GUILTY CA - Shirley McGill, 55, beaten & strangled on cruise ship, 14 July 2009

[oh_gal]

I swear, I'm getting to where I just hate the media. The man filed for bankruptcy TEN YEARS AGO. No mention is made of ANY recent financial problems that either the husband or wife were experiencing.

I guess this very old non-story was reported to encourage bias against the accused. I KNOW the mention of married men wanting to swap wives had that intent, even though the reporter hurriedly mentioned that no one even suggested that THIS married man was one of the involved. It's salacious, so just throw it out there.

This is the kind of "news" I would expect from a show like Nancy Grace's and it is disappointing to see a regular news program stoop so low. That reporter ought to be ashamed of herself.

I agree -- 10 years, this is old news, and how different all of our lives probably are now, than they were 10 years ago. Certainly enough time to turn things around.

As for the wife-swapping, I commented on it because it certainly would provide a motive. I've found, many times, that people on the "inside" have leaked information before the police dole it out. Although it would provide a motive, but at this point, I don't consider it substaintial, only something else to consider. And if he did kill her with a pair of scissors, that would imply to me,anyway, that this was done without much forethought...again, as a result of an argument that could rise from something like jealousy.

 

[Boyz_Mum]

I wonder if either of them were drinking (alcohol)? Stabbing someone with scissors just kind of sounds like a spur of the moment rage thing?

 

[Paintr]

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Deadly-Cruise-Was-Retirement-Gift-.html

Deadly Cruise Was "Retirement Gift"

U.S. Attorney's office spokeswoman Debra Hartman wouldn't say Friday whether the 55-year-old had been charged.

 

[Paintr]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jrDKyncxDHiWSP8ouX46OX_TWY8wD99GFCFG1

"Bob and Shirley loved each other very much. Their marriage was the most important thing in his life," Paul White, a teacher at the school where McGill taught, told the AP. "They were childhood sweethearts."

White said he worked with McGill for nearly 11 years and knew him to be calm and pleasant.

"He's a great friend, he's great with kids, he's a great dad, he's a great husband," White said.

 

[AlwaysShocked]

My guess would be alcohol and/or drugs.

Who knows what the guy was really like? There are plenty of men out there whose work colleagues would describe them as "a great guy" who are abusing both alcohol and their wives at home.

To just up and strangle your wife with no prior history of violence?
I'd like to hear what wife Number 1 has to say about the guy.

 

[Paintr]

http://www.kusi.com/home/51061817.html

A man accused of killing his wife on a cruise ship as it returned to San Diego from a five-day trip to Cabo San Lucas pleaded not guilty today to murder.

Robert McGill, 55, of Winnetka in Los Angeles County, allegedly beat and strangled his wife, Shirley McGill, also 55, in their cabin on the cruise ship Carnival Elation.

She died of blunt force injuries to the head and strangulation,
according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office.

 

[Paintr]

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jul/17/bn17cruise184050/

The Los Angeles man arrested aboard a cruise ship for killing his wife confessed to federal agents he killed his wife with his bare hands in the bathroom of their cabin, according to a complaint filed in federal court today.
Robert John McGill made the statement to FBI agents who were dispatched to the ship after after the body of Shirley McGill was found on board Tuesday evening. Robert McGill was detained in the ship's brig and interviewed by FBI agents on Thursday as the ship came to San Diego.
An affidavit accompanying the complaint by an FBI agent said that Robert McGill's “knuckles appeared as if he had been in a fight” when he was detained aboard ship.

 

[Paintr]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jrDKyncxDHiWSP8ouX46OX_TWY8wD99GH8O80

The 55-year-old man asked a judge Friday if he could make a statement, then had a hushed but emotional conversation with two federal defenders.

During the talk, McGill gestured to his family and could be heard saying: "I think they are suffering and need to hear from me."

McGill also said: "That's putting more financial burden on top of the pain and horror that I've caused this family."


http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_12862239?nclick_check=1


"Defendant Robert McGill stated he killed his wife in the bathroom of their cabin with his bare hands," said a criminal complaint filed by FBI Special Agent James B. Stinnett.

.....


U.S. District Magistrate William McCurie Jr. entered a plea of not guilty on McGill's behalf and set a detention hearing for July 31.

 

[lonetraveler]

I just wonder why he didn't throw his wife overboard like the other men whose wives were reported to be overboard. They have gotten off scott free, he must have been totally mentally deficient to not have thought of this like the others.

 

[lizzybeth]

Or else he felt a little remorse for what he had done and wanted to be found out and punished. Don't forget the woman on her honeymoon who's husband went overboard. I can't remember his last name but I think his first name was George.

 

[Paintr]

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/07/18/Man-allegedly-confesses-to-killing-wife/UPI-98651247942724/

Robert McGill was ordered held without bail after prosecutors said he posed a flight risk and was a danger to the community, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Saturday.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/cruises/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=68494791.blog

The San Diego County medical examiner's office says Shirley McGill, 55, of Winnetka, Calif., died of strangulation and blunt force injury to the head and torso, the Associated Press reports.

The autopsy was performed Friday.

 

[SuziQ]

Read: Federal Criminal Complaint
Read: DOJ News Release

 

[SeriouslySearching]

What a ! Glad he confessed and saved everyone the trouble.

 

[kgeaux]

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/07/18/Man-allegedly-confesses-to-killing-wife/UPI-98651247942724/

Robert McGill was ordered held without bail after prosecutors said he posed a flight risk and was a danger to the community, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Saturday.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/cruises/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=68494791.blog

The San Diego County medical examiner's office says Shirley McGill, 55, of Winnetka, Calif., died of strangulation and blunt force injury to the head and torso, the Associated Press reports.

The autopsy was performed Friday.

Well, so much for the rumor that he stabbed her with scissors. It is good to have the facts of the case come out.

What a ! Glad he confessed and saved everyone the trouble.

To be fair, he "allegedly" confessed to officers on the ship. Since we've previously heard he allegedly stabbed her with scissors, and allegedly his kids were traveling with he and his wife, it might be wise to hold back a little on this allegation! He hasn't pled guilty, I don't think.

My personal opinion is that this guy did it. I am really interested to find out what happened, because family and friends are so stunned that this seems completely out of character for him. Were they drinking, I wonder? I worry everytime my friends go on cruises because so many people drink SO excessively that it's a wonder there isn't more criminal activity.

 

[Paintr]

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7015834212?Man%20Accused%20Of%20Murdering%20Wife%20On%20Cruise%20Ship

The McGills were traveling on the Carnival Cruise ship Elation, which carries 2,052 people, and on its third day iinto its five-day journey.

 

[Paintr]

http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/07/20/Killing_Suspected_on_Cruise_Ship.htm

McGill was arrested and his hands and knuckles appeared "as if he had been in a fight," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

 

[Paintr]

http://www.australia.to/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12696:cruise-ship-homicide-investigation-&catid=157:just-in

A detention hearing will be held on July 23, 2009, at 9:00 a.m., before United States Magistrate Judge William McCurine, Jr.

 

[Paintr]

http://www.wickedlocal.com/abington/news/x2141117481/Abington-resident-family-on-cruise-where-alleged-murder-took-place

Abington resident Christie Coombs — along with more than 30 members of her family — was on the cruise ship last week on which a man admitted to killing his wife with his bare hands.

“I knew someone had died but that was the first I heard that it was a murder,” Coombs said.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported on July 17 that Los Angeles resident Robert John McGill told FBI agents he had killed his wife, Shirley, with his bare hands in the couple’s cabin bathroom.

“We were told the couple had been fighting in the bar area and took it back to their room,” Coombs said.

 

[Paintr]

http://www.10news.com/news/20218213/detail.html

A detention hearing is scheduled Thursday for a Los Angeles County man accused of fatally beating his wife on a cruise ship as it returned to San Diego from a five-day trip to Cabo San Lucas.

....

McGill tried to speak during his initial court appearance on July 17, but was immediately surrounded by two defense attorneys who urged him not to say anything.

For a while, he appeared adamant about saying something to a group of about 20 people in the gallery.

 

[bogeygal]

http://www.10news.com/news/20218213/detail.html

A detention hearing is scheduled Thursday for a Los Angeles County man accused of fatally beating his wife on a cruise ship as it returned to San Diego from a five-day trip to Cabo San Lucas.

....

McGill tried to speak during his initial court appearance on July 17, but was immediately surrounded by two defense attorneys who urged him not to say anything.

For a while, he appeared adamant about saying something to a group of about 20 people in the gallery.

Thanks for the news article Paintr,

So, McGill admits to killing her on the cruise ship/in the cabin/with his bare hands. (sounds like the board game CLUE), (if anyone is as old as me they will remember that game.), Then the defense atty's tell him to keep quiet.

I'm so frustrated with this case. McGill even tried to get a word in at his first hearing, and wanted to speak to the family members and the judge. They cut him off.

I just don't get it. He's already told the story that he killed her with his own hands.

The man has pretty much confessed. He may be feeling very bad that his took his wife's life.

Why won't they listen to him, let him tell the real story of what happened? What next? Where's that "angry button"?