Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story

2022 1h 25m English 5.8

Action, Drama, Mystery

A teen girl roams the beach with a metal detector. She finds a suitcase thinking she's struck gold, but instead finds a body inside. She screams as we get the title card.Cut to 10 years back, Melanie McGuire, working in a restaurant as a waitress while going to nursing school. Her co-worker, Bill, asks her out on a date (even though he has a girlfriend), and she accepts. They have an excellent time gambling at the casino, and Bill calls her his lucky rabbit's foot.Melanie's friend, Selene, cautions her to go slow and warns her that Bill isn't the best guy and Melanie deserves someone who will treat her well. Melanie doesn't take that advice, and things move fast with Bill. They move in together and quickly become engaged. Melanie is seven months pregnant by their wedding day.Bill has a gambling addiction that he is keeping under wraps from Melanie. He also has some ex-wives who show up to warn Melanie. His ex-wife Marci tells Melanie that Bill is a serial cheater and an abuser.Flash forward to Five Years, Bill and Melanie raising their young boys while searching for a new home. Bill wants to move to Virginia Beach and is making tenure at the university. Bill's old gambling and cheating vices creep back into their life. Melanie is fed up and realizes her husband is sleeping with a Brazilian co-ed named Dani Cruz.Bill kicks up his philandering with girls, champagne, and hot tubs. Melanie follows the couple around and sees them having sex in his car. It is all the proof she needs to start having an affair with her Boss, Dr. Miller, at work. The checks Melanie writes are beginning to bounce due to Bill's gambling.Melanie follows Bill again while he has the affair, and this time she moves his car, causing him to miss a tenure meeting. Bill comes home angry and threatens his wife. He doesn't hit her, but he physically intimidates her. It is the last straw for her. Melanie steals a prescription pad from her Boss's doctor's office and uses it to prescribe drugs to her husband.Back to the suitcase, the detectives survey the scene and then tell Melanie that her husband was found murdered in Virginia Beach. Melanie is shocked and cries to her Boss. He comforts her and admits that she was consulting a lawyer to pursue a divorce.Detectives bring Melanie in for questioning and learn about their marriage. The evidence is compelling enough to get a solid narrative to arrest Melanie as a suspect.Melanie pleads not guilty to murder, and in child custody court., her children are awarded to Bill's sister Cindy. Melanie also loses her Boss, who turns on her and tries to get her to admit to murder while being recorded on a call. Melanie gives him nothing and is released on bail.Three months later, Melanie is back to waiting tables. Selene gets Melanie, a high-powered attorney who wants to hear her side of the story; Melanie paints a picture of an abusive husband and herself as a fearful mother focused on keeping her children safe. She makes up a story for the EZ pass charges driving around that night that is pretty flimsy.In court, the lawyers make their closing arguments, and Wendie Malick lays it down with DNA evidence. The film depicts her graphically sawing her husband, putting him in suitcases, and throwing Bill's body into the river.Melanie speaks to the press and tells them, "If it were a movie, she would watch it."Melanie is found guilty of all charges by the Jury and sentenced to life in prison. She maintains her innocence. (thanks to lifetimeuncorked)