Deadly Greed: The Murders of Carol and Christopher Stuart

In 1989, Carol and Charles Stuart were expecting their first child. After a childbirth education class at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, the couple was driving home when, according to Charles Stuart, a black gunman with a raspy voice forced his way into their car, robbed them and shot Charles in the stomach and Carol in the head. Carol Stuart died just hours after the shooting and her premature son, delivered by emergency C-section, died 17 days later. The nearby African-American community was targeted by police in an urgent search for the assailant. It wasn’t until Charles Stuart’s brother came forward as an accomplice after the fact that police sought out Charles Stuart as a suspect. After Stuart fled and committed suicide, police released the African-American suspect they had in custody. Evidence led to the conclusion that Charles Stuart had, in fact, plotted and killed Carol Stuart, shooting himself to avoid suspicion. The events surrounding this case left a negative mark on race relations in the city of Boston, a legacy still not wholly forgotten.