The Killer In 'Murder In Boston' Hides In Plain Sight
In 1989, Boston police got a call from a distressed man named Charles Stuart, who said both he and his wife had been shot in their car. Carol, who was pregnant at the time, had been shot in the back of the head, Charles said. He had been shot in the abdomen.
The story, which ended in Carol and her premature baby's death, is taking center stage in a new true crime docuseries from Max called Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reckoning, which hits the streamer on Dec. 4.
At the time of the shooting, Carol’s husband, Charles Stuart, told police that a “Black man in a tracksuit” had gotten in their car, directed them where to drive, and then shot them both. But the true story turned out to be far more gruesome and complicated. The docuseries takes a look at the impact of Charles' claims, the suspects who emerged (and were later declared innocent), and the real reason Carol was shot that night.
Here's everything you need to know about the Stuart case that rocked an entire city.
Who was Carol Stuart?
Carol Stuart was a pregnant woman living in Boston with her husband, Charles. She worked as a tax attorney.
What happened to Carol?
The doc explains that on Oct. 23, 1989, Carol’s husband, Charles, called 911 frantically to report a shooting. He told police that a Black man ran up to their car with a revolver after the couple had attended a childbirth class at Boston’s Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Charles claimed the man entered the car and forced the couple to drive to Boston’s Mission Hill, a largely Black and Latino neighborhood in the city. When they arrived, Charles said the man shot him in the stomach and his wife Carol in the head. Carol died that evening. Her baby was born during an emergency procedure.
The Stuarts' baby lived for 17 days.
The couple’s baby, Christopher, was born prematurely after the shooting. He lived for 17 days after his mother’s death. When the baby died, the case was treated as a double homicide.
The police flagged several false suspects.
The incident left the city reeling and searching for a subject. Boston has long struggled with race relations, and Charles’ narrative added heat to the fire, the doc explains. The city police, who are interviewed in the doc, started searching for suspects who might match Charles' vague description. Reports for hate crimes against Black residents shot up as police searched for the killer in largely Black and Latino neighborhoods, per People.
Police flagged several subjects who were cleared before arresting William "Willie" Bennett, a Black man with a long criminal record on an unrelated charge. The doc explains that Charles even went so far as to identify Bennett as the suspect in a lineup. Eventually, though, a witness came forward in early 1990, and Bennet was dropped as a suspect.
In 2017, Bennett gave an interview about the whole ordeal, saying he was "still angry about being wrongfully considered a suspect in the Stuart case and he is bitter that he was never compensated for all he went through," per CBS News.
Bennett's nephew talks about his memories from that troubling time in the documentary.
Who actually killed Carol Stuart?
Charles murdered his wife and child in an attempt to collect her life insurance policy, per The New York Times.
His brother, Matthew, finally went to the police in January of 1990, and told them that his brother had looped him in on an "insurance fraud" scheme. He explained that when he showed up to the meeting spot, Carol and Charles had both been shot. He then disposed of the gun and their wedding rings.
What happened to Charles, and where is he now?
One day after his brother tipped off the police and he was named a prime subject, Charles met with his lawyer and later jumped off the Tobin Bridge to his death. He was never arrested, and his suicide note didn't include a confession, per The Associated Press. However, he did write that he was "beaten" by "the new accusations."
You can catch Murder in Boston streaming now on Max.
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