Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story

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source: Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story

I hate that they had to overly embellish this storyline to suit a killer. She was an egotistical, self-absorbed female that opted for murder over divorce. Seventeen minutes into the film and I already see where this is headed. Poor little "Karen" is justified in murder because of blah, blah, blah. These types of ridiculous plots, not based on any reliable facts, cripple the journalistic integrity of so-called "based on a true story" movies. When people watch these movies, we understand some things have to be included to fill in certain gaps, but this was utter garbage. I am appalled by this movie and don't recommend anyone to watch this crap.

A salient moment in "Suitcase Killer" is when Miss Melanie Slate is engaged to be married to Bill McGuire. A woman named Marci visits Melanie to inform her privately that the man she is about to marry is a shameless womanizer and has the potential for violence. Melanie shrugs off the advice. She was warned, and her decision to marry Bill has fateful consequences. The film makes it clear that Melanie herself was not perfect. She had an affair with Dr. Miller and once told him that "I want a do-over" in her marriage. The main question is whether or not the Woodbridge, New Jersey nurse and devoted mother of two brutally murdered her husband, chopped up his body, and dumped the parts over a bridge in two suitcases. There was a terrific performance by the actress playing Melanie McGuire. And much care was taken in the screenplay, especially the scripting of the two summation speeches of the attorneys at the sensational murder trial of Melanie McGuire. The slick defense attorney made a strong case for reasonable doubt, based on the consistency of Melanie's story that she was innocent. The smug prosecutor, by contrast, was supremely confident in the DNA evidence that linked Melanie to her husband's blood. While the jury was persuaded by the DNA-based scenario, Melanie has continued to maintain her innocence. Wherever the truth about the murder lies, she suffered from the abuse of a serial philanderer, compulsive gambler, and liar who was her husband. At the same time, there were other options open to Melanie than resorting to murder. She apparently received a fair trial, and the jury has spoken!

This is a typical lifetime movie. Definitely fits the format of dramatization and misinformation. There was a lot that went down that wasn't included in the movie. They changed a lot too. Melanie's children were smaller at the time of bills death. And they each had behavioral problems. They didn't even cover any of the evidence of bill's gambling problem and they hardly focused on the closing of their new house. THE MAIN EVIDENCE FOR EVERYTHING. If you want to know factual information about this case, I highly suggest listening to the podcast: Direct Appeal: the Melanie McGuire story. The only thing I've ever listened on the case that is actually factual. I've talked to Melanie in the past. This movie made her look stupid, naive and evil. She's neither one of those things and she's 100% innocent. She was convicted in circumstantial evidence! That is all!

From what I've read about this case, this movie is another addition, in a long line, of movies that are so loosely based on the true story, that they're pretty much just fiction apart from the names. My problem with this movie, in particular, is that it is so obviously trying to excuse the murderer, and in order for them to do that, they have to make the victim look as though he "deserved" to be killed. How disgusting is it to twist the facts so much that you slander a murder victim simply because he's male and his murderer is female. It sickens me. Make a movie featuring the facts, instead of an elaborate fiction that makes the killer out to be justified in what happened.

Too bad they chose to go with that instead of just showing the facts... People can watch it as fiction but unfortunately, people will watch this thinking this is based on the truth of the case.

This film twisted the actual facts to make the victim Bill McGuire appear an aggressive, philandering, gambling addicted husband and his premeditated killer to be victimized. This does not even mirror the convicted killer's own story. She was having an affair w her married boss for YEARS- including family outings with both families- before she killed Bill to pursue a life with him. That was her motive, period. Unprovoked. They had their first sexual encounter at work when she was 9 months pregnant in his office- not after both kids were born. The actual story was interesting enough without embellishing it with victim trashing. Pretty disgusted.

Wendy Malick as the DA Preziosi played the role with a sadistic sneer which was very annoying. The story line was very inaccurate in the parts of the actual story that were known to be true, based on documentaries and the court coverage. Of course what could you expect from a Lifetime Channel movie. Yes I know it was a "dramatization", but it would have been a lot better if it was truer to the known facts.

Often when reading reviews regarding true crime, a thought in the back of my mind is some reviewers may have a stake in the game - someone who was impacted in real life {or even imagined} by a case, and as such, the review may carry a predetermined bias. Similar to when you read the 5-star or 1-star reviews of a product on Amazon. Be assured I had no stake whatsoever in the Suitcase Killer case. I was in a true crime mood and came upon this one, but had never heard of the McGuire case before viewing it. But I do have a motive in writing this review, and that is to note the continued slide of Lifetime beyond the cesspool into an ever deepening abyss. The vast majority of Hollywood has made it abundantly and increasingly clear for decades that they detest God and people of faith, and are more than eager to trash Him {and us} at every turn. Maybe Lifetime has been doing this for a while now without my knowledge, but here's a news flash to them, and multiple other networks: The majority of Americans dont find blasphemous language in a show entertaining, nor do we ever find it necessary, in any fashion. Lifetime is one network that used to show restraint in regard to this. No longer. The lead actress was respectable in her role here, but everyone else was cookie cutter performance level. And all Lifetime did by choosing to blaspheme God repeatedly here was turn this one from forgettable to unwatchable. This is one viewer who wont be hurrying back to seek a repeat performance anytime soon. In reality, 1 star is 1 too many.