Trash bags consistent in Melanie McGuire case Bags found with victim are similar to those containing his clothing BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer Thomas Lesniak of the New Jersey State Police Office of Forensic Science, who specializes in tool marks and trace evidence, testified that the large black plastic bags that contained William T. McGuire's body matched the six large black plastic bags that contained his clothes. "The patterns on the bags were identical," said Lesniak. "Even though I could not physically fit the bags that contained his body with the known bags that contained his clothes, the bags had the same wavy wood-grain-type patterns. The bags came from one unique production line. I was able to fit three of the six bags, which contained the clothes, together." The 12-woman, four-man jury heard about the six large plastic bags that contained his clothes from prior testimony. Justin Marrero, who resides in Brooklyn, N.Y., testified that he helped Melanie McGuire move out of her Woodbridge apartment Memorial Day weekend in 2004, as a favor to a cousin, who is the younger brother of McGuire's best friend, Selene Trivizas. Marrero said he did not know McGuire personally. He also said McGuire and Trivizas were not present during the move. When asked during direct examination about the black trash bags filled with men's clothing, Marrero said he did not see the black trash bags get packed, but they appeared in the process of the move. "I first saw them in the living room," he said. "The bags contained jeans, belts, shirts, suit tops and jackets. There were five to six bags. To my knowledge, they were going to be discarded if not taken." Marrero took the trash bags of clothing and also other pieces of furniture, weight sets, and rugs back to his apartment in Brooklyn. Later during the investigation, police seized the black trash bags and some of the pieces of furniture. Melanie McGuire, 34, a former fertility clinic nurse, is on trial for killing her husband, William McGuire, in their Woodbridge Center Plaza apartment and later dismembering his body between April 28, 2004, and May 5, 2004. McGuire, who resides in Brick Township, remains free on $2.1 million bail. Lesniak also compared the plastic bags that contained the body and the clothes with plastic bags that the New Jersey State Police seized from the residence of McGuire's parents, Michael and Linda Cappararo, in Barnegat, as well as those in McGuire's residence. "I looked at three boxes of 100 bags each and individual bags from the Barnegat home and bags from McGuire's residence," said Lesniak. "Only one of the plastic bags matched with the bags that contained the body and the clothes, which was found in the Barnegat home." Lesniak testified that he did comparisons on a 10-inch piece of brown hair found inside the pocket of the second suitcase found on May 11, 2004, which contained the torso of the deceased with a sample of McGuire's hair. He said his examination was inconclusive. "There were similarities, but so much time had passed by, that there were unaccountable differences," said Lesniak. Virginia Beach police found the first small, dark green Kenneth Cole Reaction carry-on suitcase, which the jury heard contained the legs - cut from the knees down - of the deceased, floating in the water between the fourth island and the high-rise bridge near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel at 11:30 a.m. on May 5, 2004. The second matching suitcase, which the jury heard contained the torso of the deceased, was discovered almost a week later on May 11. The third suitcase, a 20-inch, contained the midsection of the deceased, found on May 16. The jury learned that animal hair was found on a piece of silver duct tape that was taped to the plastic bag containing body parts. Animal hair was also found in McGuire's 1999 Nissan Pathfinder and the black metal lock box in the storage bin in Edison, where McGuire's furniture was moved. Lesniak said he ruled that animal hair did not have any evidentiary value because animal hairs are nondescript and there is the factor of secondary transfers. McGuire does not have a dog or cat. "If I sit here and I have hairs from my dog Roxy on my clothing," said Lesniak "and I get up and leave behind the hairs from my dog on this chair and the next witness sits down, that person could pick up my dog's hair, giving the false impression that he had interaction with my dog." Lesniak testified that he did comparisons on the olive green fibers found with the bullet during the autopsy of William McGuire and McGuire's furniture; an HCSC medical blanket found with the torso of the body with the HCSC blanket that was given to McGuire's colleague, Lori Thomas, by McGuire; blue painter's tape and the silver duct tape with tape seized from the Cappararo home and McGuire's home; blue towels found with the body to blue towels at the Morristown fertility clinic [RMA] where McGuire was a fertility nurse, and compared 24 saws that were seized from the Cappararo home and one saw from Dr. Bradley Miller's residence. "The olive green fibers found with the bullet did not match the fibers from the Woodbridge apartment or fibers from [McGuire's] furniture that was seized," said Lesniak. Douglas Deedrick, who worked for the FBI at the time specializing in hairs and fibers, testified that the fibers were consistent to pillow fibers. Lesniak found that the HCSC medical blankets were from the same company, but the fibers did not match. The blue painter's tape did not match any of the tape that was seized and Lesniak found the examination of the duct tape with duct tape that was seized from the Cappararo home to be inconclusive because he could not conclusively examine the adhesive side, but did say everything else matched up. The paint chip did not match any of the nail polishes that were seized; the blue towels did not match the towels seized from the blue towels at RMA; and the only saw that did match the markings made on the body was Dr. Bradley Miller's reciprocating saw. Authorities searched the Woodbridge apartment four times and have found no blood evidence. Dr. Zhong Xue Hua, the chief medical examiner for the state of New Jersey, examined the human skin tissue particles that were found in the driver- and passenger-seat floors of William McGuire's 2002 Nissan Maxima found in Atlantic City. Hua said there were 11 or 12 microscopic pieces of human tissue found, but only three distinct pieces could be examined. Hua testified that he believed that the human tissue found could only be shed from a dead person because it not only exposed the surface of the skin, but a deeper layer of skin. "It's not normal for a regular person to shed this type of skin," said Hua. "For this type of human tissue found, I would expect to find multiple scars on the body. Dr. Wendy Gunther's [the forensic pathologist who conducted William McGuire's autopsy in Virginia] report showed that there were no scars found on the body." During cross examination, Joseph Tacopina, one of Melanie McGuire's defense attorneys, asked if a live person were to be cut, could he or she shed that same piece of human skin tissue. Dr. Hua replied that it was possible for a live person to shed that same piece of human skin tissue if he or she had been cut.