Melvin Henry Ignatow (March 26, 1938 – September 1, 2008) was a resident of Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., who was tried for the 1988 murder of his former girlfriend, Brenda Sue Schaefer. The case was controversial because Ignatow was acquitted of the charge and he later admitted killing Schaefer. Under the legal principle of double jeopardy, however, Ignatow could not be tried a second time for the murder. He was, instead, convicted and jailed for several instances of perjury in his grand jury testimony for the case.