'Murder,' she Googled

Computerworld - A New Jersey woman on trial for murdering her husband in April 2004 did a Google search on the phrase "how to commit murder," exactly 10 days before she allegedly shot him to death, according to a digital technology expert, who worked for the New Jersey State Police.

Melanie McGuire, 33, also did searches on Google and MSN for "undetectable poisons," "fatal digoxin levels," "instant poisons," "toxic insulin levels," "how to purchase guns illegally," how to find chloroform," "fatal insulin doses," "poisoning deaths," "where to purchase guns illegally," "gun laws in Pa.," "how to purchase guns in Pa.," and "where to purchase guns without a permit," according to court testimony from Jennifer Seymour, who now works for the U.S. Department of Defense. The testimony can be viewed in a video clip from Court TV (Subscription required).

Seymour said she examined the hard drives of computers seized by police from McGuire's attorney's office, her home and the home of her parents.

McGuire, a fertility nurse, is on trial in the Superior Court of New Jersey for first degree murder for allegedly shooting her husband William McGuire, 39, with a .38 caliber gun on April 28, 2004. At the time of his death, McGuire was employed by the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

According to prosecutors, in May 2004, William McGuire's severed remains were found in three suitcases off the Virginia coast. His wife faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted.

The state grand jury indictment alleges that McGuire killed her husband inside their Woodbridge, N. J., home, dismembered his body, placed the remains in black plastic trash bags inside three suitcases and dumped the remains in the Chesapeake Bay.

The Virginia medical examiner determined that McGuire was shot at least twice, once in the head and once in the chest, according to the statement from the New Jersey attorney general's office.

A spokesman for the New Jersey attorney general said the judge has barred the participants from commenting on the case to the news media while the trial is going on.

Related News and Discussion:

• C. J. Kelly: Is Google becoming the next evil empire? - Computerworld Blogs
• Preston Gralla: Did Google fix the "miserable failure" Google bomb for President Bush?
• Cracking Google's 'secret sauce' algorithm
• Top-secret Google data center almost completed