Did she do it? That’s the question viewers are asked as they watch Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story, a Lifetime original movie premiering tonight. “It’s this incredible roller coaster of back and forth, and there are moments where you’re like, ‘Oh, my God, she did it; Oh, my God, she didn’t do it,’” shared Kim Raver, who executive produces the film. “It’s a real story, but I think that’s what makes a true crime story so appealing is that there is so much back and forth, and it is such a ride that you go on from one side to the other.”
(Lifetime)
Candice King stars as Melanie McGuire, a wife and mother of two who was accused of murdering her husband, dismembering his body, putting the pieces into three suitcases, and dumping them in Chesapeake Bay. “This was someone who, by her own account, she is a mother who was scared and was in an abusive relationship, and who was also very dedicated to her job and who was not perfect,” Candice King explained, revealing the depth she went to in preparation for this role. “She had many, many faults, self-admittedly. Listening to her testimony that she had given to her lawyers, as well as there’s a great podcast called Direct Appeal in which she spoke for hours, there were hours of recording of her sharing her story and her experiences that I listened to.”
In the argument for Melanie’s innocence is the weight of each suitcase and how hard it would’ve been for her to dump them. “Candice did an amazing job at just demonstrating lifting those suitcases and how much they would have actually weighed in real life,” director Nicole L. Thompson said, who makes her feature directorial debut on this film. “Whether you agree or disagree, those moments were definitely some things that we can keep with us as we think about the journey of making this film.” Of top importance for Nicole was ensuring the accuracy of this true-story. “As a first-time feature director, it was very important to me to make sure that I did the research to give the story justice and make sure that the facts shine through and showing the characters in fullness.”
“The biggest challenge I faced initially was two things,” revealed Michael Roark about his preparation for playing Melanie’s husband Bill. “One was while there was a whole lot of information on Melanie, there really wasn’t a whole lot on Bill. I was actually surprised how little could be found on Bill. So I had to do my work, kind of fill in a lot of those gaps and find my own interpretation. And the other is just the speed at which we move. Especially when we’re doing film, you never know how much time you have to prepare something, so we moved very quickly on this, so that was a challenge but that’s not atypical for making films.”
“You don’t look at yourself as a bad guy,” explained Jackson Hurst about his role as Bradley, a doctor whom Melanie was having an affair with. “I looked at myself as an endocrinologist who’s in love with a woman, and that’s essentially it, and everything revolves around love. At the end of the day, did she kill somebody and stuff him in a suitcase? Maybe. Do I still love her? Yeah.” So did Melanie kill her husband? “I, to this day, am still pretty torn,” Jackson admitted. “That’s what makes it such a riveting story, and Lifetime did a good job, Nicole did a good job at not forcing you to choose sides within the movie but just telling the story and then from there the audience can pick a side however they see fit.”
You can decide for yourself when you watch Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story premiering Saturday, June 18th at 8/7c on Lifetime.
Lifetime is a subsidiary of A&E Networks, a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Communications.