Judge to hear motions in Melanie McGuire case Admissibility of writing samples, audio/video to be decided BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer NEW BRUNSWICK — Motion hearings will be held next month before the anticipated trial of Melanie McGuire, the 34-year-old former fertility clinic nurse accused of killing her husband in their Woodbridge Center Plaza apartment two years ago and later dismembering his body. Joseph Tacopina, Melanie McGuire’s defense attorney, and Assistant Attorney Patricia Prezioso agreed on the scheduled dates set at a status hearing on Dec. 20. “I want the witness list from both sides [defense and state] by Jan. 19,” said state Superior Court Judge Frederick P. DeVesa. “If there are 100 names, I want the jury to have time to review as many of the names as possible.” The first motion hearing, which entails the defense’s urge to suppress the use of electronic surveillance of two conversations that were recorded by eavesdropping, will be held on Jan. 16 and Jan. 18. “I expect it will take up to two days to hear the two conversations,” said DeVesa. “We will discuss the issue of the tapes and I want a complete analysis from the state on why the tapes are probative by Jan. 8 before the actual hearing.” The second motion hearing will be held on Jan. 22. “This hearing will deal with the use and admissibility of a linguist toxicology and handwriting expert by the defense,” said DeVesa. Stephen Turano, who is also one of Melanie McGuire’s attorneys, said the reason why they would need a toxicology expert is because the state brought up the issue of chloral hydrate in the eight new charges that were unsealed at a hearing on Oct. 30. “The issue of poison was not brought up until the last hearing,” said Turano. DeVesa questioned the need for a toxicology expert. “It was found from the autopsy that the body of the deceased [William T. McGuire] had no traces of poison,” said DeVesa. “The issue is the computer.” Authorities allege that McGuire conducted several Internet searches for the sedative chloral hydrate, which is used in the short-term treatment of insomnia and to relieve anxiety and induce sleep before surgery. It is also used after surgery for pain and to treat alcohol withdrawal. Eight new charges were unsealed at a hearing Oct. 30, which include a third-degree charge of hindering prosecution; a fourth-degree charge of tampering with, or fabricating physical evidence; a fourth-degree charge of providing false reports to law enforcement authorities; and a third-degree charge for possession of a controlled dangerous substance. McGuire is suspected of sending anonymous letters to authorities to throw them off her trail. Authorities determined that McGuire used an American Express gift card that was purchased at a store in Passaic County to ship a package via FedEx containing one of the letters, authorities said. The third motion hearing, which will deal with the defense’s urge to suppress the video surveillance tape, will be held on Jan. 23. The store’s video surveillance camera captured an image of a woman who closely resembles McGuire just three minutes before the gift card was bought, authorities said. Tacopina has argued that the video surveillance tape that Prezioso brought up as new evidence is questionable. “I have watched the videotape several times,” he said. “The FBI is right; there is no way to determine who the person is on the tape. I am also concerned with the videotape. It was shown by the police department to friends to see if they could recognize the person on the tape.” Prezioso said the videotape was not shown to strangers, but to people who know McGuire very well to see if they could recognize the person on the video, if it was Melanie or not. “Some people said it may have been Melanie,” she said. “The FBI report doesn’t say it’s not Melanie, it just said it has insufficient pixels to make an identification. The purchase of the American Express gift card and the videotape is consistent with Ms. McGuire.” Prezioso said the tape could be relevant to the state’s case. “What if the defendant cut or straightened her hair right before the trial started?” she said. “The person on the video tape could very well be McGuire.” State police arrested McGuire on June 2, 2005, and charged her with first-degree murder of her husband, William T. McGuire, 39, an adjunct professor and senior programmer analyst with the Information Resource Development department at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. McGuire had just dropped off her two young boys, then ages 3 and 5, at two Metuchen day-care centers. McGuire was indicted in October 2005 for murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, desecrating human remains and perjury. McGuire, who currently resides in Brick Township, is free on $2.1 million bail. McGuire is accused of allegedly sending packages containing a letter allegedly written by her to mislead authorities in the latest charges. A package was sent to then-Attorney General Peter Harvey, the Trentonian newspaper and her former lawyer between Oct. 9 and Oct. 11, 2005, authorities said. McGuire is suspected of sending Prezioso a package containing a letter, the victim’s custom wedding ring, a bracelet and a key to the victim’s car, while Prezioso was presenting the Middlesex County grand jury the original charges against McGuire in October 2005. McGuire is accused of forging a prescription for the sedative at a Walgreens just days before she murdered her husband, authorities said. William McGuire’s dismembered body was found over a course of 12 days in three separate suitcases that washed up on the shore of Chesapeake Bay in Virginia in May 2004. Jury selection will begin on Feb. 2. The trial, which is set to begin on Feb. 26, is expected to last up to five weeks.