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♪♪

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Narrator:
Up next, a suitcase in the water
holds a gruesome surprise.

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And when he looked inside,
they found two human legs.

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The torso contained the arms,
hands, and head.

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Narrator: This victim will be
nearly impossible to identify.

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His face had been decomposed

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while it was sitting out
in the water.

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Narrator:
The killer appeared to have left
no trace behind.

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Sometimes the lack of evidence
is evidence.

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Narrator:
Could microscopic clues
reveal the killer's identity?

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♪♪

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♪♪

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In the late spring of 2004,

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the tourist season in
Virginia's Chesapeake Bay

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did not get off
to an auspicious start.

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Serrano:
The story started when a family
out boating

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in the Chesapeake Bay

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found a suitcase
floating on the water.

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They brought it up
onto the deck,

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thinking that it was
buried treasure.

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The family opened it up

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and they found two human legs
inside the suitcase.

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Narrator:
The legs, wrapped in black
plastic bags,

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were from an adult male.

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News of this gruesome discovery

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spread quickly
throughout the area.

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Miller: That's not a crime
that's typical,

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to have somebody dismembered
and thrown at sea like that.

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Obviously, it's foul play.
This is not an accident.

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Narrator:
The community wanted answers,
but six days later,

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all they got was more questions.

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On the shore of an island next
to the Chesapeake Bay bridge

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and tunnel,
another suitcase was found.

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Dunton: Opening up the suitcase,

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there were more black trash bags
similar to the first one.

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Peeling back the trash bags,

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it revealed a torso
of a white male.

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The torso contained the arms,
hands,

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and head of the white male.

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Narrator:
As with the body parts
in the first suitcase,

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there was no way
to identify the remains,

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but the contents
of the second suitcase

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at least provided some clues
to the victim's identity.

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The description -- white male
between 25 and 35,

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about 180, 160 pounds,

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a short-cropped
military haircut,

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but no other scars,
marks, or tattoos.

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Narrator:
In addition to the plastic bags
that wrapped the body,

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there was a hospital blanket
around his head.

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An autopsy on the remains

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indicated
the likely cause of death.

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We x-rayed the torso and found

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that there was an entrance exit
through his head

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and then two bullet wounds
to his chest cavity.

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Prezioso: The second suitcase,
the largest suitcase --

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that probably had the most
amount of evidence in it.

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Recovered in there
were two projectiles,

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.38 caliber.

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Narrator:
Where was the rest of the body?

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The answer came five days later,

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when yet another suitcase
was found floating in the bay.

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Miller: By the time
we got the third one,

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we just we stuck it on board
and took it straight back.

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Narrator: The rest of the victim
was in the third suitcase.

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Gas created by decomposing body
parts caused the suitcases

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to float to the surface.

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DNA testing on those remains

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showed they were all
from the same person,

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but that DNA did nothing
to identify who he was.

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We ran it through
the Virginia DNA databank,

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but unfortunately, there was
no identification in there.

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Narrator:
But while investigators

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knew next to nothing
about their victim,

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the skill with which
he'd been dismembered

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revealed possible clues
about his killer.

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It did look surgical.
It looked very neat,

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like somebody did have some
sort of medical knowledge.

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Narrator: Since investigators
had few options,

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they took an unusual step.

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Even though the victim's head
had been submerged in salt water

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for at least two weeks,

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they commissioned
a forensic sketch

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in an attempt
to determine his identity.

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Higgins:
They had a drawing made of
the victim as best they could,

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and they televised it
on the local morning news.

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♪♪

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Narrator: When three suitcases
containing body parts

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were plucked
from the Chesapeake Bay,

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investigators were eager for
any evidence they could find.

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Though there were three bullet
wounds, only two slugs from a

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.38 caliber were recovered
from the body.

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One of them was covered
with green cotton fibers.

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The three suitcases containing
the body parts

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were from a matching set.

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The plastic bags that wrapped
the body appeared to be similar.

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The body parts were wrapped
in black garbage bags.

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They were tied with
blue painter's tape.

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Narrator:
The blanket that wrapped the
victim's head was distinctive.

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Prezioso:
It was like a white or cream
colored blanket

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with an HCSC tag.

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We learned that HCSC
is a company that provides

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medical linens to hospitals
and doctors offices.

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Narrator:
The first step was to at least
attempt an identification.

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The victim had been in
salt water for weeks,

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and his face was decomposing.

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Investigators took a photograph
of the face

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and gave it
to a forensic artist.

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The sketch seemed like
a long shot.

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Narrator:
In addition to basic
facial features,

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key details like eye color,
race,

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and a reasonable estimate
of age could be determined.

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The resulting sketch and
additional information

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was broadcast
on local television,

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and police soon got a call.

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It's mindblowing to think

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that these people
actually recognized him.

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The tipster said she thought
the man was Bill McGuire.

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She and her husband knew him
when he was

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stationed in Virginia
with the Navy.

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Fingerprints
confirm this hunch.

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McGuire was a 39-year-old
computer programmer

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and father of two young children

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who had been living
in New Jersey.

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He was described as loyal
to his friends,

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loving to the people
around him, a lot of fun.

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He seemed to be a regular guy.

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Narrator:
At the time Bill McGuire
was identified,

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he'd been missing
for four weeks,

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so investigators'
first question was,

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"Had anyone been
looking for him?"

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His wife never reported him
missing,

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but there was concern
about his location.

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Narrator:
His wife, Melanie,
said there was a good reason

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she didn't file
a missing persons report.

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Melanie said to police that her
and Bill

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had a terrible fight
in which he became physical,

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stuffed a dryer sheet
in her mouth,

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pushed her up against the wall,
and then left the home.

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According to Melanie,
Bill told her,

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"You'll never see me again."

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Narrator:
In fact, instead of reporting
her husband missing,

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Melanie McGuire got
a restraining order against him.

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And when asked who she thought
might want Bill dead,

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she said she didn't know,

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but that Bill spent
a lot of time and money

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gambling in Atlantic City.

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We did find that
he enjoyed gambling.

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New Jersey is a gambling state.

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We have a very heavily
regulated,

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legalized gambling system,

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and at the time, it was really
solely located in Atlantic City.

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Narrator:
This jibed with the potential
break in the case.

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Detectives ran Bill's
license plate number

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and discovered his car in
an impound lot in Atlantic City.

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Surveillance video
from the night Bill

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was last seen showed

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the car being parked
at the Flamingo Hotel.

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When the video was examined,

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we couldn't identify
who had parked the car.

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Narrator: This was a setback,

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but Bill's car was proving to be
a rich source of evidence.

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The car in Atlantic City
ended up being critical.

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In the glove compartment
was a small vial of pink liquid.

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We could not figure out what was
in the vial for some time.

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It became very frustrating.

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Narrator:
And even though there were no
foreign fingerprints in the car,

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analysts found something else
that could help their case.

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They vacuumed both
the driver's side rug

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and the passenger side rug
in the front seat.

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Those vacuumings were later
analyzed,

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and they found small --
very small -- pieces of flesh.

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We bring in an expert

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and he finds
what he called human sawdust.

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Narrator:
This was microscopic bits
of skin and flesh.

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Unfortunately, it's gruesome,
but it's also accurate.

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It was human sawdust.

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It was tested, and it was
a positive match

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for Bill McGuire
based on nuclear DNA.

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There were skin cells that had
fallen onto the floor

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that you're not gonna
be able to see,

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and whoever drove his car
to Atlantic City

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then transferred them
onto his floorboard.

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Narrator:
But since the surveillance video
couldn't identify the driver,

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this was looking
like a dead end.

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The case that had been
moving forward now stalled.

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♪♪

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Narrator: In the search
for Bill McGuire's killer,

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a vial and a syringe
containing a pink liquid

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that was found
in the glove compartment

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of his abandoned car
confounded investigators.

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Prezioso:
It became very frustrating.

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We couldn't figure out
what it was.

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Narrator:
Meanwhile, investigators
checked out the possibility

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that Bill's gambling
might have led to his murder,

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and they got
a bit of a surprise.

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Bill McGuire was known
to the casinos.

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He went there a lot, and he was
a very disciplined gambler.

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Narrator:
In fact, Bill wasn't in debt
from gambling.

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He was firmly in the black.

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Higgins:
The last time he had been down
in Atlantic City,

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he had won a jackpot
of $30,000.

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So, he had done very well
for himself.

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Narrator:
Not only that, in a weird irony,
on the last day Bill

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was seen alive,
he and his wife Melanie

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put a down payment
on a half-million-dollar house.

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Serrano: He was a very
goal-oriented person.

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One of his goals was to own
a home before he turned 40.

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And he achieved that dream.

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Narrator:
So, who would want him dead?

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Ballistics showed
he'd been shot with a

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.38-caliber gun, which still
had not been located.

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Did anybody in Bill's circle
have a gun?

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Investigators went through
all Bill's known contacts

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to see
if anyone owned a

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.38-caliber gun,
and someone did.

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His wife, Melanie.

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Prezioso: Melanie McGuire
had purchased a gun

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in Pennsylvania two days
before Bill went missing,

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and what she
had purchased was a

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.38-caliber Taurus
Special revolver.

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Narrator:
Melanie said she bought
the .38 caliber

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because Bill told her to.

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He wanted some extra protection

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when they moved
into the new house.

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And Melanie, a killer?

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No one who knew her
was buying it.

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She was a highly respected
reproductive nurse

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with no criminal history.

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From all reports,
she was a wonderful nurse.

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Higgins: She seemed to have been
very popular where she worked.

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She was very efficient.

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People liked her.

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Narrator:
Melanie denied having
anything to do

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with her husband's murder,

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but this was the same Melanie
who intimated Bill

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might have a gambling problem,
which wasn't exactly true.

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And she said they had a horrific
fight the day he disappeared.

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Was this also false?

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Melanie's work as a nurse

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also presented a possible tie
to the murder.

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Serrano:
And there was the hospital
blanket found

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00:12:02,830 --> 00:12:05,183
wrapped around William McGuire's
face from that company

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00:12:05,216 --> 00:12:09,000
known as HCSC,
which supplied blankets

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00:12:09,330 --> 00:12:13,133
and other things to Melanie
McGuire's fertility clinic.

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00:12:13,166 --> 00:12:15,350
Narrator: The blanket,
and more importantly,

246
00:12:15,383 --> 00:12:17,500
the purchase of the

247
00:12:17,830 --> 00:12:20,250
.38-caliber gun
gave investigators enough

248
00:12:20,283 --> 00:12:24,116
to put a wiretap
on Melanie McGuire's phone.

249
00:12:24,150 --> 00:12:28,200
And this introduced
a new player into the mix.

250
00:12:34,100 --> 00:12:36,283
His name was Dr. Bradley Miller.

251
00:12:36,316 --> 00:12:39,350
He worked with Melanie
at the fertility clinic.

252
00:12:39,383 --> 00:12:42,266
And their phone calls
indicated a relationship

253
00:12:42,300 --> 00:12:44,133
that went well beyond work.

254
00:12:44,166 --> 00:12:47,216
Serrano: Bradley Miller was
Melanie McGuire's lover,

255
00:12:47,250 --> 00:12:50,100
and that affair had lasted
more than two years

256
00:12:50,133 --> 00:12:54,100
and was what was called
a very intense love affair.

257
00:12:54,133 --> 00:12:57,133
Narrator: Could this affair
finally provide the motive

258
00:12:57,166 --> 00:12:58,316
for Bill McGuire's murder?

259
00:12:58,350 --> 00:13:00,266
Higgins: And we put it together.

260
00:13:00,300 --> 00:13:02,316
She purchases a house
with a husband

261
00:13:02,350 --> 00:13:05,300
which will strap her
for 30 years financially

262
00:13:05,333 --> 00:13:08,266
when she really wants
to be with this doctor.

263
00:13:08,300 --> 00:13:12,000
Narrator:
Access to the fertility clinic
helped answer the question

264
00:13:12,330 --> 00:13:15,183
about the so-far
unidentified drug found

265
00:13:15,216 --> 00:13:17,250
in Bill McGuire's car.

266
00:13:17,283 --> 00:13:20,283
A prescription
from Dr. Miller's office

267
00:13:20,316 --> 00:13:24,133
had been filled the day Bill
was last seen alive.

268
00:13:24,166 --> 00:13:27,333
It was for a substance
called chloral hydrate,

269
00:13:27,366 --> 00:13:29,350
a sedative
sometimes administered

270
00:13:29,383 --> 00:13:31,830
just before surgery.

271
00:13:31,116 --> 00:13:34,216
So, chloral hydrate was what
you would read

272
00:13:34,250 --> 00:13:37,150
about in detective novels
from the 1940s,

273
00:13:37,183 --> 00:13:40,116
known as a Mickey Finn
or knockout pills.

274
00:13:40,150 --> 00:13:43,100
Narrator:
Forensic testing showed
this was the pink substance

275
00:13:43,133 --> 00:13:46,160
in the syringe
found in Bill's car.

276
00:13:46,500 --> 00:13:51,350
Chloral hydrate is not used
in reproductive medicine.

277
00:13:51,383 --> 00:13:53,200
Narrator:
But it would be very effective

278
00:13:53,233 --> 00:13:57,330
if you wanted to knock
someone out before killing them

279
00:13:57,660 --> 00:13:58,233
and cutting up their body.

280
00:13:58,266 --> 00:14:00,500
The reputation
of chloral hydrate

281
00:14:00,830 --> 00:14:02,216
is that it's used
for nefarious reasons.

282
00:14:02,250 --> 00:14:07,133
♪♪

283
00:14:10,500 --> 00:14:12,366
Narrator:
Detectives investigating
the murder of Bill McGuire

284
00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:15,366
were focused on the sedative
chloral hydrate

285
00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:17,300
found in his abandoned car.

286
00:14:17,333 --> 00:14:21,250
Prezioso:
There was a prescription
for chloral hydrate

287
00:14:21,283 --> 00:14:26,233
filled on the day that Bill
was last known to be alive

288
00:14:26,266 --> 00:14:30,216
at the Walgreens pharmacy one
and a half miles away

289
00:14:30,250 --> 00:14:34,300
from where Melanie had just
dropped off her children.

290
00:14:34,333 --> 00:14:36,830
Narrator: And that prescription

291
00:14:36,116 --> 00:14:38,266
was written on the pad
of Dr. Bradley Miller,

292
00:14:38,300 --> 00:14:41,316
a fertility doctor
who'd been carrying on an affair

293
00:14:41,350 --> 00:14:44,350
with Melanie McGuire
for more than two years.

294
00:14:44,383 --> 00:14:47,233
But when shown the chloral
hydrate prescription,

295
00:14:47,266 --> 00:14:51,330
Dr. Miller said someone
had forged his signature,

296
00:14:51,660 --> 00:14:54,250
and it looked like the forger
could be Melanie McGuire.

297
00:14:54,283 --> 00:14:57,316
We found out, did she have
access to prescription pads?

298
00:14:57,350 --> 00:14:59,330
And indeed, she did.

299
00:14:59,660 --> 00:15:00,283
Dr. Miller freely admitted

300
00:15:00,316 --> 00:15:02,133
to the affair with Melanie,

301
00:15:02,166 --> 00:15:05,830
but strenuously denied
having anything to do

302
00:15:05,116 --> 00:15:08,116
with her husband's murder,
and he was eager to prove it.

303
00:15:08,150 --> 00:15:09,366
Higgins: He is what we call
a consensual,

304
00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:12,316
where he records conversations
with her to see

305
00:15:12,350 --> 00:15:15,350
if they can't get to the truth
of what she had done.

306
00:15:15,383 --> 00:15:19,200
When Dr. Miller pressed Melanie
in these conversations,

307
00:15:19,233 --> 00:15:21,266
she got very cagey.

308
00:15:31,500 --> 00:15:33,133
Morris: What we learned
from listening shocked

309
00:15:33,166 --> 00:15:34,266
some seasoned detectives,

310
00:15:34,300 --> 00:15:36,333
that we were dealing
with a very cunning

311
00:15:36,366 --> 00:15:38,283
and chilling woman.

312
00:15:47,100 --> 00:15:49,333
Narrator: But in another
of the wiretap calls,

313
00:15:49,366 --> 00:15:52,133
Melanie made
a crucial mistake.

314
00:15:52,166 --> 00:15:54,166
She admitted that she
was the person

315
00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:58,330
who parked Bill's car in
Atlantic City after the murder.

316
00:16:14,330 --> 00:16:17,333
And that meant the nearly
invisible human sawdust

317
00:16:17,366 --> 00:16:19,216
found in Bill's car

318
00:16:19,250 --> 00:16:22,266
was almost certainly
tracked there by Melanie.

319
00:16:22,300 --> 00:16:25,830
It was hugely significant
evidence,

320
00:16:25,116 --> 00:16:28,350
that there were pieces
of Bill's flesh

321
00:16:28,383 --> 00:16:34,300
recovered from the car that was
parked at the Flamingo Hotel,

322
00:16:34,333 --> 00:16:37,266
and Melanie McGuire
herself admits

323
00:16:37,300 --> 00:16:40,100
that she's the one
who parked it there.

324
00:16:40,133 --> 00:16:45,500
Narrator:
The question now was, "Where was
Bill killed and dismembered?"

325
00:16:45,830 --> 00:16:46,366
A team of forensic analysts

326
00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:49,100
descended on
the McGuires' apartment,

327
00:16:49,133 --> 00:16:52,160
but this was months
after the murder and Melanie

328
00:16:52,500 --> 00:16:54,366
and the kids
had already moved out.

329
00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:57,100
Dunton:
The apartment was immaculate.

330
00:16:57,133 --> 00:16:58,300
It was cleaned.

331
00:16:58,333 --> 00:17:00,150
It was scrubbed.

332
00:17:00,183 --> 00:17:03,350
It had been repainted -- like,
three or four coats of paint.

333
00:17:03,383 --> 00:17:06,183
Narrator: No proof of murder
was found there,

334
00:17:06,216 --> 00:17:10,216
not even, to the surprise
of forensic technicians,

335
00:17:10,250 --> 00:17:12,116
in the bathrooms.

336
00:17:12,150 --> 00:17:14,300
Dunton:
Bathrooms are like petri dish
for forensic biology,

337
00:17:14,333 --> 00:17:17,000
and not one
single source of DNA

338
00:17:17,330 --> 00:17:20,000
was recovered
from the bathroom area.

339
00:17:20,330 --> 00:17:23,133
Narrator: Analysts now turn to
the black garbage bags

340
00:17:23,166 --> 00:17:25,166
found with Bill's body.

341
00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:26,316
After his murder,

342
00:17:26,350 --> 00:17:30,830
Melanie gave some of his clothes
to a family friend

343
00:17:30,116 --> 00:17:32,250
and packed them
in black garbage bags.

344
00:17:32,283 --> 00:17:36,116
We learned that these
garbage bags were made

345
00:17:36,150 --> 00:17:39,133
from reprocessed plastic.

346
00:17:39,166 --> 00:17:42,830
Narrator:
Which meant the chemical
composition of these bags

347
00:17:42,116 --> 00:17:43,216
was distinctive,

348
00:17:43,250 --> 00:17:46,116
and in this case,
both sets of bags,

349
00:17:46,150 --> 00:17:48,160
the ones found with Bill's body

350
00:17:48,500 --> 00:17:51,660
and the ones Melanie used
to pack his clothes,

351
00:17:51,100 --> 00:17:52,383
were chemically consistent.

352
00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:54,200
Even worse for Melanie,

353
00:17:54,233 --> 00:17:57,383
as plastic is cut
to make individual bags,

354
00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:00,116
a blade leaves
distinctive tool marks

355
00:18:00,150 --> 00:18:03,330
along the perforated edge
of each bag.

356
00:18:03,660 --> 00:18:06,200
As the blade dulls,
those marks change.

357
00:18:06,233 --> 00:18:08,250
Bags cut within seconds
of each other

358
00:18:08,283 --> 00:18:12,660
will have nearly identical
marks, and these did.

359
00:18:12,100 --> 00:18:14,000
Morris:
We matched them to the bags

360
00:18:14,330 --> 00:18:17,200
that were found in the suitcases
with the body parts.

361
00:18:17,233 --> 00:18:19,200
Narrator: Prosecutors say
Melanie bought the

362
00:18:19,233 --> 00:18:22,116
.38 caliber two days
before the murder

363
00:18:22,150 --> 00:18:26,330
and bought it for one reason --
to shoot her husband.

364
00:18:26,660 --> 00:18:28,133
She slipped the chloral hydrate
into his drink

365
00:18:28,166 --> 00:18:32,366
to incapacitate him,
then she shot him three times.

366
00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:35,283
Fibers on one of the bullets
had police believing

367
00:18:35,316 --> 00:18:38,133
she used a pillow as a silencer.

368
00:18:38,166 --> 00:18:40,216
Her medical background
gave her the knowledge

369
00:18:40,250 --> 00:18:43,266
she needed to expertly
cut up the body.

370
00:18:43,300 --> 00:18:47,500
She wrapped the body parts
in black plastic bags

371
00:18:47,830 --> 00:18:48,333
that were consistent with bags

372
00:18:48,366 --> 00:18:52,330
she later used
to pack Bill's clothes.

373
00:18:52,660 --> 00:18:56,330
In a key mistake, she later
admitted on the police wiretap

374
00:18:56,660 --> 00:18:58,333
that she drove Bill's car
in Atlantic City

375
00:18:58,366 --> 00:19:00,300
right after the murder,

376
00:19:00,333 --> 00:19:02,350
but her being in the car
explained

377
00:19:02,383 --> 00:19:06,150
how the so-called
human sawdust got there.

378
00:19:06,183 --> 00:19:09,333
She unknowingly tracked it
on the soles of her shoes.

379
00:19:09,366 --> 00:19:14,330
She drove nearly 350 miles
and dumped the suitcases

380
00:19:14,660 --> 00:19:16,200
with the body parts
into the Atlantic,

381
00:19:16,233 --> 00:19:20,300
not realizing that decomposition
would cause those suitcases

382
00:19:20,333 --> 00:19:22,266
to rise to the surface.

383
00:19:22,300 --> 00:19:26,160
All the evidence pointed
in one direction --

384
00:19:26,500 --> 00:19:28,300
to a woman whose passion
to be with her lover

385
00:19:28,333 --> 00:19:34,133
and away from her husband led to
an indescribably brutal murder.

386
00:19:34,166 --> 00:19:35,166
If she's having an affair,

387
00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:37,166
why wouldn't she
just divorce him?

388
00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:40,383
But the thing is,
murder is never reasonable.

389
00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:42,133
Serrano:
I think that was part

390
00:19:42,166 --> 00:19:44,300
of the public's
fascination with the case.

391
00:19:44,333 --> 00:19:48,150
You had this compassionate woman
on one side

392
00:19:48,183 --> 00:19:52,216
and this diabolical killer
on the other side.

393
00:19:52,250 --> 00:19:56,100
Narrator: In July of 2007,
after a seven-week trial

394
00:19:56,133 --> 00:19:58,183
with more than 80 witnesses,

395
00:19:58,216 --> 00:20:02,233
Melanie McGuire was found guilty
of first-degree murder

396
00:20:02,266 --> 00:20:05,330
and sentenced to life in prison.

397
00:20:05,660 --> 00:20:07,250
Dr. Bradley Miller
was found to have

398
00:20:07,283 --> 00:20:09,250
no connection to the murder.

399
00:20:09,283 --> 00:20:14,100
The McGuires' children are
being raised by Bill's sister.

400
00:20:14,133 --> 00:20:17,233
Melanie still maintains
her innocence,

401
00:20:17,266 --> 00:20:21,150
but investigators say the
mountain of forensic evidence

402
00:20:21,183 --> 00:20:25,366
leaves no doubt that this most
unlikely of suspects killed

403
00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:28,500
and cut up her husband.

404
00:20:28,830 --> 00:20:30,333
People who think that
they're criminal masterminds

405
00:20:30,366 --> 00:20:33,383
usually forget something,
and in this case,

406
00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:36,283
Melanie McGuire
forgot to wipe off

407
00:20:36,316 --> 00:20:38,283
the bottom of her shoes.

408
00:20:38,316 --> 00:20:40,000
To look at her,
you wouldn't think

409
00:20:40,330 --> 00:20:42,000
that she was capable
of doing this.

410
00:20:42,330 --> 00:20:43,200
It's only when you put it
all together

411
00:20:43,233 --> 00:20:46,183
that you come
to that determination.

412
00:20:46,216 --> 00:20:49,116
Prezioso: The forensic evidence
was the whole case.

413
00:20:49,150 --> 00:20:51,150
I can tell you, I firmly believe

414
00:20:51,183 --> 00:20:53,383
that justice was done
in this case,

415
00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:58,200
and absolutely the right person
is in jail today.

416
00:20:58,233 --> 00:21:04,383
♪♪