The Suitcase Killer

Melanie McGuire was a nurse at a New Jersey fertility clinic, married to Bill McGuire, a 39-year-old computer programmer. They lived in an apartment in Woodbridge Township with their two young sons. Melanie was having an affair with Bradley Miller, a doctor at the clinic.

Bill was killed on April 28, 2004, after an argument, shot in the head and chest, likely after being drugged. Two days earlier, Melanie had bought a .38-caliber handgun and ammunition in Pennsylvania. His body was cut apart and packed into three matching suitcases, which were dropped into the water near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia. Between May 5 and May 16, 2004, all three washed up or were pulled from the water along the Virginia coast. Investigators linked the suitcases to her through medical blankets like those at her clinic and trash bags identical to the ones holding Bill’s clothes, which she had given to a cousin. Searches on the family computer included poisons and ways to commit murder.

Melanie was arrested on June 2, 2005. On April 23, 2007, a Middlesex County jury convicted her of first-degree murder, desecration of human remains, perjury and a weapons charge. On July 19, 2007, she was sentenced to life plus five years. An appeals court upheld the verdict in 2011, and the New Jersey Supreme Court declined to hear her case.