Melanie McGuire, who murdered and dismembered her husband, William, a decade ago, will continue serving a sentence of life in prison after failing to have her conviction overturned.
In a 24-page decision issued Oct. 2, state Superior Court Judge Bradley Ferencz concluded that McGuire failed to establish a case that her counsel assistance was ineffective during her 2007 trial.
McGuire, who turned 42 on Oct. 8, had appeared before Ferencz on Sept. 25 in the same courtroom that was used for her murder trial.
Entering the courtroom, McGuire — handcuffed and dressed in light-beige prison garb — turned and smiled at her mother and stepfather, Linda and Michael Cappararo, and a friend who attended the hearing.
The victim’s sister, Cindy Lagosh, was also in the courtroom.
McGuire was seeking post-conviction relief of a verdict reached by a Middlesex County jury following a seven-week trial in 2007.
The jury found her guilty of shooting and drugging her husband in the couple’s Woodbridge apartment on the night of April 28, 2004. She cut up his body, placed the parts in three matching suitcases and dumped them in the Chesapeake Bay.
McGuire was also found guilty of perjury and possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose.
During last month’s hearing, McGuire’s attorney, Assistant Deputy Public Defender Lois DeJulio, asked the court to look at each issue individually because the state had made a circumstantial case consisting of small individual points that DeJulio said should have each been challenged.
“Many of them were allowed and went unchallenged,” she said. “It’s easy to say, ‘Well, this wouldn’t have made a difference or that wouldn’t have made a difference,’ but when put all together in a murder trial where the jury knows what is at stake and understands the definition of reasonable doubt, these many small issues taken together make a difference of victory or defeat.”
However, Daniel Bornstein, the deputy attorney general representing the state, said McGuire was convicted due to overwhelming evidence of her guilt, and not because of ineffective counsel.
“Her trial attorneys [Joe Tacopina and Stephen Turano] were able to get acquittals on four of the eight charges,” Bornstein said. “The fact that they couldn’t get the grand slam and acquit her on everything doesn’t mean they were ineffective. They did everything they could. … They were outstanding for her.”
Ferencz ruled that McGuire was unable to demonstrate that her defense counsel was ineffective, and failed to prove that the outcome of her trial would have been different had additional witnesses and evidence been presented to the jury.
McGuire is serving a life term at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women, Union Township.