Melanie McGuire, on trial for the murder of her husband Bill, was provided with a video camera, so that she could record her intimate thoughts as she stood trial. Excerpts of her video diary are interspersed throughout the broadcast. In May of 2004, his dismembered body was found in three suitcases in Chesapeake Bay. He had been shot with a .38 caliber gun. Melanie claimed that Bill had vanished weeks before, after an argument. She had never filed a missing person’s report and without having heard from Bill, she later filed for divorce. She claimed that he had been abusive and suggested that his disappearance and murder were the result of his gambling problem and that his frequent trips to Atlantic City had put him in contact with shady characters.

However, a blanket wrapped around Bill’s torso was the same kind of blanket used at the fertility clinic where Melanie worked as a nurse, making her a suspect. After extensive searches, police were unable to find a murder weapon or tool used to cut up Bill’s body, and there was no evidence of a crime scene. Soon afterwards, police learned that Melanie had purchased a Taurus .38 special revolver just 48 hours before Bill had disappeared.

Melanie, however, claimed that she had purchased that gun for Bill at his own request. She claimed he wanted it for his own protection, but couldn’t buy it himself because of a felony conviction. Believing her to be guilty, Prosecutor Patti Prezioso intensified her investigation and had Melanie put under surveillance. This soon revealed two of Melanie’s secrets -- she had been carrying on an affair for more than two years with her boss, Dr. Brad Miller, and she had been in Atlantic City the night after she claimed Bill had left her. She later stated that she had gone to Atlantic City in search of Bill, had found his car and moved it out of spite.

Thirteen months after the suitcases were found, Melanie McGuire was arrested for the murder of her husband. Nine months after her arrest, the trial began. After seven weeks and more than 70 seventy witnesses, Melanie McGuire was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. She will be eligible for parole in 2073, when she would be 100 years old.