Murder of Carol Stuart

Boston Police searched for suspects based on Stuart's description of the assailant. The Washington Post described the situation: “The city's anger seems inexhaustible. That may be because it is impossible not to feel sullied by the Stuart case. Either one was duped by a fabrication with racist overtones, or one was impotent as police focused their investigation on a succession of innocent black men.” Meanwhile, Stuart himself was hospitalized for six weeks; the severity of his injuries required two operations and Stuart's surgeon did not suspect that the nearly fatal wounds were self-inflicted.[9] Police found a young man, William "Willie" Bennett, who fit Stuart's description. On December 28, Stuart identified Bennett as his attacker in a lineup.[10]

The case against Bennett abruptly collapsed on January 3, 1990, when Stuart's brother Matthew identified Charles as Carol's killer. Matthew admitted that he had driven to meet Stuart that night to help him commit what he had been told was to be an insurance fraud. Upon arrival, Matthew said that he had seen that Carol had been shot and that his brother had shot himself to make it appear as a carjacking. Matthew took the gun and a bag of valuables, including the couple's wedding rings, and threw them off the Pines River Bridge in Revere. Some of the items, including the gun, were later recovered.[11]

As Stuart had blamed the incident on an African-American male, and the information provided by his brother led the police to conclude this was not true, racial tensions were heightened in Boston for a time.[12] Boston Police officers conducted much of their manhunt for the alleged suspect, by using indiscriminate stop and frisk tactics on young black men, worsening tensions and creating an atmosphere some residents compared to a war zone.[13]

Police later learned that Stuart had been upset at the prospect of becoming a father, particularly worried that his wife would not go back to work and their financial status would be diminished. Stuart had also started some sort of relationship with Deborah Allen, an employee at Kakas & Sons, though Allen denied any romantic involvement.[14] The Boston Globe reported that a $480,000 check was issued to Stuart in payment for a life insurance policy on his wife, but no such check was ever found. The television show Cold Blood reported and confirmed that Stuart received a $100,000 life insurance check which he cashed just after being discharged from the hospital. On January 7, 1990, The New York Times reported that Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Paul K. Leary stated that a life insurance policy valued at about $83,000 held by Carol and naming her husband as beneficiary was cashed, and gold jewelry and a clock valued at about $950 was purchased by Stuart days before his suicide. Stuart also bought a new Nissan Maxima for $16,000 in cash.

On January 4, 1990, hours after his brother, Matthew, revealed the truth to the police, Stuart met with his lawyer. Shortly afterward, Stuart's car was found abandoned on the Tobin Bridge in Chelsea. A note was found in his car, stating that he was "beaten" by the "new accusations" and was "sapped of [his] strength."[15] Stuart then apparently jumped to his death off the bridge; his body was found in the Mystic River the next day.[16]

Investigators later learned from several relatives and friends that Stuart had previously expressed a desire to kill his wife well before the October shooting. Several of Stuart's three brothers and sisters had known about his involvement in the killing before Matthew went to the police on January 3.[14]

In 1991, Matthew was indicted for obstruction of justice and insurance fraud for his role in covering up the crime. An associate of Matthew named John McMahon was also indicted as an accessory to murder.[16] Matthew pleaded guilty in 1992 and was sentenced to three to five years in prison.[17] He was released on parole in 1997, and was later rearrested for drug trafficking but ultimately released again after his case was appealed.[18] On September 3, 2011, Matthew was found dead in Heading Home, a homeless shelter in Cambridge.[19]