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!
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!