A Poisoned Passion - A Young Mother, her War Hero Husband, and the Marriage that Ended in Murder

One by one, three waterlogged suitcases were pulled from the Chesapeake Bay. In each were body parts of a man. In a forensics room, the truth was discovered: William McGuire had been horribly murdered and dismembered.

William and his loving wife, a registered nurse named Melanie, had just closed on their New Jersey dream home. Little did William know about the nightmare that was in store… For Melanie had been involved in a long-term affair with a married doctor at the fertility clinic where she worked—and she had plans for the future that didn’t include William.

Investigators believe that on April 29, 2004, Melanie first drugged her husband, then murdered him in cold blood. Three years after America witnessed the details of the suitcase incident unfold—on 48 Hours, Dateline NBC, and ABC Primetime, and in People magazine, among other news outlets—Melanie was convicted of first-degree murder and desecrating human remains. To Have and to Kill is the true story of a marriage that turned deadly…

When Pastor Matthew Winkler was found dead at his Fourth Street Church of Christ parsonage in Selmer, Tennessee, both police investigators and parishioners were shaken and mystified: How could evil strike this cradle of faith? Meanwhile, Mrs. Winkler and her three daughters were still missing…

A frantic search for Mary Winkler and the girls ensued. Once they were found, on a beach in Alabama, Mary was charged with murdering her husband in cold blood. But why did Mary pull the trigger? What sexual and psychological abuses did she allege she had suffered?

 In the months that followed, the crime—and the Winkler’s marriage—would be exposed by the national media; Mary herself even appeared on Oprah. Set in a world of domineering men, obedient wives, and unshakable faith, this is the true story about what happened to Matthew Winkler and THE PASTOR’S WIFE

Nancy Jean Siegel of Maryland became addicted to gambling during her first marriage.  Sneaking off to Atlantic City—and sinking deeper and deeper into debt—she began stealing identities, conning family members, and leaving two ex-husbands buried in bills.  Then she sold cemetery plots door-to-door and met Jack Watkins, a man thirty years her senior. He not only bought a grave site from the attractive younger woman, he leased a car for her, sold his house and gave her the proceeds. But Nancy wanted more…

Watkins’ body was found in a steamer trunk near the Appalachian Trail. Half-naked and strangled, he remained unidentified for more than six years. Meanwhile, Nancy cashed his Social Security checks and opened new lines of credit under his name. By the time the police tracked her down, she had committed bank fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and more. New York Times bestselling author Carlton Smith takes you inside the greed, the gambling, and one gruesome murder—to question the very nature of evil…