11 episodes
Murder in Boston Podcast HBO and The Boston Globe
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- TV & Film
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4.7 • 785 Ratings
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1989 Boston. The crack epidemic is raging, the murder rate soaring, and white flight has taken hold. Charles Stuart and his pregnant wife, Carol, are carjacked, drawn deep into a dangerous “inner city” neighborhood, and allegedly shot by a Black man. All of Boston – and the nation – is gripped by the hunt for the suspect. What follows will reveal truths about the city... and ourselves. Presented by The Boston Globe and HBO Documentary Films, Murder in Boston: The Untold Story of the Charles and Carol Stuart Shooting is hosted by Adrian Walker who, along with a team of Pulitzer-winning investigative reporters, unveils explosive new findings and change the narrative of a story long cemented in the city’s lore. The HBO Documentary Series Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage, and Reckoning is available to stream on Max starting December 4.
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Episode 1: The Crime
Charles Stuart dials 911 from his car phone. He’s lost somewhere in Boston and bleeding out. His pregnant wife, Carol, is in the seat next to him, with a gunshot wound to the head. This white couple from the suburbs was just carjacked upon leaving a birthing class at a hospital and drawn deep into Mission Hill. They are the epitome of the urban nightmare of the late 1980s. And their terror is captured on tape.
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Episode 2: The Manhunt
The shocking Stuart shooting incites a massive dragnet for a Black man in a striped track suit. Armed with “stop and frisk” powers, police tear through the Mission Hill neighborhood. Virtually every young Black male is a suspect. Boston is gripped by fear. Race, class, crime and punishment – the city's raw nerves are laid bare.
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Episode 3: Boston's Backstory
The shooting hits at the heart of Boston’s most bitter divisions and reopens a wound around race relations that was just beginning to heal. In 1974, the city was thrown into turmoil when a judge ordered the desegregation of Boston schools. Some parents revolted and attacked school buses carrying Black children. The Stuart shooting aftermath reignites unresolved anger and revives an ugly chapter of Boston's history.
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Episode 4: The Suspect
Boston police have spent 12 days searching for the suspect. They’ve stopped countless Black people in Mission Hill, all to no avail. But now, there’s a tip about a notorious man in the neighborhood who's been bragging about shooting the Stuarts. The whole story starts with a few teens smoking weed one afternoon and takes off from there. In this episode, hear never-released police interrogation tapes and meet the suspect: “Wild Bill.”
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Episode 5: The Camelot Couple
For so long it was their story – and only their story – that got any attention. Charles and Carol Stuart. The media dubbed them “The Camelot Couple,” and they became the picture of domesticity and purity. White folks could see themselves in their car. The Stuarts were pretty, popular, and on the cusp of starting a family. But really, who were Charles and Carol?
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Episode 6: The Mask Comes Off
Everything you know, everything you’ve heard, is flipped on its head when one morning a man walks to the edge of the Tobin Bridge and steps off, falling 145 feet into the frigid waters below. The death sends waves of disbelief, rage, and guilt through Boston. And it forces everyone to examine themselves and the role they’ve played in a terrible hoax.
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Customer Reviews
Excellent Podcast
Well done
One of the best
Truly one of the best podcasts I’ve listened to in a long while. Fantastic journalism, well produced, and so impactful.
Thank you
Great podcast y’all!!
Hats off to everyone involved.
Boston is my home and in 1989 I was in college not too far away. I have recollections of this but I did NOT live it. Not by any stretch.
I am white and not so proud in that regard.
This whole story brings a new level of perspective to the place I’ve been so proud to call HOME. No, my head has not been buried in the sand…I am well aware of the reputation of this city but this story and how it contributed was lost on me.
Adrian…amazing job man. One of the keys to a great podcast is the “voice” in which it’s being told. Absolutely nailed it and the theme song is equally as good and fitting. Love it!!
What a tragic story. Told truthfully decades later. This is why podcasts have become SO powerful. They force change and they seemingly bring truth when others have not, could not or simply chose not to.
Thank you for enlightening me and for opening my mind to a part of my beloved city that I’ve been ignorant to.