25 years since Charles Stuart killed his pregnant wife...

[chiver78]

...and blamed an innocent black man for it.

I know, not exactly Current Events. but there's an article in the Boston Globe today about the case, and its impact on the city in the aftermath of the murder. I was 11 years old when this happened, and in middle school with kids from some of the neighborhoods mentioned in the article - who were waking up crazy early in the morning to take a bus out to MY school in the suburbs instead of the unsafe ones close to their own homes.

Boston Globe article

was this case reported where you lived back in 1989? what did you think then, and has that changed since?

[cael]

I have zero memory of that... I was 6 and we were living in Medford at the time and didn't have a TV either for news or anything. I have heard the story though.... awful.

[NancysSummerSip]

I do remember this case; I was working in the news media at the time.

[Tennesseer]

I remember the case very well.  I was living in Connecticut at the time.  Shameful event.  The case paved the way for other killers like Susan Smith to make false claims as to who killed their family members.

And Tawana Brawley in 1987 was a shsmeful event too.  Making false claims as to the race of her alleged rapists.

[bean29]

We had a very similar case in Milwaukee in 1992.  In fact the Charles Stuart case is mentioned in the article below:

articles.chicagotribune.com/1992-04-28/news/9202070672_1_jesse-anderson-barbara-anderson-black-men

[chiver78]

sad.    good that the Milwaukee PD learned from our mistakes though.

[Deleted]

In that particular year the only part of the paper I ever checked was the movie times ads. I pretty much skipped all news shows.

Don't remember a single thing about that case.

[haapai]

I remember the case even though it happened several states away.  Perhaps I didn't catch wind of it until after the journalists covering it had switched into CYA mode, but it sounded fishy from the moment that I heard it.  I wasn't the least bit surprised when the husband came under more direct scrutiny. 

The alleged perp was very vaguely described and shooting the couple while taking nothing made absolutely no sense.  "Boogeyman kills" could have been the headline.  Why did anyone buy this story? 

[Tennesseer]

Oct 23, 2014 18:06:30 GMT -5 haapai said:

I remember the case even though it happened several states away.  Perhaps I didn't catch wind of it until after the journalists covering it had switched into CYA mode, but it sounded fishy from the moment that I heard it.  I wasn't the least bit surprised when the husband came under more direct scrutiny. 

The alleged perp was very vaguely described and shooting the couple while taking nothing made absolutely no sense.  "Boogeyman kills" could have been the headline.  Why did anyone buy this story? 

Because we really do want to believe in the Boogeyman. It makes sense in our world.

[Green Eyed Lady]

Oh my gosh.  How awful.  Did he admit doing this?  I assume that's why he killed himself?

[chiver78]

he never admitted it, even in his suicide note. his brother told police he disposed of the gun used that night, and that it had been the husband's idea.

obviously some poetic license from the hometown boy, but there's a long verse in a Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch song "Wildside" (verses are all Boston cases) that goes:

Charles had everything going for him
A top paying job a good life. A good wife
A baby boy on the way any day
A gentleman attitude is all he displayed
Carol was the wife he loved and adored
Her family and friends treated him like an ambassador
One night on the other side of town
A police dispatcher picked up a weird sound
Charles on the car phone asking for help
Claiming a burglar shot his wife and himself
His pregnant wife lay slumped over
Dreams corrupt and a young life over
Extensive searches throughout the projects
put a lot of people through misery and wreck
Everyone a suspect till someone was found
Interrogated cause their skin was brown
Then there was Benny, guilty until proven so
but soon as the case started moving slow
what do you know, sure as a sea gull gets webbed toed
Charles was the culprit
The whole plot was an insurance scam
Charles and his brother came up with a plan
Kill carol collect a big check
Blame it on a black man. What the heck!
And just before the story was known
Charles had a feeling his cover was blown
so he jumped off a bridge
Committed suicide
This is how it is on the wildside!

[haapai]

The link in the OP really doesn't explain how bad and full of holes Stuart's explanation of the shooting was. 

I seem to recall journalists asking what he was doing in Mission Hill very early on and his explanation was pretty weak.  I've lived in a metropolitan area where wealthy white folks never go into certain neighborhoods and if they do somehow take a wrong turn, they don't stop for anything until they have gotten back to the freeway.  They have pretty much trained themselves to run lights and stop signs and run over pedestrians instead of stopping. 

Yeah, it's bloody sick that knowing that was why I distrusted Stuart's story. 

[Green Eyed Lady]

Thanks, Chiver.  Was his brother charged?  I'd be really uncomfortable believing the story of the admitted accomplice when the only people that can refute it are dead.  Hopefully, there was more evidence than just his word?

[chiver78]

I don't remember, honestly....I was 11 when this all happened. link jumping today, I refreshed my memory that the brother died of an overdose a couple years ago in a homeless shelter.

haapai - I know the link in the OP doesn't get into the huge holes in the story, but it's a 25-year lookback. IMHO, it does a great job of highlighting how horrible the reaction of both the BPD and the community was toward the black population of Mission Hill - all of whom had been innocent in this case all along.

[Malarky]

This story reminds me of what a horrible person I can be.

At the time my friend from New Zealand and I where hosting a lot of friends from all over the country and the world.  One of our go to activities was "The murder tour of Boston."     We were showing ALL the sights of the city, including the ugly bits.  The tour ended at the bridge although now I don't remember which bridge it was.  

[Tennesseer]

Oct 23, 2014 19:14:46 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

I don't remember, honestly....I was 11 when this all happened. link jumping today, I refreshed my memory that the brother died of an overdose a couple years ago in a homeless shelter.

haapai - I know the link in the OP doesn't get into the huge holes in the story, but it's a 25-year lookback. IMHO, it does a great job of highlighting how horrible the reaction of both the BPD and the community was toward the black population of Mission Hill - all of whom had been innocent in this case all along.

Chiver-you link states Charles' brother, Matthew, was charged with obstruction of justice.

[chiver78]

thanks......it's been a long day.

[chiver78]

Oct 23, 2014 19:22:46 GMT -5 Malarky said:

This story reminds me of what a horrible person I can be.

At the time my friend from New Zealand and I where hosting a lot of friends from all over the country and the world.  One of our go to activities was "The murder tour of Boston."     We were showing ALL the sights of the city, including the ugly bits.  The tour ended at the bridge although now I don't remember which bridge it was.  

  the Tobin. and that's the only bridge I knew the name of when I got to Northeastern....

[EVT1]

Oct 23, 2014 18:10:03 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Oct 23, 2014 18:06:30 GMT -5 haapai said:

I remember the case even though it happened several states away.  Perhaps I didn't catch wind of it until after the journalists covering it had switched into CYA mode, but it sounded fishy from the moment that I heard it.  I wasn't the least bit surprised when the husband came under more direct scrutiny. 

The alleged perp was very vaguely described and shooting the couple while taking nothing made absolutely no sense.  "Boogeyman kills" could have been the headline.  Why did anyone buy this story? 

Because we really do want to believe in the Boogeyman. It makes sense in our world.

The GOP relies on them. 

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

Oct 23, 2014 19:03:05 GMT -5 Green Eyed Lady said:

Thanks, Chiver.  Was his brother charged?  I'd be really uncomfortable believing the story of the admitted accomplice when the only people that can refute it are dead.  Hopefully, there was more evidence than just his word?

The brother (Michael?) admitted being approached by Charles to be an accomplice - but it was Michael who informed authorities of the plot that Charles had planned out (after the fact) and after the murder(s) suicide had occurred. He didn't take part, but I suppose you could say he was somehow indirectly responsible, since he didn't alert anyone in authority before the act was carried out.