The Suitcase Killer

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Discretion. Is it by ten?
I needed murder? In a quiet corner

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of New Jersey, the story of
Melanie Lynn McGuire and her husband Bill unfolded

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in a way that nobody could have
seen coming. It's a story that a

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sense gripped the nation, earning the
moniker of the suitcase Killer. This story

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takes us through the ordinary lives of
a nurse and a computer programmer, who,

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on the surface, seemed like any
other married couple. Melanie Lynn McGuire

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born nineteen seventy two had her roots
in New Jersey, growing up in Ridgewood

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and Middletown Township. She attended Middletown
High School South before embarking on her journey

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through Rutgers University, where she studied
math and psychology. Melanie's ambitions led her

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to the Charles E. Gregory School
of Nursing, where she graduated with distinction

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in nineteen ninety seven. It was
in the late nineties when she married Bill

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McGuire, a Navy veteran born in
nineteen sixty four, Bill, a computer

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programmer, and Melanie, a nurse, built a life together. By April

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two thousand and four, they had
been married for five years and were the

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proud parents of two sons. They
lived in a modest apartment in Woodbridge Township,

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New Jersey, and they had their
sights set on moving to a larger

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home in Warren County. But you
know, life has a funny way of

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throwing us curveballs, and this story
isn't all cozy and heartwarming. There was

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a twist, a tragic one that
shook their world and sent shockwaves through that

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small Communitylanie and Bill's relationship but had
its ups and downs, just like nearly

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any marriage. But you know how
sometimes even the closest of couples can hit

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rough patch, Well they did too. Arguments, disagreements, the kind of

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stuff that can make or break a
relationship. Melanie the nurturing and caring nurse

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and Bill the hard working provider,
they started to drift apart. Life's demands

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can put pressure on any couple and
they were not immune to it. But

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beneath it all, there was still
love and history between them, or at

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least that's how it seemed. And
this is where things started to take a

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real turn. As if the tension
in their relationship wasn't enough, there were

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rumors, whispers in the town.
People started talking about possible infidelity and financial

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issues, and gossip has a way
of spreading like wildfire in a small community,

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and these whispers added more fuel to
that fire. People said they saw

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things and heard things, and you
know how it goes right in a town

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like this, where it gets around
and the rumor mill stays running at full

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speed. Now, these allegations were
more than just idle chatter. It's as

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if the storm clouds had gathered over
the McGuire's life, casting a shadow on

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everything that they held deer. And
then one day, Bill McGuire disappeared,

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just like that, without a trace. No one knew where he'd gone,

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and the town was thrown into a
state of uncertainty and disbelief. It's the

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kind of thing you'd expect in a
crime novel or a movie, but not

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in your own hometown. Melanie,
who was already dealing with her strained relationship,

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was suddenly thrust into a nightmare.
She became the center of attention,

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and not in the way that she
ever wanted to be. Everyone had questions,

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suspicions, and nobody had any answers
at all. McGuire House was left

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in disarray, as if Bill had
just vanished into thin air. It was

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like a jigsaw puzzle you buyed a
garage sale with too many missing pieces to

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make sense of it, and the
whole was there trying to put it together.

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So as you can imagine, Melanie's
reaction to her husband's sudden disappearance was

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anything but what people expected. She
didn't seem as distraught as they'd assume considering

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the circumstances. We all know individual
people handle individual situations differently, but friends

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and family they noticed that something wasn't
quite right. Melanie told a story,

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though, a story that she'd had
her reasons for not sharing everything. She

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claimed Bill left on his own accord, not giving any indication of where he

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was headed, and she said it
with her whole chest, straight face.

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But the people who knew her best
could see right through it, and they

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couldn't help but feel that something was
amiss. The math wasn't mathing, and

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that's when the police got involved.
It was like a TV crime drama unfolding

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right in the heart of their quiet
town. They had to start from scratch,

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piecing together the puzzle, trying to
make sense of what happened to Bill.

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The investigators had their work cut out
for them. They questioned Melanie,

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her friends and family, trying to
understand the dynamics of the Maguire marriage.

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They collected evidence, interviewed potential witnesses, and everything was on the table.

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As the investigation went on, some
of Melanie's actions began to raise eyebrows.

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She had made certain purchases and carried
out unusual tasks that didn't seem to align

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with the story that she was telling. People couldn't help but wonder about her

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intentions and whether she was hiding something, And honestly, the community started to

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become divided. Some believed in her
innocence, saying that everyone reacts to tragedy

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differently as I mentioned. Others,
though, were convinced that Melanie was keeping

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secrets that held the key to her
husband's mysterious disappearance. And just when you

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thought the story couldn't get any stranger, a discovery blew the case wide open

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and sent a shockwave through the town. A suitcase was found in the murky

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waters of the Chesapeake Bay. It
had been discarded, seemingly hidden, but

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what made it truly shocking was what
was inside. When the authorities opened that

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suitcase, they were met with a
scene that could have come from the pages

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of a horror movie script. Inside
the suitcase, they found dismembered human remains

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human legs to be exact. The
discovery left everyone in sort of a state

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of disbelief, and this gruesome find
turned the investigation on its head. Days

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later, a second, larger suitcase
was found with a human torso that had

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two bullet wounds and a head with
one bullet wound. The authorities needed to

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connect the dots between the contents of
the suitcases and Bill McGuire's disappearance. They

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used a facial reconstruction sketch to identify
the remains as Bill McGuire. The town

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that once knew everyone's name and had
a friendly wave on every corner was now

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engulfed in a sense of fear and
suspicion. It went from well, Bill

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is missing, he could be okay, or maybe he's not, but we

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don't know for sure. But then
with the suitcase discovery, it all got

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real, real fast, and at
that point all fingers pointed towards Melanie.

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The evidence was mounting and it become
increasingly hard to believe that her hands were

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clean in this bizarre story. The
police were piecing together a narrative that seemed

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to implicate her in a way that
was hard to ignore. The investigators left

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no stone unturned. They found traces
of cement in the suitcase, suggesting an

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attempt to weigh it down to the
depths of the bay. Phone records revealed

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some questionable conversations, and gunpowder residue
added another layer of complexity to the puzzle.

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Being in love can be a positive
driving force in your life, but

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it can also lead you down a
treacherous path. Melanie had a secret,

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one that was hidden deep beneath the
surface of her seemingly ordinary life. She

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was involved in a love affair with
doctor Bradley Miller, a man from where

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she worked. Their relationship added another
layer of intrigue to the already weird story.

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It was a clandestine connection, and
they tried to keep it hidden from

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their small town. As the details
of this affair began to emerge, people

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couldn't help but question Melanie's intention and
her role in how all of this happened.

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The investigation continued and was relentless,
with pieces of incriminating evidence piling up

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against Melanie Maguire, her actions and
purchases became increasingly suspicious. For instance,

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she had purchased a thirty eight caliber
handgun, the very same caliber used to

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kill her husband Bill. The receipt
for the gun also showed a nondescript nine

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to ninety five purchase, a sum
that matched exactly the cost of two things

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in the whole store, one of
those being wadcutter bullets, which happened to

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be the same type of ammunition used
in Bill's murder. Also, security footage

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revealed a blurry image of someone moving
Bill's car from the Flamingo Motel in Atlantic

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City around the time of his disappearance. Melanie initially claimed that she moved the

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car as a prank, but this
story contradicted her earlier application for a protection

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order alleging abuse against her husband Bill. If you're trying to get a protection

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order against someone you claim as abusing
you, you aren't also playing fun practical

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jokes on them. The evidence continued
to mount against Melanie, her affair with

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Bradley Miller, her easy Pass toll
record that showed she was in the area,

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then her attempts to remove that ninety
cent charge from her easy Pass account

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history to conceal her movements and other
various inconsistencies. It painted a pretty damning

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picture for Melanie. Forensic evidence added
weight to the case against Melanie. The

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plastic bags in the suitcase that contained
Bill's body p arts were traced back to

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the same assembly line, manufactured within
hours of each other. A friend of

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the McGuire's came forward and said that
Melanie had recently given them some of Bill's

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old clothes contained within identical plastic bags. Green fibers found on a bullet lodged

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in Bill's chest were linked to the
couple's green couch, leading investigators to believe

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that a cushion or pillow had been
used as a makeshift silencer during the murder.

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Medical grade towels found with Bill's body
matched those from Melanie's workplace, suggesting

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her access to drugs and medical supplies
played a role in incapacitating her husband.

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The suitcases made by Kenneth Cole matched
a three piece set of luggage that the

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mcguires owned. After more than a
year of investigations, Melanie was arrested on

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June second, two thousand and five, while dropping her children off at daycare.

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She was taken into custody and booked
on first degree murder charges. She

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posted bail and was released. The
trial began on March fifth, two thousand

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and seven, nearly three years after
the crime. The prosecution argued that Melanie's

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motive for the murder was her desire
to start a new life with her lover,

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Bradley Miller. Melanie, on the
other hand, continued to assert her

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innocence, claiming her husband had become
increasingly moody, unpredictable, and was a

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compulsive gambler. On April twenty third, two thousand and seven, the jury

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reached a verdict finding Melanie guilty of
first degree murder. She was also convicted

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of lesser charges, including perjury,
desecration of human remains, and possession of

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a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
However, she was acquitted of some of

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the charges against her, including hindering
apprehension, tampering with evidence, and possession

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of xanex without prescription. After her
conviction, Melanie appealed for a new trial

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based on a jail house informant's claim
that her husband may have been killed by

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Atlantic City mobsters. However, the
informant's credibility came into question, and the

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request for new trial was withdrawn.
On July nineteenth, two thousand and seven,

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at the age of thirty four,
Melanie Maguire was sentenced to life in

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prison. Her story, filled with
twists, turns and mysteries, came to

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a conclusion after being sentenced to a
life behind bars. The case of the

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Suitcase Killer left an indelible mark on
the town, reminding everyone that even in

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the quietest of communities, the darkest
secrets can in most cases be concealed,

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but only for a time. That's
ten Minute Murder for today, brief and

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binge able true crime. My name
is Joe. I'm the host, and

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thank you so much for listening today. If you're new, hit subscribe so

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that you can more easily catch up
on all the back episodes. Connect on

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social media and you can see the
pictures of what we talk about here on

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the podcast. Links for all that
are in the show notes of this episode.

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If you'd like to get in touch
with me, mail addresses Joe at

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ten Minute Murder dot com, or
you can send me a DM on social

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media. And speaking of I've mentioned
it before, but I need to mention

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it again. I think if you
send an email or a message, I

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one hundred percent of the time will
read it, but I don't always have

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the time to respond to it.
I might be in the middle of doing

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different things and I think, well, I've got a few minutes, let

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me read some of these messages.
Let me read some of these emails.

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And I don't get a chance to
respond to every single one of them because

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there's a lot happening in my life
from time to time, and you know,

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I take the opportunity when I have
it to read these messages and read

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these emails, and that means that
I'm not able to respond to everyone.

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I respond to as many as I
possibly can given the time that I have

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at that moment, but I don't
get to one hundred percent of them.

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Anyway. Speaking of that, it
reminds me of a message that I did

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not respond to where someone said that
when I say cement, sometimes it sounds

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like I'm saying semen. If I
say cemen, it sounds like see and

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they got confused in one of the
episodes where I said cement and they thought

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I said semen. So it it
reminded me of that during this story when

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I said cement, how do you
say it is? It's? Is it

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cement. That sounds not right to
me, cement. I thought it's cement.

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In the story today, the suitcase
was not weighed down with semen.

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It was weighed down with cement.
Cement. All right, that's gonna do

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it. That is your episode for
today. Thank you so much for listening

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to ten minute Murder