00:00:00
parenting is no joke as listeners who have kids will know sometimes you'll find yourself saying things you never
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thought you'd ever have to say that's why our friends at audio boom and main event media wanted us to let you know
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about their brand new parenting podcast on never thought I'd say this fuller house star Jodi Sweden and her best
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friend Celia Bay ha a life coach get together each week to recap the ridiculous in their parenting lives Jodi
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and Celia tackle parenting taboos interview other celebrity parents and dive into the real issues that all
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parents face today fellow famous parents you can expect to hear from include Christine Lacan who starred in the
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sitcom step-by-step Melissa Joe Sony mother of Maddie and Mackenzie Ziegler and Andrea barber of Full House and
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Netflix's fuller house never thought I'd say this is a co-production from audio boom and main event media with new
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episodes every week be sure to search for and subscribe - never thought I'd say this on Apple podcasts Spotify
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stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts [Music] our episodes deal with serious and often
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distressing incidents if you feel at anytime you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested
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phone numbers for confidential support please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website
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the month of April marks the beginning of the spring trophy fishing season throughout the United States the warmer
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weather attracts a wide variety of deepwater fish to the shallows to spawn into recreational anglers across the
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country flocked to lakes rivers and beaches hoping to really in a valuable catch one such popular fishing spot is
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Chesapeake Bay in the country's East a 200 mile long estuary that encompasses the states of Maryland and Virginia
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eventually meeting with the Atlantic Ocean at its outlet the bay boasts a wide range of marine life with
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delicacies like striped bass crabs and oysters among the most prized bounty trophy fishing season was well underway
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by May 5 2004 yet that particular Wednesday presented a miserable morning for those casting a line into Chesapeake
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Bay local hobby fishermen and a longtime friends Chris Henkel and addy Connors had taken to the water by boat but the
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rough weather had forced them to drop anchor at fisherman Island the meeting point between the bay and the ocean the
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area was offering little apart from mud sharks and small fryer which was a disappointment especially for these two
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young children Sam and Claire who had come along for their inaugural fishing trip by 10 a.m. the rain and the wind
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finally subsided restoring calm to the waves and bringing a welcomed touch of Sun
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when the clouds finally parted the men saw an opportunity to set sail for more fruitful waters where they were
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guaranteed a better catch stretching above and below their boat was the Chesapeake Bay bridge-tunnel a seventeen
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point six mile transit complex comprising of two bridges and two underwater tunnels the facilitated
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traffic between Virginia's detached a coastline allowing travelers of faster and more direct route from the mainland
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to adjoining States a series of four artificial islands marked the points where the bridge dipped below the
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surface of the water transforming into the tunnel before re-emerging Chris and D directed their boat past the fourth
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island where they caught sight of something floating in the water alongside their vessel it was a dark
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green suitcase given its proximity to the bridge the men assumed there must have blown off the luggage rack of a
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Beatle driving above and hauled it on board twelve-year-old Sam expressed his excitement a thinking they had stumbled
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upon pirate's treasure and hastily zipped to the bag open finding it held items wrapped in thick black garbage
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bags sealed with blue adhesive tape before anyone could stop him Sam tore open one of the bags and screamed in
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horror as he discovered what lay inside [Music] the garbage bags contains the pale legs
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of an adult human male severed at the knee joints the suitcase didn't appear to have been in Chesapeake Bay for long
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that featured the branding of American fashion house and designer Kenneth Cole who sold a wide range of clothing shoes
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and accessories the medium sized bag was a part of the casual and affordable reaction collection and featured a
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retractable handle wheels and black detailing the following day the local newspaper The Virginian Pilot ran a
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short three sentence article on the grim discovery but the lack of details ensured a garnered a little attention
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many suspected the lack of media coverage was an intentional act to ensure the gruesome homicide would have
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not impact a visitor numbers to the fiend of Virginia Beach six days later at around midday on Monday May 10 a
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graduate student cleaning up litter on the shores of fishermen islands bird sanctuary spotted a large dark green
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suitcase lying on the sand she ignored the item only to notice it was still there when she returned to the shoreline
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the following day giving in to her curiosity she unzipped the bag and released the nauseating stench of rot
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from within it contained an item wrapped in black garbage bags that upon closer inspection
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made the student recoil in horror police arrived and immediately recognized the suitcase as a larger version of the one
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found days earlier that contained the severed legs this one was in worse condition having been beached in the hot
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Sun for days with the surf causing it to become severely waterlogged and filled with sand
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two layers of garbage bags concealed a human torso with the head and arms still attached the victim was a Caucasian male
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aged between 30 and 40 with a muscular physique and short brown hair several gunshot wounds were found throughout his
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body with those in the skull and abdomen proving fatal x-ray imagery revealed two
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bullets still nestled in the victims chest than to waste one was covered in green fibers having passed through
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fabric before penetrating the body a blanket tucked behind the victim's head featured a tag that read property of H
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CSC initials but us-based healthcare organization hospital Central Services cooperative the organization provided a
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variety of services including an expensive laundry division the supplier to linen to medical clinics across the
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country a five and a half pound wait marked with the fitness brand name wieder was stored in an outside pocket
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of the suitcase in a bid to weight it down both recovered cases were part of a three piece luggage set sold by Kenneth
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Cole the third and final case in the set the smallest one typically used as carry-on luggage by passengers on
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long-haul flights was still unaccounted for the perpetrators use of a firearm and the clinical dismemberment of the
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victim led Virginia police to theorized that the killing was a gangland style here as for identifying their John Doe
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officers checked recent missing persons reports and to turn to their attention to the state's large military population
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as his cropped hair cut and a muscular physique were akin to the conditions required for serving members of the
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Armed Forces the suitcases were believed to have been discarded into Chesapeake Bay from the
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bridge above but as the structure lacked security cameras no such act was caught
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on film the midsection of the victim was still missing from the belly button to the kneecaps raising the collective
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concerns of police media and the locals that more body parts remained undiscovered within the bay six days
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later on Sunday May 16 the Virginia Beach Marine Patrol were alerted to the sighting of a small green suitcase
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floating in the current near the second artificial island of the Chesapeake Bay bridge-tunnel in the worst condition of
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the lot this suitcase was completely waterlogged and contained a black garbage bag covering the final piece of
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the unknown victims body the abdomen and thighs dressed in a purple pair of Fruit
00:10:17
of the Loom Brenda briefs his skull nose and teeth were still intact preserving the overall look of his face and
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facilitating the creation of the composite sketch which was featured throughout regional news reports the
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image caught the attention of a local couple John and Susan Rice who believed it looked to like their close friend
00:10:41
William McGuire better known as Bill the rice has arrived to the Virginia Beach Police Headquarters to view autopsy
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photos of the suitcase victim in an effort to confirm their identification sue was convinced it was bill but her
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husband was less certain believing his best friend was alive even though he hadn't heard from him in almost a month
00:11:08
police ran bill McGuire's name through their database and found no record of the men having been reported missing he
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did have a minor felony offense dating back to the early 80s for adopting aliases to write fraudulent checks
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although he was never charged bills fingerprints had been kept on file which detectives sent for comparison against
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the suitcase victim as they awaited the results of the fingerprint analysis investigators dug further into Bill
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McGuire's history the 39 year old who lived in a rental apartment three states North in the New Jersey township of
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Woodbridge with his wife and two young sons a navy veteran bill was currently employed as an adjunct professor at the
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New Jersey Institute of Technology and was the co-owner of software consulting company Jay Vista software weeks earlier
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on Wednesday April 28th he finalized the purchase of a two-story colonial style homestead in the rural New Jersey
00:12:15
township of Asbury two days later on Thursday April 30 a domestic violence restraining order had been filed against
00:12:25
him by his wife Melanie bill and Melanie had met while working in the hospitality
00:12:33
industry and quickly fell head-over-heels in love by 1997 the pair moved in together as they concentrated
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on their long-term career goals and by the end of the year they were engaged Melanie was already two months pregnant
00:12:50
with their firstborn by the time their wedding took place in June 1999 and felt pregnant again two years later many
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reported the pair seemed a perfect and eight ball match sharing a sharp and sarcastic wit they played off one
00:13:06
another bill was the mischievous practical joker who took immense pride in being a family
00:13:12
man Melanie who was 8 years his junior was an intelligent and headstrong woman with a caring and compassionate side
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displayed through her work as a fertility nurse yet the Maguire's unsteady marriage seemed indicative of a
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near decade long relationship that had gone through its fair share of difficulties the couple were not immune
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to squabbles and even fell foul of the law with bill caught driving with a suspended license and Melanie later
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lying under oath to protect him police discovered the restraining order Melanie had taken out against her husband had
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not yet been served meaning bill would not have been notified of it furthermore a court they
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had not been set to make it permanent detectives contacted Melanie to inform her and she explained that bill hadn't
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been in contact since he left their apartment three weeks earlier she suspected he was having an affair and
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was convinced he was either in Atlantic City where he was known to frequent the casinos or Virginia Beach where he had
00:14:21
always wanted to live she had divorce papers ready having filed the documentation with the state that
00:14:29
described to bill as a volatile husband with a crippling gambling and drinking problem
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Melanie explained that his behavior had recently become more erratic with the desire to purchase a dream family home
00:14:42
becoming an obsession as he stayed awake for 48 hours at a time scrolling through real estate listings
00:14:50
she also claimed he threatened to kill her resulting in her fleeing the apartment and placing their children in
00:14:57
the care of her parents the final straw came during a fight in the early morning
00:15:04
hours of Thursday April 29 Melanie stated bill had quote threatened to disappear work under a false name and
00:15:15
social security number and to never provide her with any financial support he left the apartment that day then
00:15:24
since then had made no effort to return contact her or provide financial support
00:15:30
to his family on Wednesday May 26 2004 bill McGuire was finally located the fingerprints stored in his police
00:15:42
records were a match to the dismembered remains found in Chesapeake Bay deciding which police jurisdiction
00:15:56
should front the investigation into bills murder was complicated given there was no crime scene and he was last seen
00:16:03
in his home state of New Jersey but his body had surfaced in Virginia furthermore the whereabouts of his
00:16:11
Blackberry smartphone and vehicle a blue 2002 Nissan Maxima were unknown police began tracing bills final movements
00:16:23
paying a visit to the New Jersey Institute of Technology to interview his colleagues their reports were unanimous
00:16:31
bill was regarded as a model employee and they were unable to imagine a scenario where the devoted father would
00:16:39
elect to leave his family this sentiment was shared by Bill's business partner and co-founder of Jay Vista software Jay
00:16:48
tandava who described him as the best friend a person could ever have bill had scheduled to take two weeks leave from
00:16:59
May 3 to 17 to facilitate moving his family and their possessions from their apartment into their new homestead this
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timeframe later served as the period Bill's remains were discovered in Chesapeake Bay at the time Jay Tandava
00:17:18
received two handwritten notes from Melanie McGuire that she had left a wedged in his front door the first the
00:17:25
detailed a fight that occurred between her and Bill and explained they would no longer be moving into their new home
00:17:33
Melanie wrote that she hadn't heard from her husband in days adding that he had been quote behaving very erratically and
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strangely lately and she was now seeking a divorce the second note appeared four days later
00:17:49
inquiring if J had heard from bill as melanie was trying to figure things out financially and asked whether he had
00:17:57
taken any money from the je vais de software company account detectives also spoke with bill's direct supervisor who
00:18:06
reported that in the days following news of her husband's death melanie inquired
00:18:11
about his life insurance policy the Institute of Technology's life insurance policy
00:18:18
provided up to three and a half times and employees annual salary making bills payout over two hundred and twenty seven
00:18:26
thousand dollars Melanie McGuire agreed to speak with detectives organizing a meeting at her divorce attorneys office
00:18:38
upon their arrival the detectives were led into a conference room where they were joined by Melanie her divorce
00:18:45
attorney and to their surprise a criminal attorney Melanie was aloof and evasive during questioning
00:18:53
giving clipped defensive responses she maintained that her marriage was bleak and said bill wasn't well-liked
00:19:02
despite his family friends and co-workers stating otherwise she called bill an unfriendly person who had a
00:19:10
habit of pissing people off and insinuated that his boss had wanted to fire him as for the fight that had
00:19:18
resulted in bills departure Melanie explained that bill was asleep on the couch in their apartment when he awoke
00:19:25
at around 4:00 a.m. on April 29 and instigated an argument with her he threatened to leave her and berated her
00:19:34
for being a bad mother before shoving her against the wall the attack awoke her two-year-old son who went at the
00:19:42
room Melanie scooped him up and took shelter in a bathroom listening as bill moved around the apartment gathering his
00:19:50
things before leaving the next day she filed a restraining order and moved into her parents house
00:20:00
she denied owning a Kenneth Cole reaction three piece luggage set or a gun as for bills missing car she
00:20:09
believed it could likely be found in her husband's gambling Horn of Atlantic City
00:20:15
after questioning Melanie detectives retrieved the keys to the Maguire's former apartment in Woodbridge to
00:20:22
conduct a search Melanie had since vacated the property and if the superintendent hadn't cleaned the
00:20:29
apartment in preparation for new tenants so the empty space remained exactly as the family had left it the detectives
00:20:37
were therefore surprised to find the interior in immaculate condition the walls had been repainted and the
00:20:45
hardwood floors gleamed as if polished with one detective remarking he could evade off the floor had almost looked a
00:20:54
brand new inside forensic testing revealed no traces of blood hair or saliva or anywhere and luminol tests
00:21:04
performed in the bathrooms resulted in false positives which can occur when heavy amounts of bleach have been used
00:21:13
detectives questioned neighbors one described Melanie as a quiet lady and bill as the best neighbor no one
00:21:22
reported hearing any arguing or gunshots on April 29 the next morning detectives
00:21:31
met with Melanie and her criminal attorney at the storage unit that contained the Maguire's furniture and
00:21:37
belongings when asked to see anything that may have belonged to bill Melanie pointed to a small blue plastic
00:21:44
Tupperware container that held mementos from his time in the Navy and some family photographs Melanie had since
00:21:52
given away most of her deceased husband's things including his clothing weight set and dumbbells the exercise
00:22:00
equipment was tracked down but it did not match the five and a half pound weight from the suitcase that can
00:22:06
to Bill's torso Melanie told investigators that after taking some time to think after her police interview
00:22:14
she could now recall owning a set of matching Breen suitcases she asserted they would have been designer because
00:22:23
bill preferred brand to name things when detectives showed Melanie a picture of one of the Kenneth Cole suitcases that
00:22:31
had held bills remains she agreed it looked a lot like the ones they owned but offered no explanation as to their
00:22:39
current whereabouts detectives were informed by the storage facility manager the Melanie owned a second smaller
00:22:48
Locker that she had failed to inform them about when asked if they could search this second Locker
00:22:55
Melanie appeared surprised but consented inside detectives found bills wallet which contained his social security and
00:23:04
health insurance cards a few business cards and pictures of his family although it was a curious find they left
00:23:13
the wallet in the storage locker for the time being meanwhile an employee for a private
00:23:23
telling company contacted police and explained that on Saturday May a just over a week after bill disappeared they
00:23:31
removed a blue late-model missin Maxima from the parking lot of the infamous Flamingo motel in Atlantic City located
00:23:40
on the busy casino strip of Pacific Avenue the motel was a near two-hour drive away from the Maguire's apartment
00:23:47
and retained a poor reputation as a haven for delinquents according to the towing company employee they were
00:23:56
summoned to pick up cars after they were left stationary for at least four or five days
00:24:02
detectives arrived to the rundown Flamingo motel and found no record of Bill having stayed there CCTV footage
00:24:12
showed Bill's car entering the parking lot at 12:41 a.m. on April 30 before a man emerged from the vehicle and exited
00:24:21
the frame the grainy low quality footage prevented investigators from confirming the men
00:24:28
was Bill the car remained abandoned in the same space until it was towed eight days later police seized Bill's car and
00:24:38
Wallace showed no signs of tampering had contained several items of interest his
00:24:44
Blackberry smartphone and a laptop were in the trunk and to most notably the glove compartment contained a glass pile
00:24:52
of translucent pink tinged liquid and a hypodermic syringe with the needle missing without knowing exactly which
00:25:01
drugs to test for forensic toxicologist s' were at a loss as to what the liquid could be as investigations progressed
00:25:11
Melanie's negative portrayal of Bill's character was reflected in several front-page and news stories several
00:25:19
alluded to the incidents described in her divorce filing including bills erratic manic behavior abuse and
00:25:26
gambling addiction bills first wife also spoke to the media describing her former
00:25:33
husband as abusive and manipulative she claimed the dissolution of their marriage began when bill initiated an
00:25:41
affair with Melanie and described filing a restraining order against him a year later after he allegedly threw rocks
00:25:49
through her windows these statements were in stark contrast to those provided by Bill's friends family and colleagues
00:25:58
who consistently maintained he was a likable and kind man who cared deeply for his wife and children
00:26:06
the varied characterization of bill McGuire left many questioning what to believe with the head of the Virginia
00:26:14
Beach homicide unit telling reporters we've run into the same paradoxes as you have we have very different opinions on
00:26:23
what this gentleman was like on Monday July 12 2004 the day of Bill McGuire's funeral a massive storm pounded New
00:26:35
Jersey flooding streets and inhibiting travel the service was pushed back several hours to allow additional time
00:26:43
for Interstate mourners to arrive the queue of cars formed at the Brigadier General William C Doyle Veterans
00:26:52
Memorial Cemetery as guests waited in their vehicles for a break in the weather at around 4:00 p.m.
00:27:00
Melanie McGuire announced that she was going to leave to pick up her two young sons from daycare it wasn't the first
00:27:09
time she had shown disinterest in the service expressing beforehand that the event should not go ahead due to the
00:27:17
possible media presence she provided no flowers or any photographs of bill leaving his friends and siblings to
00:27:26
organize some decor to adorn his urn at the front of the chapel Melanie was convinced to stay and to the funeral
00:27:35
eventually commenced with the military chaplain piecing together his sermon on what little information she had provided
00:27:43
at one point he turned to her to ask what her husband's name was John Ross's eulogy to his best friend provided a
00:27:53
much-needed personal touch to the uncomfortably hallow service he described to bill as a loving father and
00:28:01
proud military man John fondly lamented Bill's wild sense of humor which ensured
00:28:08
he was always the center of attention saying I could tell you a hundred different
00:28:15
stories about Bill bill and I shared a lot of great memories like me bill was not a perfect person but he was a
00:28:25
perfect friend the service lasted only 20 minutes and the following wake Melanie put the Maguire's Asbury
00:28:35
homestead on the market listing it for slightly more than it had initially cost four months after Bill's body had
00:28:48
surfaced full responsibility of the languishing case was handed to one central police agency the New Jersey
00:28:55
Division of Criminal Justice they began the arduous task of rereading over the case reports re-interviewing witnesses
00:29:05
reviewing all 221 pieces of evidence enter retrieving bills blood urine and body tissue samples they reexamined the
00:29:16
suitcases with the discovery of a long brown hair a purple fiber and a scrap of red nail polish elevating the theory
00:29:25
that a woman may have been involved in the crime the manufacturer of the blanket that was found around Bill's
00:29:32
head hospital central services cooperative provided investigators with a list of
00:29:38
their clients it included the Reproductive Medicine Associates clinic in Morristown where Melanie McGuire
00:29:46
worked a witness recalled Melanie had used some of the blankets to protectively wrap a dining table whilst
00:29:55
clearing out her apartment following bills death investigators also retrieved six black garbage bags Melanie had
00:30:04
filled with bills clothing and offloaded to a friend they were compared to the garbage bags that contained his remains
00:30:12
with dire patents and perforation marks similar across all meaning that were likely manufactured on the same assembly
00:30:20
line within hours of one another they also combed through bills emails noting that at 6:17 a.m. on the morning
00:30:30
of his disappearance an email was sent to his boss that read I'll be out sick today
00:30:37
despite co-workers describing Bill as a power user of his blackberry he had entered his boss's email address
00:30:44
incorrectly and out of character mistake that caused the message to go once sent
00:30:51
ballistics experts identified the bullets extracted from Phil's body as flat-nosed 38 caliber wad-cutters
00:30:59
typically used in close range target practice there was an odd choice for a killer and led one detective to believe
00:31:08
the gunman was inexperienced records showed that no one in connection to the bill McGuire case owned or had recently
00:31:17
purchased the 38 caliber firearm in New Jersey but as the gun laws in the neighboring state of Pennsylvania were
00:31:25
far more lacks these records were also searched revealing a link three days before bill went missing a model lady
00:31:38
fire four blue metal 38 caliber special Taurus handgun with a 2-inch barrel was purchased at John's gun and tackle store
00:31:46
in the Pennsylvanian city of Easton weighing just thirteen and a half ounces the light weapon was small enough to fit
00:31:55
inside a handbag it was one of only five gun models on the market that could use
00:32:01
38 caliber wadcutter bullets the sale receipt also listed an unspecified purchase valued at nine dollars 95 to
00:32:13
items in the store marked with that price one of which was a box of wad cutter bullets
00:32:21
when the shop owner was shown a photo lineup and asked to identify the person who had purchased the weapon and demo he
00:32:29
singled out the image of Melanie McGuire he remembered her vividly as he didn't get many female customers and she was
00:32:40
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evidence implicating Melanie McGuire in the murder of her husband was piling up but investigators were not convinced she
00:37:46
acted alone in March they began covertly monitoring her phone calls and during conversations with her stepfather
00:37:54
Michael it appeared as though the two were speaking in coded language she also spoke frequently with her boss at the
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fertility clinic dr. Bradley Miller although Miller was a married family man the phone conversations between the pair
00:38:11
were indicated a level of familiarity that extended beyond a professional relationship and it soon became apparent
00:38:17
they were having an affair Milla was subsequently ambushed and interrogated by investigators but he
00:38:25
refused to speak without a lawyer present he was issued with a subpoena to appear before a grand jury and released
00:38:34
on Sunday March 13 Miller and his lawyer met with detectives to negotiate immunity for providing truthful
00:38:42
information about Melanie McGuire in an ensuing four hour interview the doctor confessed that the two had been having
00:38:51
an ongoing affair despite his partnership agreement with the fertility clinic expressly
00:38:56
forbidding fraternization with colleagues their intimate relationship began in March 2002 when melanie was 38
00:39:06
weeks pregnant with her second child over the next three years the pair frequented motels throughout New Jersey
00:39:14
and too communicated via secret cell phones they called their love lines they talked constantly professing their love
00:39:22
and making plans to leave their families to start a new life together according to Miller on the night the Maguire's had
00:39:32
finalized the purchase of their Asbury home Melanie called to inform him that she was going to tell bill she wanted a
00:39:39
divorce Miller tried calling her several times over the next few hours desperate
00:39:45
to know the outcome of the discussion that was met with her voicemail at 9:00 the next morning of April 29 Melanie
00:39:56
finally rang him back relaying the fight between her and Bill and saying she wanted to move out of the apartment and
00:40:02
file a restraining order against him Melanie and Miller continued to me for rendevouz throughout May even after bill
00:40:12
was discovered murdered the day her husband's car was recovered Melanie called Miller to inform him that
00:40:20
blurry CCTV footage captured in the Flamingo motel parking lot had reported a man driving Bill's vehicle but it
00:40:28
hadn't been a man in the footage at all it was her she explained that the night after Bill left their apartment she
00:40:39
drove to Atlantic City looking for him and found his car in the parking lot of the Taj Mahal casino enraged she decided
00:40:49
to move it a mile and a half away to the Flamingo motel so he wouldn't be able to
00:40:53
find it afterwards she couldn't remember where she had parked her own car so she
00:41:00
took a cab back to the McGuire apartment by the time she arrived home Melanie felt energized enough to return to
00:41:08
Atlantic City so she hailed an off-duty cab and returned straightaway to pick up
00:41:14
her vehicle yet police discovered there was no record of any local cab companies
00:41:21
taking a lone female passenger the near two hour drive between Atlantic City and
00:41:26
Woodbridge at the Times Melanie claimed to have taken the journey Melanie told Milla she returned to
00:41:34
Atlantic City days later with her stepfather to check if bills car had been moved but it was still where she
00:41:41
had left it she returned again on her own on Tuesday May 18 but the car was no longer there
00:41:50
Melanie claimed she hadn't told Miller this sooner because she didn't want to upset him or make him think she wanted
00:41:58
bill back months later she admitted another secret a few days before the settlement of the Maguire's new home
00:42:08
bill had asked her to purchase a gun since their new home was in a rural area he wanted a firearm to protect their
00:42:17
family but his criminal record prevented him from buying one Melanie obliged and
00:42:24
made the purchase despite the strangeness of these stories doctor Miller admitted his infatuation
00:42:32
with Melanie had blinded him to skepticism [Music] Melanie's phone conversations revealed
00:42:43
she was also in regular contact with a man named - James Finn the two had attended nursing school together in the
00:42:52
mid nineties and although the nature of their current relationship was unclear their conversations were often
00:42:58
flirtatious in early April 2005 James was questioned by police for close to 80 hours during which he claimed the two
00:43:09
had reconnected in September 2004 after he reached out to Melanie to offer his sympathies for the loss of her husband
00:43:17
he initially denied having romantic feelings for her but when he was informed Melanie had purchased the gun
00:43:24
less than a week before Bill's murder he cracked admitting he had been in love with Melanie since nursing school back
00:43:33
then he had professed his love to her but she kindly rejected him and too they remained close friends according to the
00:43:43
book to have venta killed by John glass for Christmas in 1995 Melanie bought James a copy of Stephen King's thriller
00:43:52
novel Dolores Claiborne which tells the story of an abused woman who kills her husband and gets away with it inside
00:44:02
Melanie scrawled now here is a story of a woman with true strength and wisdom you can learn a lot from her I did after
00:44:15
Melanie married bill she and James fell out of touch but she began writing him letters in February 2004 which increased
00:44:24
in frequency over the following months she complained of her dissolving marriage described her husband's erratic
00:44:32
behavior and expressed the fear of him according to James Melanie made it sound like a bill was a substance abuser or
00:44:41
experiencing a psychotic break the week before bill went missing James responded to a particularly disturbing
00:44:51
email from Melanie by advising her to leave the house with her kids and stay with her parents he recommended she buy
00:45:00
a small handgun for protection suggesting a 40 caliber 9-millimeter semi-automatic as it was a more
00:45:07
manageable weapon for someone with her diminutive five-foot-three stature when he later questioned Melanie about
00:45:15
whether she had made the purchase she categorically denied it now realizing she had lied to him James Ben
00:45:24
also negotiated immunity with investigators and consented to engage in several wiretapped phone conversations
00:45:32
with Melanie during one call James begged her to reveal the location of the gun she had purchased but Melanie said
00:45:42
the last time she saw it was in a lockbox in her old apartment she claimed to have checked the lockbox
00:45:49
after discovering bill had been murdered but it was empty on the morning of Thursday June 2 2005 a little over a
00:46:01
year since Bill's body parts surfaced Melanie McGuire was formally charged with his first-degree murder she pleaded
00:46:10
not guilty and in a subsequent press conference it was announced that additional arrests were possible and
00:46:17
that the prosecution may seek the death penalty New Jersey State Police Superintendent Joseph Fuentes said the
00:46:27
investigation has woven a very strange tale of Lies deceit infidelity and murder at the time of her arrest
00:46:38
Melanie lived in the township of brick New Jersey and detectives immediately secured a warrant to search her
00:46:45
residence they left with multiple items including her personal computer DVDs and
00:46:52
a circular saw Melanie's Nissan Pathfinder car was also processed for evidence as were her two storage units
00:47:02
with detectives finding the lockbox she mentioned during her phone conversation with the James Finn it didn't contain
00:47:10
the gun but instead Bill's wallet meaning it had since been placed in there after detectives caught sight of
00:47:17
it in the storage unit a year earlier five days after her arrest Melanie's parents used their home as collateral to
00:47:27
secure her seven hundred and fifty thousand dollar bail two months later strange letters were
00:47:34
sent to several recipients including the State Attorney General local newspaper at the Trento nyan Melanie McGuire's
00:47:42
lover dr. Bradley Miller her divorce attorney and Melanie herself four pages of rambling text implicated organized
00:47:53
crime groups in bills murder citing his gambling addiction as the cause and accusing him have been
00:48:00
rampant Cheeta and pathological liar the letters mentioned three significant details that had not been released to
00:48:10
the public throughout the course of the investigation that bill was wearing purple briefs at the time he was killed
00:48:17
that his arms were still attached to his torso and that a dumbbell had been used
00:48:22
to weigh down one of the suitcases the letter referred to Melanie as a lousy lay and said she quote couldn't do what
00:48:33
it took to and at one point three men to do investigators believed Melanie wrote
00:48:41
the letters to divert the attention away from her as the murderer on Tuesday October 11 2005 a grand jury hearing
00:48:54
commenced to determine whether there was enough evidence to indict Melanie for first-degree murder
00:49:00
the prosecution were interviewing their final witness when a FedEx package arrived at the courthouse proceedings
00:49:09
halted and the jurors filed out of the chamber while the contents of the package were inspected it contained a
00:49:16
silver bracelet and wedding ring suspected to have been bills the lockbox K and Neeson Karki a calendar with the
00:49:24
words set her up written on the back a plastic bag of prescription medications and attorney amounts of marijuana
00:49:34
an anonymous letter addressed to the assistant attorney general claim to the author worked at the same real estate
00:49:41
office as Cindy one of bill McGuire's older sisters and claimed to have uncovered the articles in the package in
00:49:49
the trash along with two handwritten to-do lists titled final stages and set her up they alleged were penned by Cindy
00:49:59
they detailed a plan to implicate Melanie and her family in bills murder to inevitably claim his life insurance
00:50:07
and adopt his children clearly in reference to the fact that Cindy had taken custody of Bill and Melanie's sons
00:50:14
following the latter's arrest the handwriting on the lists did not match Cindy's nor that of any of her
00:50:23
co-workers furthermore the phone number for her office was wrong as was the return address the office also didn't
00:50:33
use FedEx as a carrier it was clear the lists were penned by someone else entirely
00:50:40
so FBI forensic linguist James Fitzgerald was brought in to determine the true author he was responsible for
00:50:49
bringing infamous Unabomber Ted Kaczynski to justice and concluded that the lists and anonymous four-page
00:50:56
letters sent in August shared stylistic markers and punctuation commonalities with samples of Melanie McGuire's and
00:51:04
writing to an 85 to 95 percent degree of certainty the FedEx package was determined to have
00:51:13
been sent two days prior paid for with an American Express gift card purchased at a Rite Aid drugstore in the New
00:51:21
Jersey city of Passaic detectives reviewed the pharmacies CCTV and spotted a woman matching Melanie's description
00:51:29
enter the store at 3:48 p.m. the gift card was purchased three minutes later the prosecution believed there was no
00:51:40
coincidence the FedEx package showed up during Melanie's hearing calling it a mockery of the investigation and the
00:51:48
last acts of a desperate woman on Wednesday October 12 the grand jury handed Melanie McGuire a four count
00:51:58
indictment for first-degree murder second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose second-degree
00:52:05
offense for desecration of human remains and third degree perjury for making false material statements to the family
00:52:13
court accusing her husband of being a threat to his family's health and safety her bail was increased to two million
00:52:22
dollars Melanie hired hotshot Madison Avenue lawyer Joseph taka Pina described in the New
00:52:33
York Times newspaper as the Donald Trump of the new york defense bar taka Pina was notoriously flashy with a flair for
00:52:42
the dramatic although he wasn't licensed to practice law in New Jersey he was given permission to serve alongside a
00:52:49
local attorney taka Pina was quick to direct the media's attention to the overwhelming
00:52:55
support shown to his client by her friends family and nursing patients saying I would not have come into the
00:53:04
case if I did not have 100% confidence in Melanie McGuire's innocence and 100% confidence in my ability to represent
00:53:13
her a website titled the Friends of Melanie legal defense fund was set up with donations from Melanie's support
00:53:22
network and anonymous contributors securing her 2 million dollar bail by November results the forensic testing
00:53:32
revealed traces of Melanie's DNA on the floor of Bill's abandoned to Nissan Maxima microscopic human tissue and bone
00:53:41
particles had also been discovered on the driver's side floor mat described as human sawdust a forensic anthropologist
00:53:50
deduced the beveled knife had likely been used to cut bills flesh and then a reciprocating saw to get through the
00:53:58
bone the prosecution believed the Melanie must have stepped in the human sawdust half the dismembering Bill's
00:54:06
body and attracted into his car before she abandoned that in Atlantic City in January 2006 a forensic team searched
00:54:17
the Maguire's former apartment for a third time looking for a possible source for green fibers found on a bullet
00:54:24
recovered from Bill's body they had been identified as polyester fill a common material found in
00:54:32
household furniture leading investigators to theorized that Melanie may have used the pillow to muffle the
00:54:39
sound of the gun as she shot her husband a list of furniture that had belonged to
00:54:45
the Maguire's mentioned the green couch cushions that hadn't been seen since the
00:54:50
murder the forensic team extensively swept the apartment vacuuming air vents crevices at the base of the walls and
00:54:58
even electric outlets but to no result on Monday March 13 2006 Melanie's defense team moved to have her
00:55:10
indictment dismissed - due to a lack of concrete evidence the prosecution argued
00:55:16
that whilst there was still unknown aspects in the investigation and their case relied strongly on circumstantial
00:55:23
evidence Melanie quote doesn't get the benefit of doing a good job of killing the judge
00:55:31
agreed affirming Melanie was likely the last person to see bill alive and scheduled her trial for January the
00:55:39
following year meanwhile digital investigators processed the various electronic devices removed from the home
00:55:51
of Melanie McGuire and that of her parents which included eight handheld devices three laptops and eight
00:55:58
computers several salacious messages sent between Melanie and dr. Bradley Miller proved their long-standing love
00:56:07
affair an internet search conducted on the Maguire's laptop 10 days before bill was last seen alive read how to commit
00:56:16
murder this was followed by searches but where to purchase a gun without a permit
00:56:23
and how to purchase a gun in Pennsylvania as well as instant and undetectable poisons fatal insulin doses
00:56:30
and the highly effective fast-acting sedative chloral hydrate investigators had long believed the bill
00:56:40
had been incapacitated prior to being shot with suspicion centered on the vial of unknown pink liquid found in his car
00:56:49
the internet search for chlorohydrate gave forensic toxicologist something specific to test for and to their
00:56:57
analysis of the liquid tested positive for the sedative investigators began combing through every prescription
00:57:04
written out at the Reproductive Medicine Associates clinic and discovered one had
00:57:10
been made out for 500 milligrams of chloral hydrate signed by dr. Bradley Miller the prescription was for a
00:57:19
patient with the initials TB who visited dr. Miller in March and April of 2004 to
00:57:25
get a second opinion on a medical issue detectives met with tibi who revealed she had never received a prescription
00:57:33
for any medication from the clinic detectives question to dr. Miller who denied of writing the script saying he
00:57:42
would never prescribe chlorohydrate to a fertility patient he did explain that nurses were given prescription writing
00:57:50
privileges so it was possible that Melanie had filled the script out herself this was further corroborated by
00:57:59
the managing partner of the practice who verified it was not unusual for a nurse
00:58:04
to sign a doctor's name on a prescription the prescription was filled at a Walgreens pharmacy in Edison New
00:58:11
Jersey the store's pharmacist confirmed filling out the prescription on Wednesday April 28 2004 the day before
00:58:21
bill allegedly left his apartment the store was a mile and a half drive away from the day care center where Melanie
00:58:29
had dropped her children off twelve minutes before the prescription was filled given the discovery of new
00:58:38
evidence Melanie was hit with an additional 8 count indictment charging her with hindering prosecution evidence
00:58:46
tampering filing false reports and possession of substances the judge increased her bail
00:58:54
by $100,000 which she secured the following day over the following months the legal teams disputed the admissible
00:59:04
'ti of evidence resulting in court delays then on Monday March 5 2007 after nearly three years of investigations
00:59:14
Melanie McGuire's trial finally began the prosecution asserted the motive for the murder
00:59:23
rested in Melanie's affair with dr. Bradley Miller they presented the mountain of circumstantial evidence
00:59:30
attesting to Melanie's guilt and when they displayed the gruesome photos of the suitcases and their contents the
00:59:38
defendant eyed them with an impassive expression referring to the investigation as sloppy her defense team
00:59:47
went to work attacking bills character maintaining he was a volatile gambler and his death was in some way related
00:59:55
they relied on the fact that searches of the McGuire apartment had come up empty
01:00:01
and the murder weapon was still missing in his three-hour closing argument Joseph Takapuna
01:00:09
insisted Melanie could not be convicted on circumstantial evidence alone asserting the police hadn't even
01:00:15
bothered to look at any other suspects he pointed to the contradictory assumption that Melanie was somehow a
01:00:23
criminal mastermind yet neglected to cover her own tracks when it came to her incriminating online
01:00:30
searches and gun purchase the prosecution was certain Melanie had an accomplice yet was still unable to
01:00:39
identify who exactly at one point they left her mother and stepfather rattled when they indicated the ladder was
01:00:48
involved in the aftermath of the crime based on previous comments made by Melanie and their seemingly coded phone
01:00:55
conversations on Monday April 23 2007 after four days of deliberation the jury found Melanie
01:01:08
McGuire guilty of the murder of her husband they also found her guilty of possession
01:01:15
of a firearm for unlawful purposes desecration of human remains and perjury Melanie broke down into tears collapsing
01:01:25
into the arms of her attorney Bill's sister Cindy took a little joy in the ruling
01:01:31
despite her hatred for Melanie all she could think about whether two young boys who would have to live without a mother
01:01:38
or a father lamenting they only have each other now in the ensuing months Joseph's Takapuna
01:01:49
tried to ever turn Melanie's conviction his first appeal was denied On June 18 2007 he argued for a new trial claiming
01:02:00
a new witness had emerged that could prove the mob was responsible for Bill's death the witness was a prison inmate
01:02:09
who claimed to have once been a mob a bookkeeper and a loan shark he claimed Bill owed $90,000 to the
01:02:18
criminal organization but when he also claimed to be a descendant of medieval Emperor Charlemagne as well as 18 United
01:02:27
States presidents Melanie's defense quickly with the drew the motion for a retrial prior to sentencing victim
01:02:36
impact statements delivered by Cindy spoke of the impact to Bill's murder had on her life she said his sons were just
01:02:46
babies only two and four years old when the Sun rose on that April morning and their daddy was nowhere to be found they
01:02:56
were denied a chance to even say goodbye Bill's niece Laura described that her uncle's infectious grin and the boyish
01:03:07
mischief in his eyes were now marred by the police sketch of his lifeless expression
01:03:12
and thoughts of his dismembered body speaking of Melanie's actions Laura said she has stolen our smiles el laughter
01:03:24
out Joey she has also taken something deeper from all of us our innocence our faith in
01:03:33
humanity 34 year old Melanie McGuire was sentenced to life in prison judge Frederic diversa said the
01:03:45
desecration of William McGuire's remains was particularly heinous and depraved his body was treated as trash it was cut
01:03:55
and sawed apart and - then packaged in garbage bags his remains were left to decompose in the waters of another state
01:04:03
without identification so that his family and friends might always be deprived of a dignified funeral service
01:04:11
and burial Melanie challenged the ruling in March 2011 but to no avail in 2014 she filed a petition for
01:04:24
post-conviction relief accusing her lawyer Joseph Tucker pinna of denying her effective representation
01:04:32
she claimed he was high on prescription medications and too focused on extramarital affairs to concentrate on
01:04:39
her defense in January 2018 the Supreme Court officially denied her petition marking
01:04:48
the end of the line for her appeal process despite suspicions that an accomplice assisted with the disposal of
01:04:56
Bill's body they have never been identified and - no one else has ever been arrested or charged in relation to
01:05:03
his murder a reporter for New Jersey's Home News Tribune ken serrano provided extensive coverage of the murder from
01:05:13
the outset he said the verdict in this case confirmed the pretty dark view of what people are capable of you could be
01:05:24
compassionate and caring and at the same time be incredibly diabolical that was the truly chilling thing about this case
01:05:45
[Music] [Music] you