In my last blog, I wrote about Melanie McGuire, who murdered her husband and disposed of his body in suitcases. This week, I feature Carl Roland. In 2005, Roland killed his ex-girlfriend and tried to avoid capture by sitting on a construction crane for three days.
A little prelude is in order. Flagpole sitting was a fad popular in the 1920s. The idea was to perch on some high pole, usually a flagpole, for an extended period as a demonstration or test of endurance. No flagpole sitter was more famous than Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly. The craze faded as the Great Depression deepened in the 1930s, but it appears it inspired Carl Roland.
Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly perches on a 39-foot flagpole atop the Hotel St. Francis in Newark, New Jersey in 1927
Carl Roland Flees
It was May 24, 2005, when police in Pinellas County, Florida, discovered the badly beaten body of Jennifer Gonzalez in a retention pond behind her Oldsmar apartment. She had last been seen with her ex-boyfriend, Carl Roland. When Roland failed to return to his Clearwater, Florida, home, police issued an arrest warrant for him.
Roland appeared at a construction site in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood the next day. Upon reaching the site, he commandeered a crane’s elevator and rode it up eighteen stories before crawling out on its horizontal arm. Thus began a modern flagpole-sitting event.
Police try to talk Carl Roland (L) down from an 18-story construction crane (The Gainsville Sun)
For three days, area traffic snarled as authorities tried to convince Roland to come down. At first, he refused all offers of food and water. But after 56 hours, he finally agreed to accept some water. At 12:30 a.m. on May 28, he edged toward police, who tasered and tackled him. They then wrapped him onto a stretcher and lowered him to the ground. After a quick visit to a nearby hospital, police hustled Roland to the Fulton County jail, where he awaited extradition to Florida.
A sheriff’s deputy escorts Carl Roland (L) into Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta (The Gainsville Sun)
Epilogue
On February 12, 2009, a jury found Roland guilty of first-degree murder. Judge Timothy Peters sentenced him to life in prison without parole.
Carl Roland prison mugshot (Florida Department of Corrections)
Today (2023), Carl Edward Roland resides at the South Bay Correctional Facility in Palm Beach County, Florida.
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Last week’s blog told the story of Richard Dabate, whose murder of his wife unraveled because of data extracted from her Fitbit. This week, we review the “suitcase murder” committed by Melanie McGuire. On April 28, she drugged her husband, Bill McGuire, and shot him to death. She then dismembered his body, placed the parts in three suitcases, and dumped them in Chesapeake Bay.
Melanie McGuire
Melanie McGuire was born and raised in New Jersey. After graduating from Rutgers University in 1994, she attended nursing school, graduating second in her class in 1997. In 1999, she married William T. “Bill” McGuire, a United States Navy veteran who worked as a software engineer.
Bill and Melanie McGuire (ABC News / 20/20)
In April 2004, the McGuires and their two sons lived in an apartment in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. They planned to move into a house in Warren County, New Jersey. The couple closed on the house on April 28, but they never moved in.
Melanie McGuire Commits Murder
A week later, on May 5, two fishermen and two children found a suitcase containing human legs. The luggage had drifted ashore on the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel’s fourth artificial island. Virginia authorities launched a murder investigation.
William T. “Bill” McGuire (ABC News)
On May 11, a graduate student cleaning up beach litter in the Fisherman Island National Wildlife Refuge found a second suitcase. This one contained a human head and torso. The head had one bullet wound, while the torso had two gunshot wounds in the chest. On May 16, a third suitcase containing the deceased’s arms washed ashore.
The second suitcase washed ashore on the beach at the Fisherman Island National Wildlife Refuge (CourtTV)
Investigators released a facial reconstruction of the murder victim to the public. One of Bill McGuire’s friends recognized it, promoting Melanie McGuire to the unenviable position of prime suspect.
It now appeared that the murder occurred in New Jersey. Virginia authorities turned the investigation over to the New Jersey State Police.
Evidence Mounts Against Melanie McGuire
Detectives soon learned that Melanie bought a .38 caliber handgun in Easton, Pennsylvania, on April 26, two days before the murder. Her receipt also showed an unspecified item priced at $9.95. Only two things in the store had a $9.95 selling price. One of those was a box of .38 caliber wadcutter bullets, the type of bullet that killed Bill McGuire.
Receipt for a .38 caliber handgun purchased two days before the murder
Investigators conducted forensic tests on the plastic bags used to dispose of Bill’s body. They compared those with the bags used to hold Bill’s clothes, which Melanie had given away. Tests proved that both sets of bags came from the same production line within hours of each other. This implied that Melanie had been the one to bag up Bill’s body and his clothes.
Dr. Bradley Miller testifies in court (CourtTV)
Police also learned that Melanie had been conducting a long-term affair with Dr. Bradley Miller, one of her coworkers at the fertility clinic where she worked.
Melanie’s Trial and Conviction
On June 2, 2005, police arrested Melanie right after she dropped off her children at school. Almost three years later, her trial began on March 5, 2007.
Melanie McGuire mugshot (Wikipedia)
Prosecutors contended Melanie killed Bill to start a new life with her lover, Bradley Miller. Melanie insisted she was innocent. She also claimed that Bill was a compulsive gambler who became increasingly moody and unpredictable. This was an odd gambit since it was irrelevant if Melanie were innocent.
Melanie McGuire in court (The Star Ledger)
On April 23, 2007, Melanie McGuire’s jury found her guilty. They convicted her of first-degree murder, perjury, desecration of human remains, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. On July 19, 2007, she received a life sentence.
Epilogue
Despite appeals and questionable claims that her counsel was ineffective, Melanie McGuire remains in prison. She will be eligible for parole in 2073 when she is 100 years old. Her current home (2023) is the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, New Jersey.
A recent prison mugshot of Melanie McGuire. She is incarcerated under her maiden name, Melanie Slate. (New Jersey Department of Corrections)
You can read more about Melanie McGuire and the “suitcase murder” in John Glatt’s 2008 book, To Have and To Kill.
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In my last blog, JoAnn Scott and her lover, James Williams, conspired to murder JoAnn’s husband, singer Walter Scott. This week’s case is that of Richard Dabate. In 2015, Dabate reported that an intruder had shot and killed his wife. Police used an unusual clue—data from Connie’s Fitbit—to prove that he had lied.
Richard Dabate Spins a Tale
On December 23, 2015, Richard Dabate placed a 9-1-1 call from his home in the Hartford, Connecticut, suburb of Ellington. Responding officers found Richard lying on the floor. He had superficial knife wounds and one arm and one leg zip-tied to a folding chair. His wife, Connie, was in the basement, dead from a gunshot wound.
Richard and Connie Dabate (People/MySpace)
Dabate told the cops that a masked intruder had surprised him at home, struggled with him, and tied him up. During Dabate’s struggle with the intruder, Connie entered the house. The intruder shot her, killing her.
Investigators soon suspected that they didn’t have the whole story. There were few signs of a struggle, and Richard Dabate’s injuries were minor. Furthermore, it made little sense that an intruder would shoot Connie while leaving Richard alive. Presumably, he represented a more significant threat.
Connie Dabate (New York Post/Twitter)
Enter Rocky. A K-9 unit arrived at the scene, and his handlers tasked Rocky with tracking the scent of the alleged intruder. On his first try, Rocky struck out. On a subsequent attempt, he kept focusing on Dabate.
Unusual Evidence Undoes Richard Dabate
The investigation into Connie Dabate’s death moved forward slowly. Detectives discovered that Richard Dabate had a mistress, Sara Ganzer, and she was pregnant with Richard’s child.
But evidence from an unusual and unexpected source put the lie to Dabate’s story. Connie’s Fitbit fitness tracker showed she was moving around long after Richard claimed the intruder had killed her. Other electronic evidence from the couple’s phones and home alarm system contradicted his version of events.
In April 2017, police arrested Richard Dabate and charged him with Connie’s murder.
Richard Dabate went on trial in April 2022, a date delayed in part by the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 11, 2022, the jury took less than four hours to convict him of murder, tampering with evidence, and making a false statement.
On August 18, 2022, Richard Dabate was sentenced to 65 years in prison. He won’t be eligible for parole until May 2087.
Richard Dabate in court (AP/New York Post)
Epilogue
Dabate’s mistress, Sara Ganzer, testified against him at trial. About eight weeks after Connie’s murder, she gave birth to a daughter. In October 2021, she applied for sole legal custody.
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Last week, I presented a case underscoring how the legal system sometimes fails. James Richardson spent nearly 21 years in prison for murders he didn’t commit. This week’s case from St. Louis is the murder of Walter Scott. Scott was a successful singer murdered by his wife’s lover.
Walter Scott
Walter Scott (born Walter Simon Notheis, Jr.) was a musician and singer. He enjoyed success and local fame as the frontman for Bob Kuban and the In-Men, a St. Louis-based rock band. In 1966, his lead vocals helped take the song “(Look Out for) The Cheater” to the number twelve spot on the Billboard Hot 100. In total, the song spent eleven weeks on the charts.
Bob Kuban and the In-Men. Walter Scott is fourth from the left (rebeatmag.com)
Scott left the In-Men soon after the success of “The Cheater” to launch a solo career. When this didn’t pan out, he traveled with a cover band and performed for a televised reunion with Kuban.
Walter Scott (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Walter Scott Disappears—And Reappears
On December 27, 1983, Walter Scott disappeared. More than three years later, in April 1987, police discovered his body floating face-down in a cistern. He had been hog-tied and had been shot in the chest.
The cistern in question was on property belonging to one James H. Williams, who, it developed, had been romancing Walter Scott’s wife, JoAnn. (JoAnn Scott and Williams married in 1986). Williams’ son told police where to find Scott’s body.
Newspaper article announcing James and JoAnn Williams murder charges (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Williams faced charges not only with the death of Walter Scott but also of killing his wife, Sharon, in 1983. Authorities initially believed Sharon died in a one-car auto accident. After exhuming her body, it was evident she had been murdered, and the accident staged.
Williams was convicted on two counts of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
James Williams’ prison mugshot (Missouri Department of Corrections)
JoAnn Scott pleaded guilty to hindering the prosecution of Scott’s murder and received a five-year sentence (she served 18 months).
Epilogue
James Williams died in prison at age 72 on September 11, 2011. JoAnn Scott Williams died in 2019.
Several crime-related television series have aired episodes featuring the Walter Scott murder, including Forensic Files, Autopsy 3: Voices from the Grave, Secrets of the Morgue, Exhumed: Killer Revealed, and The New Detectives. (The Forensic Files episode incorrectly states that Scott’s bullet wound was in his back).
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