That's essentially a thousand more opportunities to discover not just what happened to his mother, but to find another slash in the family tree. I was most worried about Conway throughout this whole process and I think she's in a good spot. Due to Conway's addiction, she lost custody of her son to Barbara, after which Conway attempted to hire a hitman to kill Barbara because she "snapped. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Not looking into my mom's story would be the biggest regret of my life, so I don't know that I would do anything differently. It is difficult to understand how denying public access to criminal files in perpetuity serves the public interest in solving crimes and bringing perpetrators to justice, wrote Judge Daniel Klau in his decision. What details, if any, does Conway remember about the person she planned to hire to kill Barbara? As we see in the documentary, some even suggest that Conway was envious of Barbara because of the money, success, and love the latter was able to attain. The case raises questions about exactly when a cold case is considered cold enough to release the investigative files publicly and likely is destined for much further debate by both the judiciary and general assembly, Klau reasoned. Madison Hamburg and producer Anike Niemeyer had requested the files while filming the series and were summarily denied by the department. At the end of the series, Madison wins his case with the Freedom of Information Commission to receive case files relating to his mother's homicide investigation. I think the pendulum swung really hard in that direction when we started to really dig in in 2016 and I didn't really hold back with my family members, but once we partnered with HBO, that's when I started realizing that this could have adverse affects on my family. Barbara Hamburg was found murdered outside her familys Middle Beach Road home on March 3, 2010, but the case went cold and no one has ever been charged in connection with her death. Ali had always maintained her innocence, claiming that she had been dropped off at school by Barbara on the morning of the murder, and that she only returned home later that day with Beach, who picked her up from school after Ali's texts to her mother went unanswered. Her body was discovered by Madison's aunt Conway and his sister, Ali. Valicia Harmon, a staff attorney who represented the Freedom of Information Commission before the court, said the statutory provision making certain law enforcement records exempt from release balances two consideration: the right of law enforcement to conduct their investigations in private, and the right of the public to have insight into these long, cold investigations.. And if they can keep it closed forever, youll never be able to hold them accountable or give them an incentive not to cover something up.. And I was just desperately trying to understand how to take the next step with something so personal and not sacrifice anything. Platt was eventually arrested on various fraud charges related to the Gifting Tables in 2012, and she served 30 months in federal prison, according to the New Haven Register. Through interviews with and secret recordings of his immediate family and the police, Madison and his crew tell the story of Barbara Beach Hamburg's full life and tragic death. Barbara was found dead on the morning of March 3, 2010, in the yard of her rental house on Middle Beach Road in Madison, Conn. Police responded at 11:25 a.m. to a 911 call reporting an injured . 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Weeks of back-and-forth ensued as the show premiered on HBO. At the time of her death, Beach Hamburg had primary custody of Madison and Ali, while their father received visitation rights. As long as an investigation is active without any impediments to prosecution, Dugas argued, the exemption should apply. We also have to honor the victims and their families. The first theory the documentary presents is that Barbara Hamburg was killed by her ex-husband, Jeffrey Hamburg. During the last four minutes of of HBO's docuseries "Murder on Middle Beach," a black screen pops up with a single, heartwrenching sentence: My family still lives without answers about my mother's death. Conway presents the situation like she simply was scammed; she and Barbara eventually came to terms, and Conway moved in with her prior to the murder (though the docuseries alleges that there was tension between the two because Barbara had asked her to move out). It was then Beach and Ali who discovered Barbara's body. Jeffrey was eventually arrested for failing to make those payments in 2012, and as of 2018 he was still fighting in the courts to avoid paying. She welcomes feedback and story ideas from readers. Conway Beach is Barbara Beach Hamburgs elder sister and the woman who, unfortunately, discovered her body. Back in 1996, when Conway was out of control with her substance abuse, Barbara took her to court to get custody of her son, Tyler. And one of them was, if we don't solve my mom's case, then the documentary becomes a tool for me to get my mom's story out there and provide some momentum. Conway remembers taking a bag of money to a Florida hotel to meet someone who presented themselves as a hitman. I assume he has, but I'm not sure. She was a woman who was known to be head-strong. Beach Hamburg is survived by her children, Madison and Ali, 27, as well as her mother, also named Barbara, and numerous siblings. Beach Hamburg had been expected in court, along with Hamburg, on the morning of her death, but never made it to her 9:30 a.m. appearance. The personal gruesomeness of the murder and covering her body like he regrets it feels too personal to be a hit man. And what we were selling was a personal approach that wasn't a whodunit but more a story about identity, the duality of humanity, and the layers of what we share with each other, how open we are, and just me kind of coming of age and understanding my mother and in turn understanding my identity. He also works to eliminate several of his family members as potential suspects in his mother's murder. Barbara Hamburg was found murdered outside her family's Middle Beach Road home on March 3, 2010, but the case went cold and no one has ever been charged in connection with her death. What it did do, though, was bring light to the case and start a conversation around it. The television series, Murder on Middle Beach, documents the story of Madison Hamburgs search for the story behind his mothers murder. "We miss her dearly, and it is a great loss to not have her with us," she said at a 2011 vigil, the New Haven Register reported at the time. This was actually where the four-part series began, as first-time filmmaker Madison Hamburg set out to investigate the events surrounding the murder of his mother, Barbara Beach Hamburg, who was found stabbed and bludgeoned to death outside her home in an affluent Connecticut suburb in 2010. It really was a rollercoaster, especially because it is such a personal story, so trying to sell it was pretty interesting. In the following years, they appeared in court together numerous times after Beach Hamburg said her ex-husband failed to make alimony and child support payments. The police could have an incentive to just not become the focus of second-guessing, Ecker said. Barbara Beach Hamburg, Madison's mother, was killed in 2010 in Madison, Connecticut. Then, the public would never have any way of knowing whether [the police] were doing their job appropriately, said Schulz. I went to rehab and when I came back to school I was a year behind everybody, and I didn't tell anyone what had happened to me cause I didn't want that label of the kid whose mom was murdered. But the Freedom of Information Commission has argued that police failed to prove the case was active enough to warrant withholding the file or that the investigation was heading toward an arrest. At a Freedom of Information hearing in February 2020, Madison police Detective Christopher Sudock said he regularly reviewed the case and that the agency had received a phone call about it the week before. That was mandatory to me, I wanted everybody to see how they come across and have a conversation about it to prepare them for what it's gonna be like when we release this thing. In a statement ahead of the hearing, Hamburgs son, Madison Hamburg, who helped make an HBO documentary series about his mothers death called "Murder on Middle Beach," called for the records release. Emmys. I'm also so close to this, and I've seen it a thousand times over the past eight years that I don't have perspective as to what is objectively good or bad. In setting out to do this, I didn't have an expectation that we would solve my mom's case, but there are many goals I have had throughout this process and they sort of evolve. Upon hearing this new information, Beach alters her opinion of Ali as the murderer. If you say youre going to keep a file closed forever on the chance that something might develop, that means the public in most cases will never get to look at these files, Schulz said Friday. Barbara B. Hamburg was born April 29, 1961 in New Haven, Connecticut. But they have had no new leads for years, he said. But one thing that surprised meI remember the first message I got after the release of episode one. When my mom died I really was kind of orphaned and Savannah became like a home, and I turned to faculty, people I worked with, people in the community as surrogate parents in a way, and so I kept in touch. It would compromise the case investigation. he said. Hamburg was 41 years old when she was found dead outside her home from what the medical examiners office called blunt and sharp force injuries.. Im hoping that this comes through sooner than later so that the town can hopefully work with these two other agencies and not foot a tremendous legal bill, he added. She's convinced, however, that she knows who the killer is: Ali, Madison's sister who was still in high school at the time. She frequently cried when talking about her sister, and more than once, displayed anger towards what happened. Director Madison Hamburg's relentless pursuit of the truth throughout his quest to find his mother's killer turned over a lot of stones, and even though the TV series has concluded, Madison's work continues off-camera. Beach theorizes that Barbara was killed by Ali while on her way out of the house, rather than after returning home from dropping Ali off at school as the investigation suggests. The medical examiner later ruled her death a homicide, noting that she died as a result of "multiple blunt and sharp force injury.". 5 Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. He said it was also important to preserve the rights of victims and family members, who he said he didnt believe would want information released while police officers were still working on their case. In the series, Madison does some digging and is able to obtain school records that show Barbara did indeed drop Ali off at school on the morning of her death, confirming Ali's alibi and eliminating her as a suspect. Its something that really has to work its way through the court, he told CT Examiner. As the series progresses, Madison gains new insight into his mother's life before her murder, including her troubled relationship with his father and Beach Hamburg's ex-husband, Jeffrey Hamburg. I've written before about the trend of "true criminal justice" documentaries and docuseries the kind wherein the narrative is less about solving a mystery and more about turning the magnifying glass on the legal proceedings that surrounded it are an opportunity for filmmakers to present a fuller picture of criminality and victimhood. In a genre that so often luridly dehumanizes its victims, specifically women, as a means for salacious storytelling, "Murder on Middle Beach" is less about clinically dismantling family secrets for their evidentiary value, than it is about assessing how those family secrets bond and tie us and what it means when those bonds are severed. To allow police to say that because an investigation is active without any insurmountable obstacle to prosecution, the public must defer to their judgment, Ecker said, and does not take public concerns into account.
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