HBO has set a December 4, 2023 premiere date for Murder in Boston, a three-part documentary series that delves into the 1989 murder of Carol Stuart in Boston’s Mission Hill neighborhood. Carol’s husband, Charles “Chuck” Stuart, claimed an unknown Black assailant shot him and his pregnant wife (the baby, Christopher, died shortly after being delivered via caesarean section). The highly controversial investigation and racial profiling by law enforcement lit a fire under simmering racial tensions.
“After Carol succumbs to her injuries that night, Boston Mayor Raymond Flynn declares a citywide manhunt for the killer. When Carol and Chuck’s baby also dies just days after being born, the homicides are thrust further into the spotlight,” reads HBO’s synopsis. “As the mostly Black and Latino residents of Boston’s Mission Hill neighborhood suffer aggressive raids, ‘stop and frisk’ searches, and some questionable police tactics, the already fraught relationship between residents and Boston Police disintegrates.
Fanned by the media uproar and simmering tensions, and with skepticism from the Black community and some members of the press about the veracity of Chuck’s story, the police face increasing pressure to solve the case, and Boston is transformed into a powder keg as the quest for an arrest reaches a critical juncture.”
Murder in Boston incorporates archive coverage of the murder, as well as interviews with people directly affected by the investigation, as it explores key issues that contributed to Boston’s race relations troubles over the decades.
Jason Hehir (The Last Dance) directs and serves as a producer along with Jake Rogal, Nicholas Eisenberg, and Jillian Moosmamm. Joie Jacoby and The Boston Globe’s Linda Pizzuti Henry and Dan Krockmalnic executive produce. HBO’s Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, and Sara Rodriguez also executive produce.
The documentary series is an HBO Documentary Films and The Boston Globe production.
Murder in Boston Episode Guide
- Episode 1: “Roots”
Debut date: MONDAY, DECEMBER 4 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT
The shocking shooting of a white couple at the hands of an alleged Black assailant makes headlines and Boston’s facade and a progressive city begins to slip as its unsavory legacy of racial violence and segregation again comes to the fore. Tensions escalate as police descend upon the Black community, arresting their first suspect – a Black man in Mission Hill whose possession of an Adidas tracksuit puts him in their crosshairs. - Episode 2: “Rampage”
Debut date: MONDAY, DECEMBER 11 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT
After evidence against their first suspect falls apart, the Boston Police Department continues its aggressive targeting of Black neighborhoods, eventually leading to a second suspect, a local man named William Bennett with a long police record. Bennett is arrested and held on an unrelated charge, while police continue to gather evidence against him. Newspapers vie for the chance to tell Chuck’s story as media and police ignore issues in his version of events. - Episode 3: “Reckoning”
Debut date: MONDAY, DECEMBER 18 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT
In a shocking twist two months after the murder, Chuck commits suicide and surprising revelations emerge from his brother, Matthew. Troubling errors in the police investigation also come to light and the Black community responds in anger at the prejudicial manhunt and the media’s handling of the story. Bostonians are left to confront the lasting impact of the Stuart case and to reflect on the enduring damage to their city.
