next morning, she and Bill got into a big mega fight. Bill brought up the fact again that all he really wanted was a house in Virginia for cheaper, but that Melanie had refused to let them do that. So they began to argue back and forth and the fight turned up a notch and escalated their argument even further. Things ended up getting physical, apparently. Melanie

claimed Bill shoved her against the wall and put a dryer sheet in her mouth. She said, and I quote, he probably would have broken my cheek if it had been a closed fist. He said he was leaving and he wasn't coming back and that I could tell my children that they didn't have a father. We fell asleep on the couch, woke up early morning hours, and it was never a bad time for an argument. We're talking probably three, four o'clock in the morning. It starts on the house. I settled for that house. The hell are you talking about? You settled for that house. It's a half a million dollar house. That's not half a million dollar house. That's not what I wanted. We're still arguing and there's the laundry basket and there's a dryer sheet just hanging out of one of the baby's sleeves. He hated them. He thought it was lazy

that I wouldn't stand there and put in the liquid fabric softener and yeah and it went out of control. This was the type of mother I was that that I would leave this sheet in there for my baby to possibly choke on. Before I know it, I'm up against the wall, and the dryer sheet is being shoved into my throat. And then he just smacked me. In the face? Yeah, open hand. I look down, and there's my two-year-old. So Melanie reportedly stayed in the bathroom until she thought she heard Bill leave. And after that, she assumed that he had driven to Atlantic City to go on a gambling bender or do whatever, whatever he was doing with his extramarital affairs and his gambling addiction. But after a few days, Bill didn't return, and she never heard from him,

not once, not one call, nothing. In fact, Bill would be gone for weeks before Melanie would ever figure out where he was. And to some people, this was odd. There was a gap of time where her husband apparently just drove off, she didn't know where he went for sure, she never heard from him, and it seemed never to worry her about his whereabouts. This was evidenced by the fact that she never filed a missing persons report about him. And during this, the next day, the day after that, the day after that, you didn't hear anything from him? No. Did you try calling him directly? No, because this is what used to happen when we fought. You know, I'd call whether it was to tell him off or to try to apologize or what. We just end up getting back into it again.

I'm done now. I'm done. So Melanie took Bill's word and thought he left her and left the kids for good. So that day, she tried to figure out what her next move would be going forward as a single mom. Melanie took the kids to school and arranged for her parents to pick them up, keeping them overnight, and then take them to school the following morning. She went to a divorce attorney and filed a temporary restraining order against Bill because of what had happened in their last fight. She was terrified of what would happen if he came back and was even more upset than he was before i called a business associate of mine who was an attorney she said you

need to get a restraining order tell me what uh happened that brought you to court today for temporary screening order um my husband and i closed on our first house on Wednesday. That should be a positive thing. Yeah, it should. He's been behaving really erratically. Ms. McGuire, you're safe here. Don't worry. Did he hit you, ma'am? Not until, well, I don't mean to sound like I had absolutely no part in this. I said some not nice things and slapped me. So now let's get into the timeline of events. Starting with May 5th, 2004, a fisherman and his kids made an odd discovery in Virginia Beach by Chesapeake Bay. The fisherman thought he saw a suitcase floating and thought, how weird. He thought it might have flown off a car rack because of the bridge nearby, and he stopped the boat near the suitcase, and he and the other adults

leaned into the water and pulled the suitcase up on board. A little boy on the boat thought that the suitcase was buried treasure, and he was so excited to open it, but when they opened the suitcase, they saw black trash bags. Before the adults, who were now starting to realize what they were looking at, could do anything, the little boy ripped open that trash bag and out came a pair of legs from the knee down. Apparently there wasn't a smell and the legs looked pretty fresh, like the suitcase hadn't been in the water for very long, but everybody on the boat was of course absolutely horrified and the fishermen immediately called 911. The area where the suitcase was found was full of boaters, bird watchers, Fisherman's Island, a nature sanctuary, a touristy fun area,

a place where you would just go and relax with friends and family. The last thing anyone would expect to find was a suitcase with a pair of legs inside of it. When police arrived and assessed the situation, they knew that there would be more suitcases where that one came from. And everybody, of course, wanted to find out whose legs these belonged to. Six days later, on May 11, 2004, a student on Fisherman Island saw a washed-up suitcase on the shore. She also opened up this suitcase and moved the trash bags a little bit, but this time, a wave of a pungent decomposition odor overcame her. She immediately notified others who called 911. Inside this suitcase, police found a torso and a head. The torso was still attached to the

arms, and the head was wrapped in a medical blanket. The face was somewhat identifiable but had been submerged for quite a while. A medical examiner said that there were multiple shotgun wounds in the torso and one shot to the head. Five days later, on May 16, 2004, a third suitcase was found by a fisherman who saw it floating in the water. This suitcase contained the pelvis. So now they had an entire body. One policeman thought that they could get a sketch artist to draw a composite from the head that was found and release the sketch to the media, but until then, it was simply a John Doe. On May 21st John and Sue Rice, Bill's good friends, were at home when Sue saw the sketch on TV and she immediately thought that it was Bill. John didn't really think so but Sue was convinced. So John said okay well then let's call Crime Stoppers.

John thought that the only way that it could be Bill was because he was in fact missing. You see Bill's sister Cindy had called John to ask if Bill was with him and told him that nobody could find him and nobody had heard from him and that Bill and Melanie got into an argument and that he left and that was it. So it made sense. If this person does really look like Bill and we know Bill is missing, could it be him? So eventually John and Sue agreed to come down to the police department in Virginia Beach to see if the body recovered in the suitcases was really Bill. Bill had a red mark on the side of his temple, and Sue was looking for that mark specifically. So when

she saw the photo from the medical examiner and saw that the head had a similar mark, she knew that it was Bill. 100% Bill. Once the police had a name, they ran it through their system. They found that Bill had actually been arrested before by Virginia Beach Police Department for reckless driving years prior. They still had his fingerprints from that arrest on file. So they were very quickly able to identify that yes this was in fact bill mcguire from woodbridge new jersey now that they had solved this huge mystery of who this man was in this suitcase dismembered police now had another job they needed to figure out who the hell did this now remember at this point melanie just thought that bill was, and she had no idea that she was about to get the news that would change her life forever.

Melanie was asked to come down to the local police station, and she was visibly upset and crying when she heard the news. However, Melanie didn't ask how he was murdered. Next, Virginia Beach police wanted to speak with Melanie, and she agreed and also brought along her divorce attorney and a criminal attorney that worked at the same firm as the divorce attorney. Police thought that this was a little bit odd, a grieving wife coming in with two lawyers. Throughout the interview, Melanie was nervous and visibly shaking. She was asked if they had any luggage, to which she responded, no, we don't have any matching luggage. But then the next day, she called the police to let them know she actually did remember that they had a set of matching designer luggage, but had assumed that Bill must have taken it

when he took off and allegedly left their marriage. When she was shown a picture of the luggage recovered from the water, Melanie recognized it and confirmed that is the kind of luggage they had. So police wondered why this would happen to Bill, and if she could think of any reason why something like this would happen to him. So she told the officers that Bill could be crass, saying he was the kind of person that could piss people off. Then she asked the officers where they found his vehicle. But they sat there for a minute staring blankly at her, and then they told her they hadn't found a vehicle. Melanie was unfazed by this and thought it would be helpful to tell the officers that a

good place to look would be Atlantic City. She said she figured that's where he took off to and mentioned that Bill had a massive gambling problem. Melanie told officers she wondered if he got involved with the wrong kind of people and was possibly loaned money that he never paid back. She was hoping that this detail would lead detectives to find whoever did this. And that wasn't a stretch. Another family member confirmed that Bill was also very into stuff and getting into weird sketchy deals. So after that interview with Melanie, police conducted a full search of the townhouse to see if there was anything there that could help police figure out who did this and also eliminate Melanie as a suspect. After the search of the townhouse, the police didn't find anything. It was spotless.

Melanie had already moved out and taken everything out with her. There were no signs of a struggle or any evidence that anything ever happened to Bill inside that townhouse. But there was just one thing. Melanie didn't mention to police that not only had she moved out, but she had also given a lot of Bill's belongings away to a friend's cousin. When Virginia Police Department heard about this, they wanted to look into that detail more, so they tracked down this friend's cousin, and when they found him, they saw that most of Bill's clothing and other items were still bagged up in big black trash bags, similar to the trash bags that were recovered inside those suitcases.

They also found a blanket, similar to the one that Bill's head was wrapped up in, a medical-type blanket. And well, Melanie was a nurse, and now with the trash bags, the fact that she moved out, and the fact that she never filed a missing persons report, the fact that she moved out, and the fact that she never filed a missing persons report, and the fact that she gave away all of Bill's belongings, this was all painting a horrible picture of what may have really happened to Bill. And it left little doubt to whether Melanie had any involvement or not. It certainly seemed like she did. Which how many coincidences can you have before realizing that all of these things are not coincidences? So after that, police took Melanie's advice to search for Bill's car in Atlantic City. And what do you know? That's exactly where they found his car. Bill's car was taken in

by Atlantic City Police Department for processing. They took photos and fingerprints and vacuum cleaned the carpets in hopes of picking up any evidence and the whole nine yards. The car was found in the parking lot of the Flamingo Hotel, which also happened to have surveillance cameras. Meanwhile, once Bill's body was released from the medical examiner, Melanie had him cremated, was released from the medical examiner, Melanie had him cremated, almost immediately, and also organized a funeral. Most of the attendees at his funeral were left feeling really weird. They didn't understand why the funeral was scheduled so quickly, not as if they expected it to be scheduled weeks later, but more like it was so quickly that the entire funeral just felt rushed. Not like something that the wife,

who just lost her husband, whether she was angry at him or planning to divorce him or not, would plan. Just felt fast, felt very rushed. Kind of felt thoughtless as well. According to some people who attended, the funeral only lasted 10 to 15 minutes, and the whole thing was just cold, detached, and not very personal. The day after the funeral, Melanie called Sue, but Sue didn't really want to talk to Melanie. She was upset. She felt like she had just attended the biggest fuck-you-type funeral that she could have ever even imagined for her and her husband's dear friend of 22 years. Despite her feelings, though, she reluctantly answered the phone. And when she

spoke to Melanie, she couldn't bite her tongue for one more second. And she totally let her have it. At that point, I just kind of blasted her. I just told her, I said, Melanie, Bill deserves so much more. And Mel just said, well, I'm a single mom now. And now I've just got to get on with my life. I said, well, no, the next mom now. And now I've just got to get on with my life. I said, well, no, the next thing is we've got to figure out who did this to him. And after I got off the phone, I remember hanging it up. And I said, John, she did it. She did it.

And Sue wasn't the only person who thought that Melanie was responsible for the murder of her husband. This episode of Serialistly is brought to you by BetterHelp. Okay guys, so I've said it before, my brain is constantly spinning like a mile a minute, and sometimes I get overwhelmed and I need help to just get myself back in check because I've realized that it's okay to not always be okay, and for me, that help that I get is therapy. It's helpful to not only talk with somebody in a judgment-free space, but it's great for learning positive coping skills and empowering you to be the best version of yourself. BetterHelp connects you with a licensed therapist who can take you

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betterhelp.com slash AE today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp.com slash AE. At this point, law enforcement officials thought that whatever happened to Bill happened in New Jersey, and it was only after the fact that his body was dumped in Virginia. Investigators and law enforcement in Woodbridge, New Jersey, handled the case moving forward. They were convinced that Melanie was somehow involved, and now they needed to figure out exactly how to prove that. The Assistant Attorney General of New Jersey, Patty Prezioso, assembled a task force to investigate the murder of Bill McGuire. The case was treated as an extremely high priority.

The Attorney General's office was not messing around, not even a little bit. They wanted Melanie to stop screwing around, and if Melanie had any involvement in this, they were determined to prove it. Since they knew that Bill had sustained multiple gunshot this, they were determined to prove it. Since they knew that Bill had sustained multiple gunshot wounds, they first needed to figure out any and all people who knew Bill and if they owned a gun that matched the type of rounds that were used to kill him. They searched gun ownership records in New Jersey and didn't find any history of Melanie buying a gun, so they searched a neighboring state with more relaxed gun laws, Pennsylvania. And sure enough, Melanie had purchased a gun two days before this big fight

erupted that she had with Bill. Melanie bought a Torres 38 Special and wad cutter bullets. Melanie didn't mention anything about the gun when she was first interviewed by law enforcement, and in fact, she said that there were no weapons in the house. But when asked specifically if she bought a gun this time, she said that she did buy the gun, but that she bought it for Bill because he was worried he may not pass the background check for the criteria. See, Bill had that felony on his record from previous driving convictions. He apparently told Melanie he wanted a gun for protection in general, but also for the times that he would leave Atlantic City with large amounts of money,

whether it's on the way there or on the way back, depending on how the night went. So Melanie explained to detectives that throughout their relationship and marriage, when Bill wanted something, she just did it, saying that there was no point in arguing with him or questioning him or anything because she would end up doing it anyways and that was the case again here, but nothing more than that. Still, that was not enough for the police to back off of this. She purchased the gun two days before Bill went missing. That is a major coincidence. The other problem that detectives had with the gun purchase proving her guilt was the fact that the bullets she purchased were

extremely common target practicing bullets that weren't something that they could directly tie to her involvement in any way. And remember, this was 2004. Forensic gun analysis was in its infancy stage and the concept wasn't as common to juries as it is today but it wouldn't even get to that point because investigators never found the gun so they could only speculate based on the bullet used being the same kind that she had purchased which again were extremely common target rounds however investigators didn't let up, and instead they pushed down on the gas, ramping up this investigation, and they began to wiretap all of Melanie's calls, hoping that they would eventually catch her slipping up. Every time you get your head back above water,

that hand reaches out from down the grave. A lot of those calls were very cryptic. Hey. How you doing? I spoke to, what's his name, about shipping. Alex. I didn't want to say name. Do you understand what I'm saying? Yep.

She used the phrase a lot, being cut off at the knees. At least meet with a lawyer ahead of time who might cut it off at the knees. Doesn't that look suspicious? It doesn't matter what it looks like. The investigation into her phone activity was intense. Over a 40-day period, investigators recorded over 500 hours of phone calls. Before the phone taps, investigators had already found out about the affair that she had with Brad, Dr. Miller. And this relationship continued after Bill's death. So not only did this provide a huge motive, literally it was a classic tale of a murderous affair that led to the death of a

spouse. But it also brought into question if good old Dr. Brad had any involvement in the murder itself. How would this petite nurse dismember her husband, put him into three different suitcases, would this petite nurse dismember her husband, put him into three different suitcases, and dump the body all by herself? Would she have had help to do this? Could she do this all by herself? And where did this take place? Because remember, the townhouse they were renting at the time was completely clean. So now it seemed like there had to have been some sort of outside help and a second location. There's no way that Melanie could have done this out in the open alone. So detectives approached Dr. Brad with these questions and asked him point blank if he had any involvement in Bill's murder. And Dr. Brad, of course, said no,

absolutely not. He was still married with young children, and he tried to explain that the relationship with Melanie wasn't like that. Well, the police didn't believe him, and they told him to prove it. They asked him to wear a wire and to confront Melanie about the entire situation. Surely, if he and Melanie were in on this together, in on this plan, this would finally reveal everything. It is now 2.30 p.m. May 31st, 2005. Brad Miller making an outgoing call to Melanie McGuire. Hello?

What's up? I've told them everything that I know. But they're, you know, they just don't. They want you to break. I mean, if you want us to stick together, I gotta know everything now. Before this goes any further. What do you mean you have to know everything now? I mean, there's no other secrets between us. Right? But I can make them.

You swear you had nothing to do with us? Yeah. And your children's lives? But that didn't give the police what they wanted. Brad wasn't involved, but they still felt like Melanie was, and they needed to prove it. While listening to all of Melanie's phone calls, there was another man she spoke to a lot, a man named Jim Finn. They went to nursing school together, and Jim allegedly had a massive crush on her back then, but after graduation, they never spoke again until February of 2004, two months before Bill disappeared and before he was murdered. Apparently, she had been talking to Jim in depth about guns as well. So police approached him and got him to wear a wire, my mom was there. Why didn't you tell me? Is there anything else you're not telling me?

Like what? Like I killed you? Did you? No. But thanks for asking. I want you to tell me the truth. I'm telling you the f***ing truth. I did not do it. Then police looked into Melanie's E-ZPass records, like a toll tag. Melanie's E-ZPass tag was recorded at a toll in Delaware on May 4th.

Melanie claimed that this was the result of her going furniture shopping in Delaware since there is no sales tax there. Melanie called E-ZPass and attempted to have the 85 cent charge removed from her account history. Days later, an unidentified man also called and attempted to have the 85 cent charge removed from her account history. Days later, an unidentified man also called and attempted to have the charge removed. This was highly suspicious to investigators, but Melanie had an explanation. She said that once Bill's body was found, she realized how awful it looked that she had been driving to the furniture store in Delaware and that she wanted to get the charges removed so that the police wouldn't think that she had anything to do with Bill's disappearance or murder, something that now had the exact opposite effect. The route to Delaware was the

same route that you would take to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and to the tunnel. This is near the area where on May 5th, the fishermen and the children found the first suitcase with the fresh pair of legs inside of it. Later on, the police reviewed the surveillance footage from the parking lot of the Flamingo Hotel, and they discovered a video of Bill's car being parked there. However, the surveillance was so bad that they were unable to identify who did this. Well, Melanie had an explanation. She moved it. Melanie claimed she had done this as a prank, even though she had applied for a protection order for abuse just days earlier based on that alleged slapping incident. She said that on one occasion, whenever she knew Bill was out having an affair and she knew about it,

she would take the spare key to his car and she would move his car a couple of streets away. She did this not really as a prank, but more as a way to make him have a minor inconvenience or an annoyance, because in her mind, he wouldn't have lost his car at all if he wasn't out cheating in the first place. So Melanie explained to investigators that this, again, was a similar situation. Whenever Bill left and said he was leaving her and the boys, she figured he went to Atlantic City, and maybe she could drive around and find his car. So when she saw his car, she moved it a couple of streets over and parked it at the Flamingo Hotel. Police, however, did not buy this story, and now thought that this was clear evidence of her attempt to ditch Bill's car. The only thing was that this would require two people, one to drive

each car on the way there and one to take it back. But this didn't make sense because until that point, investigators could not figure out if she in fact had an accomplice. Plus, Melanie had an explanation for this. She said she took a taxi back home because on the way there she had taken a Xanax and she didn't want to drive back home. Now that meant that she would have had to take a taxi all the way back home and then get a taxi back to her car. The distance between where they lived and Atlantic City would have been easily a $500 trip. So where is the proof of that? Well, Melanie didn't waver, and she said she paid in all cash, and she stuck to her story. She said since she was so embarrassed by her own behavior and that she didn't want to know that she had moved Bill's car and that that was the cost of the prank. She said, and I quote, it sounds beyond

ridiculous sitting here saying it, and I acknowledge that, but it's the prank. She said, and I quote, it sounds beyond ridiculous sitting here saying it, and I acknowledge that, but it's the truth. But investigators didn't buy this either, and unfortunately, the surveillance at the Flamingo Hotel had such bad picture quality that they were never able to identify another car or anybody else with Melanie. So they were still trying to figure out what the truth was. Was there an accomplice? Did she carry all of this out alone? And if so, how? She was a small woman. How did she dismember a grown man, drive seven hours away to dump his body, and then drive even further to dump his car? Not only that, but where police thought the suitcases were dropped off was a very busy highway.

There isn't anywhere that you could stop, pop open your trunk, and unload three suitcases without anybody noticing. Virginia Beach is another 450 miles from Delaware. So, I mean, you're talking about hours, and there just isn't enough time. And why would she drive all the way down to Chesapeake with the body parts in the car, thinking, I'm not going to get stopped, I'm not going to break down? What a chance that is.

I mean, you can't stop on a bridge and open a window and throw three suitcases out. It's a mountain, and it's a lot of coincidences, and that's absolutely, where is the proof? Where is the forensic evidence? So was all of this a witch hunt to come after the easiest target in a murder investigation? And the police just needed to figure out a way to force all of their pieces together to fit their narrative? Now, at this point, as far as investigators were concerned, all the evidence pointed to Melanie. But all of the evidence was circumstantial, which even so

can be extremely compelling when compiled together, sometimes even more so than DNA evidence, depending on who you ask. But the Attorney General's office needed more. They still couldn't tell where this crime took place and when it took place and how Bill ended up in Chesapeake Bay. Even though the first search of the townhouse-slash-apartment turned up clean with no evidence, the Attorney General ordered several more full sweeps to be done to check if anyone had missed something. But each time, it came back clean. There was absolutely nothing that indicated a crime had taken place. And these searches were thorough.

They did every chemical test that you can think of at this scene. They removed pieces of walls, flooring, pipes, you name it. Removing all of it to take it back to the lab and process it. But still, nothing. There was no forensic evidence whatsoever to indicate that there was ever a crime scene there, period. But then, investigators got a break. Bill's car had finally been fully processed, and what they found in the car was about to blow this case wide open. Bill's car contained a bottle of chloral hydrate, a sedative, and two syringes, which had been prescribed by Dr. Brad Miller. Chloral hydrate was also found in Bill's toxicology report. And that's not all. After analyzing the trace evidence recovered from the vacuum, investigators discovered tiny pieces of

human flesh and skin that matched Bill McGuire, which was later referred to by the prosecution and the media as human sawdust. There was also a bullet fragment recovered from Bill that had small dark green pieces of fabric mixed into it. So the police thought that this must have been the fabric from a couch, and maybe they did have a fight in the house after all, and Bill was shot on the couch. Melanie denied having a green couch, but Bill's sister Cindy said that she remembered them having a green couch at some point. When Bill was asked about the prescription for the chloral hydrate, he looked at the prescription and could tell that it wasn't his signature. It was Melanie's.

And now the task force believed that they had a solid theory, which goes as follows. Melanie purchased a gun two days before Bill's disappearance. Melanie stole Brad's prescription pad to write a script for the chloral hydrate, which was filled at a pharmacy in the days leading up to Bill's disappearance. Melanie went to closing with Bill to get their dream home, and that night she told her boyfriend Brad that everything would be okay, that she would take care of things in the morning. She meant that she was going to take out her husband so that she could be with Brad. Melanie had meticulously planned Bill's murder and executed it nearly flawlessly. She spiked Bill's red wine with the chloral hydrate

to sedate him, and then she shot him on their couch and used pillows to muffle the noise of the gun. Then Melanie moved his body until she could deal with it later. The following day, she dropped off her kids at school and arranged for her parents to come pick them up and keep them overnight. Next, while her kids were out of the house, she dismembered Bill's body with an electric saw, cutting him into essentially thirds, and then put those pieces in trash bags, which were the same trash bags from her house that she also used to give away Bill's clothing and personal effects in. Then she put the body into a matching three-piece suitcase set, and then she cleaned the crime scene perfectly, not leaving one ounce of blood anywhere and making it look like nothing ever happened. No blood from the shotgun

wounds anywhere, no blood from the dismemberment process with that electric saw, nothing. Then she had to get rid of the couch where the murder occurred, which could easily be explained if she just moved everything out at the same time. Then there wouldn't be a missing couch. Everything had been moved. Then Melanie drove all the way down to Virginia Beach in her car, a seven-hour trip each way, which triggered her easy pass. She dumped the suitcases over a bridge near Chesapeake Bay and drove back home. From there, she drove Bill's car to Atlantic City, parked it at the Flamingo Hotel parking lot, and either had someone drive her back home or took a taxi home and paid in cash. And where Melanie screwed up was that even though she had meticulously cleaned the entire crime scene up,

she wore the same shoes that she used when she dismembered Bill when she drove his car to dump the car, thus leaving that human sawdust on the floorboard. Now, why drive all the way to Virginia Beach to dump the body? Well, investigators say that it was because it was Melanie's sick way of letting Bill live there forever like he wanted to do. And just like that, the prosecution had a case. Melanie was charged with murder, booked, and later released on a $750,000 bail as she awaited her trial. Her children were taken away from her custody and given to Bill's sister Cindy. She was allowed to have supervised visits with them, however, while she was out on bail. Melanie hired a high-profile criminal defense team to help her, specifically Joe

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When you have money out on the street and you're behind, you're not making payments, you know what happens? You get shot here and you get shot here. Prosecution argued their theory of the case and had some additional damning evidence that turned up from the home computer history during the time that Bill and Melanie lived in the townhouse months before. Now in 2004, it wasn't uncommon for there to be a shared household computer used by multiple people living in the house. So when that hard drive was forensically analyzed, police found searches such as how to purchase a gun illegally, how to commit murder, undetectable poisons. Prosecution argued that Melanie was the person responsible for these searches and that this was actually proof that Melanie had been planning to kill him for

several months, that this was premeditated. But Melanie says that they were not her searches and also says that the how to purchase a gun illegally search did corroborate her original story about Bill wanting a gun and not being able to legally purchase one, which is why she bought the gun for him. But was that a bullshit story to begin with? And were these searches hers? It's an understatement just how coincidental it is that she bought the gun two days before Bill left his family once and for all and then happened to turn up dead. But Melanie's defense attorneys argued that this was all that the state had, coincidence after coincidence, and most of which Melanie admitted to when she didn't have to,

like the story of her moving Bill's car. Police wouldn't have even known that since the surveillance footage was so terrible in the parking lot. They wouldn't have ever even known that it was her. But she admitted to it, showing, in her defense attorney's words, she has nothing to hide. She's not guilty. This is a case that, make no mistake about it, not for lack of trying, not for a lack of resources. This was a three-year investigation. There's going to be a great many documents coming in, great many witnesses. It's enough for lack of trying.

She's not sure if she's ever going to be able to prove who actually killed Mr. McGuire, the manner in which he was killed, where he was killed, the time he was killed, how he was dismembered, and Ms. McGuire's role in the offense. It never bothered also to determine whether Mr. McGuire had any enemies. A three-year investigation. There was no detailed investigation. You're going to see the lack of that. Ladies and gentlemen, what you're also going to hear, a three-year investigation.

Keep that in mind. You're going to hear that within the last few weeks, last few weeks of this trial, I don't mean the last few weeks of Mr. Maguire's death, but the last few weeks, the state, essentially for the very first time, called Atlantic City, a jurisdiction that's very much involved in the details of this, are certainly very much involved in this, the incidents that occurred, certainly the territory, Atlantic City, a lot of things happened there. And for the very first time they call law enforcement in Atlantic City and ask, is there any connection by the way to this homicide with another unsolved homicide?

They asked that for the very first time several weeks ago. That should send chills up and down your spine, ladies and gentlemen. Three years investigation and two weeks ago we get around to picking up a phone? And can you imagine what that conversation was? How thorough that conversation was? No? Okay, thanks, bye. A possible palm print on the garbage bag, one of the garbage bags containing William Maguire's body parts. A palm print that doesn't belong to William Maguire

and a palm print that doesn't belong to Melanie Maguire. In fact, there are no palm prints belonging to Melanie Maguire. Not anywhere. Significant? How about the presence of animal here? All over, riddled all over, everything. Different places, on tape, on bags. Presence of animal here.

Well, the problem with that is it only required an evident pet. Nothing done with that evidence. They didn't even bother to determine, I believe they can, they didn't even bother to determine what type of animal or whether it was consistent with one another. They didn't even bother to determine that because they had already found out what they wanted to know. They're not going to be able to tell you who dismembered William McGuire.

They're not going to be able to tell you the names of any accomplices that they so believed took place in that participate in this. So much so that they charged. They're not going to be able to tell you any names. So then Dr. Brad Miller testified, one of the most anticipated prosecution witnesses. Describe to the jury what was your relationship with her? We worked together. She was an excellent nurse.

She took very good care of the patients. They all loved her. Sir, did there come a time when your relationship with Ms. McGuire got more intimate? Yes, it did. And when did that begin, sir? It was towards the end of her second pregnancy. She was about 38 weeks pregnant. And before she went on maternity leave

we had oral sex in the office and when you you say the officer which office was it my office and so not proud of that. It has to be pretty hard to hear it come out in court. Were you in love with the defendant? Yes, I was. Had the two of you discussed future plans together? Yes, we were hoping to be together in the future.

Could you describe for the jury, please, Dr. Miller, who pursued who? Well, I don't know if I can be accurate, but I know that she had gotten me a birthday cake and had bought me a small gift for Christmas. We exchanged e-mails. I think we were always flirtatious, both of us, in the office. So I don't know if I could say one over the other. I think we were both at fault. And when your relationship first started, when your relationship first became intimate,

was Mrs. McGuire confiding in you and you and her? Absolutely, yes. And, sir, can you describe to the jury at the beginning of your intimate relationship with Ms. McGuire, how did she describe her marriage to you? She didn't really have any complaints about the marriage. I know that they had argued. I heard her at least yelling on the phone. So I know they had, you know, at least vocal arguments on occasion. But she didn't have any specific complaints about Bill or the marriage at that time.

To Atlantic City and parked her husband Bill's car at the Flamingo Hotel. No, she did not. Did there come a time when the defendant shared with you that she had done that? Yes, and I asked her, well, why didn't you tell me this sooner? And she told me that she didn't want me to be upset, that she's going back to find Bill to bring him back and rekindle the relationship. You agreed to consensually record a conversation with the defendant? Yes, I did.

After the divorce, she gets half the money. a conversation with the defendant yes it did after a divorce the understanding between us had always been that the children came first and he starts talking about divorce and a future and moving forward. And I even say on the tape, why are you talking like this all of a sudden? I'm confused because you've been the one to address to me. Do we have to wait and see how everything plays out? After you tape recorded her, sir, you then had additional intimate relations with her, correct? Yes, sir. Did you tell her that, by the way, that you had tape recorded her? No, I did not.

And Melanie felt a deep betrayal by this. She had continued seeing him after Bill was gone, so she felt blindsided. And when you saw him, what was your feeling? How could you? How could you? But he was in a hard spot himself. He was lucky he wasn't getting dragged into this and put up as a co-defendant, and he really didn't have a choice but to testify and do what the

prosecution asked. His marriage was in shambles after his wife found out about his affair in the most public way possible, and he had to do whatever he could to not further blow up his life. And just to be clear, there was no evidence whatsoever that he was involved in the murder in any way. In the prosecution's closing, they say that they believe she had someone help her, but they don't identify who it was. In the background, police had been looking into her stepdad Michael, but they could never find any evidence that he was involved in any way. I don't know if you guys can tell, but I'm feeling a little extra hoarse today in my throat. It's like not my normal annoying vocal fry that I know I

have, but it's like a little bit extra scratchy. And it's making me wonder, have you guys ever felt like me? A scratchy throat, then maybe a headache comes on. So you go to social media, you start googling the symptoms, and before you know it, you're thinking that your minor head cold is really like a terminal disease at this point, or is that just me? Because I always go to social media with my symptoms, and I know you've done it too. Don't even try to lie to me. Well, lucky for all of us, today's sponsor is going to help all of us steer clear of social media diagnoses, or diagnoses, however you would say it, because there are thousands of medical professionals on ZocDoc to help us. ZocDoc is a place to find and book great doctors who actually have amazing reviews and many of them who have appointments available within 24 hours.

ZocDoc is a free app where you can find amazing doctors and book appointments all online. We're talking about booking appointments with thousands of top-rated patient review doctors and specialists. You can filter out specifically for ones who take your insurance or are located near you and who treat almost any condition you're searching for. It helped me relieve so much of my stress trying to figure out what's going on with me and trying to figure out how to make an appointment with a doctor. They just make it so, so easy. So go to ZocDoc.com slash Annie Elise and download the ZocDoc app for free. Then find and book a top rated doctor today. That's Z-O-C-D-O-C dot com slash Annie Elise. ZocDoc.com slash Annie Elise. When you combine the computer searches, the prescription for chloral hydrate on prescription pads that the defendant used,

and then you have the victim found inside their matching luggage, the bullets consistent with the gun that she purchased. It was a mountain of evidence. There's no question in my mind that she did it. I also don't believe that she acted alone. Now, who helped her? The prosecutor needed somebody, so they focused in on me. Anything they wanted, we gave them. We gave them DNA, we gave them hair samples. I had nothing to do with anything involving that crime. You don't need the precise when. You don't need the precise where.

You don't have to find that she pulled the trigger. You don't have to find that she had hands on physically in regards to his death. Well, boy, that leaves a lot of speculation out there for the jury. You can't guess someone into prison for the rest of their life. In the end, the jury went to deliberations. The prosecution was on pins and needles. Could they get a jury to believe that someone who looked like Melanie McGuire was actually a monster? She's this petite, innocent-looking nurse. Surely it wasn't her. Would the jury believe that? And did they not have to prove any of the other elements raised by the defense? The jury could take an educated guess that Melanie did it, or had the prosecution proven its case.

Has the jury reached a verdict in this case? Yes, Your Honor. How do you find us at the count of the indictment charging Melanie McGuire with the murder of William McGuire? Guilty. I just remember seeing her collapse. I remember grabbing Joe's arm, and I remember feeling my legs just kind of go out from under me.

She's alternating between I didn't do it, I didn't do it, and my babies, my babies, and referring to her two children. The court finds that the maximum sentence should be imposed. Melanie was sentenced to life in prison plus five years. As quoted in a book about this case titled To Have and to Kill by John Glatt, her new home would be a six by nine foot cell. But her lawyers weren't done. They couldn't fathom that she had been convicted with that much reasonable doubt. We're going to fight on. This is a definite setback. This is round one. This is not the end of the story. So Melanie filed many appeals that were not successful. But then, in 2019, a new podcast

came out called Direct Appeal, which I highly recommend. The two co-hosts are Megan Sachs and Amy Schlossberg. Megan is a professor of criminology and the graduate program director at Fairleigh Dickinson University. She teaches classes on women in crime, serial killers, and crime policy. And Amy earned her PhD at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. So in 2019, they brought this case back into the spotlight, arguing that there was a lot of evidence that the prosecution simply ignored because it didn't fit their narrative. Melanie McGuire was looking to speak with someone about her story because she had done really poorly in the court system, and I think she was frustrated.

And after visiting with her the first time, I was like, this is a story. This is important. I expected the worst, and what I got was just one step shy. They give the verdict, parole eligible at the tender age of 101. They believe that Melanie has been wrongfully convicted and that she has been sitting in prison all of these years as an innocent woman. I have been incarcerated for 12 and a half going on 13 years now do you still insist that you're innocent absolutely you're sitting here a wrongfully convicted person correct absolutely it was very difficult it was reliving it this was the first time somebody was basically saying it. This was the first time somebody was basically saying, we hear you. Would you say, let's get to the juicy part? I want to know, do you think she is innocent or guilty? In the end, I believe that

Melanie McGuire was wrongfully convicted. So you believe an innocent woman is behind bars right now? Absolutely. I believe this is a case of a wrongful conviction. Is it possible that the gun Melanie bought is not actually the murder weapon? I think it's probable. No one plugged the serial number of my gun into a website to find out what the specifications were. Apparently each gun makes something called lands and grooves. Lands and grooves are rifling characteristics that are machine pressed into the barrel of a gun and when the bullet passes through the barrel the same number of lands and grooves are going to be imprinted essentially onto that bullet. There were five lands and grooves that my weapon was said to have

made based on the company's website. The bullets that came out of my husband had six lands and grooves. We were not gathering evidence from a gun manufacturer's website. The evidence that was at trial was from ballistic experts. Prosecution had an expert that said that the garbage bag in which Bill's body was found in was consistent with the garbage bags that came from Melanie's apartment. You can see these lines here. There's a straight line here, this sort of smooth line. There's also two other lines close together in basically the exact same position. This indicates that these two bags were made at the same facility on the same line within

a very close proximity of time. He ran tests, but he didn't do all the tests that you actually need to definitively say whether these bags matched. Even his own data shows that they probably weren't the same bags. Well, there are always other tests that can be done. If you look through the lab reports, page upon page upon page, white hair, brown hair, black hair, animal hair. I think that's indicative that there was animal hair where the dismemberment took place of Bill's body. You mentioned that you found some animal hairs. Did you find anything that you considered of evidential value? No. They looked high and low to connect Melanie to some pet.

And once they found that there was no way to connect Melanie to these pet hairs, it became not of evidentiary value. Why is that? Simply because they don't match your suspects? Those hairs should have been tested because that's a huge question mark. Now personally, I don't know where I stand on this. I lean guilty because how could you possibly have that many coincidences? But on the other side of the coin, did the prosecution prove its case? Based on most of the widely available information on this case, did the prosecution prove that Melanie murdered Bill beyond a reasonable doubt? this case? Did the prosecution prove that Melanie murdered Bill beyond a reasonable doubt? To me, not really. So does that mean I don't think she did it? No, I don't know if she did or not,

but I do see the perspective that the podcast takes. There certainly is a lot of reasonable doubt in my opinion. But regardless of my take, Melanie has always maintained her innocence in jail. She never changed her tactic to the self-defense argument, never tried to spin the story at all. She has maintained that she is innocent, which yeah, a lot of people in prison do claim to be innocent. But Melanie has never once wavered or changed her story in any way for almost 20 years now. She firmly believes that the prosecution can't have it both ways. The evidence in this case points to a well-organized, meticulously planned execution of a murder. Is that a fair description of you?

Were you somebody, if you were gonna do something, you were gonna do it all the way? Correct. And I would counter that argument with, if that's the case, then I would have been sure to not include blankets that could be traced to me, my own luggage. I don't get to be an evil genius and an idiot at the same time. So I'm curious, for those of you who are either familiar with this case or brand new and hearing it for the first time, what do you guys think? Did the prosecution get it right? Is Melanie responsible for murdering her husband Bill?

Did she do it? If she did do it, did she act alone? Where is the gun? Was Bill murdered in the Woodbridge townhouse? And also, whether you believe she is guilty or not, do you think the prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt from what you have seen so far? Should they have looked into more people? Did Bill have a large gambling debt lingering in Atlantic City? Or did Melanie paint a picture of this abusive, threatening, gambling, cheating husband all as a cover? After all, we only have her account of these events

the behavior panel on youtube has done an analysis on melanie's body language in many of the interviews that i included throughout this and it is very fascinating and they have great points as well so definitely check that out if you're interested in more analysis of this case and as a reminder you can check out the video version of this case. And as a reminder, you can check out the video version of this case where you can see the video of all of this footage, not just the audio, over on my YouTube channel, 10 to Life. This case is one that truly fascinates me because while there are so many red flags and so many coincidences that surely do point to Melanie's guilt, there are things that can be explained away and a lot of reasonable

doubt that is in this case, in my opinion. So I'm curious to know what you guys think. Thanks so much for tuning in to another episode of Serialistly with me. As a reminder, every single Thursday, I will be dropping a new podcast episode called Headline Highlights, where we will discuss all of the breaking news and case updates and new cases from that week. So that will happen every single Thursday. It's a new series that I'm pushing out on the podcast where I can give you your true crime fix of everything that went down that week in the true crime world, especially for case updates where there's not enough information to warrant a full single episode or video on that case. So make sure again that you are following the podcast if you are not already.

Also, before you go, if you would please do me a solid, give this podcast a rating on whatever podcast app you are listening to it on. And if you would just take an extra 15 seconds to leave a review, let me know what you like about this podcast, what you want to see more of so that I can of course always be elevating and pivoting as needed to give you guys the content that you want. All right. Thanks so much for tuning into another episode with me, guys. And I will see you again bright and early next Monday with an all new case or maybe before that with a bonus episode.

And of course, I will see you before that because I'll see you on Thursday with headline highlights. So anyways, I will talk with you guys very, very soon. Thanks again. And till next one, stay safe. Bye.