The Suitcase Murder

Explicit content warning

09/24/19 • 101 min

Bill and Melanie McGuire were an attractive couple in their thirties. They had two young sons, two successful careers, and they had just closed on a $500,000 home when Bill disappeared. Melanie told their friends that they had fought on the night they had closed on their new home. Bill had physically attacked her and walked out, telling her that he was done with her.

Bill didn’t seem like the type of guy who would hit his wife and leave his children behind. But Melanie insisted that he had hit her and walked out on his family. She even went to court and took out a restraining order against him.

As the days passed and no one heard from Bill, Melanie appeared to be moving on with her life without him. But Bill’s family and friends worried. Bill had been a gambler. Maybe he had pissed off the wrong people.

Then a bizarre news story got everyone’s attention. First, a Kenneth Cole suitcase was found in Virginia Beach. It contained a pair of bloodless male human legs which had been severed at the knees.

One week later, Virginia Beach police recovered a second suitcase that was part of the same Kenneth Cole set. It held a five-pound weight, black trash bags, and more human remains. This time, it was a man’s head and torso. But who this man was and when he had been killed were still unknown.

The third and last suitcase was recovered within two weeks. It contained the man’s hips and thighs. Virginia Beach police launched an intensive investigation to identify the victim and identified him as Bill McGuire.

Join us at the quiet end today for a haunting case that became known as The Suitcase Murder. Well-respected fertility nurse Melanie McGuire was accused of her husband’s murder and dismemberment and she faced life in prison. Although her attorney would argue her innocence, a complex unravelling of the facts would reveal a twisted murder plot which grew from infidelity, greed, and hate.

Then a bizarre news story got everyone’s attention. First, a Kenneth Cole suitcase was found in Virginia Beach. It contained a pair of bloodless male human legs which had been severed at the knees.

Previous Episode

A Serial Killer in Paradise

The disappearance of 53-year old Cher Hughes from her paradise-like home set off an investigation that led to the search for a serial killer in Panama in 2010. Cher had moved with her husband Keith to Bocas del Toro, Panama, to live out her dream on their own private island. But, after she and Keith separated, Cher was gone and an eccentric neighbor had taken over her property.

It turned out that Cheryl was not the only missing person in the area. Someone was killing Americans in Panama and taking possession of their property. When all was said and done, six Americans had been killed. When the killer’s home was searched, police found stolen checkbooks, ATM cards, jewelry, purses, gun ammunition, and gold dental fillings and crowns in a glass jar.

William Holbert, a North Carolina native known to his victims as Wild Bill Cortez, had become well known among the Boca ex-patriots. After an American family of three disappeared from the area, Bill and his wife had moved into their home and converted a boathouse into a private bar they called “The Jolly Roger Social Club.” The bar was decorated with a skull and crossbones flag and it was opened for partying every weekend.

But as disappearances piled up, neighbors decided that there was something wrong. The police came in and discovered bodies buried in shallow graves. But Wild Bill and his wife were already on the run. They fled through Costa Rica and were finally captured on the Nicaraguan border.

Join us at the quiet end for this stunning tale of theft, murder and real estate fraud. After being extradited to Panama, Wild Bill confessed to his crimes but showed little remorse for all of the pain he had caused. He would explain what he did and how he did it but the question of why will forever haunt the loved ones of his victims.

Next Episode

Disassociated: Christian Longo

Christian Michael Longo was married at age nineteen and was a father of three by the time he was twenty-six. Originally from Michigan and raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, Longo did not adapt well to his life as a husband and father. His wife, MaryJane, stayed home with their children while Longo was expected to provide for their family. But he quickly turned to a life of crime.

After getting into trouble for check fraud, Longo took his family on the run in a stolen minivan. But after promising to turn over a new leaf, Longo continued to steal and scam for money.

The Longo family moved from Michigan to Ohio to Oregon. Then their four-year old son Zachary and three-year old daughter Sadie were found dead in the waters of Lint Slough. The bodies of MaryJane and their infant daughter Madison were recovered days later.

Join us at the quiet end today for the story of a young family destroyed by the evil acts of compulsive liar and manipulator Christian Longo. The lives of this young family started out with hopes and aspirations but ended in tragedy and despair. The only one left to explain what happened was the one who could never be trusted or believed, but we can debate causations and examine missed opportunities in our efforts to understand the murders of MaryJane, Zachary, Sadie, and Madison Longo.